Stephanie Shine and Christopher Chunn have been promoted at Robert Half Finance & Accounting in Little Rock.

Shine was promoted to director of permanent placement services and vice president. She was previously division director and assistant vice president of the permanent placement division.

Chunn was promoted to division director and assistant vice president. He was previously recruiting manager and assistant vice president.

Shine and Chunn also serve the entire state of Arkansas in their permanent placement accounting and finance roles.

Edmond T. “Toby” Burkett of Little Rock, a senior financial adviser and first vice president of wealth management at Millwee Burkett Robinson & Associates, a Merrill Lynch branch office, has been nationally recognized as one of 401 Top Plan Advisors by Financial Times Magazine.

Mark Zitzer has been hired as manager of Allen Lund Co.’s new office in Little Rock at 10800 Financial Centre Parkway.

Allen Lund Co. is a third-party transportation broker based in La Canada, California. Zitzer has 15 years of 3PL experience in Arkansas. He earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Arkansas in 2011.

See more of this week's Movers & Shakers, and submit your own announcement at ArkansasBusiness.com/Movers.

Here’s something I wrote in this space in August:

“When the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Little Rock is involved, the presumption of a defendant’s innocence must be more than theoretic, and confidence that the power of the government is being used fairly and wisely must be tempered.”

At the time, I was specifically talking about the case federal prosecutors working for U.S. Attorney Chris Thyer brought against banker and businessman John Stacks. Stacks was indicted on 11 felonies and convicted of seven related to a Small Business Administration disaster loan he received after a tornado hit his storage barn. But U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes reversed two of the convictions and ordered a new trial on the other five because “the evidence preponderates sufficiently heavily against the verdict that a serious miscarriage of justice may have occurred.”

When judges at the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Holmes, Thyer’s assistants finally dropped all the charges in July — but only on the condition that Stacks agree not to sue for frivolous prosecution. After at least four years of investigation and prosecution, the government — represented primarily by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Harris and Assistant U.S. Attorney Angela Jegley — ended up with a big goose egg.

During much of the same time frame — starting in the fall of 2012 — the feds were also pursuing what prosecutors would paint as rampant crime at One Bank & Trust of Little Rock. The investigation properly centered on Layton “Scooter” Stuart, the CEO who owned virtually all of One Bank’s stock. But he died in March 2013, so attention shifted to his former lieutenants. And especially to one $1.5 million loan, which went bad instantly.

Five men were indicted in connection with that bad loan — a total of 21 counts, if I’ve added them up correctly. And these weren’t chicken-feed charges like structuring financial transactions. These charges included bank fraud and, most ominously, defrauding the federal TARP bank recapitalization program.

After years of investigation and prosecution, the feds came up with slightly more than they did in the Stacks case.

Alberto Solaroli, who borrowed the $1.5 million using a falsified financial statement and then never made a single payment, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of money laundering and was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison. (He also agreed to bargain-basement restitution of $120,000.)

Gary Rickenbach, the former EVP at One Bank who failed to tell his colleagues that he had invested in Solaroli’s company before he facilitated the fraudulent loan, had seven counts dismissed (including TARP fraud). He ultimately pleaded guilty to a single count of misprision — failing to report a crime. He has not yet been sentenced. He tried to get a probation-only sentence, but his final plea agreement suggests a guideline range of 10-16 months in prison.

Four counts against Tom Whitehead, the former chief financial officer, were dismissed in exchange for his testimony against the last two: former COO Michael Heald and former EVP Bradley Paul. And last week, as you probably know by now, a jury that heard three weeks of testimony acquitted Heald and Paul completely.

Gary Corum, who represented Heald, was free to complain after the verdict, and he did — to me and to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The jury understood the same defense that federal prosecutors had refused to understand, he said.

He didn’t name the prosecutors, but they were Harris and Jegley.

Federal prosecutors did manage convictions against two mid-level One Bank officers, Kelly Harbert in 2010 and Matthew Sweet in 2015. But Harbert and Sweet pleaded guilty to embezzlement schemes from which they personally benefited. Their crimes were related to the charges against the upper management only in that they underscored the freewheeling, self-dealing culture at Stuart’s bank. (That’s why federal regulators removed him from the management of his own bank back in 2012.)

For Heald and Paul, the jury’s verdicts were victory and vindication. For those of us who want to believe that the awesome power of the federal government is being wielded smartly, the verdicts were disheartening and depressing. If I were Thyer and kept being embarrassed by prosecutorial failures, I’d be looking to see if there were any common factors.

Gwen Moritz is editor of Arkansas Business. Email her at GMoritz@ABPG.com.

Centennial Bank of Conway is restarting its $2.6 million foreclosure action against Little Rock real estate investor Ron Lazenby.

The lawsuit against Lazenby, his wife, Toni, and the Ronald Lazenby Revocable Trust was put on hold in connection with the March Chapter 11 filing by RWL Investments LLC.

The venture that bears the initials of Ron Lazenby owns a mix of 25 commercial and residential properties in central Arkansas. The portfolio, which includes the famed Villa Marre in downtown Little Rock, secures more than $8.5 million of debt.

The Lazenbys personally guaranteed the RWL debt, and two west Little Rock homes they own are in play.

Centennial agreed to halt its February foreclosure suit to allow the couple time to sell RWL assets as well as their Chenal Valley home at 20 Chenal Circle and a house at 3217 N. Rodney Parham Road in the Pleasant Valley neighborhood.

“The basic plan was to give them six months to sell the bigger properties,” said Jim Penick, Centennial’s lawyer. “We didn’t get a contract on those properties, and the sand has run out of the hourglass.”

The 7,905-SF Chenal Circle abode and the 4,000-SF Pleasant Valley residence aren’t owned by RWL Investments but are tangled in the Lazenbys’ financial turmoil.

Among their creditors is the Internal Revenue Service, which filed a $120,822 lien for outstanding taxes from 2011-13. The IRS breakdown of taxes owed by the Lazenbys reads $22,266 in 2011, $60,979 for 2012 and $37,576 for 2013.

The highest profile property owned by RWL Investments is the Villa Marre at 1321 Scott St. in downtown Little Rock. The 135-year-old residence serves as the commercial home of RWL Investments as well as a destination for weddings and other events.

The historic house gained a national audience when exterior shots of the home were featured in each episode of the “Designing Women” TV series during its 1986-93 run.

