Tyson building gets LEED certification
An office building in downtown Springdale that houses Tyson Foods technology workers has been awarded a LEED Silver certification.
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program is a rating system that verifies the design, construction and operation of environmentally friendly buildings and neighborhoods. It was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The Tyson building at 319 E. Emma Ave. was built in 2017 on the site of the company's original headquarters and the old Brown Hatchery building. Tyson said it used reclaimed wood and kept the original brick facades for the 56,000-square-foot space.
John R. Tyson, chief sustainability officer and son of Tyson's board chairman, said in a statement that the company was proud to receive the certification and "see our vision to revitalize downtown Springdale come to life."
More than 200 Arkansas projects are LEED certified, according to the program's website.
-- Nathan Owens
LR port barge traffic lower in October
Barge traffic at the Port of Little Rock fell in October, but port officials said the slowdown was expected and barge activity will return to normal levels this month.
The Arkansas River port worked 22 barges and handled 34,000 tons of cargo last month, or less than half of the 51 barges worked and 78,000 tons of cargo handled in October 2018.
For the first 10 months of 2019, the port has worked 451 barges and handled 689,000 tons of cargo. In the same period a year ago, the port worked 469 barges and handled 717,000 tons of cargo in a record-setting year.
Barge activity on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System continues to rebound from historic river flooding that shut down the system for parts of this summer, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said.
The system, stretching from the Mississippi River and the Port of Catoosa in Oklahoma, carried 795,662 tons of cargo, its highest total since April when it carried 1.1 million tons. For the year, it has carried nearly 6.7 million tons of cargo.
-- Noel Oman
Arkansas Index rises 3.82, ends at 469.76
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Tuesday at 469.76, up 3.82.
"U.S. stocks closed mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling from record levels while the S&P was flat as dour forecasts from retailers Home Depot and Kohl's fueled worries about consumer spending," said Chris Harkins, managing director at 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 11/20/2019