The U.S. Marshals Museum, a more than $50 million museum to be built along the banks of the Arkansas River, will still have a September groundbreaking, but the opening of the museum will be delayed one year to 2017.

The delay, confirmed by Marshals Museum President and CEO Jim Dunn, is due to a variety of factors, including securing funding. One of the funding mechanisms the museum had counted on to move the project forward is known as new market tax credits. The credits are available both on a federal and state level. Dunn said the museum had hoped to secure the credits at the federal level.

"We had planned for and hoped to obtain $10 million in new market tax credits to be allocated this year," he said. "We could use it toward the cost. Because of some changes in that program and other factors, we learned that we could really not qualify for the entire $10 million in one year and we should spread out our efforts over two years, and possible three, and (that would) improve our chances for up to $8 million."

The tax credits are administered by certified Community Development Entities (CDEs), which are essentially investors who use the funds for investments in low-income communities. Dunn explained that as the economy has recovered and more businesses are interested in securing the tax credits, it would be more difficult to secure the funding necessary to move forward with the project.

"The bottom line was it would behoove us (to apply for the credits over multiple years) because the likelihood of us getting that amount of money in one year was very slim and because we were not shovel ready," he said. "We just can't be shovel ready this calendar year. Our fundraising has not been to the point we could qualify."

According to Dunn, the museum has "raised a total of just over $14 million," adding that the museum currently has between $9 million and $9.5 million "in cash or pledges receivable."

In order to stand a better chance of being a recipient of the tax credits, he said the staff and supporters of the Marshals Museum would have to ramp up fundraising efforts while using cash on hand to start the ground work following the expected groundbreaking on Sept. 24, 2014.

"We will self-fund the 2014 phase (of construction). In 2015, we will aggressively fundraise. Plans are in 2015, when we've reached necessary fundraising thresholds, then we can hopefully apply (for the tax credits). ... Ideally, we'd like to have $25 million in cash or pledges next year sometime."

He said the museum had the next 12 to 15 months to raise the $25 million needed, adding that "if we can spread it out over two years, we hope we can get (the tax credits)."

But Dunn said it was not only the tax credits that delayed the opening of the museum, but also the construction of the museum itself.

"When we started looking at that and what the architects were telling us about the construction period and the length of time to start actual bricks and mortar, it made sense for us to reevaluate our schedule. Frankly, I had underestimated the complexity of the project and the length of time to get it completed."

The museum, which held a board meeting Tuesday (March 11), continues to move forward with final design for the facility, according to Dunn. He said during the meeting on Tuesday, the board voted to hire exhibit designers at a cost of $2.158 million.

He said the museum had also partnered with members of the Oklahoma-based Native American tribes who are part of the Trail of Tears Committee, which are partnering with the museum to design a memorial to cross-deputized Native Americans who were killed in service to the United States during the period when land west of the Arkansas border at Fort Smith was known as Indian Territory.

"Plans are now underway to get that project designed and built," he said. "It would be a significant addition to the campus and downtown Fort Smith. We are very excited about the cooperation we are getting from the five tribes."

The Five Civilized Tribes refer to the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole nations, according to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture.

Groundbreaking for the U.S. Marshals Museum, which will include 20,000 square feet of exhibition space and will be located on the riverfront in downtown Fort Smith, is set for Sept. 24, 2014, to coincide with the 225th anniversary of the creation of the service in 1789. The U.S. Marshals Service is the oldest American federal law enforcement agency and was established by President George Washington.

In January 2007, the U.S. Marshals Service selected Fort Smith as the site for the national museum. The cost to build the museum — including exhibit work — is estimated at around $53 million. Although the announcement was made in 2007, formal fundraising activities did not begin until the latter part of 2009.

Much of Arkansas is in the area of “greatest risk” for severe weather that may include a spike in tornadoes and damaging thunderstorms and is expected to begin in early Spring, according to AccuWeather.com.

AccuWeather.com reports persistent cold air during the first part of the spring is likely to cause severe weather to get off to a sluggish start in a heavily populated part of the nation. However, a marked turnaround is expected later in the spring for 2014.

On average, severe weather gradually ramps up moving forward through the spring. This year, the transition may occur later and may be more dramatic. A spike in damaging thunderstorms, including some capable of producing tornadoes, is expected during May and June.

"We expect a southward dip in steering-level winds to occur much of the time over a large part of the Midwest to the Eastern states during March and the first part of April,” said AccuWeather Long Range Weather Expert Paul Pastelok.

TORNADO STATS
The National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration estimates that about 1,300 tornadoes hit the U.S. every year. The federal agency shows 1,691 reported tornado events in 2011, 939 in 2012 and 908 in 2013. Tornado-related deaths totaled 553 in 2011, 70 in 2012 and 55 in 2013. April is the month with the most tornadoes, with a three-year average of 350. May is second with 238.

Between 1980 and 2009, there were 965 reported tornadoes in Arkansas, ranking the state 15th for the number of events, according to this NOAA report. Texas was first during the same period with 4,557 reported tornadoes, Kansas was second with 2,259, Florida was third with 1,913, Oklahoma was fourth with 1,647 and Nebraska rounded out the top five with 1,537.

However, Arkansas ranks fourth in the total number of deaths (126) in the same period. Alabama is first with 165, Texas had 147 reported deaths and Tennessee had 142. Arkansas ranks second in the number of “killer tornadoes” in the period with 47. Texas ranked first with 58.

JET STREAM INFLUENCE
This dip of strong winds high in the atmosphere, known as a jet stream trough, will generally keep warm, moist air at bay from near the Mississippi River to the Atlantic coast.

Last year, a similar setup occurred in much of the same area during the spring and led to a much lower-than-average severe weather season for the nation as a whole.

"This year, the ground is colder, the Great Lakes have an extensive amount of ice and the Gulf of Mexico waters are starting off colder than average," Pastelok said. "All of these can have a negative impact on temperatures in the lower atmosphere."

Over much of the Southeast, Midwest and Northeast, the tornado risk will be lower than average early on due to the colder-than-average environment expected.

"As a positive note, we may not see the frequency and violence of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes that typically occur during March and much of April, because of the lingering chill impacting a significant part of the nation,” said Severe Weather Expert Dan Kottlowski.

Kottlowski urged caution when comparing overall numbers of tornado and other severe weather incidents to other seasons.

"This is not to say there cannot be a couple of outbreaks of severe weather during the first part of the spring in portions of the Midwest, the South and even the Northeast," Kottlowski said. "People should not let their guard down."

EARLY START FOR SEVERE WEATHER
There is one area where severe weather may get off to an early, typical start with the possibility of frequent severe weather events during March and April. In portions of Texas, Oklahoma, western Arkansas and western Louisiana, Kottlowski and Pastelok both expect warmth to build quickly relative to the balance of the Central and Eastern states.

"We expect a normal to perhaps an above-average amount of severe thunderstorms over the Central states during May and June," Kottlowski said.

Indications are that the jet stream will pull to the north during May and June and hence will allow warm, moist air to flow northward more regularly over the Midwest.

"While warmth combined with drier air may keep a lid on severe weather for a time in the East during May, the air should be thoroughly warm and moist over much of the Midwest and South Central states," Pastelok said.

Areas from the Dakotas and Minnesota to Wisconsin, Michigan, the Appalachians and Atlantic coast should experience surge of severe weather during June and July.

A significant number of severe weather events are likely to continue to occur over the balance of the Midwest and South Central states and expand to along the Rockies as spring draws to a close and summer begins.

Even though the economy has been slow to recover since the start of the Great Recession in 2008, it has not stopped Arkansas’ budding entrepreneurs from not only having dreams of building their own business, but putting those dreams into writing in the form of a business plan.

One event helping young entrepreneurs develop their business plans is the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup, billed as “the premier statewide business plan competition for college students.”

Sam Walls, president of the Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation (AEAF), the annual event’s sponsor, said the competition, founded in 2001, is about more than just helping business majors write a well-formed business plan.

“If you look at the great stories in Arkansas — Wal-Mart, Tyson, Stephens, Acxiom, J.B. Hunt — those have been a large economic driver for us. The question is where is the next one? You want to see as many of those businesses as you can.”

According to Walls, the competition is about encouraging students to think outside the box and even if their initial idea does not place in the competition, to continue pursuing an interest in entrepreneurship down the road.

“You hope it plants the seed, drives the interest for them, to be an entrepreneur, to at some point down the road step up with the next big idea for our state.”

One business plan that has gone from an idea to an award-winning business plan to an actual company is TrustedWills.com, the brainchild of Ouachita Baptist University student Lindsey Fowler and her faculty advisor Bryan McKinney.

Fowler, who competed in the Governor’s Cup last year as a junior, presented the idea for a website that would allow individuals to create legally-binding wills online. And even though she still had a year of school to complete, Fowler said it was far from her first business plan competition.

“Bryan McKinney came to me and had this vague idea for what became Trusted Wills and he had seen me participate in the freshman year business plan competition at OBU and he thought it would be a really great partnership for us to do this business, so we started working on it last year,” she said.

The vague idea from McKinney, who is an attorney and the dean of OBU’s Hickingbotham School of Business, landed Fowler with a first-place win in the school’s business plan competition, as well as first place in another business plan competition hosted by OBU that included entries from the school’s cross-town rival, Henderson State University in Arkadelphia.

“The next step was the Governor’s Cup. Throughout the process, we were getting feedback from the judges that really helped prepare us for the Governor’s Cup and for the statewide level,” she said.

Using that feedback to update the company’s business plan, Fowler was able to take TrustedWills.com to the Governor’s Cup, where she finished as a finalist and also won a competition known as the Elevator Pitch, where the various competitors are able to pitch their business plans to a group luncheon, with those in attendance choosing a winner of the competition.

McKinney said he believed one advantage Fowler had as she presented was being able to have a product that was live and able to be shown in service.

“The thing that I’ve seen win at these competitions are things the students are passionate about and actually intend to do, instead of just a class project.”

Since launching in June 2013 and using the feedback from the competition judges to refine the company’s business plan, TrustedWills.com has logged 5,368 visits and 11,659 page views (as of February 2014). And while the numbers may seem light when imagining an online business, McKinney said the company had already recovered its startup costs, again emphasizing that he and Fowler had taken the advice of competition judges in re-tooling the site.

“We significantly exceeded our start-up costs immediately upon our launch in June of 2013, shortly after the Governor’s Cup competition. We had initially planned to launch initially in Arkansas and Texas, but we were surprised to see the level of interest from beyond those two states,” McKinney said. “Some of the judges in the competitions along the way had strongly encouraged us to go to every state as soon as we are able.

Their advice was spot on. We are currently working to have each state live within the next two months.”