The Villa Marre is among a group of 10 properties securing a nearly $2 million loan from First Community Bank of Eastern Arkansas in Marion. The bank is the single largest creditor of RWL Investments.

The portfolio of RWL Investments includes conventional commercial properties such as the 11,000-SF Village Green retail project at 3065 Hwy. 367 in Cabot, the 5,000-SF Winner’s Plaza office building in Maumelle and the 7,900-SF office project at 511 JFK Blvd. in North Little Rock.

In its Chapter 11 filing, RWL Investments claims to own assets worth more than $11.1 million. The list includes a healthy dose of residential renovation projects that helped the financial dominoes begin falling, according to Ron Lazenby.

“There wasn’t any one significant event,” Lazenby said. “We kind of got away from what we did well, which was managing commercial projects, and got into historical renovations.

“We weren’t able to generate the rents needed to support the cost of those residential projects.”

Centennial Bank is the second-largest creditor among a half-dozen lenders with delinquent loan claims against RWL Investments. The bankruptcy petition tallies the combined Centennial debt at $1.9 million.

While attempting to reorganize its debts in Chapter 11, RWL Investments received court approval to hire two real estate firms to help convert assets into cash.

The Charlotte John Co. was marketing eight residential properties in Little Rock, and Newmark Grubb Arkansas is marketing five commercial projects scattered across Little Rock, North Little Rock, Maumelle and Cabot.

To date, only one of those listings has sold.

A 2,050-SF house at 608 N. Spruce St. in the Hillcrest neighborhood brought $240,000 in September. The residence was among a group of four properties securing $1.3 million of debt held by BancorpSouth Bank of Tupelo, Mississippi.

The house was valued at $350,000 among RWL’s list of assets and specifically secured $295,715 of debt.

The gap among valuation, debt and sales price of the Hillcrest house doesn’t establish a good starting point to restore the fortunes of RWL Investments.

Stacy Wilson of Newmark Grubb Arkansas reports the sale of RWL’s 9,800-SF office building at 2 Van Circle is scheduled to close in the next few days.

“That’s a done deal,” she said, declining to reveal the purchase price in the pending deal.

The Village Green project and Winner’s Plaza have drawn offers, but the would-be buyers and lenders couldn’t find middle ground, Wilson reports.

“They were just too far apart in price,” she said.

According to its Chapter 11 filing, RWL Investments recorded annual revenue of $749,554 in both 2014 and 2015.

Even with the respite from debt service afforded by the Chapter 11 protection, the venture is operating at a loss.

“We’re in the process of trying to work out a plan and try to move forward,” Ron Lazenby said.

RWL Investments Properties

Customers have been notified that the bank branch at 5701 Kavanaugh Blvd. in Little Rock will be closing in late January.

That should come as a surprise to approximately no one. The location was the last Little Rock branch of Allied Bank of Mulberry, which was shut down by regulators on Sept. 23 and acquired by Today’s Bank of Huntsville.

“This decision to close was purely a business decision because the old Allied did not have much success in Little Rock,” Larry Olson, CEO of Today’s Bank, told Whispers.

The branch was close to home for the Lex Golden family, which owned Allied. But it claimed fewer than 200 accounts and total deposits of about $1.1 million, and it required three full-time equivalent employees — which “is just an unprofitable situation,” Olson said.

That branch is leased, but the acquisition left Today’s with two other Little Rock branches that were closed before the bank failure. Olson is actively searching for buyers for those properties at 4900 Kavanaugh and 1022 W. Capitol Ave.

Olson has also hired veteran commercial lender David Scruggs, formerly of Summit Bank and Metropolitan National Bank, to help Today’s work through the problem assets that came with the acquisition. Scruggs, he said, has “a lot of expertise in workouts.”

Dale Cole, CEO of First Community Bank of Batesville, might be interested in one of those branches.

“We’re talking,” he confirmed.

First Community, you may know, is waiting for regulatory approval for an all-stock purchase of Little River Bancshares Inc., the holding company for Little River Bank of Lepanto in Poinsett County.

Cole expects that relatively small acquisition — $37 million in new assets for a bank that is approaching $1.17 billion — to be completed before the end of the year. No value for the acquisition has been released.

And he’s hinting at more news, but probably not another acquisition.

First Community’s typical M.O. has been to hire bankers in targeted markets and then open de novo branches. That’s how a privately-owned bank chartered in 1997 became one of the 10 largest chartered in Arkansas. (It did buy a small Missouri lender in 2008.)

If Cole is looking at branches in Little Rock, that might mean he’s got some talent picked out.

Seven new members have been elected to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Foundation Fund Board.

The board, a subsidiary of the nonprofit University of Arkansas Foundation Inc., aims to secure private, philanthropic support for the benefit of UAMS. 

Its members "serve as ambassadors and raise public awareness" of the role UAMS has in Arkansas. Members can serve up to three terms for a total of nine years.

"The UAMS Foundation Fund Board offers valuable support to UAMS as we strive to improve the health, health care and well-being of Arkansans," Chancellor Dan Rahn said in a news release. "We are grateful to these individuals for volunteering their time and expertise."

The new members are:

• Mike Beebe of Searcy — Arkansas governor from 2007-2015, serves as of counsel for Roberts Law Firm PA. He also served as 20 years as a state senator and four years as attorney general. He is the chair of the Central Arkansas General Hospital board of directors and is a member of the Tyson Foods Inc. board of directors.

• Mary Beth Brooks of Fayetteville — The retired CEO of The Bank of Fayetteville. She serves as a member of the Northwest Arkansas Council and the Fayetteville Public Schools Foundation Board, and is an advisory board member for the Yvonne Richardson Community Center.

• Michael Gibson of Heber Springs — A retired Osceola district court judge and former chairman of the Arkansas State Board of Law Examiners. He is a member of the Judd Hill Foundation board of trustees, the UAMS Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging Community Advisory Board, and the UAMS Regional Programs Northeast Advisory Board.

• Sonja Yates Hubbard of Texarkana, Texas — The CEO of E-Z Mart Inc. She serves as chairman of the Arkansas Research Alliance board of trustees, director of the Texas Petroleum and Convenience Store Association and serves on the Wadley Regional Medical Center Systems board of directors. She is a former board member of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis – Little Rock Branch.

