Startups can now apply through Oct. 31 to participate in the Venture Center’s 2017 FinTech Accelerator, which has been extended until 2018 to the tune of $2 million.
Apply here.
The program is being funded with $500,000 each from global banking technology services provider FIS of Jacksonville, Florida, and Arkansas discretionary funds.
The 2017 program will begin Feb. 21, a kick-off open to the public is set for Feb. 23 and a demo day is scheduled for May 11.
The Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism and Arvest Bank have collaborated on eight limited-edition debit cards that showcase some of the state's most scenic and popular attractions.
Jim Cargill, president and incoming CEO of Arvest Central Arkansas, and Kane Webb, Arkansas Parks & Tourism director, unveiled the designs on Wednesday at the state Capitol.
The cards are available to the bank's customers from any location in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma through June 30. They are free to new customers or can be purchased for $7.50 to replace an existing card.
Images featured on the cards are Blanchard Springs Caverns, the Buffalo National River, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Lake Chicot State Park, Lake Ouachita, Petit Jean State Park, The Ridges at Village Creek and Whitaker Point near Boxley. See the designs here.
Starting a small business is no easy feat for a multitude of reasons, and one of the largest hurdles for many entrepreneurs is securing funding. The 2016 Kauffman Index of Startup Activity is a comprehensive indicator of new business creation in the United States and shows start-up activity continues to gain momentum in 2016, following the upward trend that began last year. In short, the latest recession is behind us, new business activity continues to grow and these new ventures need funding. Your local bank can be a great resource to help finalize your business plan, and put you on the road to securing the money you need. Arvest Bank shares three things entrepreneurs need to stand out to potential lenders.
1. A thorough, realistic, business plan
A business plan is a crucial part of an entrepreneur’s lending ask, and banks will want to see a comprehensive plan for the creation, operation and success of the business. An industry analysis is needed to determine if a prospective company is in tune with the needs of the area and if there is enough market share available to be profitable.
The business plan should also include a market analysis of the prospective customers and their spending habits. Also, who are the competitors in the market and what is your business' point of difference that will enable you to be competitive?
2. Honest financial projections
Realistic financial projections are a necessary point that banks will review intently. Your financial projections should not be inflated beyond industry averages. Bankers will easily recognize this “stretching” of the financials, and would rather see that you are realistic about the time and commitment needed to grow a business. A good place to start is to assess industry standards and see how your company would compare to the current performance of businesses already in operation. In addition to profit and loss projections, banks will want to see a plan for anticipated cash flow, as timing and delays play a big role in managing the finances of an organization.
Financial institutions may also prefer that you list a secondary source of repayment in the event that your business does struggle financially. Banks have to protect their assets with every loan, so proof of savings, collateral or a strong guarantor will strengthen your request for funds.
3. Stakeholders and business resources
When a plan is under review, proof that the entrepreneur has stakeholders who know the business, and resources to guide them, is extremely beneficial. Providing a lender profiles of the business partners, investors, and management team to ensure that the business is in the hands of people with a history of successful experience can also be an advantage. Listing resources such as the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center at UALR also demonstrates to lenders that you have done research and know where to turn for guidance as you grow your business.
Entrepreneurs should know their industry, create a detailed plan for reaching their targets, outline the financial plan for success and have a team of players ready to work to make it all happen. Banks and lenders want to see their small business clients thrive, and will work with them to make sure the outcomes are successful for everyone.
The University of Arkansas System board of trustees on Thursday gave final approval to a $160 million expansion of Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
The board voted to approve $120 million in bonds for the project, which would increase the stadium's seating capacity from 72,000 to about 77,000. The expansion would be complete in time for the 2018 football season.
Trustees David Pryor of Little Rock and C.C. "Cliff" Gibson III of Monticello voted against the expansion.
Pryor, a former U.S. Senator and Arkansas governor, has been a vocal critic of the plan. Before a previous vote related to the project in June, Pryor said the expansion amounts to a "monumental commitment of resources" that, in effect, puts the stadium expansion — and not its students — as the university's highest priority. He cited the "nuclear arms race of college football" and said the expansion "defies common sense and fairness."
The project also drew opposition from Tyson Foods Inc. Chairman John Tyson and four other former UA trustees, who questioned the expansion in an op-ed published this summer by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
According to The Associated Press, during a committee meeting Wednesday, Pryor questioned how the bonds would be paid if the football team should "lose three or four games" and fans stop attending. Athletic Director Jeff Long said fans have shown strong support even during less than successful seasons.
In addition to approving the bonds, the board this week voted to retain Mitchell Williams Selig Gates & Woodyard PLLC of Little Rock as bond counsel; Stephens Inc. and Crews & Associates Inc., both of Little Rock, as co-senior managing underwriters; and Raymond James & Co. Inc. of St. Petersburg, Florida, and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC of New York, as co-managers for the bond sale.
More: Download the resolutions: The bond issue | underwriters | counsel
The UA board in January approved preliminary work on the project, which will redesign the north end zone, including the Frank Broyles Athletic Center, adding seating that includes club seats and lodge boxes. In April, the board approved CDI Contractors LLC of Little Rock as the project's general contractor.
In a proposal (PDF) approved by the board in June, the athletic department outlined how it will fund the expansion:
Three new clients have hired the Sells Agency of Little Rock to lead their research and marketing efforts, including two local residential developments and an Indiana bank that is one of the oldest national banks in the United States.
First Financial Bank, based in Terre Haute, chose the Sells firm over two national agencies specializing in bank marketing, according to Mike Sells, the Little Rock firm’s CEO.
"They had a difficult decision to make," he said. "We are just happy to have been selected to work with them. A great organization, a great history and really outstanding people."
The $3 billion bank describes itself as the country's fifth oldest national bank, with 69 banking centers in Indiana and Illinois. It was named one of the top 50 publicly traded banks last year by Bank Director magazine.
The firm also picked up business from Rockwater Village, a "traditional neighborhood development" along the Arkansas River in North Little Rock, and the River Market Tower, developed by Moses Tucker Real Estate, an upscale condominium high-rise at Third and Rock streets in Little Rock.
"Rockwater Village is a neighborhood located on the river just west of Argenta in North Little Rock," Sells said. "We just launched their new website and announced that they have been chosen as Arkansas' first Southern Living Inspired Community."
River Market Tower, he said, offers expansive views of Little Rock and the river, along with private parking, balconies and a prime location within walking distance of downtown shops, restaurants and entertainment venues.