There are dozens of teams in this year’s Governor’s Cup attempting to take an idea and use the feedback to build their business, just as Fowler and McKinney did. According to AEAF Executive Director Marie Bruno, 38 teams from 10 universities filed intents to compete by the January 31 deadline, with business plans due for the competition on February 21, with winners to be announced April 9.

Among the students taking part in this year’s competition is John Brown University student Chase Skelton, who is one of a four-person team. Skelton’s idea, he said, came from his time interning for a Wal-Mart vendor in Benton County in the summer of 2013 and having a conversation with a co-worker who used to work for a company that produced dolls targeted to pre-teen girls.

“She was just talking about her experience in the company and kind of the reason that she left was after she had a daughter, she kind of thought that their products really weren’t about the healthy values she would want to share with her daughter.”

Skelton added that he and his classmates were also being bombarded by messages from their peers on social media decrying certain dolls for young girls as not portraying realistic self-image and realistic beauty, adding to the perceived need for a values-based doll.

“Talking with my classmates, we thought there was a real opportunity here for a real accurate representation of beauty in like girls’ dolls, girls’ toys, and with that also healthy values,” said Skelton.

As a result, their plan calls for not only the physical production and sale of the dolls, but also an interactive component online for children and their parents to craft the doll’s characteristics in a positive way.

“And so that was the idea behind our product — kind of a custom doll that they like built together with the girl and the mother’s perception of what is real beauty,” he said. “And through that, like prompts about (the doll’s personality). Like what does the doll do for fun? Like activities that she’s a part of? And we’d have like different pre-set prompts that comes up as they’re creating the doll out of these like modular pieces and all of these different aspects that promote values conversations for the mom and the daughter to kind of have naturally.”

Eva Fast, Skelton’s business instructor and faculty sponsor for the Governor’s Cup competition, said while it may have sounded easy for Skelton and his team members to come up with the idea, it was a challenge to develop the right idea for a business.

“That was not their first idea at all,” she said. “They went through probably…they probably had three or four other ideas that they actively researched before they landed on this one.”

Fast said her role as a business instructor and advisor is not to form the students’ ideas and subsequent plans for them, but to get them to start noticing openings right in front of them.

“What I do is I meet with the juniors once right before summer time just for an hour and I tell them you need to become aware of your environment and you need to become alert to opportunities. So I give each of them just a really small notebook that they can keep in their back pocket.”

The goal, she said, is to get the students to not only find challenges in their community but to see if there is a way to solve those challenges through business.

“I encourage them not even to think first of the product, but to think first of the problem. A solution — you can write down a solution, but until you identify a real problem and a real need that people will pay for, then you don’t need to spend any time working on the product.”

Another group competing in this year’s Governor’s Cup competition did just that. Danielle Clark, a senior business major at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, is part of a group of four students who tackled the problem of individuals on bed rest — mainly pregnant women — who have back and neck pain as a result of being immobile for extended periods of time.

“Basically, in the past, (pregnant women) have just had to stack pillows on their side or if you’re in the hospital, they just had to stack pillows on the side of your bed. You’re uncomfortable, plus the nurses can’t even maneuver,” Clark said. “So this pillow is shaped in a wedge and you don’t have to move or anything like that. It just provides support for anybody on bed rest. And it also helps with bed sores.”

The prototype Clark and her team members will present at the competition will cost about $500 each and will only be available through hospitals, she said, and was developed through surveying a variety of potential users in their region, reinforcing that the business plan was right for their target market.

As part of the business plan, Clark’s group — Launch Pad Invents — estimates that it would need about $125,000 in startup costs. The group also included in the plan a sales projection of 85 pillows a month by August 2015, just more than a year after the company expects to launch in July of this year.

Clark and Skelton said they hoped to follow in the footsteps of Fowler in launching a successful business, possibly while still in school. The process could be made easier should either place in the competition, as first prize is a $30,000 cash prize, with second receiving $20,000 and third receiving $10,000. Additionally, first and second place winners in the undergraduate and graduate categories will go onto the Tri-State Business Plan Competition later this year at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas.

As for Fowler, she is in the process of finishing her studies at OBU and plans on using earnings from TrustedWills.com to help finance her ultimate dream — law school. She is also encouraging Arkansas students to pursue their dreams in business and to make competing in the Governor’s Cup a part of that journey.

“There’s few things in life more satisfying then seeing an idea taken from the very first stages of just discussing it to having a vague idea to getting feedback from business professionals from across the state,” said Fowler. “The Governor’s Cup did such a wonderful job of bringing in people to encourage you and give you really healthy, helpful feedback to say you can take your idea from the beginning stages all the way to where we are right now with Trusted Wills, where we are a launched website, a working business.”

Foreclosures continue to be a smaller part of the local housing markets of Northwest Arkansas and the Fort Smith metro area. Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac reports just 398 foreclosure filings across the entire state last month, down 50% from a year ago.

There were 254 new foreclosures started and another 144 completed at the state level in February. Starts plunged 63% and completions decreased 44% from the year-ago period.

• County Statistics (February)
Benton County: 50, down 62%
Washington County: 26, down 59%
Sebastian County: 11, down 54%
Crawford County: 8, down 60%

RealtyTrac reports 112,498 new foreclosure filings for February, down 27% from a year ago, the lowest monthly total since December 2006.

“Cold weather and a short month certainly contributed to a seasonal drop in foreclosure activity in February, but the reality is that new activity is no longer the biggest threat to the housing market when it comes to foreclosures,” Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, said in the report. “The biggest threat from foreclosures going forward is properties that have been lingering in the foreclosure process for years, many of them vacant with neither the distressed homeowner or the foreclosing lender taking responsibility for maintenance and upkeep of the home — or at the very least facilitating a sale to a new homeowner more likely to perform needed upkeep and maintenance.”

Blomquist refers to these vacated properties as “zombie foreclosures.” The report shows roughly one in four homes in foreclosure across the U.S. has been vacated by the owners. While Arkansas is not among the states with the most “zombie foreclosures,” it did record the longest foreclosure time for owner-vacated homes (1,128 days).

Experts say when vacated homes linger it’s a drain on the neighborhood valuations and they contribute to a climate of uncertainty and low inventory in local housing markets.

Jim Long, agent with Crye-Leike Real Estate in Bentonville, said there are 273 foreclosure filings in the local multiple listing service which includes all four of the counties in this report as well as Madison County and McDonald County, Mo.

Long said the number of new foreclosure listings continues to dwindle. This time last month there were 301 properties for sale, down from 322 in December. He said since the moratorium was lifted in 2012 foreclosure listings peaked in August of last year at 373 and continue to decline.

“The foreclosure listings we are seeing today are for homes in the $100,000 to $125,000 range on average. This is quite a bit higher than the $50,000 to $99,000 range we getting in the past two years,” Long said.

MODIFICATION RESETS
Some experts warn that the lull in foreclosure filings across much of the country during early 2014 is the calm before the storm. There are plenty of eyes on the estimated 800,000 U.S. homeowners who took advantage of mortgage loan modifications in 2009 who are facing loan resets this year. This will require once-financially strapped borrowers to come up with a higher mortgage payment — in some cases up to $302 per month over the term of the reset, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

This report estimates between $400 billion and $500 billion in modified loans at risk for redefault. In Arkansas there were 1,825 homeowners with active modifications, and 81% of those are subject to payment increases within five years of their original modification. 

While the economy is on stronger footing than in 2009, the report warns that consumer balances sheets have little buffer to absorb higher mortgage payments as they have taken on more debt. Consumer indebtedness rose to $11.52 trillion as of Dec. 31, up 2.1% from the third quarter, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Board of New York. That report found that 2013 was first four quarters to register a net annual increase ($180 billion or 1.6%) in debt since 2008.

PwC reports that mortgage delinquencies are improving, but at 10% the loans aren’t recovering as quickly as other consumer loans.

During his eight years as Arkansas’ chief executive, Mike Beebe has seen his party lose ground time and again. Five out of the six members of the Arkansas congressional delegation were Democrats when Beebe took office in 2006. Today, five out of six are Republicans.

Barack Obama lost Arkansas in 2008 by 20%, a margin that increased to 24% in 2012. The GOP now has control of both chambers of the state legislature for the first time in over a century. Meanwhile, Beebe’s tenure in office has taken place against a bleak national backdrop of financial crisis and recession, political polarization and near-complete gridlock at the federal level.

And yet, if Beebe could run for a third term in 2014, it’s a virtual certainty he would win. Early last year, an analysis on a blog kept by national pollster Nate Silver showed Beebe was the second most popular governor in the nation. A poll performed by the University of Arkansas last October showed 68% of likely voters approved of his performance. Talk Business and Hendrix College surveys have reported Beebe’s popularity in the 60% and 70% range throughout his governorship.

How has he done it?

It’s partly his sheer skill in negotiating the weakening political center, undoubtedly, and partly a matter of good timing. But underlying Beebe’s achievements are three properties without which his brand of pragmatic centrism might well have failed to achieve results in either elections or governance: a complex relationship with the state legislature, a shrewdly narrow approach to the business of policy, and an unwavering focus on Arkansas affairs as opposed to national ones.

AN ADVANTAGE OF EXPERIENCE
“My success is based upon a willingness to sit down and listen and work with [others] rather than just jump up and say it’s my way or the highway,” said Beebe in a morning interview for Talk Business Arkansas shortly before the 2014 fiscal session began. The governor wasn’t talking about the struggles between the two parties, but between the legislative branch and the executive.

Beebe spent two decades as the state Senator from Searcy, half of it under the long reign of Bill Clinton. As he built his law practice back home in the off months, the legislative sessions educated him on public policy and gave him a deep understanding of the fiscal machinery of the state. The Senate that Beebe knew as a legislator has been transformed today – by term limits, by the ascent of the GOP – but, he says, there are more fundamental truths about the job that haven’t changed.

“Here’s the deal about being a legislator. You worry not so much about the big picture. Your focus is more parochial. Your focus is more district oriented, your focus is more narrowed to one or two areas you have a major interest in or a major reason to be involved in. You don’t have time to be everything to everybody.”

Although that’s not a bad thing, he emphasized, it’s in stark contrast to his responsibilities as governor.

“The main difference between the two [jobs] is the global reach of the governor’s office and the big picture that permeates everything you do, every decision you make. I have to look at the big picture every minute, every second – because all the pieces fit together.” And yet, he said, it’s essential that a governor exercise leadership “in a way that involves an understanding and some empathy with the issues and the problems that legislators have to face.”

If his previous life of 20 years in the Senate gave Beebe a valuable respect for the function of the legislature, it also provided him with a more pointed political tool: a tremendous amount of knowledge in a body whose high turnover creates a chronic experience deficit.