• Cindy Pugh of Little Rock — The retired director of employment for Alltel Wireless. She was a UAMS Foundation Fund Board member from 2006-2015 and has chaired the UAMS Foundation Fund Board Philanthropy Committee since 2014. She is also a former board member of the Arkansas Community Foundation and past president of the Junior League of Little Rock.

• Dewitt Smith III of Bella Vista — The president and CEO of Devereux Management Co. He serves on the Washington Regional Medical Foundation board of directors and the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business Garrison Financial Institute Advisory Board, and is a commissioner for the Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission.

• Joe Clay Young IV of Jonesboro — The vice president of financial advisory for Merrill Lynch and owner of Young Investment Co. LLC, which is active in revitalizing downtown Jonesboro. He is a member of the City of Jonesboro Comprehensive Planning Advisory Commission – Jonesboro Vision 2030 Team.

Home BancShares Inc. of Conway is expanding its Florida franchise in an $88.5 million transaction.

The parent company of Centennial Bank today announced the purchase of Giant Holdings Inc., the parent of Landmark Bank of Fort Lauderdale.

The addition of the $463 million-asset lender will push total assets at Home BancShares to about $10.2 billion.

Shareholders of Giant Holdings will receive $70 million stock and $18.5 million in cash. The stock-cash combo deal is expected to close during the first quarter of 2017 along with the merger of Landmark Bank into Centennial Bank.

"The acquisition of Landmark allows us to increase our market share in the Fort Lauderdale area," said John Allison, Home’s Chairman. "We consider this acquisition a smart deal, and it is immediately accretive to diluted earnings per share, book value and tangible book value.

"We have remained disciplined in our pricing in order to provide our shareholders added value on day one, while adding a great bank to our company."

Centennial already had the 29th largest bank presence in Florida as measured by deposits, and only 12 banks have more branches in the Florida than Centennial's 58.

Landmark, a national bank chartered in 1998, reported $52.6 million in equity capital as of June 30.

Net income for the first half of 2016 was $460,000, a steep decline from 2015, when the bank earned $2.63 in the first two quarters on its way to a $5 million annual profit. After chargeoffs in the first quarter, Landmark charged off $1.1 million in the second quarter.

Landmark recorded a profit of $4.87 million in 2014, the year it made an FDIC-assisted acquisition of a hometown competitor, Valley Bank, with $81.8 million in total assets.

CHICAGO - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is in talks with several mobile wallet companies to offer more payment options in its Wal-Mart Pay app, an executive at the world's largest retailer said, after signing up JPMorgan Chase & Co. last week.

Starting next year, Chase Pay will become the first third-party digital wallet on Wal-Mart's website and app, they said on Thursday.

Customers can pay within the app with any major credit, debit, pre-paid or Walmart gift card.

Daniel Eckert, senior vice-president of services at Wal-Mart U.S., said in an interview late on Friday that the retailer would tweak its marketing for the app after the most frequent users turned out to be Gen X customers, born from 1965 to 1967, and baby boomers born from 1946 to 1964.

"The target demographic during the launch of a technology product tends to be younger, more male, so we have had that target market in mind," Eckert said.

U.S. mobile payments accounted for an estimated $67 billion in 2015, and are expected to grow this year to $83 billion, or 24 percent of all purchases made via smartphones, according to the latest Forrester Research data.

Apple Inc.'s Apple Pay or Alphabet Inc.'s Android Pay are the most popular digital wallets, and U.S. retailers have launched many mobile payment apps in the last two years.

But acceptance has been slow, largely because most systems require new equipment at stores.

Wal-Mart Pay was launched in December 2015 and can be used in all of the retailer's 4,600 U.S. stores.

Customers at the checkout counter must choose the payment option within the app on their smartphone, and activate the camera to scan the code at the register.

An e-receipt is sent to the app.

Eckert also said more than 90 percent of transactions on the app involve customers are using the service more than three to four times a month.

He declined to give the overall number of users who use Wal-Mart Pay.

Wal-Mart leads a consortium of U.S. retailers developing a mobile wallet app called CurrentC.

The group, which includes Target Corp. and Best Buy Co. Inc., said earlier this year it would delay launching the app after the project hit several roadblocks.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Chicago; Editing by Richard Chang)

The election is over, and Arkansas is now the latest of many states to have a medical marijuana law on the books. 

Although the new amendment to the Arkansas Constitution is effective immediately, it should take some time for the approved use of medical marijuana to begin. At the very least, someone has to design and print the required "Registry Identification Cards" for users — unless one of your employees shows up with a registry identification card from another state and claims to be a "visiting qualifying patient."  

So, what does the new law do? It allows (among other things) "qualifying patients" who have "qualifying medical conditions" certain protections in the workplace. 

For instance, employers:

1. Cannot "discriminate" against qualifying patients in the hiring, termination or any term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalize an individual, based upon the individual's past or present status as a qualifying patient;
2. Cannot discipline a qualifying patient for the medical use (which includes actual use or mere possession) of marijuana in accordance with the amendment if he or she possesses not more than 2 1/2 ounces;
3. Cannot discipline a qualifying patient for giving a permitted amount of usable marijuana to another qualifying patient for medical use if nothing is transferred in return; and
4. Cannot discipline anyone for giving a qualified patient marijuana "paraphernalia" to facilitate the use of medical marijuana.

"Qualifying medical conditions" include cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, severe arthritis, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), hepatitis C, Crohn's disease, fibromyalgia, ulcerative colitis and any "chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition" with symptoms such as peripheral neuropathy, "intractable pain," seizures, "severe" nausea or "severe and persistent" muscle spasms. 

The Department of Health also can add to this list, although our guess is that it is not going to jump on that opportunity immediately.

Federal contractors will really have their hands full given the tug-of-war between federal and state law. Federal law still considers marijuana an illegal drug, although there are some legal prescription drugs, like Marinol, that contain THC or other marijuana derivatives.

Even if you are not a federal contractor, Arkansas employers may have differing obligations under the Arkansas Civil Rights Act, which covers disability discrimination, and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. However, the Department of Transportation's drug and alcohol testing regulations still do not authorize "medical marijuana" under a state law to be a valid medical explanation for a transportation employee's positive drug test result.

There are also implications under Arkansas' workers' compensation laws. 

One particular statutory section that defines compensable injuries states, "The presence of alcohol, illegal drugs, or prescription drugs used in contravention of a physician's orders shall create a rebuttable presumption that the injury or accident was substantially occasioned by the use of alcohol, illegal drugs, or prescription drugs used in contravention of physician's orders." 

