There is never a good time for a high-profile and deadly traffic accident involving a tractor-trailer rig, but efforts by the trucking industry to amend federal hours-of-service rules likely became more difficult when a Wal-Mart rig caused an accident in New Jersey that killed comedian James McNair and critically injured Saturday Night Live alum Tracy Morgan.

Morgan remains in critical condition following the June 7, 1 a.m., accident. Walmart driver Kevin Roper, 35, has been charged on several counts related to the accident. Some media reports suggest that authorities believe Roper was sleep deprived.

Wal-Mart officials have said they will cooperate with the investigation and help the victims.

“Safety is our absolute highest priority, but that is no comfort whatsoever to the families and friends who are suffering today,” Walmart U.S. CEO Bill Simon said in a statement on June 8. “We offer them our deepest condolences. We can’t change what happened, but we will do what’s right for the family of the victim and the survivors in the days and weeks ahead.”

But Wal-Mart is not conceding claims that Roper was driving beyond the legal limits.

“With regards to news reports that suggest Mr. Roper was working for 24 hours, it is our belief that Mr. Roper was operating within the federal hours of service regulations,” said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan. “The details are the subject of the ongoing investigation and we are cooperating fully with the appropriate law enforcement agencies. The investigation is ongoing and unfortunately we can’t comment further on the specifics.”

Wal-Mart also declined to provide The City Wire info on changes made within their truck fleet following the accident.

COLLINS’ AMENDMENT
Just days prior to the accident in New Jersey, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, successfully pushed an amendment through the Senate Appropriations Committee that would block certain provisions – primarily the 34-hour restart rule – of the new hours-of-service rules implemented in July.

In pushing the amendment, Collins said it is “clear that the rules have had unintended consequences that are not in best interest of carriers, shippers and the public.” Collins’ effort would block what is known as the “two-night rest” rule.

Broadly, the Department of Transportation rules reduce a driver’s average maximum allowable hours of work per week from 82 hours to 70 hours, a 15% reduction.

“The 15% reduction in the average maximum allowable hours of work based on the new rule results from the restrictions on the use of the restart period,” explained DOT language on rule.

The DOT estimates that the new rule will boost annual trucking industry expenses by about $470 million, but said benefits from safety, driver health and other factors will produce an overall net economic gain of up to $280 million a year.

“The goal of this rulemaking is to reduce excessively long work hours that increase both the risk of fatigue-related crashes and long-term health problems for drivers,” noted a statement from the federal Department of Transportation.

Officials in the trucking industry have said the rules do nothing to promote safety and instead drive up costs for the industry which are then passed on to consumers.

Kevin Kelly, a spokesman for Collins, took issue with criticism of Collin’s amendment following the accident involving Morgan.

“To infer that the proposal that is being considered by the Senate had anything to do with the horrific crash is inaccurate,” Kelly told the Bangor Daily News in this report.

He added that the amendment would not have changed the fundamental rules that seek to prevent truck drivers from being sleep deprived.

TRUCKING INDUSTRY RESPONSE
American Trucking Associations President and CEO Bill Graves issued a statement following the accident designed to separate the push to amend hours-of-service rules with what happened to Morgan.

“The issue of highway safety, and in particular the safety of the trucking industry, has been at the forefront of the national conversation for several days due to a high profile incident in New Jersey,” Graves noted. “Second, I want to address several issues regarding the hours-of-service rules and driver fatigue generally. The hours-of-service rules – whether they are the current regulations, the pre-2013 rules, or the rules with changes we hope to see as a result of Congressional action – only place limits on driving and on-duty time and require that between work periods drivers take a minimum of 10 consecutive hours off-duty. But they do not dictate what drivers do during that off-duty period. No rule can address what a driver does in his or her off-duty time. The industry – including ATA, our member fleets, our state associations and the millions of safe, professional truck drivers on the road today – strongly believes that drivers must take advantage of their off-duty periods for rest and that drivers should not drive if they are fatigued.”

Chris Spear, the chief of legislative affairs for the American Trucking Associations’, said in a May 14 interview with The City Wire that one consequence of the new rule is that it places drivers on the road at peak times instead of letting them drive at hours when the general public is not on the road. Spear argued that the consequence is counter to the claim of federal regulators that safety is the focus.

The ATA declined to provide comment to The City Wire about how the Morgan accident has changed the hours-of-service debate among federal lawmakers.

Graves’ statement of June 8 also included the following measures the ATA supports to improve highway safety.
• We support a suspension of the controversial and unjustified restrictions on use of the hours-of-service restart provision, which alters driver sleep patterns and puts more trucks on the road during more risky daylight hours.

• We support mandatory use of electronic logging devices to track drivers’ compliance with the hours of service requirements.

• We support more aggressive enforcement of traffic laws to combat distracted and aggressive driving as well as restricting the speeds of large trucks to 65 mph with mandatory electronic speed governors.

• Fatigue, while an important safety issue, is a causal factor in less than 10% of all truck crashes, and ATA believes we need to do far more to address the other 90% of crashes.”

CRASH DATA
Large trucks accounted for 8% of the vehicles in fatal crashes, but only 3% of the vehicles involved in injury crashes and 4% of the vehicles involved in property-damage-only crashes, according to the most recent DOT report on highway safety. The report also found that 39.6% of fatalities are in passenger cars, 37.8% in light trucks and 11.1% from motorcycle accidents.

Graves has been on record saying that the truck driver was not at fault in a majority of accidents between large trucks and other vehicles.

The number killed in accidents involving large trucks during 2012 was 697, up from 640 in 2011, but below historical trends. The average annual number of deaths between 2012 and 2000 was 700.38. Deaths involving large trucks hit a record 1,432 in 1979

Following are the number killed in accidents (2012-2003) involving large trucks.
2012: 697
2011: 640
2010: 530
2009: 499
2008: 682
2007: 805
2006: 805
2005: 804
2004: 766
2003: 726

WAL-MART FLEET SAFETY
Wal-Mart, with the largest private fleet in the U.S., is closely watched when it comes to highway safety legislation and data. The company reports having at least 7,400 drivers, more than 6,100 tractors and 713 million miles driven in 2010 (most recent year the company provided data).

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Walmart trucks were involved in 375 crashes in the past two years, with nine deaths and 129 injured. The federal data does not indicate who is at fault in the accidents.

The federal data also shows that Wal-Mart had 667.425 million vehicle miles traveled in 2013, among 7,222 drivers and 6,239 trucks.

The Bentonville-based retailer says it has one of the best fleet safety records in the U.S.

“Walmart is recognized by the industry as having one of the safest fleets in the country, driving 2.11 million miles per preventable accident. Walmart is also proud to have a DOT Recordable Accident Frequency of 0.342 per million miles,” the company notes on its website. “Walmart drivers must meet stringent pre-hire standards that include a minimum of 250,000 miles of driving tractor trailers and no preventable accidents in the last three years.”

Few reviews of the move by Springdale-based Tyson Foods to acquire Hillshire Brands for $8.55 billion are favorable. Several analysts say Tyson overbid at $63 per share for Hillshire Brands at the expense of existing Tyson investors, and that the 70% per-share premium could take years for Tyson to recover.

“We believe Tyson stock will be dead money at best for the next 12 months as it copes with the hangover of paying such a big price including an issuance perhaps of $1.6 billion of equity,” noted Robert Moskow, an analyst with Credit Suisse.

Tyson Foods shares (NYSE: TSN) closed at $36.09 on Wednesday (June 11), up two cents. The share price entered June at $42.56, and have fallen more than $7 in response to the bidding war with Pilgrim’s Pride to buy Hillshire. For the past 52 weeks the share price has ranged from a $44.24 high to a $24.74 low.

Moskow was one of two Wall Street analysts to downgrade Tyson stock following the bidding war for Hillshire. Moskow downgraded Tyson from neutral to underperform. BB&T Capital analyst Brett Hundley downgraded Tyson Foods from a buy to a neutral position on Friday (June 6) citing the bids were getting to rich to make the numbers work.

"Bidding wars can sometimes leave casualties, the situation with Hillshire is starting to approach this level," Hundley noted to investors.

He said a bid over $60 by Tyson Foods would run the risk of ruining its investment grade status.

“At the price of $63 per share, we believe Tyson destroyed $2 billion in value. We believe fair value for Hillshire was $47 per share including the $1.3 billion value of synergies,” Moskow said.

Standard & Poor’s put Tyson Foods on credit watch with negative implications following its winning bid for Hillshire Brands because Tyson will assume more debt to finance the high-priced deal.

Tyson now has investment grade credit, two full levels above junk status, but analysts believe the meat giant could teeter on the edge of more downgrades if commodity price increases crimp margins and cash flow needed for debt repayment.

Officials with Tyson Foods say they are prepared to issue debt and equity to cover the purchase but will not sacrifice the investment grade credit rating. Fitch Rating noted Monday (June 10) that a new equity issue is the most favorable option for the company. Tyson’s ratings will take into consideration the equity used to finance the purchase as well as Fitch’s view regarding the pace of reducing debt and Tyson’s ability to garner its projected $300 million in savings

Tyson filed papers June 9 with the Securities and Exchange Commission outlining an extension of a bridge loan for $8.2 billion with a $1 billion “backstop” agreement to cover any contingencies.

BIG APPETITE
Analysts drilled Tyson executives earlier this week about why the bidding went so high for Hillshire Brands. Tyson management said Hillshire is a once-in-a-lifetime deal that will help moderate the volatility of the core commodity business, accelerate its growth rate, improve the value-added mix while also creating operational synergies – improved margins – over time.

Tyson Foods CEO Donnie Smith said culturally the companies are also a great fit and the deal will pay off for shareholders over the next five years. That timeline was extended from three years to five years after Tyson raised its offer for Hillshire from $50 to $63 per share, which made it the most expensive meat deal in industry history.

Stephens Inc. analyst Farha Aslam told Bloomberg Radio this week that growth among U.S. food companies is hard to achieve because Americans are spending about all they are able on food. She said the food industry is seeing several consolidations because interest rates are low and food companies generate lots of cash.

“Hillshire is a strategic fit for Tyson Foods, the largest acquisition in Tyson’s history and it will take some time for them to digest it all.” Aslam said.

Tyson believes adding HIllshire to its portfolio would create a larger market share in the breakfast category the fastest growing segment in food. Tyson said there is also more room to expand margins on Hillshire’s business –  assumption to which Moskow agreed.

ASSET SALES
Moskow said Hillshire presents opportunities for Tyson to generate cash for debt paydown. For example, Credit Suisse believes Tyson will sell off Hillshire’s bakery division which generates about $500 million in annual sales. However, Moskow said it would still be a drop in the bucket given the overpayment for the Hillshire business.

Tyson Foods could also adjust capital expenditures to reduce spending, namely in China, where they have also slowed expansion.

Tyson also just completed the sale of its 50% interest in Dynamic Fuels to Renewable Energy Group. The renewable fuel plant in Geismar, La., was a costly venture for Tyson and partner Syntroleum since the project came online in 2010.

REG paid Tyson approximately $16.5 million in cash at closing on June 9 and retired approximately $13.5 million of Dynamic Fuels’ indebtedness to Tyson, according to a company release. REG has also agreed to make up to $35 million in future payments to Tyson tied to product volumes at the Geismar biorefinery over a period of up to 11.5 years.