"We're honored to be selected to work on both new and developing projects, as well as the opportunity to work with an institution that has been part of the financial industry for almost two centuries," Sells said.
Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff said Friday that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of Citizens National Bank of Athens, Tennessee.
The deal, announced in May, was approved by Citizens National Bancorp Inc. shareholders on Thursday, Simmons said in a news release.
In May, Simmons put the value of the deal, which consists of 835,741 shares of Simmons' common stock and $40.3 million in cash, at $77 million
"Citizens has a long tradition of providing exemplary banking services to its customers," Simmons First Chairman and CEO George Makris said. "We plan on continuing its commitment to its customers, associates and communities as we strengthen our presence in east Tennessee. Combined, our organizations can go forward offering enhanced financial services as a premier community banking organization positioned for continued, long-term success."
With the acquisition complete, Simmons (Nasdaq: SFNC) has about $8.1 billion in assets, $5.3 billion in loans, $6.5 billion in deposits and more than 145 locations in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee.
As of March 31, CNB had assets of $552 million, deposits of $473 million and equity capital of $63.5 million. It earned $6.4 million in 2015, for a return on assets of 1.21 percent, and $4.7 million in 2014 (0.9 percent).
Athens is between Chattanooga and Knoxville, and Citizen National's nine branches are all in that corridor, which will expand Simmons' footprint further east.
Simmons currently has 37 Tennessee branches, the result of the 2015 acquisition of First State Bank of Union City, but only one is in Knoxville.
Citizens will temporarily remain a separate bank and continue its operations as a subsidiary of Simmons First National Corp. until merged into Simmons Bank. The merger and system conversion is scheduled for Oct. 21.
The company said Citizens President Jack B. Allen will join Simmons Bank as community president of east Tennessee.
Joe Ruddell has been promoted to northwest Arkansas regional president of Generations Bank, and Bryn Bagwell has been hired as president of the Fayetteville market.
Ruddell previously worked at Arvest Bank in Benton County before joining Generations Bank of Hampton (formerly First Bank) as Washington County market president in 2014.
Bagwell most recently worked for Arvest Bank in northwest Arkansas and she previously worked at Farmer’s Bank & Trust in Magnolia.
Generations Bank has also promoted Mendee Marinoni to vice president and market specialist in Fayetteville. Marinoni has 23 years of banking experience in marketing, mortgage lending and management. She has been with Generations Bank for 10 years.
Bruce Upton has been named a senior vice president and chief technology operations officer at Stone Bank in Mountain View.
Chris Rittelmeyer has joined Simmons Wealth Management as an assistant vice president in the private banking group at Simmons Bank in Fayetteville. He has eight years of banking experience. He most recently worked as a commissioned senior bank examiner for the Arkansas State Bank Department.
See more of this week's Movers & Shakers, and submit your own announcement at ArkansasBusiness.com/Movers.
A 296,000-SF retail project in North Little Rock tipped the scales at $23.15 million.
TPP 303 NLR Plaza LLC, an affiliate of TriGate Capital LLC of Dallas, bought McCain Plaza at 4200 E. McCain Blvd. from DDR Downreit LLC.
The seller is an affiliate of DDR Corp., a publicly traded real estate investment trust based in Beachwood, Ohio.
The deal is financed with a five-year loan of $20.9 million from Bank of America in Charlotte, North Carolina.
DDR Downreit purchased the 27.77-acre development for $18 million in March 1994 from Folmar & Associates of Montgomery, Alabama.
Dollar Deal
A Dollar General store on the northern edge of Maumelle weighed in at $1.06 million.
Matsai Ltd. of Chula Vista, California, acquired the 9,217-SF project at 21300 Hwy. 365 from Yellow Store Holdings LLC, led by Kevin Huchingson.
The deal is funded with a 10-year loan of $636,000 from TruStone Financial Federal Credit Union of Plymouth, Min-nesota.
The 1-acre development previously helped secure a January 2012 mortgage of $3.1 million held by Metropolitan National Bank of Little Rock.
Yellow Store bought the property for $967,000 more than four years ago from PB General Holdings (Morgan) LLC, led by Leonard Boen.
Mobile Duo
Two small mobile home parks in southwest Little Rock changed hands in a $725,000 sale.
Myatt Realty LLC, led by Doyle Johnson, purchased the Community Lane Mobile Home Park at 3824 Community Lane and the Spencer Mobile Home Park at 3412 Coffer Lane.
The seller is CJC2015 LLC, led by Sheila Carroll. The deal is backed with two loans totaling $543,750 from Centennial Bank of Conway.
The 2-acre Coffer Lane property was bought for $100,000 in June 2015 from Richard and Lisa Coppola. The 2.13-acre Community Lane property was acquired for $175,000 in October 2015 from Marabelle Properties LLC, led by J.J. and Jill Childers.
Captain Transaction
A 2,473-SF eatery in North Little Rock is under new ownership after a $569,445 deal.
SCFRC-HW-G LLC, an affiliate of Chambers Street Properties of Princeton, New Jersey, bought the Captain D’s at 5320 JFK Blvd. The seller is CNL APF Partners Ltd., an affiliate of GE Capital of Norwalk, Connecticut.
The 0.83-acre development was purchased for $775,000 in February 2005 from USRP (S&C) LLC, an affiliate of CNL Financial Group Inc. of Orlando, Florida.
Honey of a Deal
A 20,910-SF office-warehouse project in North Little Rock rang up a $420,000 sale.
FHC Properties LLC, led by Jimmy Hutton and Raye Stroope, acquired the facility at 2001 N. Poplar St. and a neighboring 0.32 acres. The seller is Fischer Honey Co., led by Joel Callaway.
The purchase is supported by a 25-year loan of $1.46 million from Regions Bank of Birmingham, Alabama.
The property was assembled largely through deals with Marie Renshaw, $9,000 in May 1998; S.R. and Jewell Garrett, $1,600 in August 1937; and O.E. and Mary Chilson, an undisclosed sum in August 1924.
Furniture Buy
A 10,000-SF retail center in Little Rock drew a $350,000 transaction.
Norris Furniture LLC, led by Brad Norris, purchased the 3900 John Barrow Road project from One Bank & Trust of Little Rock. The deal is financed with a five-year loan of $294,100 from the bank.
One Bank recovered the 1.27-acre development in May 2013 from The Warehouse Partnership, led by Alberta Wilson.
The property was tied to an August 2005 mortgage of $464,400 held by the bank.
Bretagne Manor
A 6,697-SF home in the Bretagne Circle neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development tipped the scales at $1 million.