In other words, the workplace injury is non-compensable. Now, if medical marijuana use by an employee who is injured on the job is not inconsistent with a physician's orders, the previous presumption about the cause of the injury disappears.

Is there any good news for employers? To an extent, yes. 

The new amendment does not require an employer to "accommodate the ingestion of marijuana in a workplace" and does not require an employer to allow an employee to work "while under the influence of marijuana." Nor does it require admission of a "guest, client, customer or other visitor" who is "inebriated" as a result of the medical use of marijuana. 

Finally, the new amendment does not permit any person to:

1. Undertake any task under the influence of marijuana "when doing so would constitute negligence or professional malpractice;"
2. Possess, smoke or use marijuana in a variety of locations, such as schools, school busses, alcohol or drug treatment facilities, public transportation or any "public place;" or
3. Operate, navigate or control any type of "motor vehicle, aircraft, motorized watercraft, or any other vehicle drawn by power other than muscle power" while under the influence of marijuana.

So, how is this going to play out in the Arkansas workplace? 

Let's take an example: assume you have an employee who appears to be under the influence of something. You require the employee to take a drug test, and he or she tests positive for marijuana or THC. What happens next? The law does not require an employer to allow an employee to work under the "influence" of marijuana. Unfortunately, we do not have a specific definition of "under the influence," but hopefully the Department of Health or the General Assembly will define that term for us.

It is interesting to note that the new amendment also talks about a person being "inebriated," and we assume being "inebriated" is a whole lot worse than simply being "under the influence." Regardless, an employer should do what it would normally do with any person appearing to be under the influence — objectively document as best as possible what was observed at the time and be ready to explain why being under the influence of anything (medical marijuana, a prescription drug or an illegal drug) in the employee's specific job is a bad idea.

We suspect the Arkansas Department of Health or the General Assembly will fine-tune this amendment (as they are allowed to do) to help everyone understand their obligations, so stay tuned. 

All sorts of questions remain about the provisions of the amendment, some of which seem a bit contradictory.

Attorney Stuart Jackson heads up the Labor & Employment Law team at Wright Lindsey Jennings in Little Rock. You can email him here and see this post on the WLJ website.

LITTLE ROCK - Democrats will have a majority of seats on an Arkansas House panel that will take up any proposals to cut taxes next year, despite the party's ranks thinning in the majority-Republican Legislature.

Democrats on Thursday secured 11 of the 20 seats on the House Revenue and Taxation Committee as representatives caucused and selected committees ahead of next year's legislative session. The meeting came two days after Republicans expanded their majorities in the House and Senate.

The panel will be key during next year's session, with Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson proposing a $50 million income tax cut that would take effect in the fiscal year that begins July 2018. Other Republicans are expected to push for deeper cuts during next year's session.

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Jacksonville High School announced this week their new "Jacksonville Promise" program for JHS juniors and seniors, in the graduating classes of 2017-20.

The program guarantees unconditional acceptance to UALR for students who sign a contract and successfully complete the college preparatory core, score a 19 or better on the ACT or get a combined reading/math SAT score of at least 910 and have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5. The contract is non-binding though, so they can opt to attend any college or university after graduation.

An assembly was held at JHS for parents and students. There, Larry Wilson, president and CEO of Arkansas Bank and Trust of Jacksonville, announced a gift of $25,000 from his family's Wilson Charitable Trust to help Jacksonville Promise students in their freshman year at UALR. The Wilson Charitable Trust Freshman Year Awards will provide from $500 to $1,000 to students in need of financial assistance.

When students and parents sign the contract, they will also have the option to participate in numerous services, including:

• Group and personalized workshops for parents and students to help them complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application, outline a financial aid package and learn about scholarships.

• Student experience and orientation days at UALR.

• Writing and math tutoring.

• ACT preparation.

• Placement tests for college admission.

• A hotline to UALR for students, parents and teachers.

• Concurrent academic enrollment to receive college credit while in high school and opportunity for earlier college degree completion.

• Participation in the Dr. Charles W. Donaldson Scholars Academy and/or the TRIO Talent Search program if eligible.

• Job mentoring with UALR alumni.

• Special recognition as a Jacksonville Promise graduate.

The University of Central Arkansas in Conway announced on Thursday that Bunny and Carol Adcock have established a $1 million endowment for study abroad opportunities.

A check presentation is set for 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Wingo Hall Board of Trustees Conference Room.

The Adcock Study Abroad Fund will "provide opportunities for generations of UCA students to travel the world, learn other cultures and languages, interact with others and really change UCA and Arkansas," UCA President Tom Courtway said in a news release. "What these students will learn and experience, and then bring back to UCA and our state will pay enormous dividends for our state and institution down the road."

This is the second endowment from the Adcocks for study abroad opportunities. The first was for students majoring in a foreign language who also planned to become educators. It has has provided a total of $45,000 to more than 80 students since 2000.

Carol Adcock was a foreign language instructor at UCA and an adviser for foreign language student teachers in the 1970s. When she was a student, she studied abroad in France and Mexico.

The most recent endowment, though, will allow full-time students of all majors and career paths to apply for the study abroad funds, with preference given to students majoring in a foreign language. The scholarships will fund up to 75 percent of program costs that include travel, food, lodging and tuition and fees.

"That's all a part of growing and expanding your horizons and that's what will happen to these students. They will grow and develop and be more educated because they left McGehee, Arkansas, and saw there’s a lot more to this world than just McGehee," Bunny said in the release, referring to his own hometown. "It's just like studying history. It is part of an education."

Teresa Sutterfield has been named customer service manager for Stone Bank in Mountain View.

Sutterfield’s 37-year banking career includes positions as assistant vice president and branch manager for First Security Bank and branch manager for the Bank of Mountain View.

Sheena Ziegler has joined Stone Bank’s White Hall office as a customer service representative. She has past banking experience and most recently worked as an assistant store manager with Hunter’s Refuge in White Hall.

See more of this week's Movers & Shakers, and submit your own announcement at ArkansasBusiness.com/Movers.

So that’s what Johnny Allison was talking about.

Last week Home BancShares Inc. of Conway, the publicly traded holding company for Centennial Bank, announced that it intends to pay $88.5 million in cash and stock in the first quarter of 2017 for a Florida bank whose $463 million in assets would push Centennial’s assets to $10.2 billion.

