The four largest Northwest Arkansas cities reported solid 6% gains in their fourth quarter hospitality tax receipts, compared to the prior year. Fayetteville, Rogers, Springdale and Bentonville collected $1.31 million in hotel and food taxes during the months of October, November and December. This compared to $1.235 million collected in the same quarter of 2012.

While October and November were strong months, inclement weather has since prompted cancellations and lackluster traffic among business and leisure travelers, said Roger Davis, general manager of the Springdale Holiday and Convention Center.

Davis said 2013 was a very good year as his hotel revenue rose 25% from strong group travel and through the first nine months of last year. The four cities reported $5.32 million collected in hospitality taxes for the full year, up from the $4.99 million during 2012.

Each of the cities in this report collect a 2% tax on lodging and meeting space, while Fayetteville and Bentonville also each collect a 1% tax on prepared food.

POSITIVE ANNUAL RESULTS
For the year, collections were up 11.4% in Bentonville, up 4.4% in Fayetteville, up 2.21% in Rogers and up 8.53% in Springdale. Following are the annual comparisons for each city.
Hospitality Revenue (January through December)
• Bentonville
2013: $1.672 million
2012: $1.5 million
11.4%

• Springdale
2013: $338,302
2012: $311,710
8.53%

• Fayetteville
2013: $2.633 million
2012: $2.522 million
4.4%

• Rogers
2013: $680,077
2012: $665,358
2.21%

FOURTH QUARTER RESULTS
In the fourth quarter, Springdale hotel taxes receipts totaled $102,012, up 6.39% from the last year’s period.

Bentonville reported an 11.8% uptick its fourth quarter hospitality receipts, collecting $409,409, compared to $365,934 reported a year earlier. While hotel taxes rose 8.96% in Bentonville, it was the food tax increase of 18.8% that really made the difference the fourth quarter gains from a year ago.

“We continue to hear good reports from our restaurants and look forward to three new venues on tap in the coming months — Cracker Barrel, Chipotle Grill and Joe’s Italian,” said Kalene Griffith, executive director for the Bentonville Visitors and Convention Bureau.

Fayetteville reported $643,996 in hospitality receipts — food and hotel taxes collected — in the last quarter of 2013. The hospitality revenue increased about 1.37% from the same time in 2012.

Marilyn Heifner, executive director for the Fayetteville A&P Commission, said November was strong month in the quarter with hotel and restaurant taxes rising 10% from the year before. She said meetings and conventions in November had an economic impact of $302,649. Definite bookings in November had an economic impact of $4.884 million in value, she noted in the January commission meeting minutes.

Rogers collected $154,915 in hotel taxes in the fourth quarter, with four hotels not yet paid through December. Allyson Dyer, executive director for Visit Rogers, said fourth quarter results are up 2.19% from the record numbers posted last year.

Dyer said after strong October and November results, winter weather in December and January hindered corporate business travel, which is a big part of the city’s hotel bookings this time of year.

STR REPORT
Hotel operators across Northwest Arkansas have recorded revenue in excess of $128.564 million during 2013. Revenue rose 10.7% over 2012, according to a Smith Travel Research.

The data in the STR report reflects 77% of the hotels in the region. Hotel revenue was particularly strong in the third quarter and the month of October, thanks to business and leisure travel, but revenue flattened out in November and December, in part from inclement weather throughout much of the country.

The room census for the fourth quarter included 8,269 rooms, up 104 rooms from the same period last year. Occupancy rates in the fourth quarter averaged 45.86%, down slightly from the year-ago period. The full year occupancy rates averaged 52.7%, up from 51.4% and 49.9% in the two prior years.

Higher occupancy rates have give hotel operators some pricing power for the first time several years. Average daily revenue per room was $81.08 in the fourth quarter, up 4.5% from the same period in 2012. STR reports room revenue averaged $80.68 for the full year, compared to $76.93 in 2012.

Dyer said she is happy with the 2% to 3% gains Rogers posted in 2013, after banner gains in 2012.

“We continue to have an abnormally large number of groups that stay more than 30 days, which negates them having to pay the 2% tax,” said Dyer.

Griffith said the 21c Museum Hotel in downtown Bentonville helped hoist the city’s 2013 hotel tax collections 18% for the full year, when compared to 2012. She said the 21c has been a popular choice for meeting and lodging space as it made up 12% of the city’s 2013 hotel tax collections.

2014 OUTLOOK
Davis said there are two new hotels coming online this year, the Sheraton Four Points to be located in the former Clarion space in Bentonville, and a new $12 million Hilton Garden Inn near Interstate 540 exit 64 and Wedington Drive in west Fayetteville.

“There is still an excess room capacity in this market and both of these hotels will also add meeting space — 20,000 square feet combined estimate. Right now 2014 is off to a very slow start, but we expect when the weather clears that leisure and corporate business travel will pick back up. Even so, these two new venues will add to the excess room capacity,” Davis said.

The Hilton Garden Inn will have 115 rooms and the Sheraton Four Points will have 105 rooms. Both venues are expected to open later this year.

Griffith said this weekend 29 NCAA softball teams will be in town for the Bentonville Classic. 

“This is a great draw for our hotel and restaurants as the number of teams has grown from 13 to 29. We are looking forward to the warmer weather so our local residents can come out and watch these games as well,” Griffith said.

Dyer and Davis each said they expect traffic to pick up in the spring as they have had groups recently reschedule their travel for later in the year.

The city of Greenwood is hosting the Arkansas Economic Development Commission this week as state’s development arm holds its monthly meeting in the city Wednesday and Thursday. It’s the first time for the commission to be in the Fort Smith region in about three years.

Commissioners and AEDC staff spent much of Wednesday exploring the region on a guided tour led by various Sebastian County natives, including Justice of the Peace Phil Hicks.

According to Commissioner Lee Webb, who also serves as chairman of the Sebastian County Election Commission, the meetings held each month in different parts of the state are a way for the commission to connect with communities and send a clear message to residents and business leaders.

"It shows the support statewide every time the Arkansas Economic Development Commission goes to a city," Webb said. "It shows the state has the community's back. If they ask for something, we're there willing to help."

Bryan Scoggins, AEDC's director of business finance, said the meetings allow "the commissioners to go out and see what's going on in all the various corners of the state."

"When we have these meetings and they get to go to the various communities, they do tours like this to see what's going on in the community, what's the vibe like? What are the needs, even. It doesn't always coincide that the projects that we're looking at are in the meetings, but you still get a feel for the area."

Scoggins said it is visits to communities, such as Greenwood, that illustrate how important the work of the commission is as cities across the state continue to recover from the economic collapse of 2008 and the exodus of jobs that followed.

"The primary things we do is work with the local area economic developers to try to find out what is the vision for how we are going to replace these positions that we lost or who would be target companies to go talk to. Or even if you have targeted companies, then we have meetings with them to try to figure out is there a way for us to make a new project happen?"

As part of those discussions, he said AEDC promotes not only the infrastructure available in certain communities or special financing available through AEDC, but also the workforce available to take jobs should a company locate a facility somewhere within the state.

It is those types of conversations that AEDC started when Gov. Mike Beebe made the trip to Orlando, Fla., in August 2013 to meet with companies looking to relocate manufacturing jobs to the United States as part of a push by Wal-Mart to increase its purchase of American-made goods by $50 billion in the next decade. Scoggins said discussions with companies have continued since then.