The Suzanne Lindsay Bradshaw Revocable Trust bought the house from the Formicola Family Revocable Living Trust, led by Thomas and Cynthia Formicola.
The residence previously was linked with an April 2014 mortgage of $696,000 from Charles Schwab Bank of Reno, Nevada.
The Formicolas purchased the property for $928,000 in November 2014 from the namesake revocable trusts of Audrey and Gerry Riser.
Ridgehaven Residence
A 3,844-SF home in west Little Rock’s Ridgehaven neighborhood sold for $995,000.
Daniel and Autumn Hardin acquired the 4.66-acre wooded spread from Jane McMullin. The deal is funded with a 25-year loan of $750,000 from Regions Bank.
The McMullin family bought the property for $375,000 in August 1992 from James and Billie Tanner.
Kingwood House
A 4,374-SF home in Little Rock’s Kingwood Place neighborhood changed hands in a $695,000 deal.
Christopher and Lea May purchased the house from Richard Peek Sr. and his wife, Bonnie.
The deal is backed with 30-year loans of $417,000 and $139,000 from Bank of Little Rock Mortgage Corp.
The residence previously was tied to a March 2013 mortgage of $100,000 held by Bank of America.
The Peeks acquired the property for $465,000 in December 1992 from Glenda Ensminger and the Charles A. Ensminger Revocable Trust.
Oaks Home
A 4,260-SF home in The Oaks neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development is under new ownership after a $565,000 transaction.
The Linda C. Holbert Revocable Trust bought the house from The Emil Trust, led by Senthil and Rhodora Raghavan.
The residence previously was linked with an October 2012 mortgage of $407,440 held by North Little Rock’s National Bank of Arkansas.
The property was purchased for $510,000 nearly four years ago from Kathy and Louis McAlister.
Rural Residence
A 3,528-SF home in west Pulaski County’s River Estates neighborhood rang up a $545,000 sale.
Jaclyn and John Bracey Jr. acquired the house from William and Margaret Cunningham.
The deal is financed with a 30-year loan of $545,000 from SunTrust Mortgage Inc. of Richmond, Virginia.
The residence previously was tied to a March 2009 mortgage of $417,000 held by Bank of Little Rock Mortgage.
The Cunninghams bought the location for $83,000 from West End Partners LLC, led by David Matchet and Leon Smith.
Lamarche Abode
A 4,910-SF home the Lamarche Place neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development drew a $518,000 transaction.
Christopher and Kimberly Carroll purchased the house from Thomas Manning III and his wife, Nirvana.
The deal is funded with a 30-year loan of $414,000 from Bank of Little Rock Mortgage. The residence previously was linked with August 2010 mortgages of $417,000 and $63,000 held by First Financial Bank of El Dorado.
The Mannings acquired the property for $575,000 in February 2007 from James and Marla Vanwyk.
Outpatient Surgery Center $4,800,000
11220 Executive Center Drive, Little Rock
Mulhearn Wilson Constructors Inc., North Little Rock
Phase I Demolition $1,202,050
Pinnacle View Middle School
5701 Ranch Drive, Little Rock
Baldwin & Shell Construction Co., Little Rock
Remodeling $1,000,000
Kroger
1900 N. Polk St., Little Rock
Corco Construction LLC, Little Rock
OK, I admit it. I am a TED junkie. I try to set some time aside each day to find content on the web that is challenging, enriching, novel and even controversial. The site that will most often suck me in — to discover I have spent an hour listening to people I do not know — is TED.
The idea of TED talks has gone way beyond the original concept of technology, education and design. And while there are fascinating and well-constructed talks on the main TED stage, I am often more taken with speakers at local TEDx events. TED superstars like Simon Sinek and Brene Brown have nothing to fear from what are often quirky, homegrown topics ranging from “How to Travel the World With No Money” to “The Mathematics of Weight Loss.”
To understand the brilliance of TEDx you have to understand what it is. TEDx is a day of TED talks, organized and produced locally. No one makes a profit or gets paid for producing or working on a TEDx conference (except contracted vendors who provide services). No one can buy his way onto the stage, and no one can be paid to speak. There are many more criteria, but suffice it to say that TED protects its brand.
So it was not a small undertaking when a small band led by someone new to Little Rock managed to produce the first TEDx conference in Little Rock: TEDx Markham Street, branded by TED as TEDxMarkhamSt. (Disclosure: I spoke at the conference last year, and I will function as emcee on the stage this year.)
So why did more than 300 people take a workday out of their lives to fill Ron Robinson Theater last year? There was no one on the stage whom they could not hear in another venue, except perhaps Minnijean Brown-Trickey, who was given a place of honor as the last speaker of the day.
I think I know why, and it has a lot to do with leadership. You may not agree with what you hear at a TEDx conference, but you will learn something new. You may not get the full picture — since speakers are given 18 minutes — but you will be escorted into territory occupied by that speaker that is likely to be new, controversial and challenging. You may not be blown away by brilliant oratory, but you will be clear about why that speaker takes the stage.
Trust me when I tell you that it takes a lot of courage to walk onto a stage in a community where you do not have the safety of anonymity and advocate for something you believe in, introduce a concept or way of viewing the world that may not be mainstream or simply bare your soul about something you believe matters — with no confidence that the rest of the room will understand or care.
In fact, the entire story of the local event is an act of leadership behind the scenes. Salil Joshi is a master of public service/master of public health student at the Clinton School of Public Service and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He moved here two years ago and knew not a soul. And yet he has pulled together a band of volunteers, sponsors, vendors and speakers who have, largely under his leadership, made the event a reality in 2015 and are ready to repeat that effort in 2016.
No one in the enterprise gets paid for his or her time, talent or energy. TEDxMarkhamSt was born of vision, engagement, coordination and no small amount of sweat.
On Sept. 30, TEDxMarkhamSt will again take the stage at the Ron Robinson Theater behind the Arkansas Studies Institute building downtown. Once again, 15 or so speakers with something to say will take the stage for 18 minutes and give it their all. None is a nationally known speaker, but having interviewed all of them in preparation for the conference, I can tell you that they all have something to say.
Stephen Covey would call TED a day for “sharpening your saw” before you go back to work and start cutting down trees. More information is at TEDxMarkhamSt.org.
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I. Barry Goldberg of Little Rock, an executive coach with a global client base, is a Vistage Peer Advisory Group chair. Email him at Barry.Goldberg@EntelechyPartners.com. |
As Arkansas Business writers were preparing last month’s well-received Business Icons features, we specifically asked some of the 10 to talk about what they were doing when they were in their 20s.
