Farm Service Agency offices set to reopen
Farm Service Agency offices across the state will reopen Thursday as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest plan to provide services to farmers even as the partial shutdown of the federal government continues.
From Jan. 28 through Feb. 8, offices will be open Monday through Friday during regular business hours, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced Tuesday in calling about 9,700 Farm Service Agency employees back to work without pay. After that, the offices will be open Tuesdays through Thursdays until further notice, Perdue said.
The USDA recently opened some Farm Service Agency offices across the country for three days, offering a limited set of services.
Those services will be somewhat expanded, including the ability for farmers to apply for tariff-relief aid, under the latest plan. The deadline to apply for that aid is Feb. 14.
David Curtis, the Farm Service Agency's state executive director, said the 250 employees in Arkansas are "ready to get back to helping our producers and farmers." About 60 employees were needed when 27 county offices were reopened, and those offices reported a steady flow of customers, he said.
-- Stephen Steed
Field Agent acquires Lowell media firm
Fayetteville-based Field Agent said Tuesday that it has acquired the retail media firm SMACK.
The deal will include all of SMACK's online and marketing products. The 11 employees of Lowell-based SMACK will be employed by Field Agent and will work in Field Agent's Fayetteville office. Terms of the sale were not released.
As a result of the acquisition, Field Agent has developed a new division, Field Media, made up of Aisle 9 and Product 1, which will feature user-generated content distributed through social media and sponsored-content channels, according to a release. SMACK's founder Sean Womack will act as Field Media publisher.
Field Agent focuses on crowdsourced data for the retail and consumer goods segments, according to the company. With the acquisition complete, Field Agent will employ about 70 people, a company spokesman said.
-- John Magsam
Only 3 stocks gain as state index falls
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 6.81 to 406.30 Tuesday.
Only three of 15 stocks gained ground.
"U.S. stocks snapped a four-day winning streak on Tuesday, as the International Monetary Fund reduced its forecast for global economic growth adding to news that the Chinese economy grew at the slowest annual pace since 1990," said Chris Harkins, managing director with Raymond James & Associates in Little Rock.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 01/23/2019