"There's been a tremendous amount of interest and activity and trying to work together with and through Wal-Mart to try to identify those opportunities. We've had a couple of announcements along those lines and plans continue."

He said while AEDC is not able to announce anything directly related to Wal-Mart's onshoring effort, talks with manufacturers and suppliers continue. As for how many jobs any new manufacturing facilities could provide the state, Scoggins said that would be impossible to know.

As of November 2013, 1.226 million jobs existed in the state, a 5.64% decline from the state's highest ever level of 1.299 million in March 2008 — or 73,564 fewer jobs. Scoggins said while everyone would like to see those jobs return, the sluggish recovery taking place across many sections of Arkansas is simply "a jobless recovery."

"A lot of the projects that we're working have smaller numbers associated with them because people are having to make such efficiency moves that require more automation and that sort of thing associated with them. So I'm guessing that because of the employment base drop, some people left the workforce or some people even moved for the workforce, so it's going to be hard to pull them back in. I think that what we're going to end up focusing on probably is not so much growing the workforce as it is shrinking that unemployment rate."

The most recent jobless numbers in Arkansas show an unemployment rate of 7.4% in December 2013, up from 7.1% at the same time a year earlier. The unemployment rate statewide was as high was 7.9% in 2011.

AEDC Commissioner Chester Koprovic, a Fort Smith native whose background is in manufacturing, said changes in the economy over the years has shown a movement away from manufacturing jobs. He said that shift also is reflected on the membership of the commission.

"When I first went on the commission, probably the majority of it was manufacturers. And I'm one of the few manufacturers left on the commission. A lot of them are developers, attorneys, finance people, but everyone brings their own perspective on what economic developments all about. So it's a really good mix,” Koprovic explained.

And while he and the rest of the commission are bound by confidentiality agreements about any closed door business it conducts, he said the Fort Smith region should be encouraged by the work AEDC has done on the region's behalf.

"Yes, there has been some talk about some different growth in Fort Smith. Some of it's going to happen fairly soon."

Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders, who attended an AEDC reception at Chateau on the Greens in Greenwood Wednesday night (Feb. 12), confirmed what Koprovic had said.

"We're anticipating hopefully an announcement in the next couple of weeks of some new jobs in Fort Smith. An existing company adding some jobs," he said.

AEDC meetings will continue in Greenwood Thursday (Feb. 13) at Greenwood City Hall, located at 30 Bell Road. The meetings will begin at 8:15 a.m. with breakfast and a general meeting, followed by a closed to the public bond guaranty committee meeting at 8:30, an open to the public executive committee meeting at 10:30 and lunch at 11:30.

The nation’s foreclosure market continued to shrink in January, posting 40 consecutive months of declines on an annual basis, according to Calif., based RealtyTrac. Arkansas foreclosure filings were down more than 41%.

There were 124,419 foreclosure filings across the country last month, down 18% from a year ago. One in every 1,058 U.S. households had a foreclosure filing in January. 

Statewide there were 594 properties with a foreclosure filing last month, down 41.5% from the prior year. Northwest Arkansas and the Fort Smith metro area each posted lower filings year-over-year.

In Benton County there were 85 new filings, 33 of those were half way through the pipeline and slated for trustee sale, while another 55 were listed as bank-owned properties. Total filings declined 29.7% from January in 2013.

Washington County reported 35 new filings last month, the majority of those (25) were notices of trustee sale, while 10 others were bank-owned properties. Foreclosure activity is down 63.9% year-over-year, according to RealtyTrac.

Crawford County reported 15 new filings in January. All but four of those were notices of trustee sale. Total foreclosure activity fell 48% in January, when compared to year-ago period.

Sebastian County was a near mirror image of its neighboring county with 19 new foreclosure filings, with all but four being properties halfway through the lengthy foreclosure process. In the Fort Smith area foreclosures are 40% from a year ago.

Jim Long, an agent with Crye-Leike Realty in Northwest Arkansas, said there were 301 foreclosure properties listed for sale in the multiple listing service which includes all four counties in this report. He said the winter weather in recent weeks has cut down on the number of showings. The foreclosure properties declined from 322 reported in December.

The number of local foreclosure properties peaked at 373 in August of last year and has steadily declined each month.

One interesting note in the RealtyTrac report was the increase in new filings from December 2013. Statewide the number of filings rose 20% from December to January. Benton County posted a 60% increase month-over-month, while filings rose 128% in Washington County. 

Crawford County filings rose 15% month-over-month, while filings in Sebastian County were down 5% from December to January.

“The monthly increase in January foreclosure activity was somewhat expected after a holiday lull, but the sharp annual increases in some states shows that many states are not completely out of the woods when it comes to cleaning up the wreckage of the housing bust,” Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, said in the report.

A recent report to Congress (Jan. 24) indicates that there is active mortgage loan modifications being made to help stem foreclosures.

As of Dec. 31, there were 894,410 active permanent modifications granted through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP Tier 1). About 88% of those modifications will have a rate increase after 5 years. The median payment increase after all rate increases will be around $200 per month, according the analysis of Treasury’s HAMP data.

Analysts believe some homeowners will be vulnerable to foreclosure when the rate resets. Of the 894,410 modifications, 28% have redefaulted on the mortgages and fell at least three months behind. In Arkansas there were 1,825 homeowners with active modifications, and 81% of those are subject to payment increases within five years of their original modification.

Treasury reported that of the homeowners with redefaulted loans, 27% of homeowners who redefaulted received an alternative modification, usually a private sector modification; 21% of homeowners moved into the foreclosure process; and 12% of homeowners lost their home via a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.

Also, as of Nov. 30, there were 97,315 homeowners (11% of active HAMP permanent modifications) who had missed one to two monthly mortgage payments and are at risk of redefaulting out of the program.

Four months after declaring he would not seek a third term in Congress, U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, R-Little Rock, said he will run for Arkansas Lt. Governor, joining a crowded field of Republican candidates.

Griffin, who was first elected to Congress in 2010 and serves on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, said last October that he had “made no decision as to my plans after Congress except that I will continue in public service, including as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve.”

Last week, Griffin confirmed that he had been approached about running for the Lt. Governor’s post and on Thursday (Feb. 13), he confirmed the decision to run.

“Last year, I announced my decision not to seek re-election to Congress when my term ends. The decision to leave Congress and return home was an agonizing decision but the right one for my young family. Since that announcement, I have been urged to continue public service, and I am humbled and honored at the encouragement I have received from all over our wonderful State. After much prayer, thought and discussion with my wife and family, I have decided to seek the office of Lieutenant Governor which will allow me to continue serving Arkansans as a problem solver and watch my 3-year old and 6-year old grow up at our home in Arkansas,” said Griffin.

The official news was first reported in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

“As Lieutenant Governor, one, I will work to restore trust by reforming the office and saving hardworking taxpayer dollars. Two, I will use my experience, knowledge and relationships to help Arkansas compete and grow jobs. And three, I will serve as a resource for the Governor and Legislature to help move Arkansas forward,” he said.

On Wednesday, Rep. Debra Hobbs, R-Rogers, said she too would run for Lt. Governor, pivoting out of the Governor’s race to which she previously had committed. Reps. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, and Andy Mayberry, R-Hensley, have also stated their intentions to run for Lt. Governor, although Collins has said he may re-evalute his decision.