Gigantic screen televisions are fun to look at in a store, but on a space-to-sales ratio they rank well below tablets and mobile phones. That is why consumers can expect to see fewer big screens in their local Walmart Supercenter in the future and more space dedicated to faster-selling mobile phones, tablets and other digital accessories.

“Electronics are a great piece of business for us, albeit a challenging category for some time now,” Bill Simon CEO of Wal-Mart U.S., said during the recent question and answer session with the media in conjunction to the retailer’s shareholder events (June 3-6).

Simon was asked how the retailer is managing its entertainment category, which remains challenged because of deflationary margins and slowed innovation. While Simon admits the ongoing challenges, the retailer is not making radical changes. They are actively tweaking the space dedicated to certain entertainment items.

“We are trying to look at this segment more holistically. Forget online and offline and think more about assortment offering and connectivity. There are certain items we can show in the store, that we could sell more breadth of online and there are other items that we can sell and deliver immediately to the customer in-store,” Simon said.

Stephen Quinn, executive vice president of marketing at Walmart U.S., said the retailer is launching net modular sets within its electronics and entertainment departments. These sets have already been placed inside local supercenters in Northwest Arkansas.

“One of the most vital things we do is make sure our in-store presentations fit customer needs. Electronics are a challenging industry,” Quinn said. “The new sets in our local stores adjust our space-to-sales ratio better and we are leaning in toward the growth areas.”

CHANGING THE MIX, PRESENTATION
Wal-Mart said wireless devices, tablets and mobile connectivity items will have more dominant presentation space in its stores. The space also will include bigger brand presentations, and newer and more popular brands. Those brands will be featured in more prominent store locations to better ensure customer awareness.

“We are looking at the physical space dedicated to the electronics and we see there are some items in the category growing twice as fast as those items in decline, so we are making sure the product mix and assortment is right for what customers want. We are also working closely with our partners at Walmart.com to try and figure out what is the best way to present our online offerings to the customer when they are in-store,” Quinn said.

Simon said the dedicated space for entertainment in a supercenter is not changing, but they are adjusting the product displays within that dedicated area. He said there is still value in the $5 DVD and music CD bins as the retailers sells a ton of those items each week.

“Overall it’s a difficult, challenging business, but we feel good about the share position we are in and we are going to try and build upon that share going forward,” Quinn said.

Jason Long, CEO of Shift Marketing Group, said in many ways Wal-Mart is a victim of its own success in the electronics space and now they are victims of the latest, greatest thing.

“There was a time when Wal-Mart was not competitive in electronics, but they began to pull in the best brands and broad selections with better pricing than other competitors, taking market share. But how many big screen televisions do families really need. The lack of innovation from Apple and everyone else has stagnated this category,” Long said.

He said giving top brands more prominence in the store is like a hybrid version of the store-within-a-store format that has been popular at Best Buy. 

One area Long believes Wal-Mart could step up its game is through theme displays around some pop culture phenomenons like “Frozen” or “Star Wars,” especially if there is more room to spare. 

“At Target, ‘Frozen’ outsold in a month more copies than ‘Finding Nemo’ sold in a full year. They said the soundtrack from ‘Frozen’ outsold all other CDs in total in that month. You would have to think this kind of popularity would be a huge traffic driver in stores,” Long said.

SELLING SERVICES, APPLIANCES
In the past Wal-Mart looked to sell services to help boost entertainment sales. One of the more recent programs is a game trade-in service. It has been mildly successful with 115,000 games traded in for cash at Walmart stores, according to Duncan Mac Naughton, chief merchandising officer for Walmart U.S.

Wal-Mart said there were roughly 880 million video games sitting in homes collecting dust, when the program was announced. This buy-back program is designed to get traffic in-stores trading and then spending the money paid on new games or upgraded video gaming equipment. The refurbished games are slated to make their way to Wal-Mart shelves this summer.

Mac Naughton said new game releases drive heavy traffic into the store, and the buyback program will allow more gamers to trade-up over time and increase the overall size of the $2 billion market. Other retailers like Radio Shack recently announced new services as a way to drive traffic into their electronics stores. Dallas-based Radio Shack unveiled a new smartphone “fix it” service last week in its stores. The in-store, same-day service on popular mobile devices is performed at “Fix It Here” stations while the customer waits. Radio Shack has added stations to more than 284 company and franchise stores as part of a pilot program. Results are encouraging enough to expand it to 700 stores by year-end, said CEO Joe Magnacca.

Long said he is not sure how many people go to Radio Shack to buy their smartphones and service plans. But they do sell phones and if the repair job costs more than a new phone, Radio Shack will likely sell more of them.

“You have to figure that some Radio Shack sales people already possess the know-how to repair electronics. I am not sure that could be said for other mass retailers,” Long said.

Simon also set the record straight about selling household appliances within a supercenter setting. He said Wal-Mart piloted selling appliances in a number of markets, including Texas, in recent years. He said sales were good in certain locations but the process of selling appliances is not scalable.

“Our business model requires frequency in turns for items to be productive and effective and while white goods (appliances) sales where effective in a few locations, we have decided to evaluate now how we might sell these items online and deliver to store,” Simon said.

With the surprise primary loss of U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor Tuesday night (June 10) and his announcement Wednesday (June 11) that he would resign his post as majority leader, there has been plenty of talk about who might be next in line and how the leadership shuffle could impact Congressional Republicans further down the food chain – like U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers.

POLITICO reports that Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of California will run for majority leader in an election that could happen as quickly as next week. The publication said McCarthy's move would mean two positions would be open in the leadership team.


But for anyone expecting Womack, himself a deputy whip in the House, to make a move to a higher position, he told The City Wire it was was not going to happen.

“Look, it’s flattering whenever your name gets associated with a potential leadership move, no matter what the circumstances are. ... But there is a tremendous trade off that you have to give when you serve in a leadership position in either chamber, and your ability to take care of your constituents.”

Womack said demands on House leaders to raise money, make appearances and keep an “awful travel schedule” require the Representative to “almost have an understanding with their constituency” that they will not spend a lot of time in the district. That type of understanding, Womack said, is not an option he prefers.

“In my calculus, my work and the commitment I’ve made to my constituents, it limits my leadership options,” Womack said, adding that he is comfortable with that limitation.

Also, Womack said his position as a deputy whip on the House Whip Team provides him the best of both worlds.

“With that (whip team), I get to be at the table for a lot of important discussions, but at the end of the day, I can come home” and see family and “hear directly from” constituents in the district, Womack explained. “If I’m in a leadership position, I’m not going to have a lot of those opportunities.”

One of those opportunities happened Tuesday when Womack provided a tour of the House chambers to a 10-year-old “young lady” from Rogers. Womack said he gets “more of a charge from that” than dealing with what is required by leadership positions.

“She was able to come on the (House) floor for a vote. ... That’s the best part of my job, and if I’m in a leadership position, I can’t do that,” he said.
Womack also said that he is in the “middle of the pack” with respect to seniority on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Womack said his possibility to advance with Appropriations, and his seat on the Defense appropriations subcommittee, will have more of a positive benefit to Arkansas and the 3rd District than a House leadership post.

David Olive, founder of Washington, D.C.-based Catalyst Partners, and former chief of staff to then U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchison, said Womack is smart to “avoid getting into the Cantor aftermath and stick with the Appropriations pathway he is on.”

Olive said Womack is on the path to becoming an Appropriations “Cardinal” in the coming years.

“That would be HUGE for Arkansas,” Olive noted in an e-mail interview.

A source on Capitol Hill who spoke to The City Wire on condition of anonymity said U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, chairman of the House Rules Committee, is already campaigning for the majority leader position, with fellow Texan Jeb Hensarling also a likely contender for the position. But POLITICO reports should Hensarling jump into the race, Sessions would likely step aside.

The same source said U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois has been floating the idea of running for whip should McCarthy run for majority leader as expected.

Fort Smith City Directors were true to their straw poll from Tuesday (June 10) and have withdrawn two resolutions that would have directed the city to hire an auditor to look into legal billings by the Daily and Woods Law Firm to the city, as well as establish a commission to review how the city receives legal counsel.

According to City Clerk Sherri Gard, she was contacted by City Director Mike Lorenz regarding the removal of both items from the June 17 regular meeting agenda even though the two items received a motion and a second by City Directors Philip Merry and Pam Weber, respectively.

Gard quoted Fort smith Municipal Code Section 2-31(4) as allowing any director to request removal of items from the agenda.

"Any item of business may be denied a place on or removed from the agenda by notice of four (4) directors to the city clerk prior to the date of the meeting of the proposed consideration. The city clerk shall immediately notify the city administrator, the mayor, the directors and other interested persons of such action."

Merry had requested the review at the June 3 regular meeting, which was tabled by the mayor as an improper motion until the June 10 study session. The request by Merry came after a series of posts by attorney Matt Campbell on the Blue Hog Report blog questioned billing practices by the Daily and Woods firm to the city, alleging the firm had over-billed for some services and billed for others that never occurred, such as phone calls to Campbell as part of a set of lawsuits against the city in which he serves as legal counsel.

City Attorney Jerry Canfield and City Administrator Ray Gosack have both said the billings were above board, with Canfield providing some documentation to Gosack showing a sampling of phone calls he said were made to Campbell.

Merry's motion regarding a review of billings by Daily and Woods would have contracted a firm to audit the billings for the last three and a half years. His motion for the commission would have appointed an attorney, a CPA and three members of the business community to review whether the city should still contract with Daily and Woods like it has since 1967 or whether it should hire in-house counsel and support staff to handle its legal billings.

Voting to remove the audit from the agenda were Lorenz, City Directors Keith Lau, André Good, George Catsavis and Vice Mayor Kevin Settle. Merry and Weber were the only two who wanted to keep the item on the agenda were Merry and Weber.

Voting to remove the commission proposal was Lorenz, Lau, Catsavis and Settle, while Good, Merry and Weber were in favor of keeping it on the agenda.

In an e-mail to The City Wire, Campbell said he was disappointed by the move, saying it lacked transparency for Fort Smith citizens.

"This should give the citizens of Fort Smith a great deal of concern. This is twice now that a procedural maneuver has been used to keep these issues away from a meeting where members of the public could make their opinions known.  I can only assume they are doing this because they, like I, have seen that the overwhelming response from the public is in support of both an audit and a review of the contractual relationship with Daily & Woods."

Campell also called Gosack and Canfield to task for Canfield's response to the allegations made by Campbell.

"It's also troubling to me that the city administrator and others continue to pretend like Jerry Canfield's response to the phone-records issue was anything but absurd.  He addressed five phone calls, out of twenty-three, then gave such a transparent "explanation" for the remaining eighteen calls that anyone who has ever looked a phone bill should have known it was a lie."

Former U.S. Rep. Mike Ross announced his five-part job creation plan Thursday (June 12) during a visit to Chaffee Crossing, which Ross touted as having brought more than 1,000 jobs to the Fort Smith area since the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority was formed by the Arkansas legislature.

The 46-page plan focuses on improving education, implementing tax cuts, eliminating bureaucratic red tape, and implementing a five-part economic development plan.

“My comprehensive job creation and economic development plan is called Jobs First, because putting jobs first is exactly what I will do as governor,” said Ross. “By prioritizing education and workforce training, tax cuts, government efficiency and economic development, my job creation plan outlines my positive vision for the future of this great state and will guide my work as your next governor.  And, we will do all of this by putting an end to the partisan bickering and start working with one another to put jobs first.”

