The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith made the transition from community college to four-year university just 12 years ago and already, the school is preparing to offer its first master's degree.

Dr. Ray Wallace, provost and senior vice chancellor of UAFS, said the transition to a university granting masters degrees was already well underway.

"We have our first major hurdle completed, which was tentative approval by the University of Arkansas system," he said. "Now we're working with the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, who will send an outside team of evaluators this Spring."

The first master's degree to be offered by UAFS will be a master of science in healthcare administration, Wallace said, adding that the team of evaluators would be a mix of graduate deans, administrators and others in the healthcare and education sectors who will evaluate the school's "readiness to offer this first degree program."

As for why healthcare administration would be the first master's offered at the school, Dr. Carolyn Mosley, dean of the UAFS College of Health Sciences, said it was the university's way of answering a call.

"Our healthcare providers and business partners in the community have asked that we have a master's program," she said. "We consulted with 30 major healthcare institutions and more than 70% said they'd have a position today for someone who went through this program."

While there is a great demand for the program that is expected to launch in 2015, Wallace said the first entering class would be a small group of students, meaning admissions would be highly competitive.

"The very first cap will be 10 students," he said. "Then it will grow quite dramatically. …We want to take 10 through it and then work out the kinds. Then after that, you'll see classes in the 40s and 50s eventually."

The program, Mosley said, would be a 33 hour program which will allow graduates to hold a variety of leadership and administrative positions within a hospital setting.

"The management in healthcare administration is for a person who wants to be an administrator in healthcare," she said. "This degree focuses on that system. Healthcare ethics and laws. All those caution and knowledge areas that that person would have to have and probably would not get in (another graduate program). The focus is healthcare. If that person wants to go into healthcare, this is the program for them."

UAFS Chancellor Dr. Paul Beran said the new degree program was just the latest step forward for a university that recently opened an expanded library on campus in addition to unveiling an updated 20 year master plan.

“This is very exciting for UAFS and the Greater Fort Smith Region,” said Beran. "With the opening of our new library as another significant accomplishment in the last seven years. In the biggest, biggest perspective, the ability to grant master’s degrees — with the library to support it — shows we are meeting the needs of our region’s citizens.”

Wallace said once the university is granted a change in role and scope, allowing it to offer master's degrees, the university would not stick with offering only the master of science in healthcare administration, but instead would explore other degree programs that meet the needs of the Fort Smith region.

"This institution is looking at a limited number of graduate programs to help meet the needs of the community, but also take advantage of the types of faculty we're hiring. They're great teachers, but also great researchers and scholars."

Not only will new graduate degree offerings take advantage of the skill sets offered by UAFS professors, but Wallace said it would "increase the prestige of the institution."

As for what graduate programs could follow a master of science in healthcare administration, Wallace said it is too early to tell.

"Right now, we're looking first and foremost at getting this one through. Down the road, I can see us looking at education programs and other colleges and degree programs that there is a need for in the area," adding that school districts in the region have expressed a need for UAFS to begin offering master's degrees.

And while some districts have expressed a need for graduate degrees in education, Wallace said just as with the Master of Science in Healthcare Administration, it will be based on the needs of the region and business community as a whole.

"When the next one comes, it will be because of local economic development forces, local employers, regional employers have asked us to do it."

Fundraising numbers for the fourth quarter of 2013 have begun to roll in from two statewide campaigns with one reporting its best quarter of fundraising since starting his campaign and another reporting the highest amount raised of any campaign active in Arkansas in 2013.

U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., in the fight of his political life against Tea Party favorite Tom Cotton, a freshman Congressman from Dardanelle, reported raising $5.3 million during all of 2013, with $1.1 million of that coming in during the fourth quarter of the year.

The campaign starts 2014 with $4.2 million cash on hand, something the Pryor campaign said reflects strong grassroots support from across Arkansas.

“Heading into the election year, Mark will have every resource to remind voters about his record as a reliable and responsible voice for Arkansas families, while drawing clear contrasts with Congressman Cotton’s reckless agenda that puts his own interests ahead of Arkansans,” said Jeff Weaver, Pryor for Senate campaign manager.

Cotton, who formally opened his campaign headquarters in Little Rock on Saturday (Jan. 11), said he was not ready to report his fundraising tally for the fourth quarter of 2013.

“Our accountants are still working on it. We’ll have it out before the deadline at the end of the month. We’re just working to try to get as much support as we can across the state,” he said.

Cotton had reported fundraising receipts of $1.073 million during the third quarter of 2013 compared to Pryor’s $1.068 million during the same period last year. His cash on hand at the time was $1.806 million.

In the race for governor, Republican and former U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson announced he had raised $445,000 during the last three months of 2013, the campaign's largest fundraising haul to date in a quarter typically marking some of the lowest giving during an election cycle.

After spending $150,000 during the quarter, Hutchinson's campaign was left with $1.3 million cash on hand, about 80% of the funds he has raised during his campaign.

While the figures are the best yet for the Republican, it still pales in comparison to the fundraising numbers put up by presumptive Democratic nominee Mike Ross of Prescott. During his first quarter of the campaign, Ross raised nearly $2 million — the largest amount ever raised during a quarter ever by a gubernatorial candidate in Arkansas. That was followed by another record breaking quarter of $1.12 million, leaving the Ross campaign with almost $2.4 million cash on hand.

Hutchinson said he was pleased to be improving his fundraising numbers.

“We are so pleased to announce the results of our best fundraising quarter ever," he said. "It shows we are gaining momentum and that Arkansans are excited about our vision for Arkansas’s future; a future of job creation, lower taxes and great educational opportunities. I’m grateful for the support that so many have given to me and my campaign for Governor. Together, we will work for Arkansas’s brightest future.”

The Fort Smith School District unveiled its master plan through the year 2020 on Monday (Jan. 13), detailing plans for the district, plans that include a third Fort Smith high school at a cost that could be in excess of $65 million.

According to Superintendent Dr. Benny Gooden, the need for a third high school is real as enrollment has continued to increase across the district. The district has about 14,000 students, a number expected to increase to about 17,000 by the year 2023.

"In the early 2000s, we started a steady uptick in enrollment and we've continued that until today," he said. "In fact, 2013 was what we thought might be a little plateau. Turns out 2013 was the biggest growth we've had in quite a while."

He said based on the continued increase since the year 2000, he and the Fort Smith Board of Education have been looking at different options for addressing the needs of Fort Smith's High School students. Three options were primarily looked at:
• Do nothing;
• Increase the use of portable buildings on campuses and possibly expand existing campuses;
• Construct a new Fort Smith high school and realign the student populations across all junior high and high school campuses.

The school board chose to go with the latter option, with Gooden stating that a realignment of the secondary campuses would be a phased-in approach, eventually transitioning freshman students into the high school campuses and moving sixth graders to the junior highs.

Were that to happen right now with three high schools, Gooden said all three high schools would have about 1,400 students on a campus consisting of grades 9 through 12. He said a good-sized high school campus is about 1,500 students. Any more, he said, and students start getting lost in the shuffle and can easily fall through the cracks.

As for how to pay for the new facility, Gooden said the school would attempt to find various funding methods in an effort to reduce the burden on taxpayers in the district.

Among these, with the primary outside funding mechanism being state partnership funds.

"Partnership funds are awarded for approved projects pursuant to the Master Facility Plan for approvable costs," read a PowerPoint slide Gooden presented to the public in attendance at Monday's school board meeting. "They are adjusted based on each school district's wealth index which is calculated annually. The FSPS index for 2013-2014 is .34676."

That figure ends up being 34.68% funding for approved projects, he said, adding that other poorer districts can see as much as 70% funding from state partnership funds while other districts such as Fayetteville see very little in the way of funding from the partnership program.

It is not until the district finds out in 2015 how much state partnership money it will receive that leaders on the school board will come to voters to ask for the additional funding by way of a millage increase, something Gooden said the district has not had since 1987.

While he does not want to speculate on what the millage rate increase the district may seek from voters due to the unknown level of funding coming from the state partnership funds, Gooden said it could be as low as 4.5 mills or as high as 6.5, numbers he again emphasized are not set in stone.

School Board President Jeannie Cole said coming to the voters in a year or two for a millage increase would likely be a tough sell, but she and the board are betting on the public's support of public education in a district that appears to be growing at a steady rate.

"We're going to have to do a good, strong media campaign. We're going to have to sell this to the voters, we know that," she said. "But we're just going to have to believe in it ourselves and we're going to have to go out and tell them, 'Hey, this is for the children. This is for the future of Fort Smith.'Someone paid for your education, it's time for us to step up and pay for these children's education.'"

Cole said voters will have to understand that the new high school would not be a project for students currently in upper grades, but instead for the high number of students rising through the district now in elementary school who could face overcrowding once they get to high school should a new high school not be built.

Should the district receive funding for the new school, to be built at Chaffee Crossing, through both state partnership funds and a millage increase, Gooden said it could open by Fall 2018, though he said a more likely date would probably be 2019.

Consumers did show up just in time to partially save the holiday season for retailers, according to the National Retail Federation report which showed December retail receipts increased 4.6% year from the year ago period (excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants).

The trade group said severe winter weather disrupted consumer spending during the holiday season. But in the end they finally showed up taking advantage of heavy promotions and last-minute deals. Costco’s Jim Sinegal said this week that the 2013 holiday period looked somewhat bleak until the weekend and final two days of the shopping season, when consumers showed up and in droves to finish out their shopping lists.