A spokesman for businessman John Burkhalter, the only declared Democrat to announce for the Lt. Governor’s post, issued a statement regarding Griffin’s entry that suggested a general election campaign had already begun.

“While Congressman Griffin is simply looking for his next job in politics, Arkansans are looking for good-paying jobs, the best possible education for our children and workforce, and lower taxes on our families,” said Burkhalter spokesman Bryan Griffith. “The last thing Arkansas needs is another Washington politician like Tim Griffin bringing his record of divisive politics, dysfunction, and gridlock to Arkansas. As a successful entrepreneur and small business owner, John Burkhalter has spent his career creating jobs and businesses, giving back to his state, and working to build a brighter future for all Arkansans. John is the type of positive, forward-thinking and commonsense leader Arkansas needs as Lieutenant Governor.”

Griffin’s entry in the GOP field establishes him as a frontrunner for his party’s nomination. Griffin brings name identification and a healthy donor list to a race that typically struggles to raise funds.

The Lt. Governor’s office is a part-time job. The position presides over the Arkansas State Senate when the General Assembly is in session and serves as acting Governor should the Governor be incapacitated or leave the state.

The state’s previous Lt. Governor, Republican Mark Darr, resigned in January after an ethics controversy that resulted in a $11,000 fine being levied against him. Darr was pressured to resign from the office or face possible impeachment during the current legislative fiscal session.

Griffin said he would reduce the staff of the office and not ask for Arkansas State Police transportation, which is allowed under state law. He said he would also use his “experience, knowledge and relationships” to help with job creation and in navigating the federal government.

He said Lisenne Rockefeller, wife of former Lt. Governor Win Rockefeller, would serve as his campaign chair.

Consumers pulled back on post-holiday shopping and spending in the beginning of the year with severe winter weather in much of the country partially to blame, according to a report from the National Retail Federation.

The trade group reports January retail sales, excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, were seasonally flat month-to-month, but sales rose 3% on an adjusted basis year-over-year.

“Following a solid holiday sales season, it seems that many consumers decided to take a break from the stores and shopping malls this January in an attempt to avoid winter weather,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in the statement. “While the dip in retail sales was somewhat anticipated, it is concerning that both jobless claims came in above projections and that consumer spending were flat in January – it’s not the way to kick off a new year.”

Congress did increase the debt ceiling this week, but Shay said more is needed to spur consumer confidence and spending, which is closely tied to employment data and economic opportunity.

The U.S. Census Bureau also released its January sales data, which includes automobiles, gasoline stations, and restaurants. The Census data indicates a 0.4% decrease in January sales on a seasonally adjusted month-to-month basis. Sales rose 2.6% adjusted year-over-year.

“Harsh winter weather is masking the performance of the broader economy,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said. “Extreme temperatures and severe ice and snow are making it increasingly difficult to assess if the retail sales slowdown is temporary or a telling sign of a longer lasting weakness in the consumer-fueled economy. No one can jump to any solid conclusion until we shovel out of the snow.”

Earlier this month, NRF forecast a 4.1% increase in retail sales in 2014.

Other findings from the January retail sales report (year-over-year) include:
• Building material and garden equipment sales increased 3.3%.
• Clothing and accessory sales increased 1.4%.
• Electronics and appliance sales decreased 4.9%.
• Furniture and home furnishing sales decreased 2.1%.
• General merchandise sales increased 1.4%.
• Health and personal care sales increased 3.1%.
• Online sales increased 6.5%.
• Sporting goods, hobby, book and music sales decreased 1.5%.

A relatively higher price and the continued production of natural gas from existing wells resulted in a record of $62.685 million in Arkansas’ gross natural gas severance tax revenue during 2013. The tally was up more than 53% compared to 2012 collections and up more than 6.4% over the previous high set in 2011.

Also, a recent report from the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas says Arkansas’ Fayetteville Shale Play will produce natural gas out to 2050, but production in the Play could decline beyond 2015 if natural gas prices remain low.

Even with 80% fewer active rigs in Arkansas compared to the boom days of 2008, a wellhead price flirting with $5 per MCF – the price recently hit $4.824 MCF according to the federal Energy Information Administration – is supporting demand for natural gas produced in Arkansas, said Kelly Robbins, executive vice president of the Arkansas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners.

The winter weather and the continued growth in liquified natural gas (LNG) exports also is supporting the recent price increases in natural gas, Robbins said.

“The colder weather has obviously created greater demand, which as we know, whether for natural gas or widgets, will generally always increase the market value. This coupled with new or increased demands such as exportation of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to other countries, increased usage of natural gas for the production of electricity, and even closer to home, the expansion of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations via a state rebate program that will hopefully help encourage the building of up to 6 stations” in Arkansas, Robbins said in a note to The City Wire.

The U.S. Department of Energy has authorized energy companies to export up to 8.5 billion cubic feet per day of LNG to non-free-trade partners. That represents about 13% of daily LNG production.

RECENT TAX HISTORY
In 2009, the first year of the severance tax hike, Arkansas joined the list of the nation’s top marketed natural gas producers when sales of Arkansas natural gas spiked 57.5% to 690 billion cubic feet (Bcf). Arkansas natural gas sales rose another 36.1% to 939 Bcf of annual production in 2010, according to figures from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration and the federal Energy Information Administration.

A portion of the severance tax collections since 2009 are used for road and other infrastructure support in the counties seeing the increased natural gas production.
With production in Arkansas’ Fayetteville Shale Play diminished in the past few years, the price of natural gas does have more of an impact on severance tax collection levels.

In 2005 the price approached $15 per million BTU, which began a push by producers to use fracking and other innovative and unconventional drilling methods to find and produce natural gas.

But activity in the Fayetteville Shale Play – located in north and central Arkansas – began to diminish in recent years as the price dropped and as other gas plays emerged that produced a “wet” natural gas. Arkansas’ natural gas is dryer, meaning fewer products can be refined from the raw commodity. A wet natural gas may also be associated with areas in which oil is present, which presents a richer target for energy companies.

Robbins said there are about 12 rigs active in Arkansas, with 8 to 9 operating in the Fayetteville Play. That is compared to more than 55 rigs about six years ago, and down from 22 just two years ago. The monthly average for natural gas rigs in Arkansas during 2010 was 39.

However, the energy sector in Arkansas recovered in 2013 from a big drop in revenue in 2012. Following are the past five years of gross severance tax collections in Arkansas.
2013: $62.685 million
2012: $40.96 million
2011: $58.905 million
2010: $54.485 million
2009: $27.725 million (partial year of collections)

In 2008, the year before the severance tax was increased, collections were $1.314 million.

FUTURE PRODUCTION
Prospects for 2014 look promising with respect to staying at 2013 levels for the natural gas industry in Arkansas. Houston-based Southwestern Energy, one of the largest players in the region, expects production from the Fayetteville Shale Play to be “essentially flat” in 2014 compared to 2013.

“In the Fayetteville Shale, our well performance continues to improve, evidenced by a well we recently placed on production at over 12 MMcf per day, and our efficiencies created by our vertical integration are also expected to continue to improve keeping our well costs low,” noted a Dec. 10, 2013, company report on guidance for 2014.

The company plans to make capital investments of $900 million in the Fayetteville Shale Play during 2014, or almost 39% of the company’s combined $2.325 billion in capital investments in 2014. The company projects between 460-470 gross operational wells in the Fayetteville Play during 2014, just above the 441 in 2013.