CUTTING RED TAPE
Ross's plan says the state needs to eliminate "burdensome government regulations" by focusing on the areas of accessibility, transparency and efficiency.

“While government can help, it doesn’t have all the answers, and it can’t solve all our problems.  Government should help where it can, and it should get out of the way where it can’t,” he said.  “As a former small business owner, I know that taxes are too high and that overly burdensome government regulations can stifle economic growth. That’s why my plan will cut taxes in a fiscally responsible way and will bring more efficiency, transparency and accountability to government.”

On the accessibility front, Ross proposed the creation of an online central business licensing system that would simplify the licensing process by having a one-stop shop for all businesses and entrepreneurs.

"The goal of the new central business licensing system will be to reduce the time it takes to start a small business in Arkansas, and to make the process easier, smoother and less confusing for our entrepreneurs," the plan states.

Regarding transparency, Ross is proposing the publication of all rules and regulations issued by state agencies, boards and commissions in a "centralized location and in a user-friendly format.”

To improve efficiencies in state government and small business creation, Ross proposed the creation of a task force that would examine all policies in place in the state for longer than three years and make recommendations on changes that should be made, either revising regulations or repealing regulations.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN
The first of the parts to Ross's economic development plan includes the creation of the Governor's Cabinet for Economic Development, which he announced in 2013 when he endorsed Democrat John Burkhalter, a former highway commission, in his bid for lieutenant governor.

"The Cabinet will serve as an advisory group for the entire state of Arkansas - to become an engine for new, innovative ideas that help businesses of all sizes start, grow or move to Arkansas," the plan reads, adding that the work of the proposed group could be done at zero cost to the state.

The second part of Ross's economic development plan involves the full $50 million funding of the Governor's Quick Action Closing Fund, created under current Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe as a way for the state to quickly close deals with job prospects. Ross said the fund was not replenished for the 2015 budget, leaving it with a balance of only $7 million.

The third part of the economic development plan includes the creation of grants to "encourage non-profit organizations, economic development partnerships and local communities all over Arkansas to replicate some of the same components that make up the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub. …" The ARIH is under construction in North Little Rock and will serve as a business incubator in Central Arkansas.

Ross proposed using $3 million in surplus funds to make grants available for groups and communities for up to two years that would "implement programming, resources or initiatives that encourage innovation, foster technical and skills training or provide support and resources for entrepreneurial activity. Grants may also be used to build, update or refurbish facilities or purchase high-tech equipment relevant to those communities' business and entrepreneurial needs.”

Fourth in Ross's economic development plan is creating a "crowdsourcing" campaign to encourage agencies in state government to get creative "about how to harness the ideas and entrepreneurial talents of Arkansas and give Arkansas' budding entrepreneurs opportunities to be recognized and rewarded for their skills and talents.” The plan also calls for the launch of a website entitled "Engage Arkansas to partner the private sector and state government to find solutions for state challenges.”

The final proposal as part of Ross's economic development plan includes creating the "Arkansas Work Ready Community Initiative," which the campaign said would be defined as a "community, county or regional partnership certified as having a skilled and trained workforce ready to meet the needs of job creators." The program would be based on the national ACT Work Ready Community certification program, which would incentivize participation in the program.

EDUCATION
Ross's education plan was announced earlier this year and focuses heavily on universal pre-K and technical education as an alternative to college.

The plan for universal pre-K specifically will run $37.48 million per year once full implemented, Ross's 46-page jobs plan says, though the campaign touts the reported return on investment as a positive.

"In fact, the average return on investment for pre-kindergarten programs is $10.83 for every dollar invested, according to research reported in the 2013 Policy Report by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER)," the plan reads.

Ross's plan also calls for expanding programs already in place, including the Arkansas School Recognition and Rewards Program, which rewards schools based on student performance and improvement ratings.

The former 4th District Congressman is also proposing the creation of a Innovation Laboratory (InLab) Fund, using $5 million from the state's surplus funds each year to fund the program. InLab will be available for educators to implement what the campaign said were innovative, yet proven, learning strategies.

Fully funding the Governor's Distinguished Scholarship, which is designed to pay $10,000 in scholarships for 300 students who meet eligibility to stay in-state for their college education. The annual cost is $3 million, though Ross said the program always has a higher number of students apply for the grant each year, which could mean an additional $1.6 million in needed funding for the program.

According to Ross, education is key component of developing the state's workforce, which is why it is featured so prominently in his jobs plan.

“I know that education and job creation go hand in hand, which is why I want to be the education governor and why my plan is so focused on improving education and workforce training in Arkansas,” Ross said.

TAX CUTS
Ross's previously announced tax cut plan is also featured prominently, with the Democratic gubernatorial candidate again pushing for lowering the overall tax rate for most Arkansas families to a peak rate of 4.4%, though individuals earning over $75,100 would be taxed at a 6.9% rate, just under the state's current 7% max.

Overall, the plan will reduce state revenues by more than $574 million once it is fully phased in, while saving the average Arkansas family about $665 per year, he said. Simply put, Ross's plan states that Arkansas' current income tax structure is stifling job growth, which is why a change is needed.

"This tax cut plan will create more good-paying jobs and help save the ones we already have; it will help our small businesses grow; it will encourage more investments in manufacturing jobs; it will help keep the next generation right here in Arkansas working at good jobs and raising their families here; and it will put more of people's hard-earned money back into their pockets," the plan reads.

COSTS AND POLITICAL REALITIES
Standing with Ross has he announced the jobs plan, Burkhalter called Ross's proposal "visionary" and said it would move Arkansas' economy forward by helping businesses create jobs and bringing a national spotlight to the Natural State.

"This plan for job creation in Arkansas is bold, it's comprehensive, it's visionary and will move Arkansas into the national spotlight as a serious player in the economic development community."

Speaking to The City Wire about his jobs plan, Ross said he did not feel like the multi-part plan was too ambitious to be achieved and said he feels like even if the General Assembly stays under Republican control should he be elected governor in the fall, it would be approved by a majority of legislators.

"When it comes to improving education, cutting taxes, creating more and better paying jobs, those should not be partisan issues," he said. "I've made it clear that I'm proud to be the nominee for governor of the Democratic Party, but I'm running to be the governor of all the people of this state. I've spend my life working in a non-partisan manner. I've got the temperament, experience and leadership skills to work with both parties to put Arkansas first.”

He said funding for new programming such as the InLab and fully funding of scholarships would not add much cost to programs and initiatives included in the plan that he had previously announced. Ross added that costs would amount to about $3.6 million annually out of the general fund, with another $8 million in "one-time surplus funds.”

“The bottom line is this: my job creation plan will strengthen public education and workforce training, cut taxes, reduce government regulations, and position Arkansas to become a national leader in the economic development community – all of which will create more and better-paying jobs, grow the Arkansas economy for everyone and tell the nation that Arkansas is open for business.”

Link here to the PDF (large file) of the 46-page Ross plan.

HUTCHINSON STATEMENTS
• Following is the statement from the Asa Hutchinson campaign.

Longtime Democratic Congressman Mike Ross has zero credibility in terms of job creation.

He has zero credibility in job creation in the congressional district he represented for more than a decade in congress. While Arkansas’s 4th Congressional District struggled with job loss overall, Mike Ross’s own home county saw unemployment increase by nearly 50% during the time Ross was in Washington, D.C. Furthermore, when Mike Ross took office, national unemployment was 4.2%. After twelve years in Washington, D.C., Ross left office with unemployment at 7.9%.

Mike Ross has zero credibility on job creation when he helped lay the groundwork for Obamacare.

He has zero credibility in reducing the burden of government regulations when almost 40,000 new federal rules were published during Ross’s years in Washington, D.C.,  
He has zero credibility on reducing wasteful government spending when he voted for the “cash for clunkers” program and the stimulus package. All of this spending helped to add than more than $10 trillion dollars to the federal debt while Ross was in Washington D.C.

• Asa Hutchinson issued the following statement:
“When it comes to job creation, there are fundamental differences between myself and my Democratic opponent, Mike Ross. I released the The Asa Plan - Making Arkansas Competitive: A New Jobs Plan for 2015 & Beyond in April of this year.  Job creation is so vitally important that, as governor, I will lead our economic development and not delegate it to another office.  Mike Ross wants his running mate, John Burkhalter, to lead his effort.  I have said from the beginning that my top priority is job creation and economic growth.  I will be the jobs governor; Mike Ross is not sure what his priority will be.  Last month he claimed that he would be the education governor and that was his top priority. This month he says “jobs first”. What will his top priority be next month?”

The top two executives at Bentonville-based America’s Car-Mart did without bonuses and incentive performance pay in fiscal 2014 to the tune of $126,338 for CEO Hank Henderson and $76,749 for chief financial officer Jeff Williams, according to a recent proxy filing with federal regulators.

Henderson earned a total of $467,859 last year, which included car usage, country club membership, insurance premiums and matching retirement funds. The base salary of $440,000 was unchanged from fiscal 2013, and there was no performance bonus pay.

Williams’ total income in fiscal 2014 was $373,268, comprised on a base salary totaling $346,500. The base salary increased 5% from the prior year and other compensation for car usage and retirement funding decreased 14% from the prior year.

Former chief operating office Eddie Hight, who stepped back from that role in November, earned a total of $309,491 in fiscal 2014. Hight did receive a $10,000 bonus and he now serves as associate development manager and a board member.

ANNUAL MEETING
Car-Mart plans to hold its annual shareholder meeting at its corporate offices in Bentonville on July 30. The business agenda will include the election of seven directors to a one year term. Board candidates are:
• Daniel Englander, 47, managing partner with Ursula Investors;
• Kenny Gunderman, 43, executive vice president with Stephens Inc.;
• Hank Henderson, 50, CEO at Car-Mart;
• Eddie Hight, 51, associate development manager at Car-Mart;
• John David SImmons, 78, president of Simmons & Associates;
• Cameron Smith, 63, CEO of Cameron Smith & Associates; and
• Jeff Williams, 51, chief financial officer at Car-Mart.

Independent directors earn $40,000 base annual retainer for their services, stipends of $5,000 and $10,000 are paid to the lead director (Simmons) and the chairman of the audit committee (Englander), respectively. Each director also receives stock option awards which were valued at $96,435 last year.

In related party transactions last year Car-Mart states that on Dec. 12,  it repurchased 100,000 shares for one of its directors, William Sams, for $4.101 million, and 100,000 shares from the Marlin Sams Fund, in which William Sams was a general partner. That purchase was also valued at $4.101 million. The company notes the repurchased price paid was determined according to the conditions of Rule 10b-19 under the Exchange act. 

For the fiscal year ending April 30, 2014, Car-Mart says it had no other related-party transactions.

INVESTOR RIDE
Car-Mart investors have had a bumpy ride this past year with the share price losing 13.6% of its value over the past 52-week period. Shares traded down 1.5% on Thursday (June 12) at $36.28. The bulk of that decline occurred following the recent earnings miss reported May 28. That one day shares sunk 12.4%, or $5.03, to $35.50.

