Friday, November 20, 2009 4:32 p.m.

Business in Arkansas

George Sheffer (from left) vice president, Chief Executive Steve Mueller and board member Charles Scharlau gaze at the four sand silos as they tour Southwestern Energy Co.’s sand plant Monday in North Little Rock.

ADVERSTISMENT

Arkansas jobless rate hits 7.6 percent in October

Posted: November 20, 2009 11:30 a.m.

Arkansas’ unemployment rate rose half a percentage point to 7.6 percent in October, the highest joblessness rate in more than 21 years, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.
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Ruling allows utility to exit Entergy pact

Savings forecast for state; Louisiana appeal expected

By David Smith
Posted: November 20, 2009 5:50 a.m.

Entergy Arkansas Inc. can withdraw from the costly “system agreement” it shares with five other Entergy Corp. subsidiaries, federal regulators ruled Thursday.
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Judge scolds attorneys in poultry case

By The Associated Press
Posted: November 19, 2009 3:28 p.m.

A federal judge scolded the 30-some attorneys on Oklahoma’s pollution case against the Arkansas poultry industry Thursday, accusing them of bombarding him with “thousands” of documents as the bench trial dragged into its 25th day.
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Verizon laying off ex-Alltel workers

By The Associated Press
Posted: November 19, 2009 10:25 a.m.

Verizon Wireless is laying off former Alltel Corp. headquarters workers in Little Rock.
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Offered Entergy alternative to coal plant, utility tells PSC

By Matthew S.L. Cate
Posted: November 19, 2009 5:50 a.m.

A Florida utility with a large but mostly idle gas-fired power plant at El Dorado has offered an alternative to Entergy Arkansas Inc.’s $780 million plan to upgrade one of its coal-fired plants.
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Wal-Mart can sell beer, wine at Mountain Home

By The Associated Press
Posted: November 18, 2009 11:08 p.m.

Patrons of a Wal-Mart at Mountain Home will soon be able to buy beer and wine from the store.
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Dillard’s profit $8 million

Tax gain saves quarter for department-store chain

By Toby Manthey
Posted: November 18, 2009 4:56 a.m.

Little Rock-based Dillard’s Inc. on Tuesday reported third-quarter profit of $8 million, recovering from a $56 million loss a year earlier.
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PB bank looking to snag bargains

Acquiring 5 or 6 banks in plans

By David Smith
Posted: November 18, 2009 4:52 a.m.

Simmons First National Corp. will focus on acquiring banks with $200 million to $300 million in assets with the $65 million it raised in a recent stock offering, the Pine Bluff bank’s chairman said Tuesday.
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Dillard’s makes $8 million profit, thanks to tax break

By The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Posted: November 17, 2009 11:24 a.m.

Little Rock-based Dillard’s Inc. on Tuesday reported a third quarter profit of $8 million, recovering from a loss of $56 million a year earlier.
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State’s housing sales log 10% rise

It’s accompanied by drop in prices

By Matthew S.L. Cate
Posted: November 17, 2009 5:26 a.m.

Arkansas home sales in September jumped 10 percent over the same month a year ago, the Arkansas Realtors Association said Monday.
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Southwestern plans NLR plant

Facility to clean sand for Fayetteville Shale project

By ALISON SIDER
Posted: November 17, 2009 5:11 a.m.

Southwestern Energy Co. announced on Monday that it is opening a plant in North Little Rock to extract and clean sand for use in the Fayetteville Shale natural-gas formation.
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Loss posted at First Federal Bancshares

Firm down $23 million in quarter

By Stacey Roberts
Posted: November 17, 2009 4:09 a.m.

First Federal Bancshares of Arkansas moved more than $30 million into future loan-loss provisions from capital, resulting in an overall loss of $23.2 million for the third quarter of 2009.
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Timber firm hits deal for acreage

Deal to total $173 million

By Toby Manthey
Posted: November 17, 2009 4:08 a.m.

El Dorado-based Anthony Forest Products Co. on Monday said it is selling about 91,000 acres of timberland and related cutting rights to a company affiliated with Jackson, Miss.-based Molpus Woodlands Group for approximately $173 million.
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Clark building from ground up

Son of CDI co-founder is unfazed by economy

By ALISON SIDER
Posted: November 15, 2009 3:48 a.m.

William Clark might be the only man in the construction business who has had an easier year than he expected. And that’s after he started a contracting company in the middle of the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression.
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Tyson sees fertile ground for growth outside U.S.

By Stacey Roberts
Posted: November 15, 2009 3:45 a.m.

At a time when Brazilian beef giant JBS SA is buying into the United States’ poultry industry, domestic industry leader Tyson Foods Inc. looks to foreign markets and plants for a large portion of its future growth.
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