The University of Texas report, issued in January, predicts the Fayetteville Shale Play will deliver 18 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of “economically recoverable reserves” by 2050, with production declining from about 950 billion cubic feet (BCF) a year to around 400 BCF by 2030. The report indicates there may be 38 TCF of “technically recoverable” natural gas, but notes that not all gas reserves make economic sense to produce.

However, without a gain in the price of natural gas, production in the Fayetteville Shale Play is predicted to moderate.

“In the pricing scenario of $4/mcf natural gas, production from the Fayetteville Shale reaches a plateau during the period of 2012-2015 and begins a gradual decline as the annual well count decreases,” according to the UT report.

Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, gave no indication Saturday (Feb. 8) when he spoke to The City Wire that he was looking to exit the race for lieutenant governor, but that is exactly what he did Thursday (Feb. 13) following the announcement of U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, R-Little Rock, that he would run for the office.

Instead of seeking the open seat, which was vacated when Lt. Gov. Mark Darr resigned from the office Feb. 1 following an ethics scandal, Collins said he would seek re-election to his Fayetteville House seat.

The two-term representative said there was simply no way he could defeat Griffin, who announced months ago that he would retire from Congress in order to spend more time with his family in Arkansas.

"Congressman Griffin, a sitting congressman, has tremendous name recognition and access to resources," Collins said in a phone interview. "It makes sitting Congressman Tim Griffin a crystal clear favorite to win the Republican primary and also the general election, which is good for Republicans. Tim is smart, tenacious, and will make an excellent lieutenant governor for Arkansas."

It is a reversal from Saturday, when he was looking forward to the lieutenant governor's race, which would give him a "a statewide platform, (where) I can help build and champion and get more support for this message of economic freedom (and) making our state more competitive with the states around us."

As for what will happen to any of the money already contributed to Collins' lieutenant governor bid, he said he would like to use the funds for his House re-election effort, but would leave that up to donors.

"I'm going to talk to those people who contributed to my campaign and if they agree, I'll use (the funds) in my state representative race. If they want a refund, I will refund on a pro-rated basis on what I've spent so far. It will be up to the person who donated (what I do with the money)."

The shakeup in the lieutenant governor's race comes a day after Rep. Debra Hobbs, R-Rogers, announced her switch from the race for governor to the race for lieutenant governor. In addition to Hobbs and Griffin, Rep. Andy Mayberry, R-Hensley, is seeking the GOP nomination. Democrat John Burkhalter is currently his party's only candidate.

Chris Sultemeier leads about 80,000 employees in Walmart’s logistics division. He oversees the massive supply chain operations for more than 180 distribution centers, fulfillment centers and import warehouses. It’s a safe editorial assumption to suggest he knows a few things about leadership.

“He makes sure all those products get to where they are supposed to be on the shelves at Wal-Mart so we can continue to buy them at everyday low prices,” Andy Wilson, a former Walmart executive and now the leader of ministry and operations at Cross Church, said Thursday in his introduction of Sultemeier, the executive vice president of logistics for Walmart U.S.

Sultemeier was the featured speaker for Cross Church’s weekly Summit Luncheon. He was called in to speak when following an unexpected death in the family of Walmart U.S. Chief Operating Officer Gisel Ruiz, who was the scheduled speaker.

Sultemeier outlined a few leadership rules during his speech, but was quick to point out that he in no way has yet perfected them all.

“It’s a journey for me,” he said.

BACK STORY
He grew up in Fort Stockton, a small west Texas town about 80 miles south of Odessa. He credits much of his work ethic to his father, his faith to his mother and his grit and gumption to his older identical twin brothers whom he said wrestled him night and day.

Sultemeier said he wanted to play football after high school, but after an earlier injury the only college that looked his way was Army. In 1980, he entered West Point, where he would earn a degree in mechanical engineering.

“I had the opportunity to observe many different leadership styles at West Point and one early lesson I learned was that motivating your team through threats and intimidation doesn’t work,” he said. “Humble yourself and lead by example. Today we call it servant leadership and that’s the most effective way to lead your team.”

LESSONS FROM SAM
Sultemeier joined Walmart in 1989 following his military service. He said the lessons he learned from Sam Walton in those early years helped shape his career. He said Walton has been gone for 22 years but the lessons are as relevant today as there were 50 years ago. Sultemeier noted the three rules under which he tries to operate.

• Rule No. 3: Be a servant leader.
He showed a brief video clip of Walton talking about the importance for executives to interface and know their store employees. Walton taught executives to never miss an opportunity to sit down with store employees to discuss what was on their minds.

• Rule No. 2: Leaders must have integrity.
Sultemeier shared a recent quote attributed to recently retired CEO Mike Duke: “Integrity is the foundation for everything. If you have integrity, you can be trusted. And when you can be trusted you can build those relationships with your associates that bear fruit. If you don’t have integrity you simply won’t be able to lead.”

Sultemeier said the integrity rule was straight out of Walton’s book of leadership knowledge.

• Rule No. 1: Leaders never stop learning.
Sultemeier shared a couple of personal stories about Sam Walton and how he witnessed this retail master craving more learning, even in his final days.

Around 1990, Sultemeier was a project manager in logistics tasked with opening a new distribution center in Indiana. He was coached by Lee Scott – who would eventually become the Wal-Mart CEO – about exactly how to go about the process of site selection and how to make the recommendation to the executive committee ,which included David Glass and Don Soderquist.

Sultemeier made the presentation and said it went very smoothly, no questions were asked and the project was approved. But just as they were about to leave, a grey-haired Sam Walton came in and asked what what they were doing.

“We told Mr. Walton that we were planning to build a new distribution center. He said, ‘Great, I’d like to hear about it.’ We sat back down ... literally an hour later I finished the presentation. He must have asked me 50 questions. He wanted to know every nuance and detail about the project. He taught me a lesson that day: No matter how high he was in the organization as chairman of the board, and no matter how weak his health was at the time, he still wanted to know those details,” Sultemeier said.

Sometime later, Sultemeier said his dad was visiting from Fort Stockton, and attended the Wal-Mart Saturday morning meeting as his guest. Guests at that time were asked to introduce themselves. When the meeting was over, Sultemeier said they ran into Sam Walton in the hallway.  

“He immediately engaged my dad in a long conversation wanting to know all about Fort Stockton. He asked my dad what kind of community it was, what kind of people lived there, what the retail competition was like. The questions just kept coming. Two years later Wal-Mart built a store in Fort Stockton,” Sultemeier said. “Mr. Sam was constantly learning, probing and digging into the business.”

GIVING BACK
Sultemeier said being a great leader should also encompass giving back to the community. He referenced a book he is reading for a second time, “Half Time”, by Bob Buford. Sultemeier said moving from a state of success to one of significance is the subject of the book.

He challenged the business professionals at the luncheon to look for opportunities in their own lives where they can take their gifts and talents honed in professional careers and put them to work somewhere else within the community. He asked the business professionals how they might be using their gifts and talents to give back to the local community.

“One program that has inspired me as much as anything is a program started by the Walmart fleet drivers called Walmart Heart. These drivers after long hours on the road still find time to volunteer in this program that caters to children with disabilities or long-term illnesses.” he said.

Walmart Heart began about 12 years ago when a young boy named Jake had a wish through “Make a Wish Foundation” to be truck driver. The program took off from there and just kept going with sponsored Walmart Heart events that take place when a need is brought to their attention.