The buy-here, pay-here used-car company reported fiscal year net income of $21.1 million, down 34% compared to the previous fiscal year. Total revenue rose 5.3% to $489 million, despite slightly negative same-store sales for the year. The company sold and financed 42,551 cars and trucks in fiscal 2014, up 4.4% more than in the prior year. The average sales price rose less than 1% to $9,768. 

Shares rallied to $40.53 ahead of the May 27 earnings report, but retreated immediately following the disappointing financial report. Fiscal year income was $2.25 per share, which missed the consensus estimate of $2.31. The company was also estimated to earn $499.97 million, which was below the reported $489 million.

CORPORATE GAME PLAN
Henderson was upbeat in the earnings call in part because of the company’s clean balance sheet. He did say the company would slow its expansion pace this year from earlier projections as it works to improve sagging sales in many of its dealerships.

The sluggish sales growth has been attributed to an onslaught on competition in the subprime auto finance sector as more lenders are chasing the higher yields. Car-Mart charges 15% on its car loans, and says the rate is justified because of the risk involved lending to consumers with very low credit scores.

Part of the reason Car-Mart’s total results slid was because the company experienced a higher-than-normal rate of repossessions and delinquencies brought on by consumers taking their Car-Mart purchases back to the dealership and then going with another lender offering a better interest rate.

Henderson said Car-Mart has been in the business long enough to know what it takes to make a deal work and that’s the plan they are sticking with despite the competition.
Car-Mart seeks to keep the terms below 36 months (29 months on average) in order for the customer have build quicker equity in their purchase. 

The automobiles sold by Car-Mart have between 90,000 and 140,000 miles and range in age from six to 10 years old with an average wholesale price between $3,000 and $7,000. Given these metrics, Car-Mart said it believes the 36 month term is as long as it can go, and believes the business model has served the company well for the past three decades as nearly 20% of its new business comes from referrals. 

WIlliams said stretching the term longer like some competitors allows for lower monthly payments which look good on the front-end but leave the borrower with little to no equity for a long time.

Car-Mart’s core mission involves getting repeat business, which it does largely because its customers get their vehicles paid for much sooner while there is still life left in the car.

The largest deal in meat history — Tyson Foods’s $8.55 billion offer to acquire HIllshire Brands — may soon reach the Hillshire board for approval, according to persons close to the situation. But execs with Pinnacle Foods could delay the mega deal.

Tyson Foods offered to pay $63 per share for Hillshire Brands and cover the $163 million break-up fee to Pinnacle Foods, if Hillshire walked away from its plans to buy Pinnacle Foods — a $4.3 billion deal announced May 12.

Pinnacle Foods said Thursday (June 12) that it is considering its options to hold Hillshire Brands to its agreement or secure more money in exchange for the deal termination.

Hillshire privately notified Pinnacle earlier this week that it doesn't plan to recommend the Pinnacle acquisition to its shareholders.

“Now, any arguments about its rights under its agreement with Hillshire could ultimately be pursued as leverage in a settlement,” according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Market watchers have said the Tyson bid was overvalued. Tyson execs counter by saying that acquiring Hillshire’s retail brand share was an opportunity of a lifetime. The pro forma company would take a major share in the breakfast foods market and rise to No. 2 in the frozen foods categories, behind Nestle, according to Tyson projections.

Hillshire Brands has not formally accepted Tyson’s deal, which was contingent on the break-up with Pinnacle. Analysts said the notification to Pinnacle this week sets the ball in motion for Hillshire to now fully consider Tyson’s generous offer, which represents a 70% premium price for its investors.

Pinnacle claims the merger agreement has a “force the vote” provision which requires Hillshire to hold a shareholder vote on the Pinnacle deal. Only if Hillshire shareholders reject the deal, can Hillshire terminate the agreement. 

Hillshire’s language in the June 9 release that acknowledged Tyson’s offer indicated the sausage maker understood that it had no right to entertain Tyson’s offer because of is agreement with Pinnacle Foods. Under the terms of the Pinnacle-Hillshire agreement, there is a clause that would allow both parties to work toward an amicable termination, with Pinnacle receiving the $163 million break up fee from Hillshire, who would then be able to negotiate the acceptance of the Tyson deal.

Analysts believe Hillshire shareholders would approve the Tyson deal as it represents a substantial cash premium over all other offers. Tyson extended its offer deadline to Dec. 12,  giving Hillshire time to work through its options. 

Shares of Hillshire Brands (NYSE: HSH) closed Thursday at $61.87, down 4 cents. Shares recently set a 52-week high of $62.04 on news of the Tyson offer. Tyson investors have not fared so well. Tyson shares (NYSE: TSN) closed Thursday at $35.17, down 92 cents. Tyson shares have decreased in value more than 13% in the past five trading days.

Tyson Foods CEO Donnie Smith said culturally and operationally the companies are a great fit and the deal will pay off for shareholders over the next five years. That timeline was extended from three years to five years after Tyson raised its offer for Hillshire from $50 to $63 per share.

Two marijuana questions are now seeking signatures to appear on the November ballot in Arkansas, but at least one of the leaders involved in the pro-medical marijuana movement thinks legalized weed is not going anywhere in November.

David Couch, co-chair of the pro-medical marijuana group Arkansans for Responsible Medicine and an attorney, said he pulled his group's ballot questions from consideration because he said 2014 was not the year grass could pass.

"I pulled it down about a month ago or two months ago because the people who want to fund it would rather fund it for 2016 because it is a presidential election year and turnout will be higher," he said. "Political science says it never passes in non-presidential (election years)."

He said even if he changes his mind and decides to pursue a ballot question this year, it was already too late since he had missed the deadline to publish the ballot questions in a local newspaper 30 days prior to tentative approval of a ballot by the attorney general's office.

One group that is pursuing medical marijuana on the ballot this year is Arkansans for Compassionate Care, which came close to getting medical marijuana legalized in 2012.


ACC Campaign Director Melissa Fults said even if though it would likely be a challenge, her group would keep working on collecting the 62,507 signatures needed to get the item back on the ballot this year. But it is going to be an uphill battle, she admitted.

"We're still gathering signatures. We still have a ways to go, but there's still a chance we'll make it (by the July 7 deadline to qualify for the November ballot)," she said. "It's still strictly volunteers after work and on weekends (collecting signatures), and the weekends have not been kind to us."

She said the weather has not been cooperative and the public, it appears, is starting to be less and less cooperative. Fults said the push back her canvassers have faced in many communities across the state has been a result of another marijuana issue looking to get on the ballot.

The “Arkansas Hemp and Cannabis Amendment” would allow for the “cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, sale, possession and use of the cannabis plant” and products derived from it, Talk Business reported June 4.


The amendment must collect more than 78,000 valid signatures to appear on the ballot because it is a constitutional amendment. And it is the group's attempt to collect signatures that is causing a problem for ACC, Fults said.

"I'll be real honest, it will hurt us. We asked him (Robert Reed of Dennard, Ark.) not to do it. People immediately think… he has a name so close to us. People are confused. They think we're going for full legalization."

She said ACC is wanting to only allow regulated medical marijuana to be sold in the state with a prescription, while she accused Reed's amendment of going all out for recreational marijuana. Another telephone number or e-mail address could not be located for Reed to comment in this story.

"I don't think Arkansas is ready for full legalization," Fults said. "Number two, Robert has nothing in there at all to protect the patient. If full legalization comes in, patients will have to pay sales tax on it just like everybody else. In Colorado, they put a clause in full legalization to still keep protections for patients."

She said patient protections include various prescription strengths of marijuana, along with pesticide-free weed and no sales tax on weed purchases. Fults said of her and Reed, "We both want the same thing, for people to be allowed to use the product, but mine is strictly to help patients. His if for everybody to get it. Personally, I don't care if somebody does it recreationally, but not at the expense of the patient."

With the medical marijuana proposals, Couch said voters should not expect to see either on this year's ballot.

"No, I don't believe you will. They're doing good with 30,000 or 35,000 (signatures) if you give them a liberal number, but they've got 30 days (to collect the remaining signatures)."

The former Town Club building in downtown Fort Smith has been acquired by Smith Auto Group for the purposes of locating corporate operations with up to 20 employees in the building that has been without a permanent occupant since the club folded in January 2010.

John Smith Jr., grandson of the automotive group founder and now the head of Smith Auto Group, said in a Thursday (June 12) interview with The City Wire that the about 13,000-square-foot, two-story building will undergo minor renovations before housing “centralized” accounting staff and other corporate functions.

Smith Auto Group is a third generation, family-owned dealership that has been based in Fort Smith since 1938. The first location was in downtown Fort Smith. In 1963, the facility was moved to 1215 U.S. 71 South, “on the curve” at Towson and Zero. The group has a Chevrolet-Cadillac dealership and a Nissan brand. The group has five dealerships, eight brands and around 160 employees.

“We are so happy to go downtown. … I am hoping we are the first of many more to move downtown,” Smith said, adding that the Town Club is near the car lot the Smith company first opened in 1938. “We are moving about a block away from where we started.”

First National Bank of Fort Smith has held the note on the Town Club for the past several years. Sam Sicard, president and CEO of the bank, said it was an added bonus to sell the building to a company that will put it to immediate use.

“We are extremely pleased to sell the Town Club to a buyer who will bring jobs to our downtown. Smith Auto Group has been a great community partner in so many ways and they will be a great addition to the downtown community,” Sicard said.

SMITH EXPANSION
The auto dealer has made several moves since 1938, and in the past few years the company has invested around $15 million in the construction and ongoing construction of new dealership facilities in Fort Smith. A building for the company's Nissan dealership valued at $4 million was completed at 6520 Autopark Drive (near the Fort Smith Harley Davidson) in early 2012. A relocated Chevy-Cadillac facility, valued at around $11 million, is under construction adjacent to the new Nissan dealership.

In May 2012, Smith Auto Group acquired Jane, Mo.-based Hendren Auto Group, a move that more than doubled the number of dealerships owned by and brands sold by the auto dealer. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Nothing’s been easy,” Smith joked Thursday when asked about the easy and hard parts of absorbing a new dealership while at the same time building new facilities.

He said the Northwest Arkansas dealership puts Smith Auto Group “in very good market. We feel very bullish about where we are, and there is a lot of growth heading north to Bentonville and Bella Vista.” He said one of the toughest parts of being in Northwest Arkansas is “trying to build our brand” in a region with many large auto dealerships.

“But it’s been a good move for us, it really has,” he said.

Smith admits that the Fort Smith market has been tougher in terms of auto sales, “but we’ve been able to grow, and it was through a lot of sweat and determination of the people who work here (Smith Auto Group).”

OTHER RECENT DOWNTOWN MOVES
Smith Auto Group is not alone in moving downtown. Steve Clark, founder and president of Propak, purchased the historic and white-tiled Friedman-Mincer building in May 2013 – also known as the OTASCO building – in downtown Fort Smith. With an acquisition and renovation estimate of about $2 million, Clark is in the process of converting the three-story, 24,000-square-foot building into offices for the about 40 employees of Propak. The company provides logistics, transportation and supply-chain management services.

On June 10, Fiery Moon Global announced plans to acquire the Masonic Temple in downtown Fort Smith from the Western Arkansas Scottish Rite Bodies. The facility, a three story concrete structure located at 200 N. 11th St. that includes an auditorium capable of seating 900, was initially listed for $750,000.

Fiery Moon, a media and event company, said the Temple Theatre, offices and dining area should be fully restored to their original grandeur and condition within 36 months.

