News in brief

Schmitt appointed CFO at Sam's Club

Steve Schmitt has been named senior vice president and chief financial officer of Sam's Club.

Schmitt recently began working in his new role with the warehouse division of Walmart Inc. after it was announced internally earlier this year. Schmitt has moved into the chief financial position at Sam's Club after working as Walmart's vice president for investor relations since May 2016.

Before joining Walmart, Schmitt spent 10 years in several roles with Yum Brands and about 12 years with UPS.

Maarten Jager, who had been Sam's Club chief financial officer since 2015, remains with the company and has taken on a new role in the international division. Jager has been with Walmart since 2014 and previously held roles as vice president of finance and chief financial officer for Walmart Asia.

Walmart has not named a new vice president of investor relations to replace Schmitt.

-- Robbie Neiswanger

$127M Union Pacific upgrades set in state

Union Pacific Railroad said Friday that it will spend $127 million on rail improvements this year in Arkansas, including $103 million on tracks and nearly $10 million on bridges.

The Arkansas spending is the third most in the country, behind Texas and California, in the 23 states where Union Pacific operates, Jeff DeGraff, a company spokesman, said.

The work is "indicative of not just the railroad activity we're seeing now in Arkansas but also the growth we will be seeing," DeGraff said.

In one project, 42 miles of rail between Atkins and Mulberry will be replaced at a cost of $19 million. Another $12 million will be spent on the line between Pine Bluff and Texarkana, replacing 91,854 railroad ties and installing 26,021 tons of rock ballast. Some 115,000 railroad ties between Little Rock and Texarkana will be replaced, a project costing $15 million.

Union Pacific has 1,300 miles of track in the state. Nationally, the railroad plans to spend $3.3 billion across its network this year.

-- Stephen Steed

Arkansas Index caps week with 8.11 gain

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, jumped 8.11 to 425.28 Friday.

Windstream climbed 7.1 percent in heavy trading, and P.A.M. Transportation rose 5.3 percent on light volume.

For the week, 15 stocks rose and two fell.

Total volume for the index was 23.5 million shares. The average volume for the week was 24.5 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 03/10/2018

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