Five women in Van Buren went on dates with seven different men Thursday night (Feb. 13).

While it may seem improbable, it's exactly what happened at the city's public library as it hosted its first ever speed dating event.

According to Library Assistant Amanda Coward of the Crawford County Library System, the event was a way to introduce local singles to each other while promoting the library at the same time.

"We noticed that it's hard to get the young adult age to come to the library, the 20s and 30s," she said.

In response to the lack of users in the younger demographic, Coward said she and CCLS employee Lily Clegg decided to create a community outreach event tied to some sort of holiday that would attract people to the event.

"And so the first holiday that came up was Valentine's Day and we thought speed dating would be a good way (to quickly meet a lot of people). We called it speed dating and speed friending, that way even if you're with someone, or if you just want to meet new people, (you can). There's not really a lot of places to meet new people. There's bars and stuff, but the library's always a good place."

To market the event, the library took advantage of several different marketing methods, including social media, flyers in restaurants and coffee shops as well as use of The City Wire Social, a weekly e-mail notifying subscribers about various events in the Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas areas.

Once the 12 participants arrived at the library, the task was simple. The five women were seated at tables with the seven men moving from female to female at the sound of a timer. Various ice breaker questions were on printed cards at the tables to help get the conversation started, though many of the individuals found it easy to slide in and out of conversations as they moved from person to person.

Participant Leah Jenkins said she did not know what to expect with the event, but described it as fun once it concluded.

"It was fun. You had these cards, so you always had something to talk about when you couldn't think of it yourself and people moved after a certain time, so it never got awkward. It wasn't bad."

Jamie Narramore was another participant who said even previously living in a large city, he had never experienced speed dating until the event he attended Thursday.

"It was actually pretty cool," he said. "I got to talk to some cool people. Everybody was friendly. Everybody's in the same boat. I'm sure everybody was nervous."

While Narramore may have assumed everyone was nervous, he and others played it cool and did not display any nerves. As for why he participated, he said it was a way to meet people he would have not otherwise connected with.

"I just moved here from like San Francisco and I've only been here for a year and a half. I have not really met people," he said, adding that he had tried the bar scene but found it hard to connect given the fact that he does not drink.

Jenkins said she was excited to meet people outside of her group of friends, adding that it is hard to meet new people in a small town.

"Yeah, I got to talk to people and harass them, I guess," she joked. "I thought it would be interesting. I wanted to talk to people and get cupcakes. And I just thought it would be fun. I thought it would be interesting."

Whether any love connections were made at Thursday's event, participants will have to wait and see. Sheets filled out after each round asked participants to rate their "date." Coward said ratings will be tallied Friday (Feb. 14) with participants being notified by e-mail if there was a match between themselves and another participant, with both showing mutual interest among the following ratings — great, ok, or terrible.

While the event Thursday was small, Coward said response to the marketing for it was quite large from groups not necessarily targeted by the speed dating event, necessitating another event later this year.

"We're planning to have a summer fling for the 40s and up," she said. "Summer fling speed dating. We had two people come in tonight and say, 'Why can't the 40s and up do it?' They wanted to come. That totally shocked me."

Old man winter is the blame for lackluster home sales across Northwest Arkansas in January and likely February as well, according to local agents. 

From Jan. 1 through the first two weeks of February homes sales across Northwest Arkansas totaled 463, with volume of $76.255 million, according to MountData.com. Unit sales are down 9.2% from a year ago, while total volume is off by 10%.

In the two-county area, there were a total of 393 homes sold during January, down slightly from 395 in the year-ago period, according to MountData.com. Total sales recorded last month was more than $65.778 million, flat against the same period last year.

Two of the region’s largest firms each reported flat unit sales in January. Coldwell Banker noted that its sales volume did increase 16.7% from a year ago and new business still pending is down from last year. 

“I think virtually all of that is weather related, as demand is still apparent, supply is still adequate for demand, and interest rates have decreased somewhat,” said George Faucette, CEO of the local Coldwell Banker franchise.

Crye-Leike's Northwest Arkansas sales for January totaled $14 million in volume with 117 properties. The firm also noted that bad winter weather has slowed sales and showings. The company will hold its annual sales goals meeting in Rogers on Wednesday (Feb. 19), and will provide more details at that time.

The larger market in region (Benton County) has stable unit sales, while smaller Washington County posted a slight decrease in units sold.

Agents sold 253 homes in Benton County last month, which was 18 more sales than recorded a year ago. Total sales volume in the county was $41.345 million, up just 1% from the same period in 2013, according to MountData.com.

Median home pricing dipped last month in Benton County to $128,200 or $77.3 per square foot. That compared to $140,000 or $76.20 per square foot in January of last year. Coming off of a stellar year in 2013 in terms sales volume, median prices rose 3.44% in Benton County to $150,000, or $82.60 per square foot.

In Washington County, agents sold 140 homes, 20 less than sold in the same month last year. Total sales volume was nearly flat year-over-year at $24.433 million in 2014.

Median prices in Washington County were $149,900 last month, or $84.5 per square foot. This is was an 8.66% price increase from a year ago. The higher median prices in Washington County help to keep the regional square foot price stable at $80 year-over-year, according to MountData.com.

The Fort Smith Public School Board of Education went against the urgings of school administration and a project architect to reverse its previous vote and instead award an almost $1.9 million contract to Turn Key Construction Management for work at Darby Junior High School.

Turn Key was the initial low bidder on work to expand the locker rooms and band room at Darby, but the Board approved a recommendation by project architect Galen Hunter to give the work to Beshears Construction after a subcontractor with Turn Key withdrew from the project.

At issue is a disagreement about a requirement that the plumbing subcontractor on the project have 10 licensed workers. Turn Key had listed Fort Smith-based Chamberlain Mechanical who at the time of the bid process had less than 10 qualified workers for work that includes moving a large “chiller” from the Darby roof.

Sandy Dixon, owner of Turn Key, told the board that Chamberlain handled a $5 million project at Woods Elementary and a $10 million project at Chaffin Junior High with no problems. Dixon said Chamberlain volunteered to withdraw from the project rather than run the risk of losing future business with the school district. Dixon said she soon realized that allowing Chamberlain to withdraw was a mistake because Hunter would then use that against Turn Key.

“I didn’t want to rock the boat. ... But I was blindsided. I didn’t expect this to happen,” Dixon told the board.

Hunter, who is a principal with Fort Smith-based MAHG Architecture, was the focus of questions from several board members who believed Turn Key and Chamberlain were not treated fairly. During the initial questions, Fort Smith Public Schools Superintendent Benny Gooden was quick to advise the board “against negotiating with individual contractors.” He suggested that “if we’re not going to follow our architect” and his guidance, then it did not make sense to pay a professional for their services.

But that did not quiet the board.

Board members Deanie Mehl and Susan McFerran said they doubted it was made clear to all in the bidding process that having the 10 qualified plumbers was an immediate requirement. They noted that five of the seven general contractors used Chamberlain in their bids.

“If this is so clear, then why did five of seven miss it,” Mehl quizzed Hunter.

Hunter responded by saying it was made clear in a pre-bid conference, and that he could not answer as to why the majority of general contractors listed Chamberlain as a subcontractor.

Board member Rick Wade said he did not think it right that the Board require a subcontractor to staff up to a certain number just to bid on a job. His understanding was that companies will staff up to meet the requirement once they get a contract. Wade asked Hunter that if Chamberlain came back with a list of 10 qualified workers, would he accept the bid.