“We are ecstatic to have found an existing site which will support our vertically integrated media and live event organization with all departments being housed in one location,” Fiery Moon Co-owner Dan Robinson said in a statement. “Not only have we found a building which meets our corporate needs, but to be part of restoring and maintaining a historic site is truly priceless.”

Officials with Fiery Moon did not disclose terms of the deal or costs of renovation.

The recent lackluster first quarter financials from Sam’s Club haven’t tarnished the image of CEO Rosalind Brewer who according to Wall Street’s Brian Sozzi, “shined on stage” at the retailer’s annual shareholder meeting.

Sozzi, CEO of Belus Capital Advisors, notes that Brewer’s 22 years at Kimberly Clark and her transition to Wal-Mart in 2006 to oversee 1,000 stores, to now infusing the tech revolution into Sam’s Club were primers for bigger things.

He also said Brewer may be on the short list of candidates to take over as CEO of Target. It’s a move that Sozzi said “would be a great fit given her appreciation of data, technology, supplier relationships, and experience in store operations.” Sozzi made those comments as an analyst for “The Street” while he was in Bentonville last week for Wal-Mart’s shareholder events.

Carol Spieckerman, CEO of NewMarketBuilders, doesn’t agree with Sozzi’s notion that Brewer is a good fit for the next Target CEO. If for no other reason, Spieckerman said Brewer still has an opportunity to make a big mark at Sam’s.

“Mindy Grossman, HSN’s CEO, would be a terrific choice for Target. ... Her complete turnaround of HSN from an old school shopping network and into a full-fledged digital entertainment company is setting a standard for others to follow. Target could use her big picture, digital-first mojo right about now along with her ability to build multi-media brand programs that transcend ‘channel’ strategies. At the same time, her understanding of how to build mutually-beneficial brand partnerships and relationships is in complete alignment with Target’s values, which would make for a smooth start,” Spieckerman said.

Target held its annual shareholder meeting in Dallas on June 11. The Minneapolis-based retailer said it’s board continues to look for a visionary leader to move Target forward. The three goals outlined by the executives at the Target meeting include; Increase U.S. sales and traffic; Improve the Canadian operations; and Accelerate Target’s omnichannel presence.

Jason Smith, CEO of St. Louis-based Shift Marketing Group, said he believes the worst is behind Target and whoever takes the reins will have a great opportunity to be part of an American turnaround story.

CHALLENGES / LEARNING
Brewer spoke to the media June 5 regarding the challenges and opportunities for growth that she and her management team see for Sam’s Club going forward.

“Sam’s Club is in the midst of a merchandise transformation, having the right merchandise is the most important work we can do to drive traffic in our clubs,” Brewer said. “The member experience is also migrating. It is different today than a year ago. We learned in the first quarter that convenience is what customers want today.”

Brewer told the media she wasn’t there to rehash the challenging first quarter results which disappointed Wall Street. For the first quarter ended April 30, Sam’s Club reported comp sales down 0.2%, while the average ticket down 0.3%. Net sales were $13.891 billion at Sam’s Club (including fuel), up just 0.1%.

Noting that the recent quarter was one of the most challenging in recent history, Brewer said the “combination of severe weather and the reduction of public assistance represented an approximate 90 basis point impact to comp sales.” That was enough to have turned comps positive at 1.1%, still well below the normal range for Sam’s Club.

While traffic and average ticket sales declined in the quarter, membership and other income grew 10.5%. This jump was related to the fee increase taken a year ago. Sam’s said new member signups were softer to start fiscal 2015.

Brewer said going forward the goal is build more value in the Sam’s Club membership, which is why the retailer just launched a cash rewards program on top of the coupon savings books that have been popular over the past year.

In fiscal 2014 Sam’s Club grew total sales to $57.2 billion, up $56.4 billion in the prior year. If it were a standalone company, Sam’s Club would be the eighth largest U.S. retailer based on sales revenue. Forbes notes that “Brewer is running a company that in size could stand toe-to-toe with Dow Chemical ($57 billion) and Caterpillar ($55 billion).” 

OMNI-VISION
Much of what Brewer shared during shareholders week highlighted Sam’s push to become an omnichannel – selling products through various methods – retailer.

She said the click-and-pull website program available to Sam’s Plus members is growing in popularity. Click and pull allows members to order their products online and then pick them up at their local Sam’s Club at their own convenience. The member drives up to the door and the goods are loaded into their vehicle. Sam’s highlighted one local member, restaurant owner “Catfish John” who faithfully uses click-and-pull program to save him time each day.

Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon also gave the program a plug when he addressed the media following the June 6 shareholders meeting. He said he used click and pull to stock up on soft drinks and Gatorade ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.

“Sam’s deserves credit for trying new things and experimenting with new member engagement ideas, particularly in the digital space however, it may be approaching a tipping point in which complexity will overtake everyday value perception. Various combinations of promotional programs, membership levels and time-sensitive savings offers require a vigilance on the part of members that can make Amazon seem like a straightforward choice by comparison,” Spieckerman said.

Sam’s Club also recently announced plans to develop more private label brands, something the retailer has avoided. Spieckerman said Costco is the undisputed leader when it comes to developing power brands in the warehouse club space and beyond. 

“For Sam’s to attempt to go up against that strength at this stage wouldn’t make sense as a frontline strategy. Costco is still a store-centric retailer at the end of the day and that’s why any moves that Sam’s makes in the digital space will be resources well spent, particularly tying digital to physical,” she said.

Spieckerman suggested Wal-Mart integrate Sam’s Club into its tethering and anytime/anywhere availability vision. 

“Why not make bulk items from Sam’s available for pick-up at a Walmart Express stores, for example? Wal-Mart is in the early stages of turning its physical scale into a killer omni-channel advantage over pure-play digital competitors. The same could hold true as it competes against smaller-footprint, single-format competitors like Costco,” Spieckerman said.

The West Memphis campus of Mid-South Community College is hyping its musical past with an eye on the jobs of the future.

Dr. Glen Fenter, the long-time leader of the Delta two-year school who grew up in the Fort Smith metro area, has been an outspoken advocate for reforms to the state’s education and workforce training system.

With lawmakers and state business leaders dialed in more than ever, thanks to a renewed overhaul of workforce education, Fenter says to get to the root of the problem, Arkansas must do more.

“The educational model as we know it today has really not morphed with our new global economy,” said Fenter, who appeared on this week’s TV and radio edition of Talk Business & Politics. “Arkansas has a number of leaders who recognize that this is a problem. Unfortunately, none of them have been able to crack the code.”

What Arkansas needs to do is start examining its educational components as “a system” instead of “different silos” says Fenter. He has been preaching for years that workforce education needs to start early in the K-12 process. He calls it “P through J,” or “pre-school through a job” education.

His school has had amazing success in developing star students – and workers – from below average kids in terms of educational attainment, income levels, and socio-economic circumstances. Fenter says it’s a matter of teaching them the basics in a language they understand.

Mid-South recently became a “conversion charter” school, which allows it to partner with the West Memphis Public Schools for educational advancement.

Junior high school students from West Memphis and Mid-South begin a dialogue of career options as early as 8th grade. By 10th grade, students can come to Mid-South’s campus and take limited courses. That accelerates in the last two years of traditional high school. By graduation, they are ready for work if they don’t take a formal course on a college campus.

“In many cases we can have them graduate high school with a nationally recognized certification in a number of areas that can put them straight to work,” Fenter says.

He also says the state must then be prepared to allow students to float in and out of higher education to develop skills for ever-changing workforce needs. Fenter likes the idea of a workforce czar – a potential leader who could cut through bureaucratic red tape and political barriers – to make decisions rooted in common sense and in the best interests of creating jobs.

“I know a number of states and large communities across the nation that are adopting just that model saying we can’t continue what we’re doing and expect different results, and understanding that the bureaucracies can’t just fix themselves,” he said.

Fenter also has an eye on helping Mid-South and West Memphis capitalize on its Delta musical roots. Earlier this year, the school recreated local radio station KWEM, which left the airwaves in the early 1960′s.

The station’s history is rich, with musical legends B.B. King, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley known to have recorded music in its studios like legendary Sun Records across the mighty Mississippi River in Memphis.

“Essentially everything that we say happened in Memphis happened in West Memphis first,” he said. “Memphis, Tennessee has just done a much better job of telling that story.”

Arkansas gubernatorial candidates Asa Hutchinson and Mike Ross spoke in back-to-back appearances to a Delta advocacy group to discuss issues of concern for the region and the state as a whole.

Hutchinson spoke first, reminding the Delta Grassroots Caucus that he had been a co-sponsor of the bill that created the Delta Regional Authority when he represented Arkansas’ Third District in Congress in 2000.

The Republican nominee for Governor discussed education and economic development reforms that he said were vital for advancing the Delta’s well-being.

“There’s no challenge that can’t be met without economic growth,” Hutchinson told the group.

Ross, who previously represented the Fourth Congressional District, said his vision for education and economic development would be a boost for the impoverished Delta region and a high priority for his campaign.

“I’m committed and I will pledge to work with anyone and everyone who will work with me to make this state an even better place to live, work and raise a family,” declared the Democratic nominee.

CHARITY AND CHRISTIANITY
The most obvious distinction between Ross and Hutchinson centered on support of the Private Option, Arkansas’ low-income health insurance alternative that uses Medicaid expansion dollars for private insurance plans.

Ross said he unequivocally supports the Private Option.

“I would have voted it, I would have signed it, and I will protect it,” Ross said to an applauding audience.  He said it was crucial to the survival of rural hospitals and he said it was helping hard-working Arkansans who have been limited in their health care options.  In describing the target groups the plan is predicted to help, Ross said the Private Option also appealed to his sense of righteousness.

“As a Christian, I think it’s the right thing to do,” Ross said. “I’m going to do my best as Governor to make sure we continue to fund it.”

Hutchinson has adopted a more cautious approach to the Private Option, reflecting the nature of the debate that has fractured his Republican base.

“When you look at the Private Option, we’re learning a great deal,” he said. “I’m optimistic that our legislators and our state will do the right thing with the 150,000 that have enrolled in the Private Option. We’ll do the right thing in terms of making the adjustments that are needed to reflect the values of Arkansas and to make sure this program is an incentive for people to work.”

He also stressed that the affordability of the Private Option would also drive the debate under his gubernatorial leadership.

While the federal government pays 100% of the costs of the Private Option in the first three years, in subsequent years, the state of Arkansas must bear a percentage of the expenses.

Hutchinson said in his travels on the campaign trail, he has found that the Private Option has been good for rural hospitals, but that the program has shifted some health care from charitable organizations to the government.

“You go across Arkansas and the Christian or the faith-based or the charitable care that doctors provide through health care clinics, free of charge to indigents, they no longer have a mission,” Hutchinson said. “That charitable care has been shifted to the government.”

“I’d like to see those charitable missions brought back together and say, ‘How can we renew a mission?’ and redefine it so we don’t lose that asset in our state of charitable giving for medical care as we continue to evaluate the Private Option,” he added.

COMMON CORE, COMMON CONCERNS
Hutchinson and Ross both expressed concerns about maintaining flexibility around Common Core, an education policy standard that has been at the center of controversy in recent months.

Initiated by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, the Common Core is a set of educational benchmarks that describe the skills students should have in English language arts and math. They have been adopted in a majority of states, including Arkansas.