I want to use some of them to introduce this week’s eighth annual The New Influentials: 20 in Their 20s feature, because their answers were instructive — and not just because most of those business legends had found their life’s work before they were 30. Some of their stories seem like products of an earlier time that would be hard to replicate in the 21st century, but they also delivered reminders of the timeless qualities that propel a young adult toward success.
Bob Shell was already on his third career when he joined the Little Rock construction company that would eventually be renamed Baldwin & Shell — and he wasn’t yet 20. He had been fired from a job driving an ambulance. He had been denied a promotion from mail clerk to furniture salesman at Fones Hardware.
He was, in his words, “pretty disgusted” by the setbacks when he hired on with the 4-year-old Baldwin Co., and he was determined to make himself valuable to the company’s three founders, who had taken a chance on a 19-year-old who, by his own account, “didn’t know anything about construction.”
Six and a half decades later, Shell spoke of P.W. Baldwin, Werner Knoop and especially Olen Cates with an admiration and appreciation that reminded me of Ebenezer Scrooge’s memories of his first boss, old Mr. Fezziwig.
“They were all very good to me,” Shell said. And his job at Baldwin Co. became more than just a job. “I’ve really loved it.”
The morals of Bob Shell’s story, then, are to shake off failure and to make the most of opportunities. (And for those of us who are no longer young, Shell serves as a great reminder that eager beginners deserve the opportunity to show what they can do.)
Johnelle Hunt, widely considered the operational talent that turned her husband’s dream into the reality that is J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. of Lowell, also found her life’s work before she was 30 — just barely and involuntarily.
She was 29 and happy as a housewife and mother when Johnnie Bryan Hunt started his trucking company. But someone had to make those collection calls, and her fierce dedication to her family was all the impetus she needed.
“In collections you have to have someone really strong who doesn’t take no for an answer,” said Hunt, now widowed and in her mid-80s. “I knew for every dollar I didn’t collect, we lost 50 cents, so I couldn’t feed my children. I was a nice person until I started collecting money.”
A lesson from Johnelle Hunt, then, is this: One may find professional satisfaction — what is too often referred to as “passion” — in unexpected places and even in responsibilities that we didn’t seek out.
Jim Lindsey spent most of his 20s on the gridiron — he turned 20 the year he was part of the Arkansas Razorbacks national championship football team in 1964 and spent seven years in the NFL.
Then, at 29 in 1973, he founded Lindsey & Associates, the foundation of his real estate empire.
But he had a plan even while he was playing football, the game that he says taught him to understand a big picture. When he was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings at 22, he invested his $75,000 signing bonus in real estate — including the future site of the Northwest Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville.
The lessons from Jim Lindsey: When you get your hands on some money, don’t blow it. And if you know that what you are doing right now is not going to last forever, start preparing Plan B.
When George Gleason was 25, he bought the Bank of Ozark, with assets of $28 million. The next day, he gathered his 30 employees and gave them a pep talk:
“The theme of the speech was we may never be the biggest bank in Arkansas, but if we work really hard and every one of us does the very best we can, … we can be the best bank in Arkansas,” Gleason said.
Thirty-seven years later, the renamed Bank of the Ozarks has assets of more than $18 billion. It is the largest bank headquartered in Arkansas and one of the 100 largest in the United States.
Gleason said he set his goals too low in that first staff meeting, but I think the moral of his story is to under-promise and over-deliver.
I personally interviewed Johnny Allison, chairman of Home BancShares Inc. of Conway. He was a millionaire (“on paper,” he said) by the time he was 30, as had been his goal. But he had done it the hardest way possible: by accidentally investing in two money-losing mobile home manufacturers that he had no choice but to fix. He was barely in his 30s when he became the largest shareholder of a bank that, unbeknownst to him, had regulatory problems.
Allison’s business career would make a great management textbook, but I think the biggest life lesson he can teach all of us, young or old, is this: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
A long-scheduled vacation kept me from participating in the committee that selected this year’s 20 in Their 20s, so I learned about most of these young leaders the same way you will: by reading the short profiles spread over the next 10 pages.
I have no way of knowing whether there’s another Bob Shell or Johnelle Hunt or George Gleason in this year’s crop. Some may have already gotten rich quick, like Johnny Allison. One of them, D.J. Williams, is following the Jim Lindsey path: Razorbacks to NFL to real estate, with on-air TV work thrown in for good measure. A couple of them, Jonathan Crossley and Eric Dailey, have chosen the get-rich-never field of education, but I suspect their stories will be as inspirational to you as they are to their students.
I do see in all of them the energy and ambition and adventurous spirit that is obvious in our state’s business legends, even decades after they were in their 20s. We’re proud to introduce these New Influentials and to consider all the potential they offer our state in the decades to come.
WASHINGTON — Americans finally got a raise last year after eight years of stagnating incomes.
The typical U.S. household's income rose 5.2 percent in 2015 to $56,516, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. Even with the solid gain, that remains below the median household income of $57,423 in 2007 when the Great Recession began. The median is the point where half of households fall below and half are above.
Still, the government's annual report on incomes and poverty portrays an economy that is finally starting to benefit a wider range of Americans, roughly six years after the recovery began. Middle-class incomes had seen little improvement since the recession ended in 2009, even as the unemployment rate fell and hiring picked up.
"It's really a broad, broad increase in median incomes, and one of the largest increases... that we've ever had," said Trudi Renwick, assistant division chief at Census.
Median incomes picked up in all regions of the United States, across all age groups, and for most ethnic and racial groups, she said.
The figures could also impact the presidential campaign. Median household income is now higher than in 2009 when President Obama took office. It took six years to reach that point, a trend that likely has contributed to insurgent candidacies by GOP nominee Donald Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who campaigned for the Democratic nomination.
But it remains 2.4 percent below the peak it reached in 1999, when it was $57,909.
The proportion of Americans in poverty also fell sharply last year, to 13.5 percent from nearly 14.8 percent. That is the largest decline in poverty since 1999. There were 43.1 million people in poverty last year, 3.5 million fewer than in 2014.
The income gains and drop in poverty reflect ongoing gains in the job market, Renwick said. About 2.4 million more Americans found full-time, year-round jobs in 2015.
Americans are also likely benefiting from an increase in middle-income jobs. Many of the jobs created in the early years of the recovery have been in low-paying sectors, such as fast food restaurants and retail.