Total holiday retail sales, which includes November and December transactions rose 3.8% to $601.8 billion, which was in line with NRF’s forecast of 3.9% and $602.1 billion.This does not include the e-commerce sales of $95.7 billion, up 9.3% from last year.

“Despite facing a truncated holiday season, severe weather, and shaky consumer confidence, retailers rose to the challenge and executed their strategies with proven success,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. 


December retail sales, released today by the U.S. Census Bureau, which include categories such as automobiles, gasoline stations, and restaurants, increased 4.1% year-over-year.



Economists warn that despite the total increase in sales receipts year-over-year, retailers won’t likely see fatter profits.

 A number of retailers have already guided down their expectations for the holiday quarter and first reporting period of 2014.



Undoubtedly, some of the sales increase came at the expense of margin. Retailers are still stressed and a long-term promotional environment may actually hurt the bottom line,” said Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist for NRF.
 He said as consumer confidence grows, there will be less need for retailers to heavily promote and discount their offerings.
 Kleinhenz said 2013 proved to be a volatile year for retail sales amid wide swings in consumer confidence.



"While economic and policy uncertainties remain, the economy seems set for steady growth in the New Year,” he said.

Consumer spending, while selective, is gaining traction, according to Kathy Bostjancic, director of macroeconomic analysis for The Conference Board.

“There might be a falloff in retail sales growth in January, but that has more to do with inclement weather, and will likely be followed by a recovery in February,” she said.

Bostjancic expects the "resilient" American shopper to spend increased wages in the first half of 2014 on replacement furniture and household appliances, even if they are not on sale.

“And that could be the big economic story for the entire first half of 2014,” she added.

December retail sales by category with annual comparison:
• Building material and garden equipment sales increased 4.2%;


• Clothing and clothing accessories increased 4.7%; 


• Electronics and appliance stores’ sales decreased 1.5%;


• Furniture and home furnishing stores’ sales increased 5%; 


• General merchandise stores’ sales were flat year-over-year;
• Health and personal care sales increased 5.9%; 


• Sporting goods, hobby, book and music sales increased 5.8%. 


Online price transparency has heightened the competition between Amazon and Wal-Mart Stores and there is no sign either side is backing down, according to Kantar Retail analysts who recently released their second annual price comparison between the retail giants.

Contrary to popular belief, Amazon does not have lower “across-the-board” prices than Wal-Mart Stores Inc., according to the Kantar study. However, Amazon continues to gain market share with its loyalty programs and focus on customer service.

Analysts Robin Sherk and Anne Zybowski,also noted that these two retailers are seeking the same consumers with two different strategies. Kantar Retail ShopperScape, found that Wal-Mart shares half (51%) of its past four-week shoppers with Amazon, and Wal-Mart shoppers are twice as likely to frequent Amazon (19%) on a weekly basis than Walmart.com (9%).

However, consumers might be interested to learn that Walmart.com prices were 7% lower than Amazon on the basket of 59 items compared between Walmart supercenters, Walmart.com and Amazon. The supercenter had the lowest overall basket total – some 8% cheaper than Walmart.com and 16% less expensive than Amazon, according to the Kantar study.

Amazon does not claim to have the lowest price but it does push a customer-service message while offering competitive prices on millions of items, many of which can be delivered free in two days for Amazon Prime members. Amazon also believes in rewarding customer loyalty with special discounts for consumers who subscribe for automatic deliveries of certain key staples with the “Subscribe & Save” program.

Wal-Mart’s mission is to save people money as the lowest cost provider in retail every day, and to provide elite price competitiveness online every day.

EDIBLE GROCERY
There were 18 items in the edible grocery sub-basket and the biggest driver in the price discrepancies related to the third party items (products not held in stock by the retailer).

Kantar found that Amazon was heavily dependent on third party items with its recent expansion into grocery. Some 12 out of 18 items in Amazon’s sub-basket category were third-party items.

In comparison, none of the 18 items in Walmart.com sub-basket were third party. The study found that if shoppers just purchased those first-party items, Amazon’s pricing was on equal footing with Walmart Supercenter and 19% less than Walmart.com.

NON-EDIBLE GROCERY
There were 12 items in the sub-basket and again the Walmart Supercenter had the lowest overall total, 3% less than Walmart.com and 11% savings over Amazon.

Again it was the third party items that made the difference in the basket totals. The price differences were huge in this category among some items such as Windex Antibacterial Multi-Surface Cleaner — $2.47 at Walmart Supercenter, $7.07 at Walmart.com and $9.49 at Amazon.

All three retailers had same price on GLAD trash bags at $7.48, Mr. Cleaner Magic Eraser at $6.94 and Finish Powerball Tabs at $5.97.

Amazon won the pricing battle of Similac infant formula at 5.6% cheaper than Walmart.com and the supercenter prices. Bounty paper towels at Amazon were priced  5.7% less than the other two retail options.

Kantar notes that Amazon’s use of Subscribe & Save is an opportunity for the retailer to pick up steam in this category. Four of the 12 items in Amazon’s non-edible sub-basket were eligible for the Subscribe & Save option. Once these items were placed on subscription they became 5%-10% cheaper than at Walmart.com and the supercenter.

Walmart.com and the supercenter still had lower overall sub-basket totals, even with the  reduced subscription rates for the four eligible items at Amazon.

HEALTH & BEAUTY AIDS
There were interesting findings in the health & beauty aid sub-basket with complete parity between Walmart.com and the supercenter total prices. Three items – bar soap, pain killers and eye make-up – were out of stock at the Walmart Supercenter, while the cotton swabs were out of stock at Walmart.com.

Amazon’s sub-basket was 6% more expensive than the other retail options. Six of the 13 items in this sub-basket were third party items for Amazon, which resulted in the higher prices.

GENERAL MERCHANDISE
Amazon was 7% more expensive than the supercenter and 4% cheaper than Walmart.com in the general merchandise sub-basket. But the bigger difference was found between Walmart.com and the supercenter with an 11% price gap in favor of the physical store.

Amazon offered a 50% savings on the XBOX 360 - Call of Duty Black Ops II videogame over the Walmart Supercenter price and came in 28% cheaper than Walmart.com. But both Walmart prices came in 26% cheaper on TaylorMade golf balls than Amazon.

There were several wide price gaps in this sub-basket for the same items, a reminder to consumers to compare prices item by item when shopping online.

KANTAR INSIGHTS
As Walmart.com is focused on vying with Amazon, Kantar expects to see price volatility increase in the next year, particularly in general merchandise as Walmart.com ramps up item offerings and increases the number of third-party relationships.

Kantar said if Walmart.com is going to accelerate its position against Amazon it must find a way to balance its third party assortment expansion while also driving strong online price impressions.

“This will be tricky,” Sherk noted. “It will involve innovative means in additions to price matching, such as showing shoppers price visibility over time or new digital comparison tools versus competitors.”

She anticipates that as Walmart.com becomes more aggressive in advancing its website offerings, it will look to supplier’s support in the process.

Zybowski notes that Amazon’s Subscribe & Save is win-win-win for the shopper, Amazon and the supplier because it locks in loyalty to the item purchase on a replenishment basis. While there is a 5% base incentive or reward for the loyalty, the primary motive is convenience, not price.

“It’s a double win for shoppers as it saves them time and money. This loyalty is a real threat to many trip drivers to a Walmart Store,” Zybowksi noted in the report.

Amazon also has raised the incentives to 15% when five items are ordered for the same delivery time. This may be of great interest to Amazon Mom Prime shoppers who already earn 20% off of eligible items.

Zybowski said as online shoppers get a larger discount and fewer boxes, Amazon wins as it saves on packing and efficiencies within the supply chain.

Early data last year showed the new subscription program was gaining traction with Gen Yers and Baby Boomers. There were 5% of Walmart shoppers using the Subscribe and Save option a year ago. Zybowski said this is a real concern for Wal-Mart Stores because shoppers are no longer going to the physical shelf for these items which makes it difficult to win back their business or capture other sales while the consumer is in the store.

The region appears to have a major primary shaping up as Rep. Terry Rice, R-Waldron, announced Tuesday (Jan. 14) that he would challenge Sen. Bruce Holland, R-Greenwood, for the District 9 Senate seat.

In addition to Rice's announcement Tuesday, Sebastian County Judge David Hudson announced he would run for re-election to the office he has held since 1999.

In announcing his intentions, Rice said he was running for the state senate in order to continue bringing his experience as a business owner to the halls of the General Assembly.

"I'm running for the State Senate with those same principals that have guided me as a State Representative," he said. "As a business owner, I understand the pressures of making a payroll, dealing with taxes and excessive government regulations, along with the additional costs passed on to the consumers who already live on a tight budget. I live by the conservative values instilled in me by my father and grandfather — faith, family, hard work, and mature judgment."

The announcement is a reversal from August 2013 when Rice told The City Wire he did not expect to run for office during the 2014 election cycle, though he left the door open for Tuesday's announcement.

"When I ran in 2008, they called me the third day of filing after it opened and I told them absolutely no," he said, adding with a laugh that he found himself filing his paperwork to run 48 hours later. "I am a wild card to do anything. It's not in my plans right now, but you never know. I have not been out campaigning and not politicking other than trying to take care of some stuff in the interim. But I don't foresee running for anything in this next election cycle."

Rice said he would continue fighting against Obamacare should he be elected to the Senate, adding that he was a no vote on the private option.

"I will be a 'no' vote in the fiscal session, also."

Holland, who is announcing his re-election bid at a campaign kickoff event Saturday (Jan. 18) in Van Buren, said he was caught off guard by Rice's announcement, citing The City Wire's reporting.