Ross and Hutchinson both said they would charge their Education Commissioners to review Common Core. For both men, they expressed concerns that the standards must maintain flexibility in its implementation so that state and local school officials could meet specific needs and concerns.

“I’ve always been one who believes in local control and I believe that we need to have flexibility,” Ross said. He suggested that there is a lot of misinformation about Common Core in circulation.

“There’s people out there that want you to believe this has been pushed down by the federal government, this is something that Pres. Obama is responsible for. Nothing could be further from the truth,” he said, noting that governors of both stripes initiated Common Cause as well as business leaders like Bill Gates.

“We need to ensure that the state of Arkansas always has control over its curriculum,” Ross said.

“When it comes to Common Core, I pledge that we’re going to have a review of that,” Hutchinson said, emphasizing that high standards must be maintained, but flexibility would be important. “I’m going to be listening to the teachers, I’m going to be listening to the parents. I think we did have some problems with the implementation of that where we really didn’t bring in all of the stakeholders to have the buy-in on those new standards that we adopted.”

Hutchinson and Ross also shared concerns over diverting general revenue dollars into highway funding. The idea has been discussed in recent years as gas tax revenues have declined due to fuel efficiency straining the state highway budget as construction costs have risen.

The two gubernatorial candidates also expressed reservations on tapping more general revenue for Academic Challenge scholarships, which presently receive some state funding and a large portion of money from the scholarship lottery. Lottery revenues have been declining as the lottery has matured.

PRE-K DEBATE
Ross spent time describing his pre-K program to the Delta group. He has proposed expanding the state’s pre-K access to a larger universe of families saying it is crucial to long-term economic health.

“We’re behind the curve on this. This is not some wild-eyed, radical, liberal idea,” said Ross. “Oklahoma, a pretty conservative state… in Oklahoma today, if parents want their kids in a pre-K classroom, there’s a seat for them. If Oklahoma can do it, we can do it. And we have to do it if we want to remain competitive with our neighbors in attracting the good-paying jobs of today and tomorrow.”

Ross wants to phase in the expansion of pre-K, which would carry a $37 million annual price tag when fully implemented.

“Everything starts with education. I said I want to be the ‘education governor.’ In doing so, that’s how you become the ‘jobs governor.’ Everything we do starts with education,” Ross said.

Although he supports current pre-K efforts, Hutchinson sharply differs from Ross on the issue.

Hutchinson contends that Ross’ plan is unaffordable and that the expansion would benefit families who shouldn’t receive a government handout.

“My position is why would we want to create a new government program when we’re not funding the existing program?” he asked. “I oppose creating a new program and expanding a program and benefitting those that are making up to $59,000 a year to provide free, taxpayer-funded pre-K education.”

Hutchinson said Gov. Mike Beebe has been unable to achieve an expansion of pre-K and he doubted Ross could do it.

“I think it’s the wrong direction for us. There is a lot better way for us to use that money and I think we need to concentrate on our pre-K program right now that is not adequately funded and that is my commitment,” said Hutchinson. “I support pre-K. I just don’t want to offer the voters something that is not the right direction for Arkansas in terms of the use of our taxpayers’ dollars.”

CRIME, MINIMUM WAGE
Hutchinson challenged the Delta Grassroots Caucus to study his positions on the state’s criminal justice system. The Republican candidate has rolled out a public safety plan aimed at reforming the parole system and addressing the state’s drug problems.

“That [crime] should be included in the challenges we face in the Delta,” Hutchinson said, touting drug treatment court funding and more effective re-entry programs for those leaving prison and wanting a job.

“That is economic development in the Delta. Whenever they’ve paid their price, they need assistance to be able to get a job and re-enter society and be taxpaying, productive citizens,” he emphasized.

A former head of the Drug Enforcement Agency and a former federal prosecutor, Hutchinson wants to pump $1.3 million into new efforts and tweak Act 570 of 2011. Act 570 was a comprehensive overhaul of the state’s sentencing and parole system passed by the legislature in the 2011 General Assembly.

Hutchinson said he would move the state’s drug czar back to a cabinet level position.

Ross said he was supported by 65 of the state’s 75 sheriffs and has pledged to roll out his vision for public safety in the near future.

He noted that as much as $80 million may be required to build a new state prison. With a backlog of nearly 3,000 inmates in county jails, a new prison might be able to accommodate up to 1,000 incarcerated.

“If we’re going to build another prison, there’s going to be prison reform,” Ross said of his upcoming proposal.

When asked about returning the state’s drug czar to a cabinet level post, Ross said, “You’re stealing my thunder.”

Ross also reiterated his support of the state minimum wage hike. Supporters say they have the signatures to qualify for the November ballot. Their initiative would raise the minimum wage to $8.50 over the next three years.

“I’ve endorsed that,” said Ross, who noted he had voted for minimum wage increases while in Congress. “I think it’s something I think we should do… At the ballot box, I plan to support it.”

Hutchinson said he wanted to address raising the minimum wage in next year’s legislative session. He said he preferred state lawmakers set the minimum wage versus an initiated act.

Later in the day, Hutchinson’s campaign also responded to a new TV ad that was launched Friday by the Democratic Governor’s Association.

The new DGA ad accuses Hutchinson of voting against a lower-income tax cut and wasting taxpayer money when he worked for the Bush administration. The ad says under Asa’s watch, the Transportation Security Administration spent nearly $461,000 on a banquet for a birthday party for employees.

The Hutchinson campaign said the ad was a sign of “desperation.” It issued a statement that said the ad “falsely claims” Hutchinson authorized wasteful spending.

“In fact, Asa Hutchinson did not authorize the spending and when the Inspector General reported the questionable spending, Hutchinson took action to stop the waste,” the Hutchinson campaign said.

Primaries take place in Oklahoma on June 24 and all eyes appear to be on the Republican primary to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, a Republican from Muskogee.

The two leading candidates are U.S. Rep. James Lankford of Edmond and former Speaker of the Oklahoma House T.W. Shannon. Polling in the race initially showed Lankford with a lead of 36%, but as the election has progressed, the race has narrowed.

The most recent poll by SoonerPoll.com for KWTV in Oklahoma City and KOTV in Tulsa has Lankford polling at 34%, while Shannon is trailing by only two points, making the race a statistical tie. Sen. Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso, is a distant third at 5%. Bill Shapard, CEO of SoonerPoll.com, said his poll — conducted from May 5 through May 10 — likely caught the men in a tie as Shannon was continuing his surge in the polls.

RURAL VS. URBAN POLITICS
As for why Shannon, a Lawton native who was largely unknown to many Oklahomans before entering the Senate race, is surging, Shapard said it is a mix of urban versus rural and Oklahoma City versus Tulsa.

"If you look at my poll numbers, you'll notice that T.W. Shannon is polling well in the first district, which is Tulsa. You couldn't get any further away from Tulsa than being from Lawton. The question is, he's never been on a ballot there and he's beating a sitting congressman. So why is he doing well? People from Tulsa really don't want to vote for an Oklahoma City congressman. And that's true of rural parts of the state, as well."

He said while Lankford had largely won his seat in Congress on a Tea Party platform when he ran to replace now-Gov. Mary Fallin — herself the longest-serving Oklahoma lieutenant governor before becoming a two-term member of Congress from Oklahoma City — his record over the last three and a half years has not aligned with the Tea Party and has not followed that of the retiring Coburn.

"I think when it comes down to it, what candidate do I want to send to (the Senate)? (Voters are asking) does an Oklahoma City congressman represent my rural values? And what would Tom Coburn do and who votes like Tom Coburn does? I think Tom Coburn, who is well liked — the most well liked Senator that the state has ever had — I think Tom Coburn and how he votes could be the litmus test that Oklahoma voters use to (decide who to) vote for."

Shapard, whose firm bills itself as the only independent polling firm, said urban versus rural will continue dominating this race in the final two weeks and that is why he gives the advantage to Shannon.

"I think T.W. Shannon has the most to gain. If you're a voter in Altus, Enid or Poteau, you're going to ask yourself, 'Am I voting for a representative from rural Lawton or Oklahoma City?' That may be the deciding factor."

GOP ADVANTAGE
Whoever wins June 24 stands a good chance of defeating the Democratic nominee and becoming the next U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, Shapard said, adding that while he was not attempting to disparage Democrats, "I still think they haven't woken up to reality. This is still a conservative state."

The 2010 election swept Republicans into the offices of Governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and state school superintendent. And the GOP majority has only strengthened in the last few years, becoming what Shapard described as a supermajority, making it even more difficult for a Democrat to win statewide.

Patrick Hates, Sen. Constance N. Johnson and Jim Rogers are all vying for the Democratic nomination, though a SoonerPoll.com survey of likely Democratic voters showed 76.3% still undecided, with none of the three candidates polling in the double digits.

SCHOOL RACE
The other race drawing a lot of attention is the Republican primary for state school superintendent, which has incumbent Janet Barresi polling at only 16.4% compared to 17.1% for Joy Hofmeister and 14.3% for Brian Kelly.

"If candidates are below 50%, they are in trouble. Being lower than 40% is unheard of," Shapard said.

Education reforms have become a hot issue in Oklahoma, which recently repealed the Common Core education standards that have been the cause of debate in political and education circles nationwide over much of the last year. The repeal was co-authored by Shannon and signed into law by Gov. Fallin.

Barresi has attempted other education reforms, but without much luck and he said while Barresi should benefit from the power of incumbency, her lagging poll numbers could spell victory for any of the four Democrats vying to challenge the GOP state school superintendent nominee in the fall.

"Democrats would love to get education back. The entire education establishment is still engrained in the Democratic Party. They have tried their best and in many cases, won in many of (the challenges to) reforms she tried to bring in."

He said whether it was fair or not, Barresi’s attempts at reform and the backlash over Common Core could haunt her in the June 24 primary and in November.

"Common Core has been one of the defining issues of this election. … It is one of those interesting issues that divides both parties. She's just been on the tip of the spear with regard to education reform in the state."

In a state that has more school districts than the state of California, education reforms — including school consolidation — have proven to be unpopular and as a result, June 24 and possibly November could prove to be defining moments for Barresi.

"Whether her doing or not, she may be held responsible for it and elections have consequences," Shapard said.

Should a candidate in any of the primaries held across the state fail to win 50% of the vote, a runoff will be held August 26.

Patricia Brown has been handed her fair share of hard knocks. Not only a recurrence of breast cancer that has spread to her lungs and other parts of her body, but also a stage four diagnosis.

But instead of letting cancer get the best of her, Brown worked hard to take control of it and her story of inspiration through blog posts on The City Wire and speaking engagements in the Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas areas. Brown recently stepped down from her job as chief operating officer of The City Wire to focus on her cancer fight and helping others learn more about how to fight cancer. She remains a partial owner of The City Wire.

Brown is now taking her motivational speeches to a national audience through a deal with the Novartis Oncology Patient Network, which has seen her speaking to doctors and patients at conferences across the country. The work with Novartis is through the Advanced Breast Cancer Community, which was established to “bring much-needed awareness to advanced breast cancer and more attention to its community.”

"As long as I have a story and breath and can talk, I will tell. I will show and tell until I'm tired and that will be like… I will be in heaven by the time (that happens)."