But according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in 2014 and 2015 the growth of middle-income jobs in sectors such as shipping and construction outpaced the gains in lower-paying and higher-paying work.
The poorest Americans saw the biggest income gain, the Census report found, driven by widespread increases in the minimum wage and increasing competition for low-wage jobs.
Income for the poorest 10 percent of households jumped 7.9 percent, while for the wealthiest 10 percent, incomes rose just 2.9 percent. That narrowed the gap between the two groups by one of the largest amounts on record.
The Census report also showed that the number of uninsured Americans continued to drop, as people take advantage of President Obama's health care law.
The share of people in the United States uninsured for the entire year was 9.1 percent, or 29 million people. When compared to 2014, nearly 4 million people gained coverage during the year. The share of the population uninsured in 2014 was 10.4 percent, or 33 million people.
The report also found that women on average earned 80 percent of the income of men in 2015, a slight improvement from 79 percent in the previous year.
(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Walmart Canada will stop accepting Visa Inc. cards at its 16 stores in the province of Manitoba starting on Oct. 24, a spokesman said on Wednesday, raising the stakes in a high-profile fee dispute.
Manitoba was "most ready" for not accepting Visa cards, he said, without elaborating on why the province was chosen.
In a rare example of talks between a major retailer and credit card company spilling out in public, Walmart said in June it had been unable to agree with Visa on an "acceptable fee" and would no longer accept the company's credit cards unless it got a better deal.
Visa cards may be banned in more stores if the companies cannot reach an agreement, the Walmart spokesman said, though he did not say which ones.
"We're committed to continuing negotiations with Visa, and we are still hopeful to reach an agreement."
The rejection of Visa in Manitoba would follow the retailer's decision in July to stop accepting Visa cards in three Ontario stores - a step that would be mirrored across the country, Walmart had said at the time.
Walmart has more than 400 stores in Canada.
The negotiations do not affect the U.S. stores of parent Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville.
That rumble you felt on Sept. 8 was not another earthquake in Oklahoma. It was the heads of thousands of community bankers hitting their desks as soon as they heard that Wells Fargo had been fined $185 million for creating some 1.5 million unauthorized retail accounts.
The biggest piece of the penalty, $100 million, will be paid to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, and that’s significant only in that it is the largest fine the CFPB has levied since it began operations a year after it was created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act of 2010. It certainly isn’t a significant blow to the second-largest U.S. bank by assets ($1.7 trillion); the full $185 million represents less than 1 percent of its $20.7 billion in net income last year.
What’s far more significant, as bankers and critics alike quickly acknowledged, is that Wells Fargo’s shenanigans are an impediment to rebuilding trust in the banking industry.
“Wells Fargo just proved, again, that no scam is beneath America’s financial institutions. And no institution is above being watched by a federal agency,” Huffington Post business writers Emily Peck and Ben Walsh wrote in an analysis titled “Wells Fargo Just Made The Case For Elizabeth Warren’s Bank Agency.”
That’s the kind of language that makes bankers throw up in their mouths. But, really, is the message very far from the Independent Community Bankers of America’s condemnation of Wells Fargo?
“Not only is this conduct appalling and harmful to American consumers and communities, it also contributes to the growth of excessive regulation that needlessly burdens the local community banks that do right by their customers,” ICBA CEO Camden R. Fine said in a written statement. “While Wells Fargo has the luxury of throwing money at the problem to make it go away without its board or senior management being held accountable, the individuals and local institutions affected by its actions will continue to suffer for years to come.”
That talk of suffering isn’t hyperbole. Economists from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reported in July that smaller banks really are hit much harder by the cost of regulatory compliance.
Economists Drew Dahl, Andrew P. Meyer and Michelle Clark Neely analyzed data on compliance costs from a survey of 469 banks. “We found that, in 2014, the ratio of compliance costs to total noninterest expense increased substantially as the size of the bank decreased. For example, banks with assets of $1 billion to $10 billion reported total compliance costs averaging 2.9 percent of their noninterest expenses, while banks with less than $100 million in assets reported costs averaging 8.7 percent of their noninterest expenses,” they wrote in the July issue of The Regional Economist.
The survey didn’t look at banks with more than $10 billion in assets, much less truly enormous ones like Wells Fargo, and they do have regulatory burdens that smaller banks do not. (The 2011 Durbin Amendment caps debit card swipe fees that banks with more than $10 billion in assets can charge to merchants, reducing revenue by millions as soon as a bank crosses that threshold.)
But it is undeniably the smaller banks — the ones that don’t have 1.5 million real customers, much less that many phony accounts — who have paid and are paying and will continue to pay the most for the bad acts of the banks that are too big to fail. And years of lobbying for relief can be wiped away by a screaming headline like this from The Wall Street Journal: “Wells Fargo Fined for Sales Scam.”
The fines imposed, while a mere pinprick, are far more than Wells Fargo benefited from the fake accounts, which were apparently created by low-level customer service employees under pressure to meet sales quotas. The total collected in bogus fees was only about $2.6 million; firing and replacing the 5,300 employees involved in the scam (which continued for at least five years) undoubtedly cost more than that.
For Wells Fargo to keep discovering phony accounts and keep firing people for the same violations for half a decade suggests that the management didn’t understand that (in the words of Olivia Farrell, our CEO at Arkansas Business Publishing Group) you get the behavior you incentivize. (The executive who oversaw the consumer banking unit, Carrie Tolstedt, is retiring at age 56 with a $124.5 million golden parachute.)
Full disclosure: My husband and I were satisfied Wells Fargo mortgage customers until May, when we paid off our house. (Mainly I just love saying that we paid off our house.)
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Gwen Moritz is editor of Arkansas Business. Email her at GMoritz@ABPG.com. |
The sale of two Little Rock apartment projects weighed in at $10.08 million.
Andmark Towne Oaks Apartments LLC, an affiliate of the AndMark real estate investment firm of Los Angeles, bought the 152-unit Towne Oaks Apartments at 9300 Treasure Hill Road and the 64-unit Towne Oaks Village Apartments at 9600 Southedge Drive.
The seller is CGCMT 2006-C5 Treasure Hill LLC, an affiliate of LNR Partners LLC of Miami Beach, Florida.
The deal is backed with a 10-year loan of $8 million from Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC of Ambler, Pennsylvania.
CGCMT recovered the combined 12.45-acre developments from Arkansas Bay Town Oaks LLC of San Francisco in March 2013 at a $5.8 million foreclosure sale.