“I have no problem with Chamberlain,” Hunter responded. He noted several times during the meeting that he had no problem with Chamberlain, but was just trying to ensure that the process was fair to all general contractors who submitted bids.

A few minutes later, Sandy Dixon, owner of Turn Key, asked a more pointed question.

“Can 10 work on that chiller at one time,” Dixon asked Hunter.

“No,” he quickly responded, adding that “I think the 10 number was pretty much just arbitrary.”

Wade moved that the Board reconsider its vote to award the Darby work to Beshears. That motion was seconded by David Hunton and approved unanimously. Wade then moved that the work be awarded to Turn Key. That motion was seconded by Mehl and also was unanimously approved.

It's official. Crawford County voters will vote May 20 on ballot titles that would issue bonds to be repaid by a half cent sales tax for the construction of a new county jail and also fund law enforcement operations in the county sheriff's office with a quarter cent sales tax.

The two titles approved by the Crawford County Quorum Court Monday (Feb. 17) will be the fourth time the county's elected officials have asked residents to approve funding for a new county jail, with the last vote coming in 2005, according to Sheriff Ron Brown. While the three previous attempts failed to gain enough traction for passage, Brown said this time will be different, explaining that the county's jail is simply overflowing despite attempts to expand capacity.

"We enclosed three of the four exercise yards, we've manipulated walls — we've done everything we can. Still we're not in compliance (with state law). And I think that we can show, or I know I can show the voting citizens of Crawford County the numbers and the need for this. We're a growing population. We are in the top 12 (counties based on population) and we've got a small jail."

If approved, the sales tax rates in the county's largest cities — Alma and Van Buren — will jump from a current rate of 9.5% to a rate of 10.25%, among the highest local sales tax rates in the United States.

Before voting on placing the sales tax vote on the ballot, which would fund the $20 million jail project, Justice of the Peace James Lane made clear his opposition to the plan, saying that it was cobbled together and not well thought out.

"I feel like we're flying by the seat of our pants building this jail just like the bunch did that built that jail over there," Lane said, pointing to the west side of the room toward Sebastian County.

Lane said the county should have brought in experts in jailing to work with county officials to determine the best course of action, but he said no such action was taken.

In addition to voting on the ballot issues, Brown and Crawford County Judge John Hall for the first time presented various sites under consideration for the jail. The locations, Hall said, were received after the county took out an ad in a local newspaper seeking property for the jail.

While a previous location floated for the jail included the Van Buren Industrial Park, no such location was presented to the media Monday. Instead, there were four locations along Fayetteville Road in Van Buren, with three of those being located close to residential areas and another across the street from a local church. The three Fayetteville Road locations, all north of Interstate 40, are also in close proximity to Northridge Middle School.

In addition to the four locations along Fayetteville Road, there are four locations along U.S. Highway 64 between Van Buren and Alma, as well as a fifth U.S. Highway 64 location near the Alma Walmart Supercenter.

When asked about the possible locations, especially those along Fayetteville Road, Hall was quick to say voters should not expect those locations to be viable.

"I think the sheriff and myself and the people that understands the need to get out, emergency vehicles to travel and everything, I think it would be defeating our purpose to go up 59 Highway (Fayetteville Road). So we've got a property here on Kibler Road, we've got four locations on 64 Highway. ... We've got some good locations that's been offered."

Asked if the potential new jail, which is projected to house more than 250 inmates, would impact property values, especially if located near a residential area, Hall was adamant.

"No. Not in the areas where these properties been located. Because the properties located out on 64, one of them is right beside the Yaffe junk yard. One of them is just an old building. And one of them is Moore's, and there's nothing around it. He's got trailer sales. He's got 15 or 20 acres. There's nothing around it except the interstate on the back. And the other one, Keiwit's on it right now and it's a big construction site, so I don't think it would have any affect on the property values. It's not going to be put in a residential district."

The May 20 sales tax vote will ask voters to approve both sales taxes in separate votes, one for a half-cent for nine years to build the jail and another for a quarter-cent to fund law enforcement operations. Should the construction pass, but operations fail, attorney Ryan Bowman of Friday Eldridge and Clark told the Quorum Court that they could decide to not issue the bonds by a vote of two-thirds majority. Should the operations pass and construction fail, though, he said the Quorum Court would have to put the issue of whether to eliminate the tax to the voters.

House District 76 now officially has a Republican primary and while the last names are the same as 2012, there are no incumbents vying for the seat, only the son of the current incumbent.

Republican Bobby Altes, the son of Rep. Denny Altes, R-Fort Smith, has announced he will seek the seat his father is vacating after this term due to term-limits, setting up a primary challenge with Mat Pitsch, who ran against the elder Altes in the 2012 Republican primary.

A local businessman and a native of Fort Smith, Altes said he was looking forward the campaign and a chance to serve the citizens of the area.

“I am excited to be announcing my candidacy for the office of state representative No. 76 because serving the citizens of Fort Smith has been an important goal of mine,” he said on his Facebook page.

Altes also said he would follow in his father's footsteps, being a consistent conservative voice in the General Assembly.

"Fort Smith deserves to continue with conservative leadership and the pursuit of a value agenda. Those values include limited government, reduced spending and lower taxes and most importantly to make Arkansas a business-friendly environment."

In order to be more business friendly, Altes said Arkansas should "position itself to be more competitive with neighboring states. Current Arkansas practices and laws often discourage new businesses from locating within the state losing precious jobs and revenues.”

Altes also made no bones about his views on Obamacare and alluded to the oft-contentious Private Option, Arkansas' Obamacare solution that takes Medicaid patients and places them on private insurance.

"As a conservative, I am also concerned about forced government health care and the impact on small businesses and full-time jobs. I do not believe in government fixes and feel personal responsibility must play a part in long-term Arkansas solutions."

Altes said he is a lifelong Fort Smith resident, graduating from Southside High School and the University of Arkansas with degrees in business administration and accounting. He has previously worked as a logistics manager for J.B. Hunt Trucking and currently owns Altes Sanitation.

Altes and Pitsch will face in the GOP primary May 20.

A slice of drama was cut from the state capitol on Tuesday as a state senator previously opposed to the private option said she would now vote to fund it. However, the drama will continue after the House on Tuesday afternoon could not muster the 75 votes needed to approve private option funding.

Sen. Jane English, R-North Little Rock, got something in return, however. English, a long-time advocate for restructuring workforce education and training in Arkansas, said she has received support from fellow lawmakers and Gov. Mike Beebe to fundamentally alter programs tied to workforce investment.

“Yes, I am switching,” English told Talk Business during a Tuesday morning (Feb. 18) interview. “And I have the undying support of Governor and the cabinet to make something happen [in jobs training], to make changes. There isn’t a single cabinet person who isn’t on board with this.”

John Brummett, political columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, first reported English’s switched vote in his Tuesday column.

English’s vote now gives the Arkansas State Senate the supermajority of 27 votes needed for passage of the private option, the state’s innovative alternative to straight Medicaid expansion crafted last year by Republican lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe.

English, a former director of the state’s Workforce Investment Board at the Department of Workforce Services (DWS) and a one-time project manager at the Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC), said altering workforce training and providing health insurance for working Arkansans are connected.

