Wynne firm cleared
to buy McCrory bank
First National Corp. of Wynne, the parent company of First National Bank of Wynne, said Thursday that it has received regulatory approval to acquire the Bank of McCrory.
The Wynne institutions announced in July plans to buy Bank of McCrory.
Pending shareholder approval, the transaction will close Oct. 31.
The Bank of McCrory will keep its name until early next year when the bank's computer system can be converted to First National Bank's system. Until then, Bank of McCrory customers should continue conducting business as usual.
First National Bank of Wynne, established in 1915, has about $280 million in assets. It has six locations serving Wynne, Harrisburg, Cherry Valley and Forrest City.
Bank of McCrory, founded in 1903, has about $80 million in assets.
-- David Smith
Yell County couple
win forestry honor
Larry and Shirley Aikman of Bluffton, in Yell County, have been named the 2016 Arkansas Forest Stewards of the Year by the Arkansas Forestry Commission.
The Aikmans were certified as forest stewards in 2004 and have a long history of good forest management, the Forestry Commission, a division of the Arkansas Agriculture Department, said Wednesday.
The state's Forest Stewardship Program recognizes and rewards landowners who enhance their forestland by protecting wildlife, preventing soil erosion, maintaining water quality and restoring wetlands. The state has more than 1,200 certified forest stewards.
The Aikmans' land includes pine plantations, natural shortleaf pine stands, pure hardwood bottoms, and areas with a mix of pine and hardwood species, the commission said. The family's most recent forest management efforts have included fire-line construction, controlled burns, timber harvests and the maintenance of open forest areas for wildlife nesting space.
-- Stephen Steed
Arkansas Index falls
along with S&P 500
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 1.92 to 349.92 Thursday.
"The S&P 500 index failed to surmount the 2,500 level and closed lower for the first time in four days," said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock. "Equities traded in a fairly narrow range with the utilities and real estate sectors recovering from weakness Wednesday to outperform other sectors."
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 09/15/2017