One of the first results of the work with Novartis was a June 9 article on the SheKnows website about Brown’s cancer battle. The story focused on Brown’s goal of living to see her daughter, Amanda, get married. Amanda and Scott Whittenberg were married on March 8.

“Cancer can't steal joy,” Brown said in the SheKnows article. “My daughter and I don't do meltdowns well, so we focus on the blessings in life. I've been so blessed with family and experiences, and watching my daughter get married was icing on the cake.

TELLING THE STORY
The talks also have put a patient face with the work doctors and scientists are doing in their research and efforts toward finding a cure for cancer, Brown said, adding that her talks to pharmaceutical sales representatives about how to have "hard conversations" with doctors were just as important.

"Because so many of the drugs they have are new and progressive and you have a lot of the doctors who just want to do the same old traditional stuff and not take the chance. Because it is new and cutting edge and there's a lot of money at stake because you're talking pharmaceuticals."

She said there is also a lot of competition among the different pharmaceutical companies, making the work of the sales representatives to get doctors to prescribe potentially life-saving drugs even more vital than ever before.

Brown has experienced breakthrough pharmaceuticals herself, having initially had good success with a new cancer medication, which was shrinking many of her tumors until a recent set back when an MRI revealed tumors had spread to her brain, requiring her to have 15 radiation treatments.  Once she gets past the brain set back, she looks forward to starting on a clinical trial treatment that will allow her to continue her work to battle breast cancer and who knows, even make history in the war against cancer.

But she said the setback is just that, a setback. Trying newer medications, hopefully having successes and sharing her story — both the joys and struggles — is what her life's mission has become and that is why she is taking her story to a national audience, including external audiences.

"I (am) paired with an oncologist who (does) the medical side and I (will) do the lifestyle, nutrition, exercise, emotions, spirituality, how to get a support team, how to tell people, who you tell, who you don't tell, when you tell when you're first newly diagnosed in stage four, and coping."

‘WE’RE ALL TERMINAL’
The story Brown tells is filled with humor, tears, truth and hope. She often gives the speeches wearing a camouflage dress because her goal is not just to tell her story, but to let people know that she is in the fight of her life.

But as she tells audiences of doctors, patients and sales reps, "We're all terminal." And she knows that is more true now than ever before following her April brain MRI. Her doctors were frank.  Her future is uncertain so she lives for today.

While doctors are starting to feel more hopeful about her prognosis following the chemo treatments, Brown said she has lived her life even before the last several weeks with purpose. She said she only has lifted up four prayers before dying — see her daughter get married to a Christian man that truly loved her, become an internationally known motivational speaker, write a book, be loved and know love.

Brown has been in a relationship with a widower of a breast cancer victim, someone she said truly understands the battle she faces. She has also taken her blog posts from The City Wire and turned them into a series of short stories for her first book, which is in the works. And of course, Brown is living life in her own way and charting a course that is unique and all her own.

While others fighting cancer may not have the emotional will to keep moving, Brown is looking forward to landing more motivational speaking events, as well as speaking at a national bloggers conference about her blogging since her second breast cancer diagnosis in 2012. And even though she's traveled a tough road and has more rough road ahead, her goal is to live life like no one else.  

"Novartis is utilizing me because I want to be utilized," she said. "To throw it out there, to help as many people understand what this means. You know, we're all terminal. I worked for Make A Wish for 12 years, granted 2,000 wishes, raised (a lot) of money. I get it. I was at St. Jude frequently. So I know what cancer's all about and I also know that you can live life with cancer and live life abundantly. And we're all terminal and we just have to remember we have a purpose and we need to live life large and get to the point (where) you don't have too many regrets. I don't care if you have cancer or your just driving down the road (and get in an accident), you have to make your life count. Have purpose. So I have no regrets. I'm good here, Heaven, wherever."

There’s a major shift at work in the packaged foods segment with snack items leading the charge. The shift is fueled by Millennials and Gen X consumers who aren’t in line with previous generations who heeded mom’s advice about snacking between meals.

The global snack food market is expected to exceed $300 billion in 2015, and IRI Worldwide reports that U.S. snack sales rose 2.8% last year, led by better-for-you products. Sally Lyons Watt, an executive at IRI Worldwide, recently described the snack category as a “competitive shark tank,” adding that snacking habits have evolved and other categories are benefiting.

Research by NPD Group also indicates that the more consumers snack, the healthier are their eating behaviors – an indication contrary to conventional wisdom. NPD found that that more consumers view snacking as one way to improve healthy eating habits.  Consumers following the healthiest diets snack twice as often as those with less healthy diets, noted the November 2012 report. Consumers with the healthiest diets consume 36% more snack meals a year than the average consumer, according to Snacking in America.

The report by NPD identified and examined the consumers who drive current and future snack consumption. Researched found those following a “most healthy” diet eat a wider variety of healthy snacks such as fruit, yogurt, and bars. 

“We are no longer as averse to snacking as we used to be – instead, snacking may be viewed as one way to improve healthy eating habits,” said Darren Seifer, NPD food and beverage industry analyst. “This way of thinking about snacking provides an opportunity for manufacturers to make health and wellness innovation part of their product development and marketing strategy.”

Seifer noted that in the 1980s the vast majority of Americans said they avoid snacking, but that sentiment has shifted. He said this doesn’t mean that snacking is still an indulgent activity but it’s become an opportunity to provide functional benefits or a way to get desired nutrients. He said protein bars have become popular because consumers understand that eating more protein helps stave off hunger and curbs appetites for sweets.

“And while the vast majority of our snack meals happen between main meals, the movement toward consuming snack foods during main meals should not go unnoticed. This time frame for snack foods currently represents about 22% of snack food eatings, which is up from 20% in 2010. While two percentage points might sound small at first, consider that there are more than 300 million people in this country and this increase represents more than 3.6 billion additional eatings,” Seifer noted in his NPD blog post.

The better-for-you health trend was evident in the new snacks recently unveiled at the Sweets & Snacks Expo held in Chicago on May 20. Quinoa, Greek-yogurt cakes and gluten-free pretzels were among the new products showcased in this year’s expo. It’s clear from the ingredients lists that product developers are being more health conscience as they formulate snacks with chia seeds, kale, sea salt and pomegranate. 

Following were some of the new products unveiled.

• Hostess Greek Yogurt Cakes
Hostess Brands is set to launch a line of snack cakes made with Greek yogurt, fruit and honey in apple cinnamon swirl and strawberry swirl varieties. The snack cakes capitalize on the popularity of Greek yogurt made with 25% less sugar, sweetened with honey and real fruit.

• Mary's Gone Crackers Everything Pretzels
Mary’s Gone Crackers expanded its vegan and gluten-free offerings to include a new variety of pretzels. Made with brown rice, quinoa, amaranth and millet, as well as flax, sesame, chia and poppy seeds, the Everything Pretzels include flavors from onion, garlic, sea salt and herbs. The product will be available beginning this summer.

• Snack Factory Greek Yogurt Crunch Pretzel Crisps
Synder’s Lance, debuted Greek Yogurt Crunch Pretzel Crisps from its Snack Factory division. The pretzels are coated in tangy Greek yogurt, and the product extends the brand’s line of thin, crunchy pretzel snacks, which also includes peanut butter and dark chocolate dipped varieties.

• The Popcorn Factory Lite Works Popcorn
Wasabi soy, dill pickle and sriracha are among the flavored pop corn products unveiled by the Popcorn Factory at this year’s expo. The new reduced-calorie ready-to-eat popcorn line contains half the fat of the brand’s traditional varieties.

• Oberto Chicken Strips
For jerky lovers seeking a lighter protein alternative, there is a new chicken variety from Oberto Brands. Flavored with smoky sweet barbecue or spicy buffalo Oberto Chicken Strips are made from cage-free chicken breast that is slow-cooked for nine hours in a patent-pending process. The company said it spent three years developing this product line that has score high consumer testing.

Crawford County posted its second consecutive month of declining home sales, while Sebastian County continues posting double digit improvements.

For the month of May, Crawford County posted $5.893 million in sales on 54 homes, a 1.03% drop from the previous May's total of 48 homes at $5.955 million. Sebastian County, on the other hand, saw 140 homes sold at a value of $17.003 million, a 10.26% increase from May 2013 when 108 homes were sold at a value of $15.421 million.

Randy Miller, executive broker at J.E. Jones Real Estate in Van Buren, said the biggest driver of numbers in both counties is jobs and what has hurt Van Buren is the loss of Allen Canning Company, which shut its Van Buren facility and transferred the jobs to Siloam Springs shortly before the company filed for bankruptcy protection.

"Unemployment hurts from the lowest level all the up to the top," Miller said.

With Crawford County's figures improving from April's 9.98% drop in sales and Sebastian County's 10% improvement instead of last month's nearly 26% improvement, he said the market is leveling itself out, meaning neither market should continue to see the highest of highs or the lowest of lows through the rest of the year.

"I don't think that you'll see a continued 10% (improvement in Sebastian County) each month. There's always a leveling we see in this market. We don't have big dips. It's always been gradual for us in this part of the country," Miller said. "I don't anticipate that it will be 10% for the next few months, but it would be exciting if that would happen."

That said, both markets are up so far in year-to-date totals, with Crawford County posting a 24.26% increase in sales over the same January to May period last year, while Sebastian County is up 8.22% during the same period.

He added that the primary driver of Sebastian County's numbers were residential developments at Chaffee Crossing, while Crawford County has continued seeing an influx of investors diving into the rental market. And Miller said it's starting to spread to the entire Fort Smith area.

"What I have seen in both counties are individuals who are downsizing and moving to a duplex, triplex or quadplex instead of a smaller house. It will be something that produces income plus provides them a nice place to live."

Miller said he is also seeing an increase in the number of single family homes that are being used as rental units, but he said the region's unemployment figures do not improve in the coming months, it could stunt growth in residential sales.

That said, he said the market is still a good one for someone looking to get into the market if they are able to secure financing.

"There are still good purchases for buyers if they can get financing for a house that is a repossession. There's still quite a few HUD and bank repos that are good buys in good neighborhoods. And lenders want to lend money, but it's just can individuals qualify?"

Home Sales Data (January - May)
• Crawford County
Unit Sales
2014: 230
2013: 184

Total Sales Volume
2014: $24.890 million
2013: $20.031 million

Median Sales Price
2014: $98,300
2013: $109,900

• Sebastian County
Unit Sales
2014: 517
2013: 451

Total Sales Volume
2014: $65.729 million
2013: $60.734 million

Median Sales Price
2014: $110,500
2013: $111,750

Wal-Mart has 400 million reasons to aggressively test company-owned heath care clinics in its retail stores, which it recently began piloting in Texas.

With more than 1.1 million Americans working at Wal-Mart, the retailer said it is facing $100 million in added insurance costs each fiscal quarter as more workers have signed up for coverage in compliance with the Affordable Health Care Act.

When recently asked about the health clinic test Walmart U.S. CEO Bill Simon said, “Wal-Mart is not that hard to figure out when you look at it from a pure math perspective.”

Last year the national average total health care cost per employee topped $12,000, rising 5% from the year before, according the National Business Group on Health. Employers typically cover 75% or more of that total cost as a benefit to their workers. That number was based on surveys off several hundred employers across the country.
www.businessgrouphealth.org/

“When an employee goes to see a doctor they pay a co-payment. As a self-insured employer, we end up writing a check for the cost of that visit, through a third party administrator like Blue Cross Blue Shield. By controlling the clinics ourselves we can offer a nominal fee for our insured employees because we don't have to pay for the outside doctor's visits,” Simon recently told reporters during the retailer’s shareholder week.