Access Acquisition
A Little Rock church property tipped the scales at $2.62 million.
Access Group Inc., led by Tammy Simmons, purchased the 10.31-acre complex at 1500 N. Mississippi St. from First Christian Church Inc.
The deal is financed with a 10-year loan of $2.2 million from Little Rock’s Bank of the Ozarks.
The property previously was tied to a June 2000 mortgage of $120,000 held by Citizens Fidelity Insurance Co. of Little Rock.
The location was bought for $60,000 in April 1959 from Rowley United Theaters Inc. of Dallas.
Office Purchase
A 3,224-SF office building in Jacksonville sold for $490,000.
1813 TP White-Jacksonville LLC of Nashville, Tennessee, acquired the 1813 T.P. White Drive project from Marck and Alma Gibson.
The deal is funded with a seven-year loan of $528,000 from InsBank of Nashville.
The 0.37-acre development previously was linked with a November 2012 mortgage of $369,750 held by Summit Bank of Arkadelphia. The Gibsons purchased the property for $400,000 in May 2004 from the Smith Living Trust, led by William and Jo Ann Smith.
Industrial Deal
A 33,620-SF office-warehouse in the Little Rock Port Industrial Park changed hands in a $450,000 deal.
Ben Davis Properties Management LLC, led by Ben and Diane Davis, bought the 6208 Lindsey Road project from Ralph Brockman Jr.
The deal is backed with a five-year loan of $382,500 from Community First Bank of Pea Ridge. The 4-acre site was acquired for $32,000 in August 1972 from the city of Little Rock.
Land Buy I
A 0.97-acre commercial site in North Little Rock rang up a $355,000 sale.
Horton’s Orthotic Lab Inc., led by Gary Horton, purchased the land at 4200 Smokey Lane. The seller is The Woodcrest Co. LLP, led by James P. Matthews.
The deal is financed with a one-year loan of $301,750 from IberiaBank of Lafayette, Louisiana.
The property previously helped secure an August 2007 mortgage of $4.1 million and July 2014 mortgages of $3.2 million and $252,485 held by Centennial Bank of Conway.
The land was part of the 400-acre Springhill Farm the Matthews family acquired in August 1959. John and Martha Matthews bought it from Fred and Katherine Watkins for $250,000.
Land Buy II
A 0.66-acre commercial site in North Little Rock shifted ownership in a deal valued at $315,000.
Arkansas Specialty Partners LLC, led by James Tucker, acquired the land near the southwest corner of Stockton Drive and Smokey Lane. The seller is Freeway Park Properties LLC, led by Dr. Tim Langford.
The deal is funded with a six-month loan of $236,250 from Arvest Bank of Fayetteville.
The property was purchased for $297,000 in May 2010 from The Woodcrest Co. LLP, led by James P. Matthews.
Cliffewood Manor
A 4,608-SF home in Little Rock’s Cliffewood neighborhood drew a $1.1 million transaction.
Herbert Price III and his wife, Cynthia, bought the house from Ned and Laura Rawlings.
The deal is backed with a 30-year loan of $940,865 from Centennial Bank.
The residence previously was tied to a February 2013 mortgage of $380,000 held by IberiaBank Mortgage Co. of Little Rock
The Rawlings family acquired the property for $1.03 million in August 2009 from Michael and Larita Berg.
Deauville House
A 5,267-SF home in the Deauville Place neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development sold for $875,000.
Eric and Mandy Wright purchased the house from Mary Ellen Irons.
The residence previously was linked with May 2013 mortgages of $417,000 held by Bank of the Ozarks and $213,000 held by Malvern National Bank.
The property was bought for $830,000 more than three years ago from Randy James Construction Co.
High-Rise Homes
Condos in downtown Little Rock’s River Market Tower formed a tandem transaction.
The namesake trust of Brad and Katherine Workman acquired a 3,217-SF unit on the 18th floor at 315 Rock St. for $836,000 from RMT II LLC, led by Jimmy Moses and Rett Tucker.
On the flip side, the Workman trust sold a 2,379-SF ninth-floor residence for $742,248 to Bradford Square of Arkansas LLC, led by Mark Dake.
The deal is financed with a seven-year loan of $548,000 from Missouri’s Springfield First Community Bank.
The Workmans purchased the ninth-floor space for $660,000 in September 2014 from RMT II.
The RMT II space on the 18th floor helped secure a June 2015 mortgage of $132,817 held by First Security Bank of Searcy and April 2014 mortgages of $18.6 million held by the bank and $3.3 million held by Citizens Bank of Batesville.
Heights Abode
A 2,807-SF home in the Heights area of Little Rock changed hands in a $709,900 sale.
David Snowden III bought the house from Daniel and Stephanie Brown.
The residence previously was tied to a May 2015 mortgage of $557,480 held by NBKC Bank of Overland Park, Kansas.
The Browns acquired the property for $599,000 in July 2014 from Timothy and Brooke Hicks.
Witry Dwelling
A 4,194-SF home in the Witry Court neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development rang up a $519,000 transaction.
The namesake trusts of Anthony and Kyla Aycock purchased the house from Walter Mehalko and Rachida Parks.
The residence previously was linked with a January 2013 mortgage of $412,000 from Arvest Mortgage Co. of Lowell.
The Parks family bought the property for $515,000 more than three years ago from Daniel and Ellen Williams.
Estates Residence
A 3,881-SF home in the Ridgefield Estates neighborhood of west Pulaski County is under new ownership after a $510,000 deal.
Merlin and Rita Hagan acquired the house from Robert and Lisa Evans.
The residence previously was tied to a December 2010 mortgage of $390,000 held by U.S. Bank of Cincinnati.
The Evans family purchased the property for $488,000 more than five years ago from Michael and Linnette Pryor.
Concourse Renovation $6,200,157
Clinton National Airport
1 Airport Drive, Little Rock
Flynco Inc., Little Rock
Case Dock Addition $1,760,000
Hiland Dairy
6901 Interstate 30 Little Rock
CBM Construction Co., Little Rock
Phil Baldwin moved back to Arkansas from Atlanta in 2013, and he settled about 15 miles outside Batesville.
Every morning as he drives to work as CEO of Citizens Bank, the teenagers, mainly girls, he sees waiting for the school bus remind him that Independence County — while not nearly the poorest in the state — has persistent poverty.
“The girls look like they will fit in at school, but the houses they come out of are just in terrible shape,” he said. “One of them has a tarp for a roof.”
