Wal-Mart executive Gearhart retiring
Jeff Gearhart, Wal-Mart's executive vice president of global governance and corporate secretary, is retiring at the end of the retailer's fiscal year on Jan. 31.
Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon announced Gearhart's departure in an internal memo late last week. Gearhart has worked in several roles in his 14-year career at Wal-Mart and is responsible for overseeing the company's legal, compliance, ethics and security, and investigative functions in his current position.
McMillon credited Gearhart for creating strong teams in the company's legal, global ethics and compliance, global investigations, security, aviation and travel divisions.
Gearhart, who is the brother of former University of Arkansas Chancellor David Gearhart, spent 14 years in private practice before joining Wal-Mart in 2003. McMillon said a replacement will be named at a later date.
-- Robbie Neiswanger
Gateways podcast episodes available
The first five episodes of Gateways, a podcast aimed at helping Arkansas companies interested in global commerce, are available now.
The recordings, produced by the Rogers-based World Trade Center of Arkansas in a cooperative effort with the Arkansas Global Campus, will be a resource for Arkansas companies interested in international business and trade, according to a news release.
"The Gateways podcast will be a valuable tool for companies in the state to understand complex issues that are often encountered when exporting, importing or determining which markets are good for business," Dan Hendrix, president and CEO of the World Trade Center Arkansas said in a statement.
The podcasts are available at arwtc.org/gateways and feature guests including a commissioner of the Office of Trade for U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the consul and trade commissioner of the Consulate General of Canada.
-- John Magsam
Index sees uptick on market optimism
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 6.88 to 406.53 Monday.
"The financial markets closed at record highs fueled by optimism about the likelihood of lower corporate taxes as the Republican tax reform bill moves closer to passing," said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Simmons First Investment Group 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 12/19/2017