He added that if enough employees use the service then Wal-Mart can fund it through the savings not being paid to third party providers. 

“At this point you can really get the price down for the general public,” Simon said.

Sound familiar?

It was Simon and Wal-Mart who pushed for the $4 generic prescriptions that radically changed the pharma industry in 2006. Analysts have wondered when Wal-Mart would try another major move with respect to health care, and they largely approve of this pilot clinic project as a way for the retailer to shave expenses, increase efficiencies and further build their brand.

CLINIC PLANNED FOR ROGERS WALMART?
Simon said the test is small. Only three clinics are open in Texas and the company has earmarked about 12 openings by the end of this year.

The health clinics are not to be confused with other clinical projects operating in about 100 stores. Wal-Mart said those are lease arrangements in their stores and this new project is the company’s first effort to own and control its own primary care clinics.

For now the three pilot clinics in Texas consist of two in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and one is outside of Waco. Wal-Mart declined to confirm that there is a clinic planned locally in the Walmart Supercenter at Pleasant Grove Road in Rogers, Ark. However, there is a sign in that Rogers Walmart that says “Another Wal-Mart Concept Coming Soon.” The banner is health care related with eight photos depicting health and wellness which is located at the former clinic site in that store which was operated by Northwest Health System.

Wal-Mart said its Care Clinics offer primary care services at affordable prices for its own insured workers ($4) and the general public ($40). Insured Wal-Mart employees and store customers can also expect to pay lower prices on additional services beyond the office visit, such as vaccines, and lab tests for which separate charges apply, the company said.

Wal-Mart partnered with QuadMed to staff the clinics with licensed nurse practitioners. The clinics are open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
 
THE SIMMONS FOODS EXPERIENCE
The Walmart Care Clinics aim to foster wellness and preventive care, such as screenings, vaccinations and lab testing as well as basic acute care, including diagnosis and treatment for flu and other seasonal illnesses. In addition, the clinic will also help manage chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure, Wal-Mart noted in its release.

The move to control health care costs by bringing primary care in-house is not a new phenomenon. Many of Wal-Mart’s suppliers are already doing it. HanesBrands said for every $1 it spends providing employees an in-house clinic in Winston-Salem, N.C., it reaps $1.40 in savings.

Locally, Simmons Foods began in-house clinics in 2007 in three of its manufacturing facilities — Siloam Springs, Van Buren and Southwest City, Okla.

Christy Pianalto, director for the Simmon’s health clinics, said the program has been a huge success. The poultry company provides access to the clinics for its employees and their family members free of charge. This eliminates the need for a co-pay plan and has allowed the company to require deductibles be met for coverage outside the clinic. Simmons works with Dr. Stephen Johnson, a family physician in Siloam Springs to staff the three clinics.

“Dr. Johnson works hard to help meet the schedules of workers. He has another physician and five nurse practioners who help staff our three clinics. The clinics offer a wide range of preventive and acute care. They perform lab work, x-rays and do simple outpatient procedures like mole removals,” Pianalto said.

POSITIVE OUTCOMES
One of the major reasons Simmons, Wal-Mart and other employers are bringing health care in-house is because it also reduces absenteeism and keeps operations running efficiently.

A December 2010 research paper by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Studying Health System Change noted several positive outcomes of a well-managed in-house clinic.

“By far the strongest motivation for implementing workplace clinics is to contain direct medical costs. In the short term, exerting greater control over direct costs, such as specialist visits, non-generic prescriptions, emergency department (ED) visits and avoidable hospitalizations, is a key employer objective. In the long run, improving population health by preventing and managing chronic conditions is a major objective,” the report noted.

Other factors included:
• Employers also view onsite clinics as a way to boost productivity, reduce absenteeism, and prevent disability claims and work-related injuries.

• Some employers implementing primary care clinics also see opportunities to improve access to and quality of care.

• Some employers view workplace clinics as an important benefit that helps to attract and retain competitive workforces, while enhancing their own reputations as “employers of choice” in their industries and communities.

The study also said a return on investment for such clinics could take up to five years, depending on the scope of services offered, turnover among employees and the level of employee participation in wellness plans.

The Crawford County Quorum Court got their first look at when it will be able to start spending bond monies tied to the voter-approved sales tax to fund construction of a new county jail, along with law enforcement operations.

The election on May 20 was the fourth time the county had attempted to get a sales tax passed for construction of a jail, with the measure passing by just a few hundred votes and providing about $20 million for the project, which will bring the county into compliance with the state regarding jail overcrowding.

Kevin Faught, vice president of public finance at Stephens Inc, told the court that the bonds would be put to market Aug. 18, with the county able to begin spending money toward the project on that date. Money raised from the bond sale in August will be available to the county Sept. 24, Faught said.

Any purchases or contracts made by the county before that date will be reimbursable from the proceeds of the bonds, he added. That said, bond attorney Ryan Bowman of the Friday, Eldridge, and Clark Law Firm reminded the Quorum Court that it would have to go through a trustee to have access to the bond money for the project, a way of assuring the jail bonds are kept separate from other county monies.

Bowman also made clear that IRS regulations stipulate that the county must spend or have contracts that equal 5% of the total bonds issued by March 2015, meaning the project is set to begin quickly now that the election is complete and work on issuing the bonds has begun.

County Judge John Hall told the court that work was being completed by Hawkins-Weir Engineers in Van Buren to make sure the site under preliminary contract with the county along U.S. Highway 64 just outside of Van Buren city limits was suitable for the facility to be constructed. If testing comes back affirming the decision to construct east of town, Hall said the court would likely vote to approve the contract for the land in August.

Bowman also gave the court and the public the first timeline of when the project could be completed, again based on IRS regulations stipulating spending of bond monies.

"And then you have to spend the money within a three year period. So, roughly September 2017, your project needs to be completed and your money spent. And again, those are just IRS rules because you're issuing these bonds as tax exempt, there are a number of rules the IRS puts into place with respect to your bond issue."

As for the cost to the public, Faught said the sales tax would begin Oct. 1, with December being the date collected sales tax revenues would be remitted to the trustee of the bonds.

The distribution of the sales tax by the trustee to the county will only include the quarter-cent law enforcement operations portion, while the trustee will hold the half-cent of revenues for construction of the jail. He or she will use that money to pay out contracts associated with the project, Faught said, which includes reimbursements to the county should it pay any contracts or costs out of the county's general fund.

Once the bonds are purchased by investors, which Faught expects to largely be institutional investors, he said maturities on the bonds are likely to range from eight to 10 years with the county repaying the principal of the bonds plus twice-yearly interest payments.

Hall, speaking publicly for the first time since the election, thanked the court and Sheriff Ron Brown for their work in getting the sales taxes passed.

"This was a well-handled (campaign)," he said, adding: "All together, it's a team effort and it was a lot of fun. The sheriff and I had a lot of fun. There toward the end, it was called the Ron and John dog and pony show when we'd give our talks. … Anyway, we really appreciate your all's support (Bowman and Faught) in helping us walk through this and also the Quorum Court's."

Although the first quarter U.S. GDP hit negative territory for the first time in almost three years, two trucking and shipping reports suggest the U.S. economy is growing and may improve during the second half of 2014.

The American Trucking Associations’ Truck Tonnage Index was up 1% in May after a revised 0.9% gain in April. For the first five months of 2014, tonnage is up 2.9% compared to the same period in 2013, according to the ATA index. The index is off just 1% from the all-time high in November 2013 (131.0).

The not-seasonally adjusted index, which represents the real change in tonnage hauled by the fleets, was 1.8% above the previous month.

Shipments were up 1% and spending on shipments were up 1.1%, according to the most recent Cass Freight Index.

“North American freight shipments and expenditures continued to buck the historic trend and increased again in May. The first five months of 2014 were the strongest since the end of the great recession,” noted the Cass report. “While this seems counter to the dismal GDP reading for the first quarter, which shows a one percent drop or a contraction in the economy, much of the decrease in GDP can be attributed to declining inventories, slowing exports and weather‐related issues. Many other economic signs, especially growth in the manufacturing sector, point to an uptick in the five‐year recovery and a continued increase in freight movements.”

Cass uses data from $22 billion in annual freight transactions processed by its information processing division to create the index. The data comes from a Cass client base of 350 large shippers.

ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said the gains aren’t as healthy as in 2013, but they are more broad. (Costello’s video report on the May index is at the end of this story.)

“While the year-to-date improvement is running behind last year’s robust 6.3% increase, gains this year are more broad-based,” Costello said in the ATA report. “It isn’t just heavy freight for sectors like tank truck and flatbed from energy and housing that are improving this year. Now, generic dry van trailer freight is doing better as well, which wasn’t the case in 2013. This is a good sign for the economy."

Trucking serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy, representing 68.5% of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods, according to the ATA. Trucks hauled 9.4 billion tons of freight in 2012. Motor carriers collected $642.1 billion, or 80.7% of total revenue earned by all transport modes.

Rosalyn Wilson, a supply chain expert and senior business analyst with Vienna, Va.-based Delcan Corp., said May shipments were 3.6% higher than a year ago and 26.4% higher than shipment levels at the end of the 2009 recession.

“The health of the freight market is a very good indicator of the direction in which the economy is moving. All indications point to moderate growth in freight over the next couple of months, which will bode well for the economy in general,” Wilson wrote.

Wilson, who authors the Cass report, said increased activity is creating problems in the shipping industry, which are not helped by new federal hours-of-service rules that reduce the time a driver can be in a truck.

Broadly, the Department of Transportation rules reduce a driver’s average maximum allowable hours of work per week from 82 hours to 70 hours, a 15% reduction. A controversial part of the new rules, which went into effect in July 2013, is the 34-hour restart rule. Officials in the trucking industry have said the rules do nothing to promote safety and instead drive up costs for the industry which are then passed on to consumers.

“Capacity problems are being experienced in both the trucking and the rail industries as volumes grow. The impact of productivity‐reducing truck regulations has exacerbated the driver shortage, further limiting capacity despite the strong growth in the size of the truck fleet in 2014.”

Brad Delco, a transportation industry analyst with Little Rock-based Stephens Inc., also sees positive activity in the sector.

“My sense is freight activity is up 3%, plus or minus 1%,” Costello said in an e-mail interview. He added that industry capacity – number of trucks, trailers, rail cars, etc. – is down between 1.5% and 2%.

Delco estimates that the hours-of-service rules have a negative 2%-3% capacity impact “for those carriers that actually follow the rules.”

The Cass index included the following details about overall economic health.
• Although the performance of the economy was very weak overall, freight continued to gain momentum and accelerated in the second quarter.

• The downward revision in first quarter GDP is not a harbinger of things to come. The bad weather contributed to a substantial drop in business inventories, which is a negative factor for GDP but an overall positive for the economy.

• Retail sales slowed in April, but picked up again in May. Home construction is picking up again now that the weather is better, despite rising mortgage rates.

• The employment picture looks better with a steady increase in jobs creation and a decline in claims for unemployment benefits. In its latest weekly unemployment report, the Labor Department reported that claims for unemployment fell to the lowest level since 2007.