"Terry and I have always been friends. We share some of his House district. We've always worked together well. But yeah, it surprised me a little bit that he wanted to run for the office," he said. "Back in the Fall, I believe you guys reported that he said he wasn't running for anything, but I guess he changed his mind."

The 9th Senate District includes parts of Crawford, Franklin, Scott and Sebastian Counties.

HUDSON RE-ELECTION BID
Hudson, a Republican who touts 37 years experience in county government, said his tenure as county judge "reflects conservative financial management while improving services."

A press release from his campaign lists a variety of accomplishments during his time in office:
• $2 million in courthouse renovations;
• A $4 county jail expansion; and
• A new $14.8 million courts facility.

"These projects were implemented within existing revenues without increasing taxes," the press release said.

Hudson's campaign announcement also pointed to the oft-contentious Ben Geren Aquatics Center project as a success during his time in office.

"An updated County Parks Master Plan and thee 2010 County Aquatics Feasibility Study helped guide park improvements including the 2012 Interlocal Agreement with the City of Fort Smith for construction and operation of an $10,900,000 Aquatics Facility at Ben Geren Park."

The project, with an original budget of $8 million, recently had its budget increased by $3 million in order to pay for amenities such as a wave pool, longer lazy river and other items that could not be constructed for the original budget.

Hudson, Vice President of the Arkansas County Judges Association, has no announced opponent in his bid for re-election.

Poultry companies like Tyson Foods and Pilgrim’s Pride along with independent firms such as Simmons and OK Foods are expected to pull back poultry production in hopes of bolstering prices and margins on chicken parts, according to an industry analyst and insiders.

Companies have steadily increasing chicken production over recent months hoping to capture more consumer dollars amid record high beef prices. Broiler production increased 3% in December from a year ago because of higher slaughter and bird weights, according to USDA reports.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Kenneth Zaslow expects the recent poultry expansion to slow. Although production should continue to increase for the foreseeable future, supply expansion likely will slow from fourth-quarter levels, Zaslow said in a note to clients.


“The industry can only extend the productivity of birds for so long,” Zaslow notes.

He predicted the smaller breeding flock will slow production growth to roughly 2% in the first half of 2014. One key metric used to measure future production are chick placements, which rose by 1% in December, pulling back from 3% to 4% pace recorded the past fall.

“The increase in chicks placed should remain somewhat limited as lower hatchability continues to mitigate the increase in egg sets,” Zaslow said.

Local poultry growers polled in December reported roughly a 21-day lay-out period in between flocks for the most of last year. They do not want to see fewer chicks placed as that will further reduce their farm income. But poultry companies saw their operating margins tighten in December on softer wholesale chicken prices, particularly breast meat and leg quarters. At the same time the companies also worked through their supplies of higher priced grains.

Sanderson Farms executives said last month that the softness in the boneless breast market reflects the weakness in the market for protein consumed away from home and higher chicken production numbers throughout the last quarter of 2013.


While foot traffic through food service establishment remains challenged by macroeconomic conditions, the spike in boneless breast late last May was triggered by menu shifts featuring chicken products at fast-food and casual dining venues. Prices subsided as the year progressed, with breast meat prices averaging some 40 cents below the $2-per-pound industry benchmark.

Zaslow expects lower feed costs in conjunction with the a slight pull back in production to help improve chicken prices in the coming months and fuel better margins — above historical averages going forward.

Springdale-based Tyson Foods will reports its quarterly profits on Jan. 30. Wall Street analysts expect the meat giant to earn a consensus 65 cents per share, up from 48 cents a year ago. Revenue is expected to top $8.78 billion, up 4.5% from the same period last year (October through December).


The big Fort Smith regional news stories during 2013 included major moves in the regional medical community, major interstate construction, ups and downs with two local trucking companies, and the effort to build a water park.

Following are the top five regional stories – in terms of socio-economic impact – during the previous year.

5. Cleaning up Whirlpool
A March 2013 push by Whirlpool to ban groundwater wells near their shuttered Fort Smith manufacturing plant began a complicated and often heated series of events that saw Erin Brockovich visit Fort Smith. Whirlpool closed the refrigerator manufacturing plant – which at one time employed as many as 4,600 – in mid-2012.

The focus was on how to best clean up a toxic plume of chemicals, namely trichloroethylene (TCE), that Whirlpool admits leaking into the groundwater during the 1980s. Brockovich, the famous corporate-pollution fighter, eventually decided to not get involved in Fort Smith.

Officials with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality faced angry Fort Smith residents on Nov. 12 as they presented official recommendations to Whirlpool on how to clean up the TCE.

The ADEQ released its final Remedial Action Decision Document (RADD) for Corrective Action on Dec. 27 that requires Whirlpool to spend at least $6 million to clean up pollution at its shuttered Fort Smith plant. The RADD states that Whirlpool must begin remediation within 60 days of the effective date (Dec. 27) of the RADD and file quarterly reports every Feb. 15, May 15, Aug. 15, and Nov. 15 as well as annual progress reports on Jan. 15.

4. New contracts and hostile takeover attempts
The Fort Smith region benefits from the corporate jobs created by Fort Smith-based Arkansas Best Corp., and Van Buren-based USA Truck – respectively, a major national less-than-truckload carrier and a truckload carrier that operates with more than 2,200 trucks. ABF Freight is the primary subsidiary of Arkansas Best.

After several delays and votes, a labor agreement between Arkansas Best Corp. and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters was fully ratified in October, with savings from wage and benefit reductions possibly helping the company to avoid three consecutive years of losses.

The five-year contract – set to expire on March 31, 2018 – between Arkansas Best and the Teamsters was approved June 27, but some supplemental provisions were rejected. Officials with both sides negotiated the rejected provisions, and the seven “local/area supplements” were again placed on the local ballots for approval. All but one of the supplements were approved, and on Tuesday the union members of the Central cartage voted to not strike. Following that vote, the Teamsters’ negotiating committee voted to ratify the agreement.

The contract covers about 7,500 employees of ABF Freight System who are members of the union. Most of those workers are drivers.

USA Truck officials spent most of the latter half of 2013 fighting off a hostile takeover attempt. Phoenix-based Knight Transportation made public its bid for USA Truck on Sept. 26. The $9 per share bid at the time was a 39% premium from USA Truck’s share price on Sept. 25. The share purchase and assumption of liabilities creates a $242 million deal. At risk in a deal with Knight would be some or all of the 500 jobs at USA Truck’s corporate headquarters in Van Buren.

The USA Truck management and Board of Directors have rejected the offer, saying it “substantially undervalues” the company and does not reflect the value of potential gains from ongoing turnaround initiatives. The attempt by Knight remains open into 2014.

Full-year financials released Jan. 31 showed a $17.54 million loss for 2012, marking four consecutive years of losses for USA Truck. In February, John Simone was hired by the board to turn around the struggling company. Former CEO Cliff Beckham was moved to the chief financial officer position.

3. $78 million Interstate 540 renovation
Work began in January on the major highway artery into Fort Smith that carries more than 50,000 cars day. The more than $78 million upgrade of Interstate 540 resulted in traffic congestion on the main Interstate corridor through the city.

As part of the 2011 Interstate Rehabilitation Program (IRP) passed by 80% of Arkansas voters, Kiewit Infrastructure South will begin work on seven miles of improvements to Interstate 540 (I-540) from Interstate 40 (I-40) near Van Buren to Rogers Avenue in Fort Smith.

Construction has included “rubblizing” the existing I-540 lanes, and replacing nine bridges. It will also include the modification to four bridge structures. The nine bridges include the I-540 bridge at Rogers Avenue as well as those at Grand Avenue, Clayton Branch, and the Union Pacific Railroad Overpass.

The Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department expects the contract to be completed “sometime in April or May of 2014” or July 2014 at the latest.

2. The effort to build a water park
Officials with the city of Fort Smith and Sebastian County struggled through 2013 to agree on the budget and amenities for a water park approved by voters in March 2012.

After a year of off and on discussions between the two governments, a joint resolution was approved approved Jan. 6 that would add a wave pool to the Ben Geren Aquatics Center while moving a dive well to near the bottom of the governments' priority list for water park amenities, essentially killing a part of the project that had been the focus of much contention just 11 months ago.

Voters had initially approved an $8 million park, but planning after the vote saw the price rise to $8.8 million, then ultimately the two governments approved a $10.9 million facility. In addition to the wave pool, the facility will now consist of three bodies of waters, a 500 foot lazy river and four water slides for a total footprint of more than 20,000 square feet, making it the largest water park in the region.

There were several times during the process when members of the Fort Smith Board and the Sebastian County Quorum Court were split on the park and the park’s future was uncertain.

1. Changes in the regional health care industry
News from the regional health care sector hit frequently in 2013 with new jobs, changes in owners, new investment and lawsuits between former partners often driving the headlines.

• Health Management additions, changes
Naples, Fla.-based Health Management Associates (HMA) announced in April it would build a regional service center in Fort Smith and employ more than 500 with average annual salaries potentially exceeding $40,000. At the time, HMA was the parent company of Sparks Health System in Fort Smith and Summit Medical Center in Van Buren. The facility opened in September.

In July, a $7.6 billion deal from Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health to buy HMA was announced. The offer was approved by an HMA Board that was then ousted in a proxy fight pushed by New York City-based Glenview Management. On Sept. 25, the newly installed HMA Board announced a review of the offer. Glenview had previously said the $13.78 per share offer was too low. Ultimately, the new HMA Board approved of the deal. The HMA Board now believes the deal is good for HMA shareholders.