“My thing is if we don’t do it now, when are we going to do it?” said English. “We’ve got to get to the system where we turn the whole thing upside down and we provide a really good workforce system here that people can access with the kind of skills so that we don’t have to have everybody on food stamps, we don’t have to have everybody in the private option.”

The changes that English has advocated – and that key legislators and administration officials have agreed to – include:
• $15 million in existing DWS and two-year college funding tied to jobs training that will be administered by AEDC to meet existing industry needs;
• A coordinated effort by state agencies and private industries to identify 30,000 potentially unfilled Arkansas jobs;
• An assessment of the skills needed to fill those jobs;
• A reallocation of two-year school resources to put infrastructure and money in key areas of the state where job vacancies exist.

By the 2015 legislative session, the initiative will seek a top-to-bottom review of all job training programs at two-year colleges statewide and a possible realignment of nearly $24 million in workforce training money.

Following are other possible aspects of the “Arkansas Works Fast Track” initiative that the Governor, English and other legislators may propose.
• $16 million into ADEC Industry Training.
• College/Career Readiness — $9.6 million.
• Creation of a Fast Track Working Group — Workforce Cabinet, Business Leaders/Chamber and Legislature.
• Department of Higher Ed — Evaluate existing programs and identify shortage areas and programs. Evaluate existing Workforce 2000 programs and make recommendations for addressing state needs.
• On-going Business Advisory Council — Whose doing what, now and what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s missing.
• Legislature/Workforce Cabinet to present a package in 2015 session to address ongoing funding for workforce education/training: Workforce 2000 funding, Create Rebate, 2-year college funding formula, Ongoing funding for Career Pathways, College and Career Coaches and Adult Education.
• Department of Education and Career Education–Will begin the development of creating a tiered system of high school diplomas, with special emphasis for 16-20-year olds lacking a path under current constructs.

English said her focus for the revamped workforce education initiatives are about helping the whole state, not her legislative district.

“It’s about the state, it’s not just about my district,” English said.

The Arkansas House is expected to consider Tuesday afternoon a bill that includes funding for the private option, but also cuts state advertising to promote the program. House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot, said he is confident that the votes exist in the House and now the Senate to pass the measure, but he was cautious on the timing of the possible passage.

“Whether or not it’s specifically today, I am 100% confident that the bill will pass both chambers,” Carter tells Talk Business.

It was not today.

The Arkansas House of Representatives voted on the funding bill – HB 1150 – that included the private option on Tuesday afternoon. The House failed to pass the measure by a 70-27 vote.

Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, the House Majority Leader and a GOP candidate for the Fourth Congressional District, spoke against the bill and the private option funding.

“Is Arkansas going to be an enabler of Obamacare?” Westerman said. “There is no doubt in my mind that President Obama and the Obama administration is watching today so we can be their enablers.”

Westerman added, “Let’s make the courageous choice. ... Let’s say no.”

Rep. John Burris, R-Harrison, the former House Majority Leader and the political director for Republican U.S. Senate hopeful U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Dardanelle, spoke for the measure.

“I would simply say let’s keep it as simple as possible,” said Burris. “The appropriation we have before is has a lot of what we can agree on. It accomplishes a policy that I believe has consensus.”

Other members speaking against the funding included Rep. Terry Rice, R-Waldron, a candidate for the State Senate, and Rep. Charlotte Douglas, R-Alma. Rep. Nate Bell, R-Mena, who drafted the amendments to the funding bill that included the moratorium on state outreach efforts, spoke for the bill in its present form, but he was an opponent of the original measure. Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, also spoke for the bill. House leaders are expected to bring the measure up for consideration again.

The House will need 75 of its 100 members to support the funding in order to pass. Arkansas state law requires a supermajority of 75% of both chambers of the General Assembly to approve budget bills.

House Speaker Davy Carter (R-Cabot) said in a post-vote press conference that the private option funding bill was “non-negotiable.” He said, “We’re going to vote every day – for the next 25 days if that’s what it takes – until we pass the bill.”

Carter added that plenty of time had been allowed for members to contribute changes to the bill, but members who are opposed have not offered viable alternatives to the bill.

January home sales in Crawford and Sebastian Counties posted increases from the same period last year, with both counties posting values more than 40% higher in January 2014 than in January 2013.

Crawford County saw an increase in home sales volume from $2.711 million on 27 homes in January 2013 to $3.89 million on 38 homes in January 2014. That helped the county post a 43.5% increase in volume.

Sebastian County posted a 44.63% increase last month, going from $6.346 million on 52 homes in January 2013 to $9.179 million on 74 homes in January 2014.

According to Owner/Broker Kevin Clifton of Kevin Clifton Real Estate in Van Buren, the driving force in Crawford County home sales was the possible loss of the Rural Development Loan offered by the United States Department of Agriculture.

"We were initially up against a deadline for Rural Development loans to be finalized. It was set to expire (if the Farm Bill was not renewed by Congress)," he said. "A great number of people buying in that time only had 30 days (to get rural development loans in process)."

As a result of what appeared at the time to be a probable loss of the loans, nearly 80% of the 38 homes sold in Crawford County were sold in the city of Van Buren.

Besides Van Buren driving sales, the crunch on buyers getting approved for the loans before they were set to expire may have also driven up home prices, Clifton said. In Crawford County, average sale price on homes sold increased by 1.96%, while Sebastian County only increased 1.63%.

Clifton said the market was simply responding to supply and demand.

"On average, the homes in Crawford County are approximately $3 to $4 per square foot higher in asking price then they were this time last year," he said. "So the sale price typically follows suit with the asking price. The bulk of that is supply and demand. The amount of homes now versus last year plays into that final sale price. If there's less homes to choose from, then the sale price can be a little more."

While the year is off to a good start in both counties, Clifton warned that surprises may be around the corner and it has to do with rules on mortgages. For borrowers who do not put 20% down on a mortgage, the government requires the purchase of mortgage insurance, also known as PMI (a mortgage insurance premium). Clifton said the cost of PMI could impact home sales throughout the rest of this year, potentially taking some buyers out of the market, at least for the short term.

"The FHA (Federal Housing Administration) requirements bump the consumer's payment so much higher (with PMI)," Clifton said. "They may want to wait a little longer and save more down, but the payments will be cheaper on the life of the loan."

As a result, "that particular market may not see as much of an increase in sales as the Rural Development loans, if the buyer that can qualify for the rural development loan."

HOME SALES DATA
• Crawford County
Unit Sales
January 2014: 38
January 2013: 27

Total Sales Volume
January 2014: $3.89 million
January 2013: $2.711 million

Median Sales Price
January 2014: $89,500
January 2013: $89,500

• Sebastian County
Unit Sales
January 2014: 74
January 2013: 52

Total Sales Volume
January 2014: $9.179 million
January 2013: $6.346 million

Media Sales Price
January 2014: $112,000
January 2013: $114,900

Fort Smith could soon be home to Arkansas’ first osteopathic medical school and one of just 31 in the U.S., thanks to a more than $58 million investment from the Fort Smith Regional Healthcare Foundation (FSRHF) and a grant of 200 acres from the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority (FCRA).

Officials with the FSRHF, the FCRA and area cities made the announcement during a Tuesday (Feb. 18) afternoon press conference at the River Valley Nature Center at Chaffee Crossing. More than 85 people attended the press conference.

The possibility of such a medical school estimated to have a $100 million annual economic impact on the region was first reported by The City Wire in December 2013. At the time, Foundation officials were in the feasibility phase of the project.