And that reminded Whispers of a sly comment the colorful chairman of the board made in an interview in July.

“You’ll see me stay under $10 billion this year. We’re going to stay under $10 billion,” Allison said. “You’ll see me go over $10 billion next year. And I may crawl over $10 billion. I may not leap over $10 billion. Hopefully, I’ll announce a deal sometime late this year that’ll close next year, and I think I’m going to crawl over $10 billion because I’ve absorbed ... the personnel expenses. The only thing that I haven’t absorbed is the Durbin Amendment.”

Ten billion dollars in assets is a landmark for a bank under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and its amendments, particularly the Durbin Amendment that caps “swipe fees” — debit card interchange fees charged to merchants. Triggering the Durbin Amendment would cost Centennial north of $6.5 million, Allison said in July.

“But my thought is I’ll buy me a $500 million bank and get me a 1.5 percent ROA, and that will take care of that,” he said.

While other banks — notably Bank of the Ozarks of Little Rock, which went from $9.8 billion at the end of 2015 to $18.5 billion as of Sept. 30 — have made big acquisitions to vault over the $10 billion mark, Allison was characteristically contrarian.

“I’m not going to leap over the $10 billion and pay two times book [value] and do it for the sake of the expense side,” he said. “I’m going to take my time. I may be the first to crawl over it, but I’ve seen enough by now that I’m not afraid to crawl over it because I’ve already absorbed most of the expenses. That one scares me.”

Turner Grain Merchandising Inc. of Brinkley transferred nearly $100 million to its related companies a year before it filed for bankruptcy protection, according to lawsuits recently filed by its Chapter 7 trustee.

Trustee M. Randy Rice of Little Rock sued those entities, Turner Commodities Inc., Ivory Rice LLC, Agribusiness Properties LLC and Brinkley Truck Brokerage LLC, in an attempt to recover $96.8 million, according to the complaints filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Helena.

Rice didn’t return a call for comment. Those companies closed about the same time as the Brinkley crop broker in August 2014. Turner Grain and its related companies were operated by Jason Coleman and Dale Bartlett. Bartlett also has filed for bankruptcy protection.

Since October, Rice has filed more than 40 suits alleging that farmers and other entities, including the U.S. government, received improper payments from Turner Grain within 90 days of its bankruptcy filing in October 2014.

The trustee sued to recover the $170,000 that farmer Keith Wilkison of Brinkley received from Turner Grain on Aug. 7, 2014, just before the 90-day window opened. The trustee alleged that the money was for crops Wilkison delivered during the 2013-14 crop year. Turner Grain still owes Wilkson $300,000 for crops delivered in 2013, he told Arkansas Business.

Wilkison, who has been farming for about 25 years, said that he hopes he won’t have to close his 3,300-acre farm if he’s forced to repay the $170,000.

“We’re already in tough times,” he said. “The banks are working with me … to try and get over this deal.”

A trustee can pursue money paid to certain creditors within 90 days of a company filing for bankruptcy protection, said Timothy Tarvin, who teaches bankruptcy law at the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville. The time frame is expanded to a year if payments are made to company insiders, such as family members and business associates.

The law is meant to keep some creditors from being favored over others and receiving “more than they would have otherwise received in the Chapter 7,” Tarvin said. A defendant, however, could raise a number of defenses, or could reach a settlement.

‘Money They Didn’t Have’

In the bankruptcy, Turner listed $13.7 million in assets, and its claims register shows $39.7 million, millions of which is owed to farmers who sold crops to Turner Grain.

Coleman and Bartlett “were paying for grain, and they were losing money somewhere in that process,” said attorney Gregory Bevel of Rochelle McCullough LLP of Dallas, who is working for the trustee. “And because they had multiple businesses and multiple bank accounts, somehow they were floating money that they didn’t have.”

Bevel said he didn’t know what happened to the money the Turner Grain-related entities received because his role in the bankruptcy is limited to two lawsuits.

A group of Lonoke County farmers who lost $5.5 million dealing with Turner Grain alleged that Coleman and Bartlett were operating a Ponzi scheme. Bevel doesn’t agree.

“As far as Turner Grain itself, I don’t think it would be accurate to describe it as a Ponzi scheme,” he said. “They weren’t taking people’s money. They were accepting shipments of corn and shipping them off, and the payments didn’t come in.”

Coleman filed an answer to the farmers’ lawsuit on Nov. 3. Although Coleman denied the allegations of wrongdoing and didn’t provide any details, it was the first time Coleman has publicly answered allegations surrounding the collapse of Turner Grain.

In early 2015, one of Turner Grain’s creditors, Southern Rice & Cotton LLC, wanted to question him about his involvement in the company. Coleman’s attorney, Lisa Ballard of North Little Rock, said in a bankruptcy filing that Coleman asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Phyllis Jones ruled in April 2015 that Coleman wouldn’t be compelled to talk.

One of Coleman’s attorneys, Jeff Rosenzweig of Little Rock, said in a bankruptcy hearing last year that Coleman would assert the Fifth Amendment because there was a federal criminal investigation going on.

As of last week, no charges had been filed against Coleman.

Ballard, who filed the answer for Coleman, didn’t return a call to Arkansas Business. Rosenzweig was unavailable for comment, and Coleman couldn’t be reached for comment.

Sloppy Record-Keeping

The lawsuits filed by Turner Grain’s trustee show that Turner Grain and the related companies were so intertwined that they shared money and other assets out of the Brinkley office. The related companies “regularly took part in the fulfillment of the same contract transactions with grain sellers and buyers as” Turner Grain, the lawsuit said.

And Turner Grain also would pay the debts of the related companies as if they were Turner’s own debts.

Gerald Loyd, 68, of Dumas was president and the only employee of Turner Commodities, which received $29.7 million from Turner Grain in the year before Turner Grain filed for bankruptcy, according to the trustee’s lawsuit.

Loyd, in an affidavit taken for the Lonoke farmers’ lawsuit and filed in June, spelled out the sloppy bookkeeping he saw.

A helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, Loyd first became acquainted with Coleman and Bartlett in 2002 or 2003, when Loyd was working as a rice buyer for another company.

But it wasn’t until 2004 that Bartlett and Coleman approached Loyd with the idea that they should form a company that would buy and sell agricultural crops in southeast Arkansas.