On Jan. 8, both sides said the deal would close by month’s end – barring a rejection from federal regulators.

• Cooper Clinic-Mercy lawsuit
A lawsuit filed Aug. 2 by Fort Smith-based Cooper Clinic against Mercy Fort Smith and St. Louis-based Sisters of Mercy Health System not only more fully reveals a contentious relationship between former medical sector partners, it may signal an end to the hospital-clinic relationships that have been part of area medicine for almost a century.

In the 17-page complaint filed in Sebastian County Circuit Court, Cooper Clinic officials allege that Mercy and its parent company used their economic power to recruit 15 physicians away from Cooper and to the Mercy Clinic between Oct. 31, 2010 and Aug. 1, 2013. Mercy has denied any wrongdoing. The case has carried over into 2014.

• Mercy investments
Work continued during 2013 on a plan announced August 2011 by the St. Louis-based Sisters of Mercy to invest $192 million in the Fort Smith area as part of a 10-year plan to invest $4.8 billion in its operations in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

Part of that investment was completion of the $42 million Mercy Orthopedic Hospital in Fort Smith that was estimated to add 100 jobs. Also, Mercy formally opened its $10 million Heart and Vascular Center on Feb. 20. The 16,000-square-foot center was built within renovated space within Mercy’s primary hospital in Fort Smith.

The hospital also broke ground in late 2014 on a new $2.34 million clinic to be built a 3700 Cliff Drive in Fort Smith.

OTHER NOTABLES
• The 188th Fighter Wing began converting from its A-10 support mission to a drone and recon mission.

“The new missions: The good thing is we have a mission - a great mission - one that will keep the majority of jobs in the Fort Smith community.  This mission will be RPA and intelligence.  In both areas, we will have  daily engagement in some of the most important and contested regions of the world,” noted a memo from 188th commander Col. Mark Anderson to members of the unit.

• Crawford County Sheriff Ron Brown began the push for a $24 million new jail that would increase the county’s capacity from 88 inmate beds to 317. Members of the Quorum Court were cool to the idea, and a plan to pay for the jail has not yet been approved.

• There are no new jobs planned, but officials with SGL Carbon announced April 17 a $26 million upgrade to their facility in Ozark. The German-based company employs more than 90 people in the Ozark plant, which produces high-power graphic electrodes that create heat in electric arc furnaces used in steel mills. Work on the expansion is expected to be complete by June 2015.

• On May 14, Sebastian County voters overwhelmingly approved renewal of the 1% countywide sales tax, with 78.87% voting for the tax to be in place for another 10 years. Leaders from across Sebastian County had urged voters to renew a 1% sales tax that funds operations in 11 cities across the county, as well as providing county services, such as funding for the county jail.

• An iconic building in downtown Fort Smith that has alternated between consideration for renovation and demolition will soon become the headquarters of Fort Smith-based Propak Logistics. The historic and white-tiled Friedman-Mincer building – also known as the OTASCO building – at the intersection of Garrison Avenue and Towson Avenue in downtown Fort Smith was built in 1911.

Steve Clark, founder and president of Propak, finalized on May 21 the transaction to buy the property. With an acquisition and renovation estimate of about $2 million, Clark plans to convert the three-story, 24,000-square-foot building into offices for the about 40 employees of Propak. The company provides logistics, transportation and supply-chain management services.

• Tampa, Fla.-based Sykes added about 200 jobs to its call center in Fort Smith. Employment at the center, housed in a portion of what was once Phoenix Village Mall, is estimated at 600.

• Up to 90 new jobs were expected to come to Fort Smith thanks to continued expansion at the Gerber plant on the city's north side. The company, which has expanding its operations to add a cereal line in Fort Smith, asked for and was granted June 4 by the Fort Smith Board of Directors an amendment to a resolution passed in 2010 providing the company industrial development revenue bonds. The original bond package totaled $90 million while the project taking place at Gerber has grown so much, the company requested an additional $60 million, bringing the total bonds issued to $150 million.

• After more than 30 minutes of discussion at their regular meeting, the Fort Smith Board of Directors on Aug. 20 reversed a city policy in place more than 45 years and gave the city administrator position the hire-fire authority over department heads. The only positions not under the city administrator authority are the internal auditor and district court clerk. The Fort Smith police chief and fire chief fall under the city administrators new authority.

• Immaculate Conception School is the first elementary school in Fort Smith, public or private, and the first Catholic school in Arkansas to receive the prestigious National Blue Ribbon School award. Immaculate Conception has 309 students, including pre-school. The school has 22 certified teachers and a total faculty/staff count of 43.

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is part of a larger U.S. Department of Education effort to identify and disseminate knowledge about best school leadership and teaching practices. The other Arkansas schools named as a 2013 Blue Ribbon School were Bergman Elementary School (Bergman, Ark.), Central Park at Morning Star Elementary (Bentonville Public School District), and Ellen Smith Elementary School (Conway Public School District).

• A U.S. pet industry that has grown an estimated 22% in the past four years may have helped Mars Petcare officials decide on a $50 million expansion of their Fort Smith manufacturing operation that will add 42 jobs. Officials with Mars Petcare – based in Brussels, Belgium, with a U.S. headquarters located south of Nashville, Tenn. – announced Oct. 23 that they planned to add new equipment and a new line to the Fort Smith operation they opened in September 2009.

• Supporters and officials of the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith pushed beyond a capital campaign goal of $50 million by raising $56.895 million for the UAFS Foundation. More than 200 university supporters and UAFS faculty and staff gathered Sept. 10 on the campus to celebrate the completion of the fundraising effort.

“I hope you feel great about your decision to help thousands of University of Arkansas at Fort Smith students, many of whom you will never know,” said Neal Pendergraft, UAFS Foundation Board member and co-chair of the Giving Opportunity campaign.

• Some of the revenue from the 2009 purchase of Fort Smith-based Sparks Health System could be used to help build and operate a medical school in Fort Smith and generate an up to $100 million a year economic impact. According to Foundation Chairman Kyle Parker, the foundation now has around $50 million and the board is investigating the feasibility of an osteopathic medical school that would, once fully operational, serve 600 students. Efforts to build the school were announced Dec. 18.

Notable deaths included:
• Former Arkansas Sen. Bill Walters of Greenwood, who served in the Senate for 18 years, died from complications related to his battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 69.

• The famed hotel developer John Q. Hammons died May 27 in Springfield, Mo., the home of his company that developed 210 properties in 40 states. He was 94.

• Popular and acclaimed artist John Bell Jr. died Nov. 8 at his Fort Smith home. He was 76.

• Eddie Christian Sr., a Fort Smith attorney known in wide legal circles as one of the best defense attorneys in the nation, died in mid December following a fight with cancer. He was 72.

• David Banks, the former president and CEO of what was for many years Fort Smith-based Beverly Enterprises, died in late December. He was 76.

Link here for the top stories of 2012.

Gay marriage may be coming to one of the most conservative states in America after a federal judge Tuesday (Jan. 14) struck down Oklahoma's state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage – an amendment similar to one approved by Arkansas voters in 2004 that remains in effect in Arkansas.

U.S. Senior District Judge Terence Kern, based in Tulsa, said the gay marriage ban approved by voters in 2004 violated the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment under the equal protection clause.

In explaining his decision in the case, brought by plaintiff Mary Bishop, Kern said Bishop and her partner Sharon Baldwin, who had attempted to obtain a marriage license in Tulsa County, were being denied constitutional rights due to the Oklahoma law.

"Equal protection is at the very heart of our legal system and central to our consent to be governed. It is not a scarce commodity to be meted out begrudgingly or in short portions. Therefore, the majority view in Oklahoma must give way to individual constitutional rights."

Kern said the couple had "been in a loving, committed relationships for many years."

"They own property together, wish to retire together, wish to make medical decisions for one another, and wish to be recognized as a married couple with all its attendant rights and responsibilities," he said. "Part A of the Oklahoma Constitutional Amendment excludes the Bishop couple, and all otherwise eligible same-sex couples, from this privilege without a legally sufficient justification."

Chad Griffin, president of gay-rights group Human Rights Campaign, said Kern's ruling was no different than that of many other judges who have struck down various state laws across the nation that ban gay marriage.

“Judge Kern has come to the conclusion that so many have before him – that the fundamental equality of lesbian and gay couples is guaranteed by the United States Constitution," he said. "With last year’s historic victories at the Supreme Court guiding the way, it is clear that we are on a path to full and equal citizenship for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. Equality is not just for the coasts anymore, and today’s news from Oklahoma shows that time has come for fairness and dignity to reach every American in all 50 states.”

Gov. Mary Fallin, R-Okla., released a statement late Tuesday attacking Kern's ruling, saying that the will of the people of Oklahoma was being denied with this ruling.

"In 2004, the people of Oklahoma voted to amend the state's constitution to define marriage as ‘the union of one man and one woman.’ That amendment passed with 75 percent support," she said. "The people of Oklahoma have spoken on this issue. I support the right of Oklahoma's voters to govern themselves on this and other policy matters. I am disappointed in the judge's ruling and troubled that the will of the people has once again been ignored by the federal government."

While Kern ruled the gay marriage ban in Oklahoma to be unconstitutional, gay marriages will not soon take place in the state. Kern stayed his ruling, waiting for the outcome of a similar case in Utah, which is to be heard soon by Denver's 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, before any changes to Oklahoma law take effect.