Per-capita income in Independence County in 2014 was $32,403, 14 percent below the statewide average, and unemployment in the county was 5.4 percent in July, well above the 3.9 percent rate statewide.
Three of the four public school districts in the county have higher concentrations of students whose family income makes them eligible for free and reduced-price lunches than the state’s 61 percent rate: Southside (63.5 percent), Midland (67 percent) and Cedar Ridge (68 percent).
In the Batesville School District, the largest with almost 3,000 students, a bit over 55 percent are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. But the Batesville district, where fewer than 20 percent of students were non-white just 10 years ago, is now approaching 30 percent minority, and the number of students for whom English is a second language is growing with the local poultry industry.
Making sure the children of Independence County have the educational opportunities necessary to escape poverty is a cornerstone of the Impact strategic plan that Baldwin worked on when he was chairman of the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce.
(Also see Batesville Impact Plan Living Up to Its Name.)
Those opportunities include a direct pipeline to a bachelor’s degree that passes from the four public school districts in the county through the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville to private Lyon College.
Up to half of the transfer students who enter Lyon, enrollment about 700, come from UACCB, Lyon President Don Weatherman said. Lyon has long offered reduced tuition to students who complete associate degrees at UACCB.
That’s the path taken by Kyle Christopher, the chamber’s first tourism director: from Cave City (which straddles the Independence-Sharp county line) to UACCB to Lyon.
But college isn’t for everyone, and UACCB President Deborah Frazier praised the efforts of the 1,700-student Southside School District to introduce students to college-level classes at UACCB even before they finish high school.
“One of the unintended consequences is some students are learning that they don’t want to do the work they thought they wanted to do,” Frazier said.
When Californian Don Weatherman arrived at Lyon College for the first time in 1983, he was told that Batesville had a population of about 10,000. More than three decades later, it still does.
The population may be the only thing stagnant in the seat of Independence County. Fresh eyes, strategic planning, youthful energy and cold, hard cash are shaking up a college town on the jagged edge of the Ozarks that is burdened with many of the same challenges as the Delta that’s just minutes away.
“We know what a diamond in the rough we are,” Robb Roberts, executive vice president of locally owned First Community Bank and chairman of the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce, said last week.
There are signs of change all over town. In the historic downtown of the state’s oldest city:
On the south side of town, near the White River that first brought settlers to the area, a state-of-the-art treatment facility that was dedicated in June doubled the city's maxed-out wastewater capacity, creating the opportunity to expand the poultry industry that has been an industrial mainstay.
And a sprawling $28 million community center and water park — what Mayor Rick Elumbaugh called the "sexy" project — should be complete by year's end.
Some of these projects were well underway by the time the Batesville Chamber rolled out a strategic plan called "Impact Independence County," a 40-page wish list (PDF) that was the result of blanketing the county with surveys. The strategic plan for economic development, tourism, educational excellence and healthy living was the brainchild of last year's chamber chairman, Phil Baldwin.
Baldwin moved to Independence County at the end of 2013 to execute growth plans for Citizens Bank, the smaller of the two Batesville-chartered banks. The former CEO of Southern Bancorp of Arkadelphia, a rural development bank with nonprofit affiliates, had used similar tools to create a strategic plan for Clark County and the Delta Bridge Project for Phillips and Mississippi counties in Arkansas and Coahoma County, Mississippi.
Without hiring a consultant but with models from other communities, the chamber partnered with Lyon College, where Weatherman returned as president in 2009, and the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville to produce the strategic plan. (See Education a Cornerstone of Batesville's Strategic Plan.)
Before the ideas were committed to paper, "There wasn't really any vision for the community," said Crystal Johnson, the chamber's president and CEO. Now community leaders refer to Impact the way preachers refer to the Good Book, and it helped the chamber win a two-part grant totaling $67,000 from the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation of Little Rock.
That money, in turn, is being divided into "mini-grants" to organizations that pledge to use the money to benefit low- and moderate-income residents, which are targeted by many of the 168 goals included in the Impact plan.
The goals are "all very achievable by 2020," Johnson said, and some of them have already been achieved. For example: hiring someone to promote tourism, something Johnson and chamber COO Jamie Rayford don’t have time to do as well as it needs to be done.
The Batesville Area Chamber receives no tax dollars and the city does not (yet) have a local-option advertising and promotion tax, but Kyle Christopher was hired two months ago as tourism director with seed money from a fundraiser at the chamber's annual meeting.
While other parts of Arkansas have been laser-focused on promoting their attractions, Batesville hasn't even had a brochure available at state tourism information centers.
"That's such a little thing," Weatherman said, "but it's a thousand little things."
Private Investments
Citizens Bank announced in April a $10 million, low-interest loan program specifically for investments in downtown Batesville. It also set aside $100,000 for small grants of about $5,000 each, and six of those have been made so far.
One was used to replace windows in the 231 E. Main St. building that houses Elizabeth’s Restaurant & Catering. One paid for the patio seating at The Pinto, the new rock building that Haley and Brice Stephens built from scratch on the vacant southeast corner of Main Street and Central Avenue with help from local architect Zack Mobley.
“We’ve been talking about this for probably 10 years,” Haley said last Monday, the last day of preparation before the soft opening.
The Pinto will compete with Big’s, a lunch spot directly across Main Street, where business has picked up since Joe and Janelle Shell and Mandi and Adam Curtwright put $650,000 and almost as much in sweat equity into reopening The Melba a half-block away.
The theater — exact age unclear, Joe Shell said — opened with a black-tie screening of “The Wizard of Oz” on Aug. 12. The Melba had been in almost continual operation since the 1940s, when its few African-American patrons had to use a separate entrance to climb stairs to the segregated balcony, but it had been closed for several months when the Shells and Curtwrights bought it in March 2015.
With the help of John Greer Jr. of WER Architects of Little Rock, the new owners tackled a labor-intensive renovation that included reupholstering the 414 orchestra seats. Janelle Shell’s father sanded and refinished every wooden armrest, a gleam that competes with the brass plates on the chair backs from a community fundraiser for the project called “Save Your Seat.”
Cliff Brown, who works for Baldwin at Citizens Bank, has teamed up with Chintan Patel, owner of the U.S. Pizza franchise in Batesville, to open 109 Main. Brown said he hoped the bar and lounge, modeled after places the partners visited in bigger cities, would help kickstart nightlife in Batesville.
Brown and Patel chose one of the last vacant storefronts on historic Main, which is being narrowed to a single westbound lane in order to slow traffic. But the hopes of city boosters were smashed last month when a petition to put a dry-to-wet initiative on the November ballot failed by fewer than 400 signatures.