“The initial proposal was that Bartlett and Coleman would help get the business started and teach me the business,” Loyd said in the filing. “The initial proposal was that Bartlett and Coleman were also to handle the record keeping, bookkeeping and banking for” Turner Commodities.

Loyd was brought into the deal because the farmers knew and trusted him.

“About a year after the business got started I figured out that Coleman and Bartlett were not real good record keepers,” Loyd said.

The bank account wasn’t being closely monitored, which led to overdrafts.

Turner Commodities operated as a back-to-back dealer, meaning Loyd would contact the potential grain buyers and ask them what crops they needed and what price they were offering to pay. Then he would call farmers and offer to buy those crops for a slightly lower price. The difference might be 5 cents per bushel.

Loyd said that Turner Commodities didn’t have to worry about being short of cash, unless a buyer or seller failed to honor its contract.

Just before the financial trouble was exposed in August 2014, Bartlett had called and, according to Loyd, said, “Jason [Coleman] has done some things that are not right and it looks like he is in bad trouble.”

By then the word had spread that Turner Grain was in financial trouble.

Loyd reviewed Turner Commodities’ bank statements and found that for more than a year Coleman had been using the account in “an unauthorized manner.” He allegedly would pull money out of the account and put it back in, using it almost as if it were a line of credit, Loyd said.

Loyd said that Turner Commodities was overdrawn about $200,000. He also said the company closed its doors after the financial problems were exposed.

Loyd said that Turner Commodities “is just a victim of that mess just like the farmers.”

The Tax Foundation, a national Washington-based nonprofit, on Monday released "Arkansas: A Road Map for Tax Reform," a report on the state's tax code and recommendations for how to change it.

The 78-year-old foundation positioned the report, produced in conjunction with the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics (ACRE) at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, as one that could inform a legislative debate on reforming the tax code and improving the economy.

Speaker of the House Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, and Rep. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville, attended a news conference announcing the release of the report. Gillam told Arkansas Business that the Legislature wants to make progress on tax reforms in the session that begins in January but that it's too early to predict how far the effort might go. He characterized the effort as one that's not a "one-session game plan."

Among the report's recommendations: that the state eliminate some of its targeted tax breaks for businesses. It said Arkansas has "a relatively high corporate tax rate for the region, and offsets the impact with tax credits that favor certain businesses over others."

"The state should seek to lower the rate and remove these targeted tax breaks," the foundation said, adding that expanding the tax base "would give policymakers an opportunity to repeal harmful tax provisions."

More: Click here to download the report.

Gillam said that anything lawmakers decide on must be consistent with Issue 3, an amendment to the state Constitution voters approved last week. Among other things, the amendment give state economic developers more flexibility to use state-issued bonds to attract economic "super projects."

But Gillam said the report would spur good debate.

"I'm looking forward to a great session, looking forward to us being able to take this information and build on it and work with the Tax Foundation and others as we really try to make sure that Arkansas is in a competitive atmosphere when it comes to our tax structure in all areas — and do so in a responsible manner as well," he said.

He added that, while the governor has proposed $50 million in tax cuts over two years and legislators have their own list of wants, specific plans haven't been discussed.

Jeremy Horpedahl, a UCA professor and scholar at ACRE, said much of the report is based on six months of interviews with individuals, policymakers, business groups and academics across the state.

Nicole Kaeding, an economist with the Tax Foundation, said three themes emerged in every conversation: that the Arkansas tax code is too costly, too complex and unfair.

Kaeding said Arkansas has the third highest combined state and local sales tax rate, 14th highest individual income tax rate, 17th highest tax burden and 24th highest corporate income tax in the nation.

Kaeding said 10.1 percent of income in Arkansas go to pay state and local taxes, while the national average is 9.9 percent.

The report recommends transitioning either to a flat tax or a one-rate schedule versus the three the state has now for individual income tax. It also recommends lowering corporate income tax rates and transitioning either to a flat tax or consolidating the rate schedule into a two- or three-bracket system. 

The report, Kaeding said, gives lawmakers three options to consider. Two of them cut taxes for every Arkansan, but all are either revenue neutral or would not cause a dramatic decrease in revenue because the state would employ "tax triggers" to prevent that, she said.

On sales taxes, she said, Arkansas' base is not broad enough in some areas and too broad in others. Kaeding explained that the state taxes things it shouldn't, like repair parts, but then exempts a number of goods and services that should be taxed.

The report also recommends having Texarkana residents pay income tax rather than be exempt as they are now.

Economists are not expecting a new president next year to have significant effects on the local or national economies and their outlook, according to presentations at the Little Rock Economic Briefing on Wednesday.

The event was hosted by the Little Rock branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the Institute for Economic Advancement at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

“Next year, we will see what happens — it’s difficult to gauge economic effects of a new president before he is in office,” said Kevin Kliesen, business economist and research officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. “Our forecasts haven’t changed since the election.”

Michael Pakko, chief economist and state economic forecaster at the Institute for Economic Advancement at UALR, shared similar thoughts.

“I don’t think the outcome of the election is going to affect the economic outlook for the next few years in a serious way,” Pakko said.

Kliesen said that the country and Arkansas are “pretty much at full employment” and Pakko predicted a slight uptick in unemployment in Arkansas over the next few years, resulting in a 4.4 percent unemployment rate at the end of 2018. It currently sits at 4 percent.

Industries that have struggled to recover since the recession include housing, constructing and manufacturing.

Both Kliesen and Pakko also noted the likelihood of an interest rake hike in the near future. According to Kliesen, there is an estimated 94 percent probability of a rate increase in December.

However, Pakko said that it could be 2018 before the increase is significant enough to have a noticeable effect on the economy.

He said that over the last few years, home sales in Arkansas have been strong with an 8.7 percent increase in sales in 2016. He expects to see that trend continue in 2017 and drop off dramatically in 2018.

“We’ll have at least one more good year. But the future depends on interest and mortgage rates,” Pakko said.

He explained that impending higher rates would put pressure on homebuyers to act quickly in 2017 before rates begin to climb in 2018.

Overall, Kliesen predicted that the next three years would look very similar to the current U.S. economy: “more of the same unless something unexpected happens.”

He said the country’s unemployment rate would average around 4.75 percent and real GPD growth would average around 2 percent.

