Dassault to trim 6% of world workforce
Dassault Falcon Jet, which has the completion center for its line of business jets in Little Rock, announced Friday that the company would reduce its worldwide workforce by 6 percent.
Dassault declined to confirm how many employees at its Little Rock completion center are affected. Dassault has employed as many as 1,800 workers at the facility at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field.
The company has a total U.S. workforce of 3,000. It operates three service centers in the United States, one in Brazil, and support services in Asia and the Pacific Rim.
In February, Dassault announced it would reduce its Little Rock workforce in the second quarter. At that time, it said the number of jobs involved hadn't been determined. Dassault previously announced a plan to offer early retirement to qualifying employees.
In the statement, John Rosanvallon, the company president and chief executive officer, blamed "worldwide economic and political uncertainty."
"The current business aviation market conditions remain challenging throughout our entire industry combined with a prolonged imbalance between supply and demand for new aircraft as well as a large inventory of pre-owned aircraft competing with new sales," he said.
-- Noel Oman
New office building set for Chenal area
Flake & Kelley Commercial is scheduled to break ground Thursday on a 30,000-square-foot, two-story office building in the Chenal Parkway corridor.
The Chenal Ridge office building near Chenal and West Markham Street is a $4 million project, according to a city permit the builder, Clark Contractors LLC, obtained earlier this month.
Flake & Kelley said it already has two tenants committed: Scruggs, Ridge & Company CPAs, PA, and New York Life Insurance.
"Shell completion" is scheduled for December. Available space is a minimum of 2,000 square feet up to 10,000 square feet, according to the development company, which said the building is being marketed to "current professionals, growing business and entrepreneurs who desire professional upscale space with unparalleled flexibility and value."
-- Noel Oman
State index closes up 3.29 to 323.15
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed up 3.29 to 323.15 Friday.
Fifteen stocks advanced and three declined.
For the week, nine stocks advanced, eight declined and one was unchanged.
The Arkansas Index lost 2.4% for the week.
Total volume for the index was 32.1 million shares. The average daily volume for the week was 28.7 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 05/20/2017