Arkansas voters in 2004 approved Amendment 83 to the Arkansas Constitution which says marriage “consists only of the union of one man and one woman.” The law also prohibits any Arkansas official from recognizing gay marriages performed in other states.

Amendment 83 language notes: “Legal status for unmarried persons which is identical or substantially similar to marital status shall not be valid or recognized in Arkansas, except that the legislature may recognize a common law marriage from another state between a man and a woman.”

The 2004 election had 753,770 votes for Amendment 83 and 251,914 against.

The on again, off again River Valley Sports Complex project appears to be back on again following a study session of the Fort Smith Board of Directors on Tuesday (Jan. 14). But how the project will be constructed may change following disagreements during Tuesday's study session about the use of engineering firms for the project.

The RVSC was one of the projects up in the air as the Board looked for ways to fund its half of an additional $3 million to be poured into the Ben Geren Aquatics Center. On Friday, the Fort Smith Parks Commission recommended approval of an updated five year capital improvement plan that would restore all funding to the RVSC, an amount totaling $1.6 million.

As part of the city's partnership with the group, headed by Sen. Jake Files of Fort Smith and Sebastian County Election Commission Chairman Lee Webb, the city has had to follow state law in regard to the procedure for hiring professional services such as engineers and architects.

At issue during Tuesday's meeting was the city's desire to use Mickle Wagner Coleman Engineers for a cost of $420,000 — the firm City Administrator Ray Gosack said is most qualified for the project — and RVSC's desire to use Brixey Engineers, which has proposed engineering costs of $40,323.50, for engineering of the project in order to have plans in place before the U.S. Army begins grading work on the site at Chaffee Crossing this summer.

According to Gosack, Brixey is not the most qualified because it has only been involved in one type of parks-related project, a trail, and has never engineered a sports facility whereas Mickle Wagner Coleman has. Files objected to Gosack's contention that Brixey was not qualified under state law to engineer the facility.

"His firm typically does high end hotels and to say someone's not qualified to do a concession stand with some restrooms and some storage area that does hotels on a daily basis is just flat false," he said.

Gosack noted that Arkansas § 19-11-801 "clearly requires us to select the firm considered the best qualified, not (simply) qualified." Files challenged Gosack's understanding of the law, explaining that while he was not attempting to be argumentative, he thought there was room for flexibility in how the law was interpreted and used.

"Ray, on the state law issues, when I called the attorneys at the Bureau (of Legislative Audit), they told me there was about four different ways you could look at, the city could look at, of getting the proposals back," adding that there were different ways to evaluate qualifications of various firms.

Unable to come to an agreement on how to move forward on the engineering proposals, Director Keith Lau referred to a phone call he had with Gosack in which Gosack had proposed using an alternate method for fulfilling the city's $1.6 million funding obligation to the RVSC and removing questions regarding interpretation of state law as it relates to the selection of firms providing professional services.

"Maybe this is the time to interject that other option that you and I talked about on the phone and maybe I think you talked with Kevin about it — about the potential of letting them, through performance bonds, do it and then waive the competitive bid process. Is that something we want to talk about?"

Gosack said the issuance of performance bonds would allow the RVSC to design, develop and build the facility to the city's specifications and then the city would purchase the facility, making payments on a timeline according to RVSC meeting goals and deadlines.

The proposal was the one rare point of agreement between much of the Board, with Webb adding that he approved the Board's moving forward in that manner.

"If we do go with a performance bond, I think it's a relief to Jake (Files) and I because then we can go do what we do best, which is get the thing done. We don't have to slow down asking someone to get it done."

Webb said the total cost of the project with donations of materials, in-kind donations of labor and the city's $1.6 million portion would likely be around $3 million total. An expected opening date for the facility is still expected to be Spring 2015.

The Board could vote on moving forward with the performance bond plan by its Feb. 11 regular meeting.

NanoMech announced it has purchased its existing factory and will build an adjoining  25,000 square-foot facility in east Springdale, tripling its size and making room for more than two dozen new jobs by late summer.

“The new factory and expanded headquarters will provide for approximately 25 to 50 new jobs for world-class scientists and support staff,” said CEO Jim Phillips said in a statement. “The space will also allow us to meet current demand for our products while advancing ongoing research and development efforts.”

Incorporating cutting edge assembly lines and laboratories, this new expanded facility will also furnish the latest technologies in security, environmental and safety systems for handling advanced manufacturing and military projects. 

A secure wall and security fencing enclosing the campus are also part of the building plans. While the new facility will connect to the existing building, the company has purchased the adjacent 7.3 acre tract for future development providing the company with the ability to expand on a contiguous 9 acre campus. 

NanoMech chose Miller Boskus Lack Architects, P.A. of Fayetteville to design the new headquarters factory and labs. The architectural plans are complete and construction is expected to be begin in the coming weeks. The new factory and headquarters is expected to be fully operational by later this summer.
 
”This advanced facility will allow us to accelerate the development and commercialization of innovative products that people have only dreamed of before,” said Dr. Ajay P. Malshe, NanoMech Founder and chief technology officer said. “Aggressive demand for our technology suggests the need for rapid scale-up production to meet government and private sector orders for our breakthrough products”.
 
NanoMech, founded in 2002, is the result of a successful public/private partnership (PPP) between the private sector, Arkansas, the University of Arkansas, and the federal government. State and city officials worked alongside company leadership to make the company’s new global campus become a reality.
 
“Projects like the NanoMech expansion show that the city is open for business and interested in helping companies grow and expand,” said Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse.

Gov. Mike Beebe and Grant Tennille, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, have actively supported technology growth in Northwest Arkansas, according to the release from NanoMech. They regularly cite the partnership between NanoMech, the University of Arkansas and the private sector as a model for public/private partnership (PPP) success. 
 
“NanoMech is at the forefront of an industry estimated to have a multi-trillion dollar impact on the global economy over the next decade,” Tennille said in the statement. “This expansion signifies to the industry that NanoMech is one of the world’s leading companies and we believe they will continue to create important, knowledge-based jobs and attract the best scientists from the international stage.”

Former U.S. Rep. Mike Ross' campaign is starting to sound like a broken record after the presumptive Democratic nominee for governor announced fundraising figures for the fourth quarter of 2013 and a record-breaking 2013.

During the fourth quarter, Ross raised more than $550,000. The figure is about $100,000 more than Republican frontrunner Asa Hutchinson announced Friday (Jan. 10), making the closest fundraising quarters between the two campaigns.

Including the amount raised during the fourth quarter, Ross raised more then $3.6 million in 2013, more than double all of his opponents combined, according to a press release announcing the fundraising haul.

The total represents a new record number raised by a candidate for governor in a calendar year, the campaign said. The record was previously held by current Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe, who raised $2.39 million in 2005, according to Ross' deputy campaign manager for finance Dustin Smith.

Ross said donations to his campaign had come from across the state, showing his campaign's "energy and enthusiasm."

“Holly and I are blessed by the outpouring of support we continue to receive from every corner of this state, and I am very proud that Arkansans continue to show energy and enthusiasm for our campaign focused on Arkansas’s future,” said Ross. “I’m running for governor to build on Governor Beebe’s legacy of strengthening education, creating good-paying jobs and cutting taxes for working families – all while maintaining this state’s balanced budget.”

Ross, who has about $2.508 million cash on hand, has started a marketing campaign aimed at introducing the former 4th District congressman to the state, including commercials featuring Beebe and a new television ad introduced late Wednesday entitled "Meet Mike." It was a point made by Smith in the campaign's fundraising announcement Wednesday (Jan. 15).

“Our campaign is beginning to introduce Mike on a much larger scale and we are investing early in infrastructure and voter identification as we continue to build one of the largest, most effective grassroots campaigns in state history,”said Smith. “Mike Ross begins 2014 with a cash advantage of more than $1 million over his opponents and he has strong momentum in the polls. We have exceeded all of our fundraising goals, have signed up more than 7,500 volunteers representing every single county in Arkansas and we are well-positioned to sustain our momentum all the way to victory on Election Day.”

The ad released Wednesday highlights Ross' support of the 2nd Amendment and his votes against Obamacare while in Congress, according to Jarrod Yates, Ross for Governor campaign manager.

“Mike Ross is a pro-gun Democrat who voted against Obamacare four times and voted to repeal the law 23 times, and he was consistently rated by National Journal as one of the most independent Members of Congress.  So, we wanted to highlight his independence and common sense voting record in this new ad,” Yates said.  “Mike’s parents were both public school educators and he and his wife, Holly, were small business owners, which is why education and job creation are top priorities for our campaign.  As 2014 gets underway, we will continue to introduce Mike to more and more voters as we move forward with building one of the largest, most effective grassroots campaigns in Arkansas political history.”

Hutchinson has not begun advertising on a large scale, instead saving much of the donations he has raised for use later in the campaign. The former 3rd District congressman only spent $150,000 during the last quarter, leaving the campaign with about $1.3 million cash on hand, about 80% of the funds he has raised during his campaign.

Republican Curtis Coleman, a businessman from North Little Rock who is challenging Hutchinson in the primary, is expected to release his fundraising totals for the fourth quarter later Wednesday. Rep. Debra Hobbs, R-Rogers, who is also challenging Hutchinson, has not indicated when her fundraising totals would be reported.

This story will be updated later today if other fundraising reports are released.

The days of meter readers venturing out in the elements to measure energy consumption has become a thing of the past, at least at two providers of energy in the Fort Smith area. Smart meter use remains limited in Northwest Arkansas.

Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperative Corporation and Oklahoma Gas and Electric confirm they have rolled out new smart grid technology that, among other things, eliminates the need for a meter reader to visit each customer's locale simply to collect information on energy usage.