Pakko said in his presentation that he believes the Arkansas economy has an outlook similar to that of the entire U.S.

Charles Gascon, regional economist and senior research support coordinator at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, highlighted startups (0- to 5-year-old businesses) and how they propel the local economy.

In Arkansas, 10 percent of all jobs are at startups. He called them “the key to U.S. job creation and economic dynamism” because young businesses promote the most job growth.

According Gascon, startup firms are responsible for 73 percent of net job creation in Arkansas.

A bankruptcy court in Florida has declared Home BancShares Inc. of Conway the successful bidder to buy The Bank of Commerce, a Florida state-chartered bank that operates in the Sarasota area, from its parent company, Bank of Commerce Holdings Inc.

Home BancShares, the parent company of Centennial Bank, announced the move Thursday. It said that after the court enters its order approving the successful bidder designation within the next week, it will move ahead with the acquisition of all Bank of Commerce stock and other assets.

"We are excited about the opportunity to expand our footprint in the Sarasota area," Home BancShares Chairman Johnny Allison said in a news release. "This allows us to provide expanded service to our current customers. If approved, The Bank of Commerce customers will now have access to 20 Centennial locations throughout central Florida."

The deal is expected to close in first quarter of 2017 and will be subject to a court-approved final sale order.

The Bank of Commerce was chartered in 2000 and has three offices. The bank lost a combined $1.7 million in 2013-2015; its last annual profit was $393,000 in 2012. But it posted net income of $1 million in the first half of 2016.

The bank had equity capital of $7 million and assets of $209 million as of June 30.

The announcement comes 10 days after Home BancShares unveiled a $88.5 million deal to buy Giant Holdings Inc., the parent of Landmark Bank of Fort Lauderdale, which has $463 million in assets.

The deal for The Bank of Commerce would mark Home BancShares' 11th acquisition in Florida since December 2008. Home BancShares has 60 offices in Florida.

Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff announced Thursday evening that it had struck a deal to acquire another Tennessee bank: First South Bank of Jackson.

Publicly traded SFNC, parent of Simmons Bank, will buy First South's holding company, Hardeman County Investment Co., with cash and stock currently valued at $72.2 million. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017.

First South has assets of $464 million and 10 branches in western Tennessee. Simmons currently has assets of about $8.2 million, and 43 of its 156 offices are in Tennessee. Simmons entered the Volunteer State with the purchase of First State Bank of Union City in February 2015 and in September completed the purchase of Citizens National Bank of Athens, Tennessee.

"The combination of First South Bank and Simmons Bank presents a great opportunity for additional growth with expanded products and services in markets very important to our company. The addition of First South Bank strengthens our presence in western Tennessee and gives us a partner that shares common goals, experiences, cultures, and reputations as outstanding community bankers and corporate citizens," Simmons CEO George A. Makris Jr. said in the announcement.

Each outstanding share of common stock and equivalents of Hardeman will be converted into the right to receive 4.8393 shares of the Company’s common stock and $181.47 in cash, all subject to certain conditions and potential adjustments. 

First South reported net income of $6.3 million in 2015 and $3.4 million in the first half of 2016. It had $57.3 million in equity capital as of June 30. 

Simmons was advised by Keefe Bruyette & Woods, Inc., a  subsidiary of Stifel. Hardeman was advised by Olsen Palmer LLC.

LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas lawmakers are considering delaying the launch of the first medical marijuana program in the Bible Belt as well as an effort to impose taxes on the drug, as they work on legislation for next year's session spelling out how pot would be made available to patients.

The ideas are among several that lawmakers are discussing after voters approved a constitutional amendment earlier this month allowing eligible patients to buy marijuana from licensed dispensaries. The state Legislature can change parts of the amendment with a two-thirds vote, as long as it doesn't affect provisions legalizing medical marijuana or setting the number of dispensaries allowed.

Previously: How Arkansas will implement medical marijuana.

Rep. Doug House, who has been tapped by House Speaker Jeremy Gillam to focus on medical marijuana issues, said he's working on legislation that would give state agencies until early May rather than early March to adopt rules for the drug's regulation. The Republican lawmaker said it would also change the deadline for the state to begin accepting dispensary applications from June 1 to July 1. The change is needed to allow the public to weigh in on the rules and to have enough time to award contracts, House said.

"The time window is just not big enough," House said.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson and most of the majority-Republican Legislature opposed the medical marijuana measure, but the GOP governor has said he won't block its implementation and lawmakers on Friday approved his request to use $3 million from the state's rainy day fund to pay for its startup.

Sen. Bart Hester said he's studying a proposal to impose an additional tax on medical marijuana, a move that he says would help pay for a $105 million income tax cut he's proposed. Hester said he hasn't determined how the tax would be structured or the rate he'd propose, but said he believed it could win support from fellow Republicans who have signed a no-tax pledge, since it would be offset by a reduction elsewhere.

"It is a total burden on the taxpayer, it's a total burden on the people, so I think we have to find a way to make the people abusing this product to actually provide relief for those negatively affected by it," the Republican lawmaker said.

The head of the campaign behind the medical marijuana measure said he's not opposed to giving agencies more time to launch the program, but criticized the idea of an additional tax on the drug.

"I think it's outrageous that you would fund an income tax cut on the backs of sick people," said David Couch, head of Arkansans United for Medical Marijuana.

Another idea legislative leaders are weighing is changing how sales tax revenue from medical marijuana would be distributed. The amendment currently has 10 percent going toward agencies regulating the drug, with most of the remaining money going toward career education and job training programs.

"We're not going to go in the hole on this. We've got to make sure those costs are in line with the revenue," the Republican speaker said.

Lawmakers said they still face plenty of unanswered questions as they work on medical marijuana, including how much freedom the amendment will give the Legislature to limit the drug.

"I think all of us are going to have to get familiar with something that currently we're not, from the way the dispensaries to the way the growing facilities work," Senate President Jonathan Dismang, a Republican, said. "This is all brand new territory for everybody at the Capitol."

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

A 223,880-SF industrial project in Little Rock tipped the scales at $5.6 million.

7400 Scott Hamilton LLC, led by Rick Ferguson, sold off its namesake project to an investment group composed of 901 5th (Daytona) LLC, 34.55 percent; Scott Hamilton LM LLC, 30.19 percent; LAF Brothers Properties LLC, led by Jason LaFrance, 21.98 percent; and Huntsville investors LLC, 13.28 percent.

