Rice growers named as top farm family
Chris and Judy Isbell of Humnoke, in Lonoke County, have been named Arkansas Farm Family of the Year, the Arkansas Farm Bureau said.
The Isbells have grown rice in Lonoke County for more than 70 years, with 3,000 acres of the grain this year. About 100 of those acres are dedicated to a specialty rice used in the production of sake. Isbell Farms is in its fifth generation.
"I was shocked when they called our name," Chris Isbell said in a Farm Bureau news release. "But we are very honored. Our farm is a group of people. It's not just me. It's not just Judy." The family operation also involves their son Mark and his wife, Marda; their daughter Whitney and her husband, Jeremy Jones; and their nephew Shane Isbell and his wife, Lisa, Chris Isbell said.
"People need to understand their food doesn't just come from the grocery store," he said. "Farmers are out there working hard every day to produce it. I'm just proud [to] be in a business that feeds people."
The Isbells will compete with 10 southeastern state winners in the 2019 Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year program in October in Moultrie, Ga.
-- Stephen Steed
$275M loan in NYC made by Bank OZK
Little Rock-based Bank OZK made the largest commercial real estate loan in the New York City area in November, according to The Real Deal, which covers New York real estate news.
Bank OZK lent $275 million for Tishman Speyer's 28-10 Queens Plaza South, The Real Deal reported.
The office development includes two 27-story towers that are already 75 percent leased. The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019.
In Chicago, Bank OZK recently made a $61.3 million construction loan for a 342-unit office-to-apartments conversion, Crain's Chicago Business said.
Bank OZK has other outstanding construction loans in Chicago, Crain's said, including a $233 million mortgage on CNA Center, an office building.
-- David Smith
Index declines 1.89, closes day at 383.78
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 1.89 to 383.78 Monday.
The index traded at 377.38 during the day, a 52-week low.
"It was [a] wild ride for U.S. stocks on Monday, ending slightly higher on the day helped by gains in technology shares, though investors remain a bit on edge about global growth," said Chris Harkins, managing director with Raymond James & Associates in Little Rock.
Total volume for the index was 20.1 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 12/11/2018