"Our smart technology is fully deployed, so each one of our customers today has a new digital meter, a communicating meter," said Brian Alford of Oklahoma City-based OG&E.

According to Alford, digital meters that communicate back to a home base or corporate office communicate not just how much energy was used during a given billing period, but also peak usage times.

"With the smart technology, customers now have access to more information about their energy usage, how they're using energy, what that energy is costing and how it gives them information in real time to make changes rather than seeing a (large) bill show up at the end of the month."

POWER CONSUMPTION DECLINE
Since the rollout, which started in October 2009 and was completed toward the end of 2011, Alford said customers have saved 120 megawatts of power. For residential customers in Arkansas, he said that equals about $83 for the entire summer, averaging about $20 per month in savings.

Greg Davis of Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperative said members of the cooperative posted a reduced level of energy usage for the first time in 2012, about nine years after AVECC began a phased rollout of the system.

"2012 was the first year that we saw consumption go down. It was minuscule, but that's huge considering that for the 76 years we've been in business, it's done nothing but go up," he said. "Again, we still had more customers coming in (to the system), but there was less usage for the first time ever."

With customers now able to see in real time how they are consuming energy and are able to take steps to reduce consumption, Alford said it should help utilities like OG&E delay the construction of new power generation facilities, again saving customers money.

"Our goal is to not have to add any additional incremental fossil fuel generation," he said. "We're wanting to push the need for new power plants to at least 2020. To do that, we have to reduce demand on our system and to do that, we have (given) our customers the tools and technology to do that."

STIMULUS FUNDING
Giving customers those tools did not come without a cost, though OG&E found a way to provide the technology without passing on costs to its customers. Alford said OG&E spent approximately $130 million in stimulus funding provided by the U.S. Department of Energy in order to deploy the smart grid technology.

At AVECC, Manager of Engineering Shawn Walling said it was hard to pinpoint the exact costs since it spanned over several years, but he said it ranged between $5 million and $10 million for the much-smaller cooperative.

Davis said even with the costs, it would save money not only through reductions in energy consumption, but also through reducing the amount of cost associated with sending employees into the field to do the readings now that everything could be read digitally.

LIMITED SMART METER USE BY SWEPCO
Peter Main, a spokesman for Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), said his company had only rolled out a limited number of features associated with smart grid technology.

"I guess in terms of meters, we do have a portion of our customer meter base that are one way meters that are read remotely," he said. "They use automated meter reading technology, or AMR. These are one-way meters, strictly for gathering the meter data. They're not true smart meters, which would be two-way communication. So we do have a portion of our system with AMR technology."

Main said the total number of customers on SWEPCO's system in Northwest Arkansas and the Fort Smith regions would be "about 20% of our customers," adding Eureka Springs in Carroll County was the one city "where most of the community is on the system."

Main said there are no plans to expand the smart grid in the area, adding that to do such an investment would be an inestimable task at this point.

SMART METER CHALLENGES
A recent study from Navigant Research highlighted some of the increased costs to local utilities for not just the meters and other external infrastructure, but also IT systems needed to complement the external infrastructure upgrades. The study explained many of the challenges utilities faced, largely explaining why there could be differences in smart grid technologies between utilities, even in areas like Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas that are served by utilities with vastly different levels of smart grid availability.

Alford said unlike SWEPCO, OG&E's entire system was automated — largely due to the stimulus funds — providing additional cost savings for not only customers, but also his utility, which now has the ability to turn electricity service on or off from a distance, again saving his crews trips into the field.

With two of the area's energy providers fully transitioned to the new technology that has already started yielding lower energy usage, Walling of AVECC said local energy customers have likely seen the last "game change" for the next several years, saying, "As far as a game changer down the road, I don't see one right now."

In what should be his final legislative session, Gov. Mike Beebe proposed a $5 billion budget that includes increased funding for prisons and public schools, projected savings from the private option, and a pay hike for public employees.

Beebe, who is term-limited, will leave office in January 2015.

The fiscal session begins Feb. 10, but state lawmakers have begun the hearing process to review state agency budgets between now and then in an effort to smoothly and efficiently handle their annual budgeting duties. The state’s new fiscal year will begin on July 1, 2014.

Beebe’s budget projects overall revenues of $5.03 billion. It includes:
• A $105.8 million increase in total spending for next year;
• $65 million in new funding for public schools;
• $10 million for prison funding, which includes $7 million for reimbursements to county jails and $3 million to expand prison beds;
• $10 million for the state teachers insurance program, which has had a deficit fixed by lawmakers; and
• A $5.25 million for a one percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase for state employees

Beebe’s budget also includes $89 million in savings projected from the private option – the bipartisan-constructed use of state Medicaid dollars for private health insurance passed by the GOP-controlled Arkansas Legislature and Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe last session.

The private option narrowly passed both chambers of the legislature in 2013. In the fiscal session, some lawmakers have indicated reservations about renewing funding for the health care program.

The general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint Wednesday (Jan. 15) against Wal-Mart Stores alleging that more than 60 store supervisors and one corporate officer violated the rights of employees who participated in Black Friday (Nov. 22, 2012) protests at Walmart stores.

The NLRB initially asked Wal-Mart to settle the claim or risk a suit being filed in the coming weeks. Wal-Mart officials said they were looking into the next steps and would make a decision regarding the request for settlement. Also, the NLRB dismissed two of the initial complaints against Wal-Mart. However, talks about the remaining three complaints did not result in a settlement.

“The discussions have not been successful and a consolidated complaint has issued regarding some of the alleged violations of federal law,” noted the NLRB statement issued Wednesday. “More than 60 Walmart supervisors and one corporate officer are named in the complaint. Cases were consolidated to avoid unnecessary costs or delay. Walmart must respond to the complaint by January 28, 2014.”

Three violations of NLRB rules among stores in 14 states were cited.
• During two national television news broadcasts and in statements to employees at Walmart stores in California and Texas, Walmart unlawfully threatened employees with reprisal if they engaged in strikes and protests.

• At stores in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Washington, Walmart unlawfully threatened, disciplined, and/or terminated employees for having engaged in legally protected strikes and protests.

• At stores in California, Florida, Missouri and Texas, Walmart unlawfully threatened, surveilled, disciplined, and/or terminated employees in anticipation of or in response to employees’ other protected concerted activities.

Wal-Mart has said that about 117 workers were fired or disciplined for participating in the last year’s strike on Thanksgiving Day. Wal-Mart spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan previously told The City Wire that it acted within the law.

"We take this very seriously. We believe our actions were legal and justified," she said.

On Wednesday Buchanan continued the theme, adding that the “merits of the complaint” have not been debated and that the NLRB action “is just a procedural step.”

“Wal-Mart believes we acted respectfully and lawfully. We look forward to the opportunity to shed light on the facts,” Buchanan said Wednesday.

Sarita Gupta, executive director of the labor group Jobs With Justice, provided this media statement: "We’ve never seen a complaint against Walmart of this size or scope, and we’re glad the NLRB is taking action. Walmart’s attacks on its own employees cannot go unchecked."

An NLRB administrative law judge will now conduct a trial based on the allegations. The judge’s findings will then be sent to the five-members of the NLRB who will vote to adopt or reject the findings.

According to the NLRB website, the federal agency handles up to 30,000 charges per year from employees, unions and employers covering a range of unfair labor practices. The NLRB is not allowed to assess penalties, but can require reinstatement, backpay and other “make-whole remedies.”

That a Frank Lloyd Wright designed home is art is not a revelation, but to move such a home almost 1,100 miles to be actual art on the Bentonville grounds of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, well, that’s impressive. But it’s not a surprise considering that the museum’s financier was raised in a home designed by a student of Wright.

Officials with Crystal Bridges announced Wednesday (Jan. 15) the acquisition of “a rare Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian house” that now sits in Somerset, N.J. Museum officials did not disclose the cost of buying the home or associated moving costs.

The home, known as the Bachman Wilson House, will be placed near the museum along its 3.5 miles of trails and 120 acres, with views overlooking the native woodland setting as well as Crystal Spring, the natural spring from which the museum takes its name. Plans are to begin site prep in the spring and have the house move completed by early 2015. (See video at the end of this story about the home and how it will be moved.)

”We’re honored to be able to preserve and share this significant example of American architecture, as Frank Lloyd Wright’s work embodies our own mission of celebrating art and nature,” Crystal Bridges Executive Director Rod Bigelow said in the statement. “The Usonian concept was intended to provide access to architectural quality for all families, which melds well with our philosophy of welcoming all to view American masterworks in our natural setting.”

BACHMAN WILSON HOUSE HISTORY
Built in 1954 along the Millstone River, the house has received “significant damage” by repeated flooding. Experts have said the home needs to be relocated if it is to be saved.

Abraham Wilson and Gloria Bachman (husband and wife) commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright in 1954 to design their home. Gloria’s brother, Marvin Bachman, was an apprentice in the Frank Lloyd Wright Taliesin Fellowship.

The design, according to the Crystal Bridges statement, “reflects Wright’s Usonian period: a work of art in simplicity and form, representing organic design principles.”

Lawrence and Sharon Tarantino, who are architects and designers, bought the home in 1988.

“The Tarantinos painstakingly restored the house, using original construction documents from the Frank Lloyd Wright archives. They have both preserved and restored historic elements, and realized original elements of the Wright design that had previously been altered or eliminated,” noted the Crystal Bridges press release.

Like most Wright-designed homes, the Bachman Wilson house uses natural materials and open spaces that allow the home to blend in with the adjacent geography.

“The Bachman Wilson House goes far beyond providing shelter. It’s an exercise in architecture for architecture’s sake that represents a culmination of principles Wright embraced and developed throughout his long, prolific career. Wright was in his mid-80s when he was working on this house, and he also wrote his book, The Natural House, a summation of his design philosophy, during the same time period,” said Lawrence Tarantino.

CRYSTAL BRIDGES PLAN
The sale of the house includes all the fixtures and furniture designed for it. The Tarantinos will supervised the “methodical process” of dismantling the home so it can be shipped to Arkansas.

Lowell-based J.B. Hunt Transport is donating its trucks and services to move the home components.

"We are honored to be a part of such a monumental effort to save one of America's truly iconic structures,” John Roberts, president and CEO of J.B. Hunt Transport, said in the statement. “We are pleased the house will settle within our area's natural beauty and provide such valuable educational opportunities."

At Crystal Bridges, the house will be available for study as well as for limited programming and tours. Crystal Bridges’ educational and public program offerings include an architectural focus that will be enhanced through the addition of the Bachman Wilson House to Crystal Bridges’ grounds.

Tarantino said other locations were also considered other than Crystal Bridges.

“Once the decision was made to move the house, many opportunities presented themselves to us,” said Lawrence Tarantino. “It became clear that there could be no better opportunity for the preservation of this important work of Frank Lloyd Wright than to secure its future stewardship in perpetuity at a public institution with a mission of celebrating American art and architecture, on a site offering the proper setting, and with the capability of providing for its future maintenance and preservation, all of which Crystal Bridges offers.”

WRIGHT, FAY JONES CONNECTION
Also, museum staff will work with the University of Arkansas to develop programs through the university’s Fay Jones School of Architecture.

E. Fay Jones was just an architecture professor at the University of Arkansas when in 1958 he was asked by Helen and Sam Walton to build a 5,800-square-foot home near where Crystal Bridges is now located. The Walton’s, founders of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., saw that house destroyed in a 1972 fire. They had Jones, who was once a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, rebuild a larger home. Alice Walton, the daughter of Helen and Sam Walton, financed a majority – provided at least $317 million – of the Crystal Bridges museum.

“With the addition of the Bachman Wilson House to Crystal Bridges’ grounds, the master and the protégé will be coming together in our region,” Marlon Blackwell, department head and distinguished professor in the UA Fay Jones School of Architecture. “Not only is an endangered house finding a new home in the Ozarks, but the work of Wright and Jones will be further unified, offering insight into the principles that these two architects and kindred spirits practiced and shared.”

Crystal Bridges, one of the premier art museums in the U.S., opened on Nov. 11, 2011, and has had almost 1.2 million visitors. The facility has about 217,000 square foot of galleries, meeting space, libraries and other areas.

Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac reports 1.361 million foreclosure filings on U.S. properties in 2013, down 26% from a year ago and some 53% lower than the $2.9 million peak hit in 2010. Filings were up almost 70% in Arkansas during the year.

The national pace hit its slowest stride since 2007, according to Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. The report also shows that 1.04% of U.S. housing units (one in every 96) had at least one foreclosure filing during the year, down from 1.39% of housing units in 2012.

“The shadow cast by the foreclosure crisis is shrinking as fewer distressed properties enter foreclosure and properties already in foreclosure are poised to exit in greater numbers in 2014 given the greater numbers of scheduled foreclosure auctions in 2013 in judicial states — which account for the bulk of U.S. foreclosure inventory,” Blomquist said.

One thing economists agree on is the local aspect of real estate and the differences that can exist between adjacent neighborhoods, much less adjacent counties.

Foreclosures accounted for less than 0.6% of households across the Natural State last year despite regular monthly ups and down in terms of new filings. There were 7,786 filings statewide in 2013, up 69.3% from the prior year.

NWA, FORT SMITH AREA ACTIVITY
In Northwest Arkansas the foreclosure market remains mixed with larger Benton County experiencing more activity in both sales and foreclosures than neighboring Washington County.

In December Benton County reported 53 new foreclosure filings, up 39% from a year ago. During that same period Washington County reported 11 foreclosure filings, down 63% from a year earlier.

South of the Bobby Hopper Tunnel on Interstate 540, Crawford and Sebastian counties each reported higher numbers in December. There were 20 new filings in larger Sebastian County, up 66% from a year ago, while Crawford County reported 13 new foreclosure filings, up 85.7% from December 2012.

Despite rising activity in three of the four regional counties, the number of foreclosure listings continues to decline. Jim Long, agent with Crye-Leike Real Estate said there are 322 listings in the two markets as of Jan. 15. The foreclosure listings totaled 360 in December, 368 in November and 354 in October.

Long said new foreclosure listings are slow to come back into the market. Johnnie Snell of Coldwell Banker works with foreclosures going back to FreddieMac as well as Fannie Mae and HUD. Snell said the properties that come on the market in decent shape sell quickly, which has prevented a growing surplus of foreclosed homes.

FULL YEAR
For the full year, Benton County reported 1,173 foreclosure filings, up 45.9% from 2012. That equaled one in every 78 households for the full year or 1.28% of total housing units.

In Washington County there were 524 foreclosure filings, rising 7.16% from last year. The foreclosure rate was one in every 165 households for the full year impacting roughly 0.6% of households in the county.

Sebastian County had 263 filings last year, which was one in every 206 households. A year ago there were 157 filings, falling 67.5% in the year-over-year period. RealtyTrac shows there are 54,279 households in the county and less than 0.5% are in default or jeopardy of foreclosure.

Crawford County reported 170 filings last year, up 75% from those recorded in 2012. Roughly one in every 152 households or 0.66% housing units had at least one foreclosure filing last year.

Blomquist said there continues to be ample investor demand willing to pay cash for homes at auction, which is helping to raise the values. Nationwide, foreclosure values rose 10% in 2013.

He said the cash availability could create an increase in foreclosure filings through the first half of 2014 in states like Arkansas where activity was held up by litigation.

FORECLOSURE FILING NUMBERS
Benton County
2013: 1,173
2012: 804

Washington County
2013: 524
2012: 489

Sebastian County
2013: 263
2012: 157

Crawford County
2013: 170
2012: 97

Home Bancshares, Inc., parent company of Centennial Bank, reported record net income for the year ended Dec. 31, 2013 of $66.5 million compared to $63 million for the year ended 2012.

For the fourth quarter of 2013, Conway-based Home Bancshares recorded quarterly net income of $13 million compared to $16.9 million of net income one year ago. The previously announced Liberty Bancshares acquisition was a huge driver of the record earnings. Centennial now operates the Liberty Bank locations in the Northwest Arkansas and Fort Smith areas.

“During the fourth quarter we made a game-changing purchase with the Liberty acquisition. It was a historical accomplishment for Home Bancshares to be able to complete Arkansas’s largest ever in-state bank acquisition plus convert the core operating systems in the same quarter. This impressive execution has the company in position to realize the anticipated cost savings, thereby rewarding our shareholders,” said John Allison, Chairman.

“Our team is focused on this important task and is working to recognize these enhancements as quickly as possible. I am looking forward to watching our team succeed in this process. As a result, I believe there is a bright future for us during 2014,” he added.

“We have been able to achieve many successes throughout the year that positioned us to be ready to handle the acquisition of Liberty,” CEO Randy Sims said in the statement. “As for the financial results, we are proud of the record profit reported for 2013. It was a truly remarkable financial performance year with the company reporting net income of $66.5 million and diluted earnings per share of $1.14 per share or net income of $77.7 million and diluted earnings per share of $1.33 excluding merger expenses. During the year we have been focused on our efficiency ratio and net interest margin. These efforts have paid off as we are pleased to report an impressive 45.49% core efficiency ratio and 5.19% net interest margin for the year.”

Financial highlights for the fourth quarter include:
• Net interest income for the fourth quarter of 2013 increased 62.4% to $67.1 million from $41.3 million during the fourth quarter of 2012.

• Non-interest income for the fourth quarter of 2013 of $12.2 million, compared to $16.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2012.

• Total covered loans were $282.5 million at Dec. 31, 2013 compared to $384.9 million at Dec. 31, 2012.

• Total deposits were $5.39 billion at Dec. 31, 2013 compared to $3.48 billion at Dec. 31, 2012.

• Total assets were $6.81 billion at Dec. 31, 2013 compared to $4.24 billion at Dec. 31, 2012.

News late Tuesday (Jan. 14) that Oklahoma's ban on gay marriage had been overturned on grounds that it violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment caught many off guard.

While the ruling by a federal judge in Tulsa has been stayed pending the appeal of a similar ruling in Utah, the expected change to Oklahoma law which would allow for gay marriage in the traditionally conservative state has some Arkansans wondering how this will impact the natural state.

Matt Campbell, an attorney with Pinnacle Law Firm in Little Rock and the left-leaning blogger behind the Blue Hog Report, said while there has been excitement within some liberal circles about what this ruling could mean for other southern states like Arkansas, it will not immediately effect any legislation or legal rulings.

"I don't know that it influences it directly," Campbell said, adding that while the federal case will not have a direct impact on Arkansas, it does mean a similar ruling could take place here.

"If you had asked me a week ago to make a list of the last ten states where gay marriage would have been legal, Oklahoma would not have been on that list," he said. "The whole federal (courts) changing things is kind of the only way it will happen. It does make you wonder if it could happen here."

POSSIBLE PIAZZA RULING
The only case pending in Arkansas at this point appears to be Wright, et al., v. State, a case being heard by Circuit Judge Chris Piazza in Little Rock.

Campbell said there is a good chance Piazza could follow in the footsteps of U.S. Senior District Judge Terence Kern, using the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause to overturn the Arkansas ban on gay marriage (Amendment 83), passed in 2004 with 753,770 votes for and 251,914 against.

"More or less, (the plaintiff in the Arkansas case are making) the same argument as the Oklahoma case. They are arguing it's an equal protection violation to define it as one man and one woman. That's what the Oklahoma judge used to overrule the law — you can't amend away certain rights is more or less what they're arguing."

Campbell was quick to note that Piazza was the same judge who ruled the 2008 Arkansas constitutional amendment banning gay adoption as illegal. His ruling was eventually upheld by the Arkansas Supreme Court in 2011.

It is cases like the one struck down Tuesday in Oklahoma and the one in court in Little Rock that Campbell said are likely to result in gay marriage coming to Arkansas, though Campbell said he expects the issue to not be settled on a state by state basis, but instead by a ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I think eventually you'll have to have the Supreme Court involved because you'll have a federal court that will probably some time soon goes against the (federal court in Tulsa)," he said. "Then you'll have disagreement among the courts and then the Supreme Court will decide."

FAMILY COUNCIL REACTION
Campbell's assertion that the Supreme Court will have to get involved is the same prediction of the Arkansas Family Council, a Little Rock non-profit that promotes family values. President Jerry Cox of the Family Council said Wednesday that while the Oklahoma ruling did not change Arkansas law, he believes the case will land at the highest court in short order.

"Activists have filed over a dozen lawsuits across the country challenging state marriage amendments in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s DOMA decision last summer," he said in this statement."It is not surprising out of that many lawsuits they would find one or two federal judges willing to strike down a state marriage amendment. It’s also likely many judges will uphold these amendments as constitutional. Either way, this issue will not be settled until it makes its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Cox also argues that it’s not a certainty that the U.S. Supreme Court will strike down state bans on same-sex marriages. He explained: “When the court struck part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act last summer, the court said states—not the federal government—define marriage. If the U.S. Supreme Court were to go a step farther and say these state marriage amendments are unconstitutional, it would effectively be saying that neither the state nor the federal government has the right to define marriage. That just wouldn’t make sense.”

Campbell said it would likely be two years before any of the cases discussed across the nation are taken up by the Supreme Court, though he said it is likely that more states will see similar rulings resulting in gay marriage being allowed in states that have overwhelmingly voted to ban it, such as Arkansas and Oklahoma, which voted to ban gay marriage in 2004 with over 75% of the vote.

"It moves so slowly (getting a case to the Supreme Court), that you could have almost a critical mass of states where the law is struck down before it ever gets to the Supreme Court," he said, adding that Arkansas could be one of those states depending on what happens with the case before Piazza.

"My gut feeling is Judge Piazza does strike down the gay marriage ban on equal protection grounds here, which makes the (2014) general election so important," Campbell said. "At some point during the appeals process, you'll have the next attorney general (of Arkansas) stepping into office."

And if that attorney general has a differing point of view from the judge, Campbell said there is every likelihood that the attorney general may not attempt to defend an eventual striking of the gay marriage ban from the books in Arkansas.

Nationally known chief economist Rich Yamerone, of Bloomberg L.P. , said tracking ladies dress and make-up sales will offer insight into consumer spending and sentiment — responsible for 72% of the U.S. economy.

Yamerone was one of three economists featured at the 20th Annual University of Arkansas Forecast Luncheon held in Rogers on Thursday, (Jan. 16). About 1,000 attended this year’s event coming from Little Rock, Fort Smith and other areas across the Natural State.

TYSON’S TAKE
Tyson Foods CEO Donnie Smith moderated the event while also sharing his knowledge on the food business. As one of the region’s largest employers, Springdale-based Tyson Foods is also very aware of what U.S. consumers want and need. Smith said consumers are constantly redefining the concept of value.

“Consumers are walking a tightrope right now, they want what they want. They will trade down when they have to; but they expect the healthier food choices. They prefer fresh over frozen and they want to know it’s been produced responsibly,” Smith said.

‘DARK SIDE’
Yamerone took the stage and tried for some 30 minutes to convince the large crowd that the U.S. economy is treading on thin ice through two quarters and there are more caution signs ahead.

“How many of you think the U.S. is headed for another recession,” Yamerone asked the crowd.

After a showing of less than five hands, Yamerone said, “I see that two or three of you are right. I hope to bring the rest of you over to the dark side before I am finished.”

He said jobs are the key to a better economy and as he travels across the country talking with owners and managers businesses large and small, the one common complaint he hears is that mandated healthcare is stifling business expansion.

Smaller employers are reducing staffs to get below the 50 person cut-off to avoid the healthcare mandate, he said. Larger companies like Darden Restaurants —  300,000 employees — are simply reducing hours and hiring more people.

“What we have are more lower middle class consumers having to work two and three jobs in some cases to keep up. I don’t see this changing and it is doubtful many of the middle class manufacturing jobs that were lost post 2008 will ever return,” Yamerone said.

He said there are not enough workers in place or coming soon to peddle the economy forward at a pace needed to maintain stability.

WOMEN CONTROL THE FINANCES
In closing, Yamerone shared his “Fab Five” indicators for what to expect with the U.S. economy going forward.
• Dining out — trending down over the past two years
• Casino gambling — downward trend since 2006, buoyed recently largely from Chinese consumers
• Jewelry & watch sales — rose some in 2012 but trending flat since
• Cosmetics & perfume sales — trending lower since 2011
• Women’s dress sales — wide swings since 2011, but trending lower toward the end of 2013

“Women are the chief financial officers of the household. They pay the bills, do nearly all the shopping and keep the family finances afloat. When they see less money coming in, they will pull back on eating out and self purchases, like dresses, cosmetics and perfume. They won’t cut out the kid’s soccer — that’s why we all love mom so much,” Yamerone said.

In all seriousness, Yamerone said he recently met with the executive team from Lowe’s, the home improvement retailer. He said the Lowe’s executives wanted to hear from the ladies in the room because they said it’s mostly the females in the household that decide when there will be a kitchen remodel or other household purchase.

Ironically, many of the largest companies in Northwest Arkansas are largely dependent on U.S. consumer behavior in retail, supply chain and food processing. So what goes on in the rest of country is important to Northwest Arkansas and the rest of the state as well.

SLOW GROWTH
Kathy Deck, director for the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas, had better news for the group with respect to the state and regional economies. But even she took a pause of concern about the “dreadful” labor force numbers across the Natural State.

Deck said slow growth does not equal recession, even though it might feel like it for some.

The forecast for the Arkansas economy in 2014 looks a lot like the experiences of 2013, Deck said. The rate of job growth in the state will continue to be slow and Arkansas will struggle to reach its pre-recession employment peak.

Employment growth in Arkansas is not on pace to make up the recession’s shortfall in 2014 or 2015, although the national economy is likely to reestablish employment highs during that time, according to Deck. Highlights of her talk included:
• There were net job losses in the manufacturing, government, information and other service sectors in Arkansas in 2013.

• Despite these losses, the unemployment rate in Arkansas has fallen to 6.9% from its post-recession high of 9%.

• The Arkansas labor force has been declining on a year-over-year basis every month since July 2012, even though the U.S. labor force has grown.

• In 2013, employment growth picked up in the Fort Smith, Central Arkansas and Jonesboro metropolitan areas and continued to boom in Northwest Arkansas.

• In Northwest Arkansas, no sectors had employment declines on a year-over-year basis in 2013, and overall employment grew at 4.3%.

“We have seen Fort Smith begin to generate some positive growth and that area looks to be rebounding since the Whirlpool closure there,” Deck said.

The employment growth in Northwest Arkansas and Central Arkansas also has been healthy this past year, according to Deck. But those regional improvements are not enough to compensate for the large rural areas that continue to suffer, she said. Deck said the state, led somewhat by Northwest Arkansas, will need to see continued investment into start-ups and other entrepreneurial ventures. 

She said housing has been strong in Northwest the past two years and infrastructure spending is helping to spur some growth along with continued private investments.

“Take Crystal Bridges for instance, who would have ever thought a Frank Lloyd Wright home would make its way to Bentonville,” Deck said.

One other area posed to do well in Northwest Arkansas is the business and professional  sector. Deck said the University of Arkansas is graduating more accountants, engineers and architects, and companies are taking advantage of that local talent.

CHINA RULES
Yi Wen, economist with St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, said China is in the midst a major revolution, much like the Industrial Revolution that took place in the 18th and 19th Centuries.

“Once a revolution of this magnitude begins it’s very difficult to stop,” Wen said during his remarks the forecast luncheon.

Though much has been said in recent months about a slowing in China’s economic output, Wen said he believes China will continue to post 7% to 8% annual grow rates for the next 20 years or so until the per capita income levels reach some 70% to 80% of those in the U.S.

He said China has its problems, like losing manufacturing jobs to Africa and other lower paying countries. But the housing market is doing well, as many Chinese consumers are investing in real estate seeking higher rates of return.

“In China, consumers must put 30% down on the purchase of a housing unit. If they buy two, the downpayment is 50%. In many cases the Chinese just pay cash for these investments, so there is little risk to the banking system with this rise in real estate,” Wen said.

The two largest companies in Northwest Arkansas continue to invest in China. Tyson Foods works to fully integrate chicken operations there and Wal-Mart has said it will add 110 new stores in China by 2016.