Under a 2015 state law that also frustrated efforts in Randolph County, one invalid signature can disqualify an entire page of voter signatures. (Among the signatures thus invalidated in Independence County: Mayor Elumbaugh’s and that of Robb Roberts, the chamber chairman.)
Public Investments
The wastewater treatment plant that was completed earlier this year had been in the works since a 1 percent sales tax was approved by city voters in 2009, creating vast new capacity for industrial users.
But wastewater holding ponds aren’t as sexy as the “lazy river” water feature at the new community center whose delayed opening is now expected by yearend.
“Nobody ever asked me when the treatment plant would be finished, but people ask me all the time when the community center will be ready,” Mayor Elumbaugh said.
The community center — 105,000 SF under roof, plus a 40,000-SF water park — was designed by ETC Engineers of Little Rock, and the contractor is G.A.G. Builders of Cabot. The gymnasium, big enough for three basketball courts or six volleyball games, can also be used for trade shows or banquets, and that will take some of the pressure off the UA Community College, the go-to place for large gatherings in Batesville.
The community center — Batesville Parks & Recreation Director Jeff Owens says naming rights are still available — is being paid for by a dedicated 1 percent sales tax approved by voters in 2012, half of which will sunset after paying for the construction.
The Batesville Public Library, supported by a 1-mill property tax, got a new director in April, Vanessa Adams. She is overseeing the move from a 5,000-SF historic building on Main Street to a 21,000-SF space being renovated down the street.
The library is among the recipients of a mini-grant from the Rockefeller Foundation: $3,750 for three computers for use by children.
The library currently has five computers, and Adams says it needs about 20. The new space will have room for more computers, programs, even book club meetings.
Younger Residents
Crystal Johnson said Batesville’s stagnant population — not dwindling like many communities in the Delta to the east but not growing like Conway or northwest Arkansas — was a “call to action.”
But the area is already attracting newer residents, like Baldwin and chamber director Carter Ford, a former aide to Gov. Mike Beebe who has opened a State Farm insurance agency in Batesville. Natives are also returning, like the Stephenses at The Pinto and Johnson’s husband, Damon.
The younger faculty members that Weatherman recruits to Lyon College like the idea of living in the historic houses downtown, where many of the residents are under 50.
“Almost every single week, a new millenial family moves to Batesville,” Ford said. “To find arts, to find diversity, you have to move to a large city — Impact proved that wrong,” Ford said.
Little Rock developer Philip Herrington recently filed a Chapter 11 reorganization for one of his developments in Oklahoma City.
The twist in this case is that Herrington is acting as the attorney for Gaillardia Brownstones I LLC in its bankruptcy proceeding.
Herrington isn’t an attorney but is the managing member of Gaillardia Development Co., which is the managing member of the LLC. His legal moves quickly drew an objection from Acting U.S. Trustee Daniel Casamatta.
He pointed out that an individual had the right to represent himself in court. “However, the statute does not permit an unlicensed layman to represent anyone else other than themselves,” Casamatta said in the motion to dismiss. “Therefore, a layperson may not represent a corporation, limited liability company or partnership even if that person is the sole stockholder, member or partner.”
Casamatta wanted the case dismissed. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Little Rock in front of Judge Richard D. Taylor.
Herrington didn’t immediately return messages for comment Thursday. But in the initial filings for Gaillardia Brownstones, Herrington listed the unsecured claims at $1.1 million. The total estimated debts are listed at between $1 million and $10 million, the same range as the estimated assets.
As you know, Herrington also has a personal Chapter 11 bankruptcy pending. In March, Herrington, who is represented by attorney Kevin P. Keech of Little Rock, filed for Chapter 11 and listed $13.45 million in debts and only $5.1 million in assets.
Casamatta has asked that that case be converted from reorganization to Chapter 7 liquidation. A hearing on Casamatta’s motion is set for Oct. 4 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Little Rock in front of Judge Ben Barry.
FAYETTEVILLE - The University of Arkansas has announced the start of a fundraising campaign that officials hope will raise $1 billion.
The university said in a news release that the money raised by Campaign Arkansas would be used to support academics, including scholarships and fellowships, endowed chairs, interdisciplinary academic programs and capital projects that include renovation of existing facilities.
UA Chancellor Joe Steinmetz said that without increases in state funding, private fundraising is needed to support the programs and projects.
UA System Board of Trustees Chairman Reynie Rutledge, who is president of First Security Bancorp. of Searcy, will chair the Campaign Arkansas Steering Committee.
(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
If you're considering selling commercial property or trading up on a second home, you should consider a like-kind exchange.
A like-kind exchange under United States tax law, also known as a 1031 exchange, is a transaction or series of transactions that allows for the disposal of an asset and the acquisition of another replacement asset without generating a current tax liability from the sale of the first asset. In other words, no gain or loss is recognized.
In a like-kind exchange, the basis of the property received is the basis of the property transferred decreased by any cash received and any loss recognized on the exchange and increased by any cash or other consideration paid and any gain recognized on the exchange.
For a transaction to qualify for non-recognition treatment under the like-kind exchange rules, the following requirements must be met:
In general, a deferred exchange of property will qualify for non-recognition treatment as a like-kind exchange if the following additional requirements are met:
(Written by Deborah Lawrence, CPA & Principle at Bell & Company, PA.)
Arkansas' August unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.9 percent, according to a report Tuesday by the state Department of Workforce Services.
The report said the state's civilian labor force declined by 1,520 jobs, the result of 1,787 fewer employed and 267 more employed Arkansans. The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in August.
"The unemployment rate in Arkansas remained stable this month, as did the national unemployment rate," said Susan Price, the Bureau of Labor Statistics program operations manager. "While jobless rates in Arkansas and the U.S. were both at 5.1 percent in August 2015, Arkansas has declined at a faster pace. We are now one full percentage point lower than the national rate."
More: Click here (PDF) to view the complete report.
Arkansas' unemployment rate was 5.1 percent in August 2015, with 1.33 million people in the civilian labor force. This year, that number has grown by more than 24,000 to 1.35 million.
This year's labor force number includes 53,170 unemployed Arkansans, down by more than 14,000 from last August. The number of employed Arkansans has risen to 1.3 million, up by more than 38,000 from August 2015.
The report said that since August 2015, nonfarm payrolls in Arkansas grew by 16,900, with eight industry sectors showing growth and three showing declines: