Great Expectations: Small Businesses Upbeat About 2017
NEW YORK — Donald Trump's election as president has made many small business owners more upbeat about 2017. Dean Bingham says he's cautiously optimistic because business picked up at his auto repair...
View ArticleIn the Workplace 2017: 'Ban the Box' and Concerted Activity Under the NLRA
Editor's Note: This is the fourth of five articles this week by the labor and employment team at the law firm of Wright Lindsey Jennings of Little Rock examining key trends for employers and the...
View ArticleLong-Term US Mortgage Rates Rise, Staying Near 2014 Highs
WASHINGTON — Long-term US mortgage rates ticked up again this week, staying at their highest levels since early 2014. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac on Thursday reported the rate on 30-year fixed-rate...
View ArticleIn the Workplace 2017: LGBT Rights and Immigration Law Compliance
Editor's Note: This is the last of five articles this week by the labor and employment team at the law firm of Wright Lindsey Jennings of Little Rock examining key trends for employers and the...
View Article2016: The Year in Executive Q&A
Dear Readers,Last week Arkansas Business subscribers received the Book of Lists, in which we compile most of the business lists that we published throughout 2016. Lists like that — the biggest law...
View ArticleUS Sen. Warren Seeks to Pull Pot Shops out of Banking Limbo
BOSTON — As marijuana shops sprout in states that have legalized the drug, they face a critical stumbling block — lack of access to the kind of routine banking services other businesses take for...
View ArticleLong-Term Mortgage Rates Fall, Breaking 9-Week Rise
WASHINGTON — After nine straight weeks of increases, long-term US mortgage rates fell this week. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the rate on 30-year fixed-rate loans declined to an average...
View ArticleCreek Capital Takes Over K Lofts Loan
A new player has entered the financial fray at the dormant K Lofts development in downtown Little Rock. Creek Capital Partners LLC of Fort Smith last month stepped to the front of the line of creditors...
View ArticleJim Johnson Promoted at Stone Bank (Movers & Shakers)
Jim Johnson has been named senior vice president and senior lending officer of the Harrison location of Stone Bank. A native of Harrison, Johnson had been serving in a similar capacity at the bank’s...
View ArticleArvest Names Eric Bunnell President of Equipment Finance in Fort Smith (NWA...
Eric Bunnell has been promoted to president of Arvest Equipment Finance and is relocating to Fort Smith for the job. Bunnell, who has worked in the Kansas City area, joined Arvest Bank in 2012. He has...
View ArticleSPONSORED: Four Ways To Fight For Progress In 2017
With the new year upon us and 2016 behind us, maybe you’ve begun to think about your “new year’s resolutions.” Whether 2016 was a mountaintop or a valley for you, I’m sure there are aspects that you...
View ArticleJTS Financial Gets Controlling Interest in EBi
JTS Financial of Little Rock said Thursday that it acquired controlling interest in Your Benefits Agency Inc. of Little Rock, which does business as Educational Benefits, or EBi, and provides insurance...
View ArticleAverage US 30-Year Mortgage Rate Falls to 4.12 Percent
WASHINGTON — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week, the second week of declines after snapping a nine-week run of increases. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the rate on 30-year...
View ArticleDale Cole on the Next 20 Years of First Community Bank of Batesville
Dale Cole grew up in Garland, Texas, and graduated with a business administration degree from the University of Texas in 1970. He worked as a commercial loan officer at Texas Bank & Trust in Dallas...
View ArticleElection Effect Boosts Arkansas Banks
Simmons First National Corp. and Home BancShares Inc. were among those companies enjoying sizable stock price bumps during the past two months. Simmons First soared from $48.65 on Nov. 4 to $66.40 on...
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Simmons, Home BancShares Set To Vault Into $10B Club
Arkansas membership in the $10 billion bank club should double by the end of September. Home BancShares Inc. of Conway is poised to surpass $10 billion in total assets by March. Simmons First National...
View ArticleSimmons First Eyes Downtown Acxiom Building in Little Rock
What’s new with talk of a sale of the Acxiom Building in downtown Little Rock? Glad you asked. Our well-placed insider tells us that Simmons First National Corp. is taking a long, hard look at buying...
View ArticleAmerican Household Debt Rises in 2016
Total household debt in the United States rose by $63 billion to $12.35 trillion, a 0.5 percent increase, during the third quarter of 2016 compared with second-quarter 2016. That’s according to the...
View ArticleAre 401(k) Costs Fair? Firms Can Analyze Fees
The suspicion that one’s 401(k) plan might be costing more in fees than necessary has taken root in the American consciousness. It was the subject of an expose by the PBS documentary series “Frontline”...
View ArticleMadeline Kurrus Moore Returns To Arvest HR
Madeline Kurrus Moore has been hired as human resources manager for Arvest Bank’s central Arkansas market. Moore previously practiced law with the Cross Gunter Witherspoon & Galchus firm and,...
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