Ritter Agribusiness to end grain storage
Ritter Agribusiness will close its grain warehouses in Marked Tree in Poinsett County and Otwell in Craighead County next year, putting 26 people out of jobs.
The 130-year-old company has been in the grain storage business since 1954 but said it was time to "transition" out of that sector. It continues to own more than 32,000 acres of farmland in the Mississippi Delta and manages another 22,000 acres.
"Just like farmers do from season to season, Ritter is adapting," Kevin Wright, company president, said in a news release.
The Marked Tree facility, which has a capacity for 4 million bushels of grain, will remain open through next summer while buyers are sought. The Otwell warehouse will close in March when its lease expires.
Ritter Agribusiness' parent company is E. Ritter and Co. in Jonesboro, which also owns Ritter Communications. Ritter Agribusiness and Ritter Communications combine to have 326 employees.
-- Stephen Steed
J.B. Hunt planning to add to fleet in '17
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. on Tuesday announced its 2017 performance expectations and plans for continued growth despite a tepid freight climate.
Unlike many of its competitors that have shrunk their fleets, the Lowell-based company said it plans to add 750 trucks and 500 trailers. The announcement came at the Stephens Inc. Fall Investment Conference.
"They're doing well in a challenging market across the board," Matthew Young, an analyst at Morningstar, said about J.B. Hunt's most recent earnings report, released in October.
Between 500 and 700 tractors will be added to the dedicated contract services segment. In the company's third-quarter 2016 earnings release, it said the dedicated segment added 205 trucks the previous year. The projection for 2017 would increase the current growth rate between 140 percent and 240 percent.
-- Emma N. Hurt
Rebound in markets lifts state index 7.99
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, jumped 7.99 to 334.31 Wednesday.
"U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, rebounding from a dramatic overnight sell off, as the markets celebrated the election of Donald Trump for president," said John Blackwell, senior vice president and managing director of equity trading at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 11/10/2016