FSRHF Chairman Kyle Parker told The City Wire that a fully operational school would serve about 600 students, and employ around 65 (full-time equivalent jobs) with an average salary of $103,000. That impact does not include adjunct professors that will be needed for the school, he said.

The school is targeted to accept its first cohort of students in the fall of 2017.

PROJECT HISTORY
Revenue from the 2009 purchase of Fort Smith-based Sparks Health System could be used to help build and operate the medical school. When Naples, Fla.-based Health Management Associates (HMA) acquired Sparks in a deal valued at $138 million, part of the money was used to create the Fort Smith Regional Healthcare Foundation.

Foundation initiatives include supporting scholarships for individuals seeking advanced medical training, the Community Dental Clinic in Fort Smith, health education programs in area schools, and other medical training options.

The osteopathy school plan has has early supporters. The Community Health Centers of Arkansas, which provides medical care in Arkansas’ rural areas, supports the idea, according to Tom Webb, executive director of the FSRHF. Endorsements also have come from the Arkansas Osteopathic Medical Association (AOMA), the Arkansas Society of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP), and the Arkansas Osteopathic Foundation (AOF).

Osteopathic medicine, according to the American Osteopathic Association, the practice is “a complete system of medical care with a philosophy that combines the needs of the patient with the current practice of medicine, surgery and obstetrics; that emphasizes the interrelationship between structure and function; and that has an appreciation of the body's ability to heal itself.”

RECENT MOVES
On Tuesday, the FSRHF Board of Trustees voted to move forward with the project and hire a CEO and chief academic officer for the school.

Tuesday afternoon, the FCRA approved providing the school 200 acres near Chad Colley Boulevard, with the land valued at $4 million.

Working with the Arkansas Osteopathic Medical Association (AOMA), the FSRHF has developed several partnerships with regional medical providers. According to the FSRHF statement issued Tuesday, Mercy Health System, Sparks Health System, Cooper Clinic, the Choctaw Nation Health Services Authority and Community Health Centers of Arkansas “have indicated their desire to play integral roles in the clinical rotations and residency education of the proposed college.”

"The AOMA is extremely excited about the development of the proposed Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine to be located in Fort Smith,” Dr. James Baker, president of the AOMA, said in the statement. “We will continue to develop, partner with, and support those providing state-wide resources to help advance the Fort Smith Regional Healthcare Foundation's mission of establishing the school."

FCRA Executive Director Ivy Owen also said during the press conference that the FCRA has assisted “off and on for two years” with the project, and that the FCRA Board conducted “a lot of due diligence” before agreeing to provide the land.

Frazier Edwards, executive director of the Arkansas Osteopathic Medical Association, said the association was “extremely excited” to have this school planned for Arkansas, and that the association “will continue to develop and funnel resources” to the school.

Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders called the school a “game changer” for the region.

THE PROJECT
In his remarks and media interview Tuesday afternoon, Parker said FSRHF Trustee Jim Walcott challenged the foundation to “move the needle” on the effort to “fill gaps in healthcare and provide care for the medically underserved regions in Arkansas and Oklahoma.”

The result of Walcott’s challenge could be a 200-acre campus built out in several phases. An initial layout drafted by Oklahoma City-based Crafton Tull shows the campus located immediately east of where a proposed third Fort Smith high school is located. The site is on both sides and just south of the Chad Colley Boulevard entrance into Chaffee Crossing. The plan calls for 87 acres on the west side of the boulevard and 113 acres on the east side.

The first phase of the medical school campus includes a 60,000-square foot building, several smaller buildings, a campus green, main entry, and a proposed pond. A second phase includes a “village green” area with more buildings.

Future development around the campus includes space for a medical office park and commercial and retail development.

Owen said the school is “highly compatible” with the Chaffee Crossing development goals.

“We are very excited to be a part of the plans to build this osteopathic medical university. Their plans dovetail nicely with our plans for this area. The wooded, open space, walkable-style campus is exactly what we want for Chaffee Crossing,” Owen said in the statement.

THE NEED
There are 30 colleges of osteopathic medicine (COMs), offering instruction at 40 locations in 28 states. There is not an osteopathy school in Arkansas. Twenty-four of the COMs are private; six are public. Should the development of an osteopathic school in Fort Smith happen, it would be a private, non-profit institution and not dependent on continuous public funds from the state.

Approximately 60% of practicing osteopathic physicians (DO) practice in the primary care specialties of family medicine, general internal medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology, according to information provided by the FSRHF.

Arkansas ranks 48th in physician accessibility in the United States. The western side of the state, including the Fort Smith region, has been identified as the most underserved area in Arkansas, according to the FSRHF.

“FSRHF was presented the opportunity to increase availability of care within medically underserved areas of the state by addressing the severe shortage of physicians through the development of a college,” noted the FSRHF statement.

In his notes, Parker thanked the following individuals for helping during the research phase of the project.
• Mr. Doug Babb, CEO, Cooper Clinic
• Dr. Cole Goodman, President, Mercy Clinic
• Dr. Jason Hill, Chief Medical Officer, Choctaw Nation Health Services Authority
• Ms. Sip Mouden, CEO, Community Health Centers of Arkansas
• Mr. Charles Stewart, CEO, Sparks Hospital

A recovering economy, more lenders in the subprime auto space and higher charge-offs have thrown a monkey wrench into the operations of America’s Car-Mart, a large buy here, pay here auto dealer.

While the Bentonville-based company is poised for topline growth, the bottomline profits were a big miss in the recent quarter. Late Tuesday (Feb. 18) Car-Mart reported net income of $1.5 million for the third quarter ending Jan. 31. A charge of $4.9 million after tax related to higher than expected charge-offs weighed heavy on net income returns. Profits equated to 16 cents per share, down after the charge, plummeting 80% from the same period last year.

A consensus of five analysts who follow the company predicted Car-Mart would deliver 70 cents a share in net income profits in the quarter, which the auto dealer/finance company failed to do even before the taking extra 52-cent charge.

Revenue grew 3.3% to $122.58 million in the quarter, missing Wall Street’s estimate of $126.7 million.

“Despite the pressure we are feeling in the current competitive environment, we are continuing to see some good growth. We remain committed to growing our business the right way with the realization that so long as the competition does not share our same focus on customer success, our results could continue to be affected somewhat,” CEO Hank Henderson noted in the release.

He said the company is seeing some of its best customers lured away with deals that Car-Mart believes involve impractical terms.

“We will continue to do our very best to set our customers up to succeed so that we will be in a position to earn their repeat business in the future. Anything short of our customers successfully completing the terms of their individual contracts is not acceptable to us and not in line with how we believe this business should operate. Unfortunately, the current environment is contributing to higher levels of charge-offs and we will continue to work hard to reverse these trends," Henderson said.

COMPETITIVE ISSUES
Analysts recently polled by The City Wire noted that the heightened competition Car-Mart faces with each sale is not likely to soon subside as more subprime lenders continue to make credit available at perhaps lower interest rates than the 15% Car-Mart charges.

“Private equity firms and other initial public offering activity with companies like Springleaf Leasing are creating a lot of liquidity in the subprime auto and consumer credit space,” said Martin Kemnec, analyst with Jeffries, who rates America’s Car-Mart as a “hold” with a one-year target price of $38.

“While we believe in the strength of Car-Mart’s management team, they have some delicