Garver engineering
gains Kansas firm
Garver, the regional engineering company based in North Little Rock, has acquired a Wichita, Kan., engineering and design services firm.
Ruggles & Bohm is a 25-year-old company that provides civil engineering, land surveying, landscape architecture and government services. Its clients have included the Wichita Airport Authority, McConnell Air Force Base and the Kansas cities of Andover, Bel Aire, Maize, Newton and Wichita.
"Bringing this accomplished team into the Garver family will only strengthen us both as we continue to expand our services and provide our employees with the quality benefits they deserve," Garver's president and chief executive officer, J̶e̶f̶f̶ Dan* Williams, said in a release.
All 12 employees will immediately become part of Garver. Its president and founding partner, Chris Bohm, will serve as a Garver transportation team leader for what now is Garver's second Wichita office and third in Kansas.
Garver has nearly 500 employees spread among 24 offices in 10 states.
-- Noel Oman
$215M from LR bank
funds NYC condo job
Bank of the Ozarks recently made a $215 million construction loan for a luxury condominium tower in lower Manhattan's Hudson Square area.
A partnership of developers -- Strategic Capital, Forum Absolute and Cape Advisors -- borrowed the money from the Little Rock bank, according to Crain's, a business newsletter.
Strategic Capital is the development arm of China Construction America, a subsidiary of the Chinese government-run China State Construction Engineering Corp., Real Deal magazine reported.
The residential condos will average 1,211 square feet and sell for between $1.2 million and $2.79 million.
Bank of the Ozarks has made more than $2.7 billion in real estate loans from its New York metropolitan area office.
-- David Smith
Arkansas Index rises
0.69, ends at 372.16
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 0.69 to 372.16 Wednesday.
"Stocks closed higher with the real estate and utilities sectors outperforming as minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee meeting from September were released, questioning whether low inflation was transitory," said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.
Total volume for the index was 32.4 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 10/12/2017
*CORRECTION: Dan Williams is president and chief executive officer of Garver, an engineering firm based in North Little Rock. A previous version of this article about the company’s acquisition of a Kansas City firm used an incorrect first name for Williams.