Palen Music opens Springdale store
Palen Music Center recently opened its seventh store and first Arkansas location. The Springfield, Mo., company opened a location at 4093 W. Sunset Ave., Suite 101 in Springdale. It has four stores in Missouri and two in Oklahoma.
The store features band and orchestra instruments, accessories and repair services. Palen Music Center has worked with Northwest Arkansas schools for more than a decade.
Willow Creek Hospital wins baby acclaim
Baby-Friendly USA announced that Northwest Health System's Willow Creek Women's Hospital is the first Arkansas hospital to receive its international recognition as a Baby-Friendly Designated birth facility.
Baby-Friendly USA is the U.S. authority for the implementation of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, a global program sponsored by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund. The initiative encourages and recognizes hospitals and birthing centers that offer an optimal level of care for breast-feeding mothers and their babies.
ArcBest makes Forbes top-employer list
ArcBest Corp., a multibillion-dollar logistics company, was named to Forbes America's Best Large Employers list for 2016.
Forbes, working with online statistics provider Statista, surveyed more than 30,000 employees across 25 industries. The list ranks the Top 500 large employers based on the results, which asked employees how likely they were to recommend their company to others. The anonymous online survey also asked them to rate other employers in the industry.
ArcBest offers employees online and in-person training courses, invests in continuing education opportunities and provides leadership development.
14 businesses picked for growth program
Fourteen small businesses were selected to participate in the second ScaleUp Ozarks, a 16-week entrepreneurial program designed to deliver targeted, intensive assistance to established entrepreneurs ready for growth beyond the startup or early stages.
The Small Business Administration identified a gap in funding and support for growth-oriented firms out of the startup stage and wanting to scale quickly. Startup Junkie Consulting aims to bridge that gap with the ScaleUp Ozarks program by providing support to small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Companies accepted to ScaleUp Ozarks include: Blackboard Grocery & Eatery, Absolute Climate Control, Black Apple Crossing, Blue Zoo Creative, Cutting Edge Glass Creations, Dance & More Store, Fayetteville Pilates and Barre, Golden Kolache Bakery, Jose Esparza & Associates, Loblolly Creamery, Midtown Eclectic Mall, Mountain Air Organic Beds, Raimondo Winery and Shave the Planet.
UAFS workshop links educators, industry
The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith will host Economic Arkansas' Connecting Education to Industry workshop for educators from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 8 at the Boreham Conference Center of the Baldor Technology Center, 5100 Kinkead Ave.
The goal of the workshop is to connect educators with industry experts around the state and provide research, data, and information that can be shared with students as they make decisions about future careers in manufacturing, trucking, construction, agriculture and other industries in Arkansas.
Participants will receive six hours of professional development certified by the Arkansas Department of Education, curriculum resources and a $50 stipend. Free lunch will be provided.
The UAFS workshop is the first of six to be held throughout the state. The registration fee is $25 and is available by clicking the event calendar at economicsarkansas.org. Marsha Masters at (501) 682-4350 or marsha@economicsarkansas.org has more information.
Briefs are for businesses in Northwest Arkansas that are new, have moved or closed, opened a new branch, changed owners or have been honored by an independent organization. Email items to cswanson@nwadg.com. Information will be published as space allows.
SundayMonday Business on 05/22/2016