The deal is financed with a 10-year loan of nearly $4.2 million from Bear State Bank of Little Rock.

The 23.1-acre development previously was tied to an August 2008 mortgage of $4.5 million held by American Equity Investment Life Insurance Co. of Des Moines, Iowa.

The property was acquired in June 2007 as part of a $5.8 million deal with Celestica Corp. of Toronto.

Muswick Acquisition
A 58,168-SF warehouse in Little Rock weighed in at $1.3 million.

Muswick Investments LLC, led by Murad Mandani, Charles Garland and Sadiq Ali, bought the 3801 W. 65th St. project from Arkansas Rice Depot Inc.

The deal is backed with a five-year loan of $1 million from Simmons Bank of Pine Bluff.

The 4.29-acre development previously helped secure a June 2013 mortgage of $1.5 million and a December 2015 mortgage of $175,000 held by IberiaBank of Lafayette, Louisiana.

The property was purchased for $850,000 in February 2005 from Little Rock Distributing Co., led by Bennett Glazer and Michael Glazer.

Lone Purchase
A Jacksonville convenience store changed hands in a $1.2 million sale.

Sadaat Enterprises Inc., led by Syed Naqvi, acquired the Valero project at 1605 S. J.P. Wright Loop Road. The seller is Lone’s Jacksonville Inc., led by Shahlla Lone.

The deal is funded with a three-year loan of $640,000 from Arkansas Bank & Trust of Jacksonville and a $150,000 loan from Lone’s Jacksonville.

The 0.9-acre development previously was linked with a June 2007 mortgage of $723,000 from BancorpSouth Bank of Tupelo, Mississippi.

The property was bought for $700,000 in December 2000 from Mason Family LLC, led by Roger and Nancy Mason.

Multifamily Sale
An eight-unit apartment project in the Hillcrest area of Little Rock is under new ownership after a $910,000 transaction.

Sleepy Chiwawas LLC, led by John and Becky Cheairs, purchased the 4611 Woodlawn Drive project from James M. Smith.

The deal is financed with a 10-year loan of $1.3 million from Central Bank of Little Rock.

The 0.18-acre property was acquired in May 1954 as part of a $19,000 transaction.

The seller was Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church.

North Bluffs Buy
An undeveloped 1.46-acre parcel along the Arkansas River in North Little Rock drew a $363,000 transaction.

North Bluffs Development Corp., led by Lisa Ferrell and James Jackson, bought the land at the southeast corner of Rockwater Boulevard and Rockwater Lane.

The seller is Corker Family LLC, led by Sue Corker.

The deal is financed with a one-year loan of $290,400 from Farmer’s Bank & Trust of Magnolia.

The property was purchased for $60,000 in January 1999 from William Templeton.

Greater Works Deal
A 10,000-SF church in Little Rock rang up a $220,000 sale.

Greater Works Christian Church acquired its 3517 Asher Ave. facility from BJS Inc., led by Gary Acord.

The deal is backed with a five-year loan of $228,000 from Arvest Bank of Fayetteville.

The 0.84-acre development previously was tied to a February 2007 mortgage of $146,625 held by Metropolitan National Bank of Little Rock.

BJS bought the property for $173,000 more than nine years ago from U.S. Bank of Cincinnati.

Estates Foreclosure
The foreclosure sale of a 6,300-SF home in west Little Rock’s Valley Falls Estates neighborhood tipped the scales at $1.27 million.

Wells Fargo Bank of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, recovered the house from William and Judith McDaniel.

The residence previously was linked with a September 2008 mortgage of $1 million originated by Wachovia Mortgage of Raleigh, North Carolina.

The McDaniels acquired the house for $1.44 million more than eight years ago.

The sellers were Douglas and Janice Sherman.

Deauville Abode
A 3,907-SF home in the Deauville neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development sold for $725,000.

Linda and Gary Teal bought the house from Joe and Lavenda Hughes.

The deal is funded with a 15-year loan of $417,000 from Simmons Bank.

The residence previously was linked with an April 2013 mortgage of $200,000 held by IberiaBank.

The location was purchased for $133,000 in April 2005 from Deltic Timber Corp. of El Dorado.

Hillcrest Home
A 3,100-SF home in the Hillcrest area of Little Rock changed hands in a $700,000 deal. Robert and Catherine Tucker acquired the house from Lephiew and Alison Dennington.

The deal is financed with a 10-year loan of $711,481 from Simmons Bank. The residence previously was tied to a December 2015 mortgage of $120,820 held by the bank.

The Denningtons bought the property for $435,000 in May 2013 from Robert Roach Jr. and his wife, Mary.

Lamarche House
A 5,022-SF home in the Lamarche Place neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development is under new ownership after a $605,000 sale.

Gary Mueller and Karen Goodman purchased the house from Thomas and Susan Strickland.

The deal is backed with 15-year loans of $417,000 and $67,000 from Gateway Mortgage Group LLC of Tulsa.

The location was acquired for $63,000 in December 1998 from Deltic Timber.

Heights Residence
A 1,995-SF home in Little Rock’s Country Club Heights neighborhood drew a $505,000 transaction.

Robert Porter Jr. and his wife, Marilyn, bought the house from William and Suzanne Hawkins.

The deal is funded with a three-year loan of $850,000 from Farmers Bank & Trust of Blytheville. The Hawkins family purchased the property for $475,000 in February 2014 from Marvin Baltz.

Heritage Park
A 6,414-SF home in North Little Rock’s Heritage Park neighborhood rang up a $500,000 sale.

Shaun and Lori Harms acquired the house from the Dean E. DiMichele Trust.

The deal is financed with a 15-year loan of $375,000 from EverBank of Jacksonville, Florida.

The residence previously was linked with a November 2011 mortgage of $384,459 and a September 2013 mortgage of $135,000 held by Centennial Bank of Conway.

The property was bought for $710,000 in May 2007 from Philip and Jayne Lyon.

Metals Mortgage
A 291,674-SF industrial complex in Little Rock is helping secure a $650 million funding agreement.

Joseph T. Ryerson & Son Inc. of Chicago obtained the six-year financial package from Wells Fargo Bank.

The 21.74-acre Afco Metals development at 7701 Lindsey Road previously helped secure a January 2013 mortgage of $600 million held by Wells Fargo.

Afco was acquired by a Ryerson affiliate in 1988.