Beebe came into the governor’s office at a time when term limits were stripping the Capitol of many members who had been around since the early nineties. That has given him a unique leverage among newcomers to the General Assembly, who struggle to navigate the labyrinth of state government on the fly. State Senator Jonathan Dismang, a rising leader in the GOP who has served in the legislature since 2009, says the governor embodies an institutional memory that’s sorely needed by members intent on learning how to run the state.

“When I first came in, we were losing potentially all those folks who had strong legislative knowledge, the Percy Malones of the world. You can rattle off a list of guys who went through both chambers, because of term limits,” said Dismang. “I didn’t always agree with Percy Malone, but I wanted to sit next to him because he had the institutional knowledge that I would like to learn from. With those guys all fully turned out at this point, it obviously gives (Beebe) a great deal of ... maybe ‘power’ is not the right word, but his understanding [of government] is critical in how successful he’s been.”
“It all goes back to an ability to lead through knowledge,” Dismang added.

SPENDING & SAVING POLITICAL CAPITAL
Beebe’s ability to thrive in a Southern state in the Obama era is something of a puzzle, says Dr. Jay Barth, professor of politics at Hendrix College. Yet if that tension bothers the governor, he never shows it.

“Beebe conveys a lot of confidence to voters. He’s got a very confident personality, but without the ideological purity — which is counter to most successful politicians today,” said Barth. “And he tends to brag about issues on the back end, after something is accomplished, but not on the front end, like so many do.”

The governor seems to feel neither the need nor the desire to rally voters around big, systemic changes. His major 2006 campaign issue was the grocery tax; in 2010, he emphasized his stewardship of the budget through the national recession. His history of accomplishments is a decidedly non-activist one – a record of steady improvements, lack of crises, fiscal responsibility, and firm but cautious adjustments. Pragmatism and compromise aren’t concessions with Mike Beebe, but simply how he does business.
This too has been shaped by his career in the legislature, says Democratic State Senator Joyce Elliott, who has served a decade in the General Assembly under both Beebe and former Gov. Mike Huckabee.

“I don’t think he discounts all these years of being a senator,” she said. “It’s an understanding that goes, ‘I’m one of many people, and as one person I can’t get it done. So the pragmatic thing says I have to take into consideration what other people think in order for them to do at most 75% of what I want to see happen.’ He’s never hung up on that 100% — ever.” She laughed. “Sometimes that’s to the point that it drives everybody nuts, but that’s the way it is.”

“Because the legislature was envisioned by our founding fathers as the first branch of government, I defer to that for a good reason,” Beebe said. “They’re in charge of the money and the policy and the executive branch is supposed to execute by its very nature, by its very definition.”

That appreciation cuts past partisan affiliation, he asserted. “Whether it’s been Democrats or Republicans, it’s been a good relationship. [Senate President Pro Tem Michael] Lamoureux is easy to work with. [House Speaker] Davy [Carter] is easy to work with. We don’t always agree, but, you know, I didn’t always agree with Bennie Petrus or Robbie Wills or Paul Bookout or any of those folks either.”

Beebe’s popularity raises a question: In a state that still lags far behind many national indicators of well-being – in health, in education, in poverty – could he have done more?
When George W. Bush was elected to his second term as president, he was quoted as saying, “’I earned capital in this campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it.”

Beebe’s own reserves of political capital are overflowing, but the governor has expended it with the same parsimonious hand that he’s taken to the state budget over the years. Given his immense talents and golden position, one could argue that Beebe’s governance has leaned too heavily on caution.

Still, it is also worth remembering that President Bush’s ambitious agenda of immigration policy and Social Security reform floundered during his second term. Overreach is always a possibility, even with a 68% approval rating.

Perhaps Beebe’s tendencies towards restraint and compromise have secured the policy legacy for which he may be best remembered: the private option. Given the necessity of GOP support in securing passage, it’s likely a more activist approach from the governor would have derailed the process. Instead, he allowed Republican leaders such as Dismang, Sen. David Sanders, and Representative John Burris to craft the historic legislation.

“Obviously, his influence is present on the majority of legislation we see,” Dismang said, but it’s been cognizant of the new Republican majority.

“With the creation of the private option, he had a broad picture of what he wanted to do, but then we as legislators influenced that with a more conservative tone,” Dismang said.  ”He had an overall goal to expand Medicaid and what we did was – while staying within some of the parameters of his leadership – we then took off and developed a different plan, and he’s been supportive of that. And that’s kind of replicated itself on a number of different issues.”

AN ARKANSAS FOCUS
Wrapping up his final legislative session as Governor this year, Beebe will exit office in January 2015.

It’s perhaps no accident that Beebe uses the phrase “global reach” to describe the office he still holds, because Arkansas is Mike Beebe’s world.

In over thirty years of elected office – he served four years as Attorney General before becoming Governor – he has kept his focus squarely on legislative decisions made in Little Rock, not Washington. Despite approval ratings that are the envy of his peers and despite the state’s history of producing formidable presidential candidates, Beebe is decisive in his intent to end his career as an elected official in 2014. One gets the impression that to Beebe, the Arkansas governorship is both the natural outgrowth of legislative leadership and also the apex of political power.

Arkansas is a famously provincial place, and Beebe’s lifelong dedication to the state resonates with voters. It also helps to explain how Beebe has managed to insulate himself from increasingly negative sentiment towards the Democratic Party, even in the 2010 and 2012 elections that swept so many Republicans into office. That sets him apart from his predecessors.

“Every other modern Arkansas governor, with the exception of Frank White, had ambitions for national office,” Jay Barth said.

It also sets him apart from either of his likely successors. While both have played significant roles in state-level affairs, Mike Ross and Asa Hutchinson have forged much of their political careers through federal elections and appointments. Both are accomplished in their own right, but neither have the wealth of experience in state government that Beebe brought to the office.

“It’s going to be difficult for the [new] governor no matter who it is,” Dismang said. “There is no one running at this time that has that institutional knowledge that he possesses. It’s going to be interesting, in my opinion, to see how that shifts with the process…when I first came here, and to some extent today, a lot of things originated out of the governor’s office. I don’t believe that when that institutional knowledge is gone with him as governor that will necessarily be the case.”

The new governor will face a shifting political landscape as well. Although Beebe may have a rare talent in seeking compromise, it’s also true that not all executives have the good fortune to work with legislative leadership as generally like-minded as the ones he’s encountered, both within his party and the opposition.

So can either party replicate Mike Beebe’s formula for success? In short, no.

The Senate that Beebe knew – the Senate that made him – is gone. Term limits have made twenty-year Senate careers impossible. One-party rule has disappeared. As Arkansas continues to slowly shed its provincial image, the labels of national politics seem likely to be more inescapable for state leaders.

Nonetheless, for the gubernatorial candidates this season and in the future, Beebe’s lessons of restraint are crucial. Respect legislative partnerships over executive fiat. Prioritize state governance over national ambitions. Accept 75% rather than demand 100%. And, above all, never underestimate the power of institutional memory.

It didn't take long for Sparks Health System to name an interim CEO while the organization conducts a search for a permanent replacement.

According to a statement Thursday (March 13) from Marketing and Communications Director Donna Bragg, Tim Schmidt has been appointed to lead the organization and Summit Medical Center in Van Buren on an interim basis beginning March 20 following the resignation of Charles Stewart earlier this week.
www.thecitywire.com/node/32166

"While the search for a permanent candidate is underway, Tim will provide support to physicians and employees as they continue their work to deliver quality care to patients at Sparks Regional Medical Center and Summit Medical Center," Bragg said.

Schmidt, who has more than 20 years experience in hospital administration, previously served as CEO at hospitals in Illinois, New Mexico and Texas.

Sparks has experienced a tumultuous year, with the hospital having had two CEOs resign within six months of their hirings.

Stewart, who became the top dog at Sparks in September 2013, was hired to replace former CEO Gary Blan, who resigned in May 2013 after having been on the job for less than three months.
www.thecitywire.com/node/28006

Blan was picked to succeed Melody Trimble who was promoted to president of Naples, Fla.-based Health Management Associates' Southern and Western Group, which includes 26 hospitals in seven states. Trimble’s promotion was effective Jan. 1, 2013. The seven-state region is Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington.

Sparks and Summit were part of the sale of HMA to Community Health Systems, a company whose portfolio of hospitals was nearly double the size of HMA's portfolio. Locally, CHS owned four Northwest Arkansas facilities — Northwest Medical Center-Bentonville, Northwest Medical Center-Springdale, Siloam Springs Regional Hospital and Willow Creek Women's Hospital in Johnson. Shares of Community Health Systems (NYSE: CYH) were trading mid-day Thursday at $36.58, down $0.76. During the past 52 weeks, the share price has ranged from a $51.29 high to a $36.39 low.

In announcing Stewart's resignation Wednesday (March 12), Bragg said the company would be looking for a CEO with a high level of experience.

"In our search for our next CEO, we will look for an experienced and motivated hospital leader who will help Sparks Regional Medical Center and Summit Medical Center continue in our commitment to serving the community with excellent health services."

Following is Bragg's complete statement regarding the appointment of Schmidt as interim CEO, as well as the complete announcement Wednesday announcing Stewart's departure:

• "This morning, Sparks Health System announced that Tim Schmidt has been appointed our interim CEO, effective March 20. While the search for a permanent candidate is underway, Tim will provide support to physicians and employees as they continue their work to deliver quality care to patients at Sparks Regional Medical Center and Summit Medical Center. Tim has more than 20 years of hospital administration experience and has served as CEO of hospitals in Texas, Illinois and New Mexico."

• "Charles Stewart resigned from his position as CEO of Sparks Health System this week. We appreciate his contributions to our health system and wish him well in his future endeavors. Our work to identify a new CEO will begin immediately, and it will include input from our Board of Trustees and medical staff leadership. In our search for our next CEO, we will look for an experienced and motivated hospital leader who will help Sparks Regional Medical Center and Summit Medical Center continue in our commitment to serving the community with excellent health services. We appreciate the dedication of our physicians and employees through this transition as they continue to provide high-quality, compassionate care for our patients."

While the race between Tom Cotton and Mark Pryor for the U.S. Senate is getting a lot of attention, at least one other race is bound to create a buzz. For the second time in two years, advocates of medical marijuana are gathering signatures to place a measure on the ballot that would legalize pot with a prescription.

According to Campaign Director Melissa Fults of Arkansans for Compassionate Care, the petition circulated this year is largely the same as the one that made it to the ballot in 2012, a ballot initiative that failed by a vote of 48.56% for and 51.44% against.

She said while the petition closely mirrors 2012's proposal, there were a few changes.

The difference that is likely to catch many people's attention is what is now known as the hardship clause, which Fults said would allow individuals who live too far to receive deliveries of medical marijuana or have medical issues that prevent them from driving to grow up to three marijuana plants in the privacy of their own home for personal, medical uses. But she said such a provision in the law is not intended to just let people freely grow pot with no supervision.

"A health department representative can go to your house, ask to see your (medical marijuana) license, ask to see your grow room, to see that you are only growing the three mature plants you're qualified to grow," she said.

Another big difference in this year's version of the ballot initiative versus 2012 is the affordability clause, which Fults said would allow individuals prescribed medical marijuana to get it at a steep discount from the mandatory non-profit dispensaries that would be created as a result of the legislation.

The affordability clause, she said, would essentially allow those on a low income to obtain their prescription from their local dispensary at a reduced price. The difference would be covered by a fee all dispensaries in the state would have to pay to the Arkansas Department of Health that would amount to no more than two percent of the total sales of said dispensary, which would have to be a non-profit entity according to the language of the ballot initiative.

"So say you have three dispensaries in the upper end areas of Little Rock. They wouldn't likely have any low income (patients) come in," she said. "But you may have one in College Station, a dispensary with a lot of low income people. Those dispensaries with low income patients will make a report with (a list of) which low income patients came in. The health department will have a record of what they paid and the Health Department will then reimburse the dispensary."

Fults explained that any sales tax collected as a result of prescription marijuana sales would be used to fund any work the Arkansas Department of Health has to do as a result of the addition of medical marijuana to the list of prescribed controlled substances in Arkansas.

"It is all self-contained. The patients are the ones paying the sales tax and the patients' sales tax should go to the program," she said. "Anything over what they need will go to the Arkansas Umbilical Cord Bank and the DHS (Department of Human Services) for drug education."

Arkansans for Compassionate Care is not the only group attempting to get medical marijuana on the ballot. Arkansans for Responsible Medicine, a group that did not respond to request for comment, is also attempting to get medical marijuana on the ballot, which would allow physicians to write patients with certain medical conditions a prescription for marijuana at least once a year. The group's proposal does not allow for personal growth of marijuana and it also allows cities and counties to prohibit dispensaries.

Asked whether she viewed the other group's efforts as a threat, Fults said she did not, adding that she felt confident Arkansans for Compassionate Care would succeed in getting its petition on the ballot in November.

"Right now, we only have about 10,000 signatures. It's been at a standstill the last couple of months because of the weather. …At the end of April, we are going to have a Compassion Weekend across the state. There'll be a hard push for signatures. We have a very, very good chance for getting our signatures. We are about where we were in 2012."

As a result, she said there's a good chance the measure will get the votes it needs to gain passage, making Arkansas the first Southern state to pass some form of legalized marijuana, whether medical or recreational. Fults said the reason 2014 could be different is because of the amount of public education and support that has swelled online and elsewhere since 2012.

"I think why we'll do so much better this time is because of the amount of education that's out there this time. In 2012, we really didn't have a chance to do a lot of educating and there wasn't a lot of education out there. Since 2012, things have changed drastically. For example, Dr. Sanjay Gupta (chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine, and CNN's chief medical correspondent) — who was dead set against marijuana because of the lies our government has told — has done studies and now sees it as a medicine and has done a couple of documentaries (on the topic)."

There has not been much public opposition to the ballot initiative this year, likely due to the fact that the ballot initiative has yet to collect its more than 62,000 needed signatures by the July 7 deadline for a November vote. Once it gains a spot on the statewide ballots, anti-weed groups are likely to make their voices heard much like they did in 2012.

Fults said the changing landscape, both in the media and the public at large, makes her hopeful that the initiative will easily pass in the Fall.

"I think with these changes, I think we're a shoe in. I really do. I thought we would win last time, but I really truly believe we will win and win by a large margin this time."

A second shot at attempting to legalizing medical marijuana in Arkansas, a prediction on severe weather in the early Spring, and a planned union vote at Fort Smith-based O.K. Foods are part of the March 14 Friday Wire for the Fort Smith region.

NOTES & ANALYSIS
• Legalizing the weed
Could the second toke be the one that loosens up the Arkansas body politic to say “Alright,” and give a thumbs up to legalizing medical marijuana?

Folks with Arkansans for Compassionate Care believe that their second push for ballot approval of an amendment to legalize medical marijuana

"I think with these changes, I think we're a shoe in. I really do. I thought we would win last time, but I really truly believe we will win and win by a large margin this time,” said Melissa Fults, campaign director for the group.

Irrespective of what one thinks about the issue, Fults’ optimism can’t be discounted. A similar 2012 ballot issue failed, but by a slim 51.44% to 48.56% margin. Possibly more troubling for those who believe marijuana should not be legalized in any way is that voters in the historically conservative belt that stretches from Fort Smith to Northwest Arkansas supported the 2012 measure. Combined, the proposal to allow medical marijuana was supported by 51.5% in Benton, Crawford, Sebastian and Washington counties. However, the measure failed in Benton County (47.4% for, 52.2% against) and Crawford County (47.7% for, 52.6% against).

Many polls since 2012 show a growing willingness of voters around the country to support an open or limited legalization of marijuana. If that proves true in Arkansas, well,   it may not be by a large margin, but The Natural State could have a second meaning after November 2014.

ICYMI
Following are a few stories posted this week on The City Wire that we hope you didn’t miss. But in case you missed it ...

• U.S. Marshals Museum opening delayed to 2017
The U.S. Marshals Museum, a more than $50 million museum to be built along the banks of the Arkansas River, will still have a September groundbreaking, but the opening of the museum will be delayed one year to 2017.

• The pitch from Altes and Pitsch
The May 20 primary is little more than seven weeks away and the area's first political debate of the 2014 political season took place Monday afternoon (March 10). Republicans Bobby Altes and Mat Pitsch, the only two candidates for the District 76 House seat, debated nearly an hour on topics ranging from teacher pay to tax cuts to the Private Option in a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Fort Smith.

• Falling foreclosures
Foreclosures continue to be a smaller part of the local housing markets of Northwest Arkansas and the Fort Smith metro area. Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac reports just 398 foreclosure filings across the entire state last month, down 50% from a year ago.

NUMBERS ON THE WIRE
9-0: The vote of the Fort Smith Planning Commission when deciding whether to approve a proposed Planned Zoning District at the site of the Fianna Hills Country Club. The PZD was necessary for Fort Smith-based FSM Redevelopment Partners to turn the aging country club into a four-story facility that will revitalize the property at a cost of about $20 million. The PZD will come up for a final vote before the Fort Smith Board of Directors in April.

$530 million: The Congressional Budget Office estimate of how much it would cost to fully implement House Resolution 2413, the Weather Forecasting Improvement Act of 2013. The legislation would fund research which could lead to warning times for tornadoes in excess of one hour. The bill has made its way out of committee and is awaiting a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.

965: Number of reported tornadoes in Arkansas between 1980 and 2009, ranking the state 15th for the number of events, according to federal data.

OUTSIDE THE WIRE
• The political push against Sen. Pryor
Americans for Prosperity is launching a major ad buy hitting Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) on Thursday, pushing the group’s advertising spending in the race to more than $1.4 million so far this year.

• Drug testing Welfare recipients
From written tests designed to flag drug users to singling out people with recent drug convictions, state lawmakers across the country are pursuing novel strategies to deny welfare benefits to drug users without running afoul of a recent federal court ruling.

• Tracking bus and truck driver hours
Commercial trucks and buses that cross state lines would have to be equipped with electronic devices that record how many hours the vehicles are in operation, according to a government proposal Thursday aimed at preventing accidents by tired drivers.

WORD ON THE WIRE
"I'm for these guys 100% and I totally understand what they're doing. I don't see how the city could put any objection to a $20 million facility that's going to be outstanding in the state run by a golf company that's a national organization that doesn't run anything but prestige courses," he said. "I think it will be a benefit to the city and I know it will be a benefit to Fianna Hills. And it will supply 75 to 100 jobs. That sure won't hurt. We need those in the city."
— Fianna Hills resident Champ Hinton about a plan to renovate the Fianna Hills Country Club

"Right now, they have a one to one relationship. The employer holds all the chips. All the employee can do is quit. We don't feel that that is right. We feel they should reform. We want to help these workers to fix OK Foods and make it a more fair workplace — with better insurance, a better retirement package. We want a more fair future."
– Anthony Elmo, a spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers International Unioin (UFCW), explaining why the organization is still pursuing unionization of OK Foods' Fort Smith facility, along with two locations in Oklahoma

After more than a year of planning, the Walmart to Go convenience-store format quietly opened in Bentonville on Saturday (March 15), with the grand opening set for March 19. 

Store workers told The City Wire this was a soft opening and it was a busy day with heavy in-store traffic as travelers on the busy intersection near 1300 S. Walton Blvd., sought a look inside what is the first store in a new effort by Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to capture a different and growing element of the retail market.

The small store is a hybrid format — part traditional convenience store, part grocery, part quick serve restaurant. Walmart partnered with Bentonville Butcher & Deli, one of the more popular names around in terms of quality meat, to operate a quick serve meat counter in the back of the store. Fresh deli sandwiches or hot barbecue brisket, ribs, smoked chicken and traditional sides were available by the plate or by the pound.

Krispy Kreme has a donut stand between the beverage stations on the right wall of the store. There is a traditional soda fountain, Icee fountain, milk shake option and full coffee/cappuccino area.

Refrigerated food-to-go includes market fresh pizzas, sandwiches and other meat entrees. There is also fresh fruit and a Greek yogurt smoothy station. The center of the store closely resembles a traditional convenience format with cashiers in a corral with a wide range of tobacco products.

The left side of the store is merchandised much like a tiny grocery. Coolers line the outer wall offering wine and beer with a walk-in cooler. Frozen foods can be found in two large freezers along the outer left wall. 

The mini grocery includes five wide aisles that contain hundreds of packaged foods and non-edible items from breakfast cereals to dog food and diapers. Shirley’s Flowers has a fresh floral stand near the front doors next to Hallmark Cards. The store also has magazines, books, and ATM and a seating area near the front of the store.

The convenience store also features six gas pumps out front with a covered awning that sports the Walmart sunburst on the underside. One unusual feature is a large awning that connects the pump area to the front door. Ice, Blue Rhino propane and Red Box are all positioned outside the store under awnings. There is a picnic area outdoors to seat those wanting to eat onsite.

With this new convenience format Wal-Mart hopes to capture some of the $415 billion quick trip marketshare it is losing to Dollar General and other convenience stores. Walmart U.S. CEO Bill Simon said earlier this month that the retailer has just 10% of that marketshare and is vying for more with the hybrid stores that can serve consumer fill-in trips, which Walmart estimates to be 40% of their grocery spend.

Arkansas Economic Development Commission director Grant Tennille says he’s supportive of efforts to raise the state minimum wage to $8.50 per hour, calling it a “jobs creator.”

Tennille, who was a panelist on this week’s “Talk Business & Politics” roundtable, also discussed changes coming to the state’s workforce development efforts and said he’s worried about a low balance in the Governor’s Quick Action Closing Fund.

Tennille said he has signed a petition to include on the November ballot a measure to raise the state’s minimum wage from $6.25 per hour to $8.50 over a three-year period.

“I think there is a lot of benefit behind raising the minimum wage,” said Tennille. “You will hear from some companies who say it’s a job killer. But what creates jobs is customers. People talk a lot about job creators – the ultimate job creator is a customer with money to spend.”

Tennille also said he is worried about a low balance in the Governor’s Quick Action Closing Fund, which with current commitments has a $6.8 million balance. State lawmakers opted not to replenish the fund with more money in the fiscal session.

“I’m worried about it,” he said. “One option that we have – and we’re going to begin to exercise is – there is an amount of money from the Quick Action Closing Fund that has been promised to projects over the course of – some of them a few years old now – and for whatever reason, the companies haven’t moved forward on the projects. We’ve kept the commitment.”

Tennille said those companies are going to have to pony up a plan or risk losing the money the state has promised.

“What we are going to do is begin to communicate to those companies that we need to see a plan for how you’re going to spend this money beginning in this next fiscal year and if you’re not ready, we may de-obligate that money to you,” he said.

Tennille also touched on three accomplishments in the last session that he said would move economic development efforts forward for the state. They included broadband expansion money for schools, charter school facilities funding, and a restructuring of workforce development efforts.

Link here for a video interview with Tennille.

With the funding secured for the next fiscal year, GOP gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson says he will support the private option because it is the “law of the land,” but he promised reforms to the controversial program, which he labeled a “pilot project.”

In a lengthy interview with “Talk Business & Politics” host Roby Brock for this Sunday’s TV program on KATV Ch. 7, Hutchinson said if he’s elected Governor, he will closely evaluate the private option to see if it is “the right path of the future.”

“Now the dust is settled. We know that they have funded the private option. We know that there are no short-term budgetary impacts on it,” Hutchinson said. “So in 2015, just like [Rep.] Kim Hammer said – who changed his vote from a no to a yes – he said now we’re going to see if it works. I view this as a pilot project. In fact, it will be a smaller pilot project with the limitations on the marketing aspect of it.”

Hutchinson said it was crucial to monitor the long-term costs of the program and whether or not it accomplishes the policy goals outlined. He also said that voters could expect “continued efforts” aimed at reforming the program from his administration.

“The private option was a start. The whole design is reform. You can expect more reform of the private option and health care policy in Arkansas to make it unique to this state and make it work for this state. And, a key criteria for me is I want incentives for people to work, and not incentives for people not to work,” he said.

Health savings accounts (HSAs) are one reform Hutchinson has keyed in on. He personally has an HSA and while he said he’s hopeful they will work, he also expressed skepticism.

“It’s not that complicated, but it takes some guidance to get it done. But also it takes cash. You’re looking at the private option for those who are on marginal incomes. They’re not high-income individuals and so their cash flow is strained. You have to have a cash flow capability to really put a health savings account into place,” Hutchinson said.

When asked if he was supportive of the private option as the policy of the state of Arkansas, Hutchinson replied, “Oh, sure. It’s the law.”

“And our legislature by two-thirds, or three-fourths vote approved it and so the debate is ended for now. But the debate will continue. So I support the pilot project that you see in place now and we want to see how it works,” Hutchinson restated. “I will evaluate it just like all the other legislators will in terms of what’s the long-term cost impact and what’s the benefit we’re getting from the state, and does it promote work and encouragement to work in our society.”

PRIMARY CHALLENGE, TAXES
In the interview, Hutchinson also discussed expectations for his primary challenge from Curtis Coleman, clarified his comments regarding the AEA teachers’ union, and explained why his tax reform plan will make Arkansas more competitive with surrounding states.

Hutchinson said he would be satisfied with a “50% plus one” victory over primary challenger Curtis Coleman.

“In terms of expectations, I just want to win,” Hutchinson said.

He said he is different from Coleman in that he has been elected to office and has a voting record for conservative principles, such as a tax cuts, a balanced budget, and Constitutional conservatism.

Hutchinson said his tax cut plan will help middle income Arkansans. He has proposed a first-year plan as Governor to reduce the income tax rate from 7% to 6% for Arkansans earning between $34,000 to $75,000 a year, and from 6% to 5% for those earning between $20,400 to $33,999 annually. Hutchinson estimates his first-year plan could cost around $100 million, which he says can be found in growth revenue or a budget surplus.

Does Hutchinson see a total elimination of the income tax?

“No, it would be very doubtful, if not impossible, without raising other taxes. I don’t want to raise the sales tax. I don’t want to raise property taxes, which is not an income stream for the state any way,” he said. “This is just reduction and reform you can do based upon the normal growth, and hopefully, faster-paced growth that we can have by giving tax cuts to the middle class.”

“If we can get it down to 5%, all of a sudden we’re competitive with Texas and Tennessee,” Hutchinson added, noting that each state has to be evaluated with its total tax burden on citizens.

AEA ENDORSEMENT
A week ago, Hutchinson and the probable Democratic nominee, Mike Ross, exchanged campaign salvos over Ross’ endorsement by the Arkansas Education Association (AEA).

A Hutchinson spokesman described the AEA as a “left-leaning” organization and said its endorsement for Ross was a case of the AEA and its national affiliate, the National Education Association (NEA), putting “their liberal ideals ahead of our kids.” Hutchinson says he stands by that characterization.

“Of course we’re not disavowing the statement. Whenever you look at the NEA, the national teachers’ organization, the national teachers’ union, they have supported Obamacare. They’ve been advocates of the Democrat majority in Congress, including Mike Ross. They’ve been team players. Of course, we’re not surprised that the union would endorse Mike Ross,” he said.

“Now, Mike Ross tries to equate the union with all the teachers in Arkansas and of course that’s wrong. We have tremendous support among the teachers. My sister was a public school teacher. My kids graduated from the public schools. I’m an advocate for teachers – they’re going to be the solution to education problems in Arkansas,” he added.

Hutchinson also said he wasn’t seeking the AEA endorsement, but merely accepting an invitation to talk to the teachers’ group. He said he would accept invitations from other groups he’s not aligned with to discuss policy issues related to the Governor’s race.

“If they invite me to meet with them, then I’m happy to do so,” he said. “I believe in meeting with political adversaries because you learn from them. They’re part of the political operations in Arkansas, so absolutely I’ll meet with them. I just didn’t expect their (AEA) endorsement.”

Arkansas’ jobless rate dipped to 7.3% in January thanks to a more than 2.6% drop in the number of unemployed. However, January marked 60 consecutive months – five years – that the state’s jobless rate has been at or above 7%.

The jobless rate of 7.3% was down from 7.4% in December and down from 7.5% in January 2013, according to the report issued Monday (March 17) by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Arkansas’ labor force was an estimated 1.328 million in January, up slightly compared to December, but down compared to 1.329 million in January 2013. The year-over-year comparison shows an estimated 1,391 fewer Arkansans in the labor force.

The number of employed in Arkansas during January was 1.231 million, above December employment of 1.228 million, and up compared to the 1.229 million in January 2013.

The number of unemployed was an estimated 96,833 during January, down from the 98,484 in December, and down 2.62% compared to the 99,443 in January 2013.

Arkansas’ annual average jobless rate fell from 7.9% during 2011 to a revised 7.5% during 2012. The initial annual average jobless rate for Arkansas during 2013 is 7.5%.

The federal BLS issued this statement with its January labor report: “Effective with this release, nonfarm payroll estimates for states and metropolitan areas have been revised as a result of annual benchmark processing to reflect 2013 employment counts primarily from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), as well as updated seasonal adjustment factors. Not seasonally adjusted data back to April 2012 were revised. Seasonally adjusted data from January 1990 were subject to revision.”

ARKANSAS SECTOR NUMBERS
In the Trade, Transportation and Utilities sector — Arkansas’ largest job sector — employment during January was an estimated 243,400, down from 244,200 in December and ahead of the 240,800 during January 2013. Employment in the sector hit a high of 251,800 in March 2007.

Manufacturing jobs in Arkansas during January totaled 153,500, up compared to 151,800 in December and below the 154,000 in January 2013. Employment in the manufacturing sector fell in 2013 to levels not seen since early 1968. Peak employment in the sector was 247,300 in February 1995.

Government job employment during January was 215,200, down from 215,800 in December and below the 216,100 during January 2012.

The state’s Education and Health Services sector during January had 172,900 jobs, down from the 173,500 during December and up from 171,100 during January 2013. Employment in the sector is up more than 22.6% compared to January 2004.

Arkansas’ tourism sector (leisure & hospitality) employed 109,100 during January, up from a revised 106,900 during December, and above the 104,400 during January 2013. The January employment tally sets a new record for the sector. The number is subject to revision in future reports.

NATIONAL DATA
The BLS report also noted that all states had unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier. The national jobless rate during January was at 6.6%, and was down from the 7.9% in January 2013.

Rhode Island had the highest unemployment rate among the states in January at 9.2%. The next highest rate was Nevada at 8.7% and Illinois at 8.7%. North Dakota again had the lowest jobless rate at 2.6%.

The January jobless rate in Oklahoma was 5.2%, down compared to 5.4% to December and down from 5.4% in January 2013.

Missouri’s jobless rate during January was 6%, unchanged compared to December and down compared to 6.7% in January 2013.

Attorneys for the family of a Faulkner County woman who died in April 2008 due to what the family alleged was neglect and negligence have added even more fuel to the fire in the case of Circuit Judge Mike Maggio – fuel that could mean trouble for Fort Smith businessman Michael Morton.

Maggio dropped out of a race for the Arkansas Court of Appeals following revelations by left-leaning blog Blue Hog Report about Maggio's anonymous postings to a LSU sports site. The postings included what many considered racist and homophobic remarks, as well as confidential information about court cases, including a Faulkner County adoption by actress Charlize Theron.

Following the admission by Maggio that he made the postings online came another report from Blue Hog Report's Matt Campbell, an attorney with Pinnacle Law Firm in Little Rock, that Maggio had dropped the dollar value of a penalty stemming from a neglect and negligence lawsuit filed against Michael Morton, whose Fort Smith-based Central Arkansas Nursing Center owns Greenbrier Care Center. The jury ruled in favor of the family of Martha Bull and awarded the woman's estate $5.2 million on June 6, 2013.

"On July 8, 2013, Judge Maggio granted Greenbrier Care Center’s motion for a remittitur hearing, because he found that the $5.2M award against the nursing home “shock[ed] the conscience of the court," Campbell wrote, reporting that the judge ultimately lowered the award to $1 million.

He noted that on the same day Maggio granted the remittitur hearing, seven political action committees (PACs) were formed and all received donations of $3,000 from Morton or companies owned by Morton. All the PACs went on to make donations to Maggio's Court of Appeals campaign.

It was the latest revelations by Campbell that compelled Bull's family to instruct their attorneys to file a complaint with the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission on Thursday.

"Based on reports that came out in the Blue Hog Report and also came out in the Log Cabin Democrat and later the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, my clients were extremely concerned about donations to seven PACs with Mike Maggio being the primary beneficiary of those PACs," said attorney Tom Buchanan, who along with attorney Brannon Sloan of Dodds, Kidd and Ryan Law Firm in Little Rock, is representing the family.

Buchanan, in a Monday interview with The City Wire, explained that the complaint was filed because the law stating that candidates for judicial positions are not allowed to fundrais more than 180 days before a judicial election.

"The judicial is May 20," he explained. "If you subtract 180 days, that's November or December. The obvious questions my clients have is why did Mike Morton, who my clients had a verdict (against), write these checks on the same day that the judge reduced the verdict?"

Asked whether the family of Bullock would pursue criminal charges against either Maggio or Morton regarding the allegations reported by the Blue Hog Report, Buchanan said it is a possibility.

"I'm not going to comment on what my clients have told me, but I've been authorized by the family to investigate this and try to find out answers for them," he said. "Everything's on the table at this point in terms of options and we don't even know what all of our options are. We're still in the process of figure that out and making the determination."

An attempt to contact Morton at his Fort Smith office was unsuccessful, with a female employee stating he was out of town and likely would not return any media inquiries about the case.

Executive Director David Sachar of the JDDC confirmed an investigation into the issue was opened, though he said in a statement that he could not discuss details.

"The Judicial Discipline & Disability Commission is aware of the general allegations concerning campaign contributions to Circuit Judge Mike Maggio’s race for the Court of Appeals. Under Rule 7C(3) I can confirm that there is an on-going investigation into this matter by this agency. Judge Maggio will have full due process rights during our investigation. Procedural rules of the Judicial Discipline & Disability Commission will determine the timing of the events in the case, including when more information is released. This office does not anticipate issuing further public statement until the case concludes. Possible conclusions include dismissal, agreed resolution or public charges."

Should public charges be filed, Sachar said "it would proceed to trial" and would be similar to a civil matter, versus a criminal matter.

The University of Arkansas System announced Monday (March 17) that its Board of Trustees would meet Thursday (March 20) and Friday (March 21) at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, with votes to continue the system's ban of firearms and approval of new degree programs on the agenda.

The continued ban handguns on campus comes after the Arkansas General Assembly approved Act 226 in 2013, which "provides that a person licensed to carry a concealed handgun may do so at a public university, college or community college is such person is a staff member of the public institution," according to a memo written by UA System President Donald Bobbitt to the Board. He said the only way around the law was if the Board approved a resolution that expressly forbade such action.

While the UA System previously voted to ban handguns on campus in Spring 2013, Bobbitt said such prohibitions must be approved by the Board every year, which is why the issue is coming back for another vote less than a year after the first vote.

"Subsequent to the passage of Act 226, the Chancellors and a number of faculty and staff at the University of Arkansas System institutions, including campus public safety officers, expressed the opinion that the Board should adopt a policy expressly disallowing the carrying of a concealed handgun by staff members in the buildings or on the grounds of the University and to post the required notices," Bobbitt wrote.

A number of new degree offerings will also be voted on during the two days of meetings.

Among the new offerings are 12 online degree and certificate programs at the University of Arkansas Community College Morrilton, five new certificate programs at Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas, and 11 online degree and certificate programs at CCCUA.

The main UA campus in Fayetteville had several new programs on the agenda. Among them, a new online graduate certificate in writing and public rhetorics as well as a minor in non-profit studies for business majors at the Walton College of Business. According to Bobbitt, the new Walton College minor creates a workforce specifically educated for work in the non-profit industry.

"Conservative estimates place non-profits as employing above 10 percent of the current workforce," he wrote. "Although many students will go to work in the for-profit realm, they will still be on boards and participate in other civic organizations."

Another request being made by the administration of the UA campus in Fayetteville is for an online offering of the bachelor of science in business administration, with a general business major, which Bobbitt said would allow "the Walton College to capture new markets (e.g., students abroad, degree completion, and adult learners)."

While students completing the on-campus version of the program would be allowed to complete their studies, Bobbitt did note that only online students majoring in general business would be admitted, starting in the Fall semester.

The final proposal for a new degree program will be the new retail major within the bachelor of science in international business, which Bobbitt said has been offered outside of the BSIB degree since 2011.

"Adding the retail concentration would provide students the opportunity to choose a concentration from any of the major areas of study," he wrote, noting that other majors within the degree program include accounting, business economics, finance, general business, information systems, marketing, management and supply chain management.

The Board meeting to be held later in the week is the first to be held at UAFS since 2010, according to UAFS Director of Public Relations Sondra LaMar.

Dr. Paul Beran, chancellor of UAFS, said he was eager to host the multi-day meeting, which will start at 10 a.m. Thursday in the Reynolds Room of the Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center.

“UAFS is pleased to host the UA Board on campus to show how we have embraced our role as an emerging, high performing comprehensive regional university dedicated to serving our mission of ‘educating students for an ever-changing global world while advancing economic development and quality of place.’"

A unanimous vote by the Fort Smith Planning Commission to approve the planned zoning district (PZD) at the site of the Fianna Hills Country Club does not guarantee a similar vote at the April 1 meeting of the Fort Smith Board of Directors – the last hurdle to jump in order to get the planned redevelopment of the country club off the ground.

The 9-0 planning commission vote was unusual on projects such as the Fianna Hills PZD, which saw a room divided almost evenly among those in favor and those opposed to the project.

Commissioner Vicki Newton said her vote in favor of the PZD all came down to extending the life of the country club, which will see a planned $20 million upgrade by Fort Smith-based FSM Redevelopment Partners should the PZD receive final Board approval.

"I think we’ve all heard the rumors that have circulated for months now regarding Fianna," she wrote in an e-mail. "I do know that the club has basically outlived it’s economic life as such. Something has to be done as I know the owners are pumping their own money into it. Now, that aside, strictly from a planning commission standpoint, it meets all the requirements for a PZD, which allows the developers to expedite their plan and yet be very specific. I was curious to hear what the neighbors had to say as I know there was some opposition. And all of that was more or less self serving, i.e. ‘my house, my view’ not what would be detrimental to the whole neighborhood. After hearing and reading the plan that was developed, I firmly believe this is a viable option and needs to be explored. I think there are many other obstacles ahead for this development team, but to not look to the future for Fort Smith and the needs of the city would be a failure on our part."

Brandon Cox, another commissioner who voted in favor of the PZD, said he voted for the development because he did not want to "be the commissioner to stop a multi-million dollar project that improves the same intended use," adding that restrictions were included in the PZD to create the best possible outcome for developers and the neighborhood.

"The additional restriction provided from the planning commission study session imposed maximum traffic counts for future uses that can’t exceed 5% over the approved PZD traffic counts," Cox wrote. "As well, limiting the parking available to the number of spaces presented in the PZD will in turn limit the density of any future use. My final decision to support the PZD was based on three primary factors:
· The contingent assurances described above and provided within the PZD should protect the residents;
· A high quality and innovative development with a large investment in FS that appeared to meet the UDO requirements;
· The neighborhood was clearly split on the development of the project with just as many supporting as opposing."

All Fort Smith City Directors were asked via e-mail whether they would vote for or against the project and why, whether they had concerns about the project, and whether there were any circumstances which could cause them to change their mind. Following are their responses:

CITY DIRECTOR KEITH LAU, WARD 1
"I haven't received the board package on this item and would like to reserve official comment until I have had time to review. My first blush position is I support the development. It is a planned $8.0 mil dollar development, creates jobs, increases property values, recommended by the city planning staff, was unanimously approved  9-0 by the planning commission and its business friendly. ... There would have to be a huge compelling reason not to vote in favor of the PZD. I will have my official position Sunday (March 30) after review of the package."

CITY DIRECTOR ANDRÉ GOOD, WARD 2
"I will tell you that we, board members have been getting email responses and request about the FHCC project and the (PZD). I personally like the idea, but need to educate myself on some of the particulars like 'factor C' that the emails reference and familiarize myself with the zone change will allow."

CITY DIRECTOR MIKE LORENZ, WARD 3
"I have not made a decision on this vote at this time. I have heard many citizen concerns about this project and likely will hear more in the coming days. Making the best decision for all citizens will take research and listening to citizen comments in the coming days. My only concern is to protect the property values and citizens best interest in the Fianna area and all of Fort Smith. I am supportive of a revitalized Fianna Hills Country Club but have concerns with the other uses allowed in the PZD as presented."

CITY DIRECTOR GEORGE CATSAVIS, WARD 4
"I am leaning toward approval of the (PZD) and to this project. (M)y understanding (is) it will create more jobs and also a better tax base for the city with the planned improvements. I really have no concerns about the project as proposed."

CITY DIRECTOR PAM WEBER, POSITION 5 AT-LARGE
"I have received numerous phone calls and emails on the subject of the rezoning of Fianna Hills County Club. I have not made a decision on how I will vote at this point - I am still researching the question. I have several questions that I will be seeking answers to on Monday (March 17). Please understand that this zoning request will have long term impacts on the Fianna Hills neighborhood and that I take any vote I make on this issue with lots of thought considering the current impact and the impact of the rezoning in twenty years."

VICE MAYOR KEVIN SETTLE, POSITION 6 AT-LARGE
"I have heard from many citizens about the proposed PZD at the Fianna Hills Country Club. What most citizens want is that longevity of the FHCC to stay open, which I agree with. For the most part, I am would agree that the FHCC upgrades and members suites would be great addition to the FSM area.

"The concerns that have been brought to my attention by many citizens in the Fianna Hills area are the other potential developments that are being asked in the PZD. These other potential developments are something that I am going to research and get a better understanding on how they could affect the existing homeowner property values.

"We will not receive our final BOD packet for this subject until March 28 for our April 1st meeting, which this subject will be on the agenda."

CITY DIRECTOR PHILIP MERRY, POSITION 7 AT-LARGE
"Please know that I am continuing to gather input from multiple venues and certainly from those in the FHCC area.
 
"I have gotten viewpoints from multiple sides on this PZD. Support for the decision has been received. Support to oppose has been received. And this a.m. (March 14), I received citizen input to approve the improvements to the country club setting and 'member suites' portion of the PZD but to vote 'no' on the other items that would fit in such a zone change (office setting, medical facilities, etc).
 
"I am deliberating and listening and taking notes, rest assured. I support the club and member suites concept and as for other zoning potential uses with this change, I am continuing to listen and learn on the subject."

There were hundreds of soundbites at Wal-Mart’s recent Year Beginning Meetings held in Orlando. But one that resonated with potential suppliers came from Michelle Gloeckler, senior vice president of the home category for Walmart U.S.

“We are now actively seeking suppliers like never before who can provide products made on U.S. soil,” Gloeckler said.

She issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking suppliers who make or assemble patio furniture in the U.S. She said bulky items like furniture is costly to ship and adds to the retailer’s carbon footprint overtime. 

“Making things closer to the point of purchase and shortening the shipping distance will lead to cost savings and environmental benefits, and it will help us solve the business problem,” Gloeckler said. 

“So, we’re taking a new approach to patio,” Gloeckler wrote in her March 13 corporate blog during the retailer’s meetings with suppliers in Orlando. “We’re focusing on making patio furniture closer to your backyard, which will lead to valuable manufacturing jobs in your community.”

Gloeckler said obvious benefits to recruiting U.S. suppliers are the support for American jobs, but she also identified other benefits to Wal-Mart’s business, “like sales increases, product flexibility, improved in-stock and increased response time.”

Wal-Mart officials have said they remain committed to the onshore manufacturing initiative. Gloeckler said the retailer is already in talks with suppliers in 40 departments to find ways to manufacture on U.S. soil.

U.S. JOBS
It’s been one year since Wal-Mart announced its commitment to invest $50 billion into American products by 2023. She recently noted that the 10-year timeline was necessary as the retailer works with more suppliers trying to onshore their manufacturing operations — a time-intensive endeavor. Gloeckler said the retailer is looking for categories like patio furniture that present certain business challenges when manufactured abroad. The plan is to guide such products toward the retailer’s U.S. manufacturing initiative.

Daniel Levin, CEO of Cain Millwork, recently told CNBC that it may make more sense to create new manufacturing jobs than try to bring old manufacturing processes back.

“If you need something in six weeks, you need to have it done here, not overseas and that is not changing anytime soon,” Levin said.

Phillip Koosed, CEO of BAMKO recently told CNBC that manufacturing is still a segment very much in decline and while the anecdotal stories of small manufacturing shops opening in the U.S. are nice to hear, they aren’t moving the needle forward. He too, would like see more corporate efforts going into innovation hubs than courting back old manufacturing jobs.

There were an estimated 12.065 million manufacturing jobs in the U.S. during February, 2014, slightly above the post-war February 1946 level of 11.922 million, but well the peak of 19.553 million in June 1979.

OPEN CALL
In an unexpected and unusual move, Wal-Mart announced a July 8 open call for suppliers manufacturing in the U.S. and for suppliers ready to pitch new products and new categories.

“We’re open to great products that will delight our customers, especially if they’re made right here at home. At the same time, we want our suppliers to reevaluate their business models with the U.S. in mind and look more closely at what’s possible,” Gloeckler noted in her blog.

Wat-Mart also is willing to play matchmaker in order to get more innovative contributions from its supplier base. 

Walmart U.S. CEO Bill Simon said during the recent Year Beginning Meetings event that suppliers should bring their ideas forward as Wal-Mart may be able to match them with an innovator or entrepreneur.

Jason Long, CEO of Shift Marketing Group, said Wal-Mart is not just paying lip service with its commitment to source more U.S. made product as they are giving priority and preference to “Made-in-the-USA items.

Most Walmart suppliers probably measure their bottom line in regards to profit margins and the number of SKUs (products) available in the stores. For Humankind Water, the measurement of success is in terms of “people years” of water. In other words, the number of people served fresh drinking water times the number of years the well or filter used to provide that water is conservatively estimated to last.

Since winning the first “Get on the Shelf” contest at Walmart.com in 2012, Humankind Water has been able to exponentially increase its ability to provide fresh, clean water for people in countries including Haiti, Malawi, Uganda and India. To date, they’ve developed more than 40 wells and filters in those countries, said TJ Foltz, president and CEO. 

Philadelphia-based Humankind Water, which has a for-profit arm that sells water and a nonprofit foundation that accepts donations, "exists (solely) to raise money and awareness to help wipe out the world's drinking water crisis," according to the company’s website.

At first glance this company looks more like a venture Walmart’s Foundation would support than a product supplier. But this business model leverages Wal-Mart’s scale with the consumer’s desire to help others and it works, according to company execs.

Foltz, a youth minister and public speaker, left his job at the American branch of the Bible-education organization Scripture Union to work full-time on his water project in the fall of 2012.

GETTING ON THE SHELF
“It's everything,” Foltz said of how winning the contest affected their overall sales and ability to serve others. “You have to understand we had only gotten the first bottles two months before the contest was announced. We basically tabled our entire 5-year marketing plan knowing that winning the contest would get us the notoriety that would put us on the map.”

The actual profit margin varies on the retailer where the products are sold and the total effect of those dollars on the ability to provide fresh water also varies on the country’s sustainability structures already in place. 

“There are big variables in how much it costs to dig a well, install a filter, put up a rain catchment system. Our whole point in putting the promise on the bottle that we do —1 bottle=clean H2O for 1 person for 1 year — is predicated on knowing how ridiculously cheap it is to provide clean drinking water,” Foltz said. “If we find the right large population in the right country with the right sustainability structures in place, we can get clean drinking water to people for less than 25 cents per year. It's mind boggling.”

Continuing, he noted” “When you compare the enormity of the problem and the relative ease and low expense of providing the solution...you'd have to say, as I often do: ‘Water is the lowest hanging fruit on philanthropy's tree.’”

Ravi Jariwala, Walmart.com spokesman, said the Get on the Shelf program promises the winner the ability to have their products on Walmart.com and the opportunity to meet with buyers with the hope they might also become in-store suppliers. For Humankind Water, it was not feasible to sell the product online so the decision was made to place them in about 200 stores in the northeast United States near where Humankind Water is located. The water is from a protected spring in Honesdale, Pa., and bottled in the Pocono Mountains.

Calling Get on the Shelf a very “customer-centered program,” Jariwala said Walmart.com buyers cull the entries then customers could vote to create the top 20 finalists which were then placed in categories. Those finalists were flown to Bentonville to create webisodes about their products. Customers then had the ability to vote for the top contender in each category.

HELPFUL SUPPORT
Foltz said he is grateful to the mentoring and support the company received throughout the process, including Scott Poole and Greg Pickens at Premier Concepts.

“They do merchandising for companies like ours. Their folks go into the stores, locate the bottles, and line them up like perfect little tin soldiers, as well as put up, or if need be, replace our in-store signage,” Foltz said of Premier Concepts.

Some of the help came from unexpected places.

“We heard during the Walmart.com contest — and to this day we have no idea how —that Bentonville High School was voting like crazy for Humankind Water,” he said. “I have absolutely no idea how that many students would have gotten the word about Humankind Water to vote for us, but many did. And I'd like to thank those folks.”

PLANS TO EXPAND
Selling more water means providing more water through philanthropic means.

“We would love to expand to nationwide and are striving every day to do so. But you have to understand, when we won the contest we were tiny,” Foltz said. “We started Humankind Water on a shoestring, and won the contest on a shoestring as well. We've expanded as far as we have without ever spending a penny (to date) on traditional advertising, which as you know, is unheard of in the industry. ... So while we're not as far-ranging as we'd like to be (nationwide) we do feel great about the fact that we've gotten as far as we have spending next to nothing,” Foltz said.

He said there are plans for “some more mainstream advertising. People respond when they hear our story.”

While the bottled water is not available in Arkansas (“yet,” Foltz said), Northwest Arkansas residents can still order it for their own use, or for events and fundraisers. The process is to contact Foltz and order by the pallet. The water is purchased from Humankind Water for $1 a bottle and can be resold for more to generate needed funds for churches or other organizations.

A vote on unionization at one of OK Foods' local facilities will move forward on May 1.

According to Anthony Elmo of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1000, the National Labor Relations Board will oversee the unionization election for 55 maintenance and refrigeration workers at the company's Heavener, Okla., facility, one of three local OK Foods plants where UFCW officials are working with employees interested in unionizing.

UFCW Local 1000 President Ricky Burris said the company's employees deserved to be treated better by the company, one of many reasons the UFCW had pushed for a unionization vote.

"Their wages and benefits are sub-standard and they are joining together to get a fair deal from OK Foods," he said. "I'm proud UFCW is standing with these workers."

OK Foods has declined to offer comment on the May 1 vote.

A press release sent out by the UFCW on Monday (March 31) said workers at the Heavener facility requested UFCW assistance in December 2013 with a list of complaints including "low wages, expensive healthcare benefits, and unfair and unequal treatment at OK Foods' chicken processing plant in Heavener."

The request for assistance at the Heavener site came the same month that the union withdrew its request for a union vote at OK Foods' Fort Smith facility.

At the time, OK Foods said it was a sign that the union would not be able to secure the votes needed to enable workers to collectively bargain

“The withdrawal clearly indicates the Union did not have the support it needed to win the election,” a company statement said. “Management of the company is very grateful to its employees for their support and confidence, and is looking forward to working together to make OK Foods a great place to work.”

While the company was asserting a lack of support, it did not halt the efforts of the UFCW and company employees rallying the cause, who said withdrawing the request for a vote was due to other factors — mainly a result of the company providing the UFCW with a larger than expected manifest of employees in the run up to the planned vote, according to Elmo.

"In the process of giving us the list, which they have to do by law, that list was 600 (more) people (than the union was aware of). We didn't feel we could have a fair election (on whether or not to unionize) until contacting those workers to see if they supported the union or not. So that's where we are."

While a vote will now take place at the Heavener facility, what could happen at the Fort Smith or Muldrow, Okla., facilities is still anyone's guess, he said, adding that it is too early to tell what could happen.

"The (Fort Smith), Arkansas, plant is being run by a separate group of organizers," he said. "We've been working with some workers (in Muldrow, Okla.), but we're not at the point where we're ready to file for an election."

Union organizers for the Fort Smith facility declined comment for this story.

The NLRB-overseen election results will be known immediately, Elmo said, adding that the union and employees of the Heavener facility will be ready to negotiate employee demands with the company should the union vote succeed.

"We will probably send the company a letter the next day to see when they'd like to be available for contract negotiations. Then we'd have meetings with employees to voice their concerns and what they would like. They would appoint a bargaining committee. They will work with us and sit across the table from them (OK Foods officials) to negotiate the contracts with them. Immediately, we'll ask the company to come to the table."

Unionization itself is not uncommon within OK Foods' parent company, Industrias Bachoco, with more than 50% of its Mexican plants under union contracts. It is a reason Elmo told The City Wire earlier in March that there was hope that the company could be friendly to union efforts.

"(OK Foods is) a very successful company," he said. "It's part of why Bachoco bought them (in 2011). I don't think paying better wages is going to hurt this company. I think it helps. It will reduce turnover. Right now, this company blows through employees. They are constantly bringing in new help. My argument to this company would be if these people thought these jobs were better and more stable, the turnover would go down and you would see increased cost savings from that. From a corporate perspective, I would say they may want to give this a look."

Should the company choose to not enter contract negotiations, Elmo said Monday that the law would be on the side of the union and its members.

"We would rely on the law, the National Labor Relations Act. There are some stipulations about arbitration and mediation. If the company doesn't want to engage in negotiations, then we would follow the avenues the act allows."

Shares of Industrias Bachoco (IBA) were down nearly a tenth of a point at the close of business Monday, at $43.77 on light trading. In the last year, the stock has fluctuated between $30.19 and $46.16 per share.

A question at a Fort Smith town hall meeting and court hearings in Maryland normally do not intersect, but the topic raised by Fort Smith resident David Harris at a March 4 forum following the evening's regular Board of Directors meeting could have far-reaching implications.

During the town hall meeting, where members of the Fort Smith Board of Directors and city administration take questions from city residents in a one-on-one setting, Harris alleged that requests by the Mayor for local religious leaders to offer the benediction at the start of city meetings did not include religious leaders outside of the Christian faith.

It did not take but a few seconds before Mayor Sandy Sanders interjected and emphatically told Harris, "That is absolutely not true."

"We have invited numerous (religious leaders of other faiths). So that is absolutely not true."

While Harris thanked the mayor for the clarification, the matter seemed a local question until last week when a press release from the American Humanist Association called attention to Christian prayer at public meetings and a recent court ruling that found in favor of the organization, which had sued to force Carroll County, Md., officials from invoking the name of Jesus in prayers at its public meetings.

"When government officials frequently invoke Jesus or Savior in government meetings, they exploit the legislative prayer opportunity permitted by Marsh in violation of the Constitution," said Monica Miller, attorney for the American Humanist Association's Appignani Humanist Legal Center. "Non-Christians who are necessarily excluded by such sectarian Christian prayers, feel like religious outsiders and second-class citizens in their own community."

In the ruling, U.S. Federal Judge William Quarels, Jr., of the U.S. District Court of Maryland, ruled that Carroll County, Md., officials are prohibited "from invoking the name of a specific deity associated with any specific faith or belief in prayers given at [Board] meetings" while the lawsuit is pending. The ruling from Quarels does not stop non-sectarian prayers at public meetings.

"This is a major victory for the separation of church and state," said David Niose, legal director at the Appignani Humanist Legal Center. "Invocations at public meetings must not be sectarian, and that rule was clearly broken by the county here."

Even though there has been angst by the American Humanist Association about prayers offered to Jesus, Sanders’ office provided documentation showing that the city of Fort Smith has made attempts to include other faiths in the opening prayer ritual at city Board meetings. Among the non-Christian groups to be invited, the mayor's office has reached out to the Arkansas International Buddhist Temple, Wat Budda Samakitham, Masjid Al Salam and the United Hebrew Congregation.

A brief letter dated Jan. 16 to the Arkansas International Buddhist Temple in Fort Smith explained that the Board "begins each meeting with a brief invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance."

"I would like to invite you to give the invocation at one of the Board of Directors meetings during 2014, if you so desire," Sanders wrote to the temple, including instructions about how to make arrangements for a "mutually-agreeable date."

Nick Wintory, a member of the Board of Trustees at the United Hebrew Congregation, said his interactions with Sanders and former Mayor Ray Baker in the context of church and state have always been pleasant and non-exclusionary.

"Being 91 and having lived here for 75 years, I know quite a bit," he said. "I don't know that I've particularly felt slighted. And I don't know that prayer is particularly needed (at the beginning of meetings) anyway, but that's a personal position."

Many lifelong residents view public prayer at any sort of function just as Southern as fried chicken and sweet tea, and it does not appear that Wintory, himself a Southern transplant, is much different. But his personal opinion does go a bit further than that of the American Humanist Association.

"I don't know that we need some sort of benediction in order to conduct our business. But that's not the Southern way. Now these people here pray on every occasion, whether they need it or not," he said, adding that he doubts God would make many changes in the hearts of meeting participants as a result of a pre-meeting prayer.

Wintory noted that while Harris may have asked about the inclusion of non-Christian denominations, he again would not feel slighted had the invitation not come to his synagogue.

"It takes guts," he said. "There are about 25 of us (who attend the synagogue). It takes (guts) to require the city of Fort Smith to require that these 30 people be heard at every meeting. It doesn't mean a damn thing, if you know what I'm trying to say. I wish them luck, but I know a Baptist prayer is probably the best thing for these meetings. But we've always been included."

And while there may be concern among some citizens of not enough inclusion of other faiths or concern among atheist organizations about public prayer to a Christian God, Wintory said his personal faith is strong enough to not worry about any potential slights.

"At 91 and being a refugee from Nazi Germany, my Judaism is a little more set than kids from Fort Smith. I've been through the Holocaust and lived through Hitler, so I appreciate my Judiasm more than many in our congregation. But to me, this is not big thing. But it is nice to be asked even if we don't participate."

Just seven of the 17 publicly held companies based in Arkansas enjoyed a share price gain during the first quarter of 2014, a reversal from the 13 of the 16 followed in 2013 that had share price gains for the year.

The biggest gainer in the quarter was Springdale-based Tyson Foods which saw its share price rise almost $11 to $44.01. The largest drop came from Bentonville-based America’s Car Mart which saw its share price fall almost 13% in the quarter.

The equity markets were just barely able to remain above water during the first quarter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) began the year at 16,441.35, and finished the quarter (March 31) just over 16 points higher at 16,457.66. And that increase was thanks to a 134.6 point rally on Monday. The DJIA was up more than 23% in 2013, rising from 13,412 points to end the year at 16,576.

The broader S&P 500 began 2014 at 1,831.98 and ended the quarter just slightly higher at 1,872.34. Bad winter weather, rate hike rumblings from a new Fed chief (Janet Yellen) and continued concerns with a labor market that struggles to find solid footing have been cited by some economists and market watchers for the relatively slow start on Wall Street.

THE UPS
Fort Smith-based Arkansas Best Corp. (NASDAQ: ABFS), the parent company of less-than-truckload carrier ABF Freight System, closed the quarter at $36.92, up 9.25% compared to the Jan. 2 closing price of $33.82. A return to positive earnings helped shore up the share price. The company reported Jan. 30 that 2013 net income was $15.8 million, much better than the $7.7 million loss in 2012 and the most the company has earned in a year since 2008. The per share earnings of 59 cents also blew past the consensus estimate of 47 cents per share.

Little Rock-based Bank of the Ozarks (NASDAQ: OZRK) ended the quarter at $65.92, a healthy 20.8% increase from the Jan. 2 closing price of $56.32. The banking operation reported Jan. 16 that full year 2013 net income totaled $87.1 million, a 13.1% increase from $77.0 million for the full year of 2012. The bank is on an expansion path, with its most recent acquisition being the $216 million buyout of Arkadelphia-based Summit Bancorp.

Harrison-based First Federal Bancshares (NASDAQ: FFBH) ended the quarter at $9.17, up 5.16% compared to the Jan. 2 closing price of $8.72.

Pine Bluff-based Simmons First (NASDAQ: SFNC), which also is expanding through acquisition, ended the quarter at $37.27, up 2.47% over the Jan. 2 closing price of $36.37. The bank announced March 24 that it entered into an agreement to buy Little Rock-based Delta Trust for $66 million.

Springdale-based Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) set a new 52-week high in the first quarter with a strong outlook for the full year. Tyson shares closed March 31 at $44.01, up 2% on the day, while soaring 32.6% in the first quarter. CEO Donnie Smith said the company is able to pass along higher operating costs to customers and is poised for another record year.

Despite troubles with revenue, Little Rock-based Windstream (NYSE: WIN) ended the quarter at $8.24, up 2.87% compared to the Jan. 2 closing price.

THE DOWNS
Seeing share price declines were Little Rock-based Acxiom (down 5.95%); Bentonville-based America’s Car-Mart (down 12.63%); El Dorado-based Deltic Timber (down 2.21%); Little Rock-based Dillard’s (down 4.59%); Conway-based Home Bancshares (down 5.33%); Lowell-based J.B. Hunt Transport Services (down 6.1%); El Dorado-based Murphy Oil Corp. (down 1.31%); El Dorado-based Murphy USA Inc. (down 3.14%); Tontitown-based P.A.M. Transport (down 4.19%); and Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (down 3.14%).

J.B. Hunt Transport (NASDAQ: JBHT), the largest, most diversified logistics company in this report, saw its shares close the first quarter of 2014 at $71.92, up 2.79% on the day.  The uptick reverses a first quarter downward trend as the share price declined 6.1% from $76.60 where it began trading in 2014. Analysts with Bank of America recently downgraded JBHT shares from a “buy” to “hold” citing lackluster intermodal volumes related to winter storms around Chicago, a major hub for Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) closed March 31 at $76.43, up 42 cents on the day. Wal-Mart missed earnings expectations as did most retailers in the quarter, but analysts view Wal-Mart has a safe haven given its 2.5% dividend yield.

Shares of America’s Car-Mart Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMT) closed the quarter at $36.66, up 3.4% on the day. The Bentonville-based buy here, pay here used car dealer’s share price tumbled 11.8% during the first quarter from $41.96 where it closed on Jan. 2. Car-Mart has reported competitive pressures from an increase in subprime lending options.

Little Rock-based Dillard’s (NYSE: DDS) may have posted a price decline in the quarter but the company posts the highest share price with a quarter-ending mark of $92.40. However, the price was down from the Jan. 2 closing price of $96.85. As have many retailers around the country, Dillard’s has struggled with sales related to winter weather storms, and market watchers are expressing concerns signs the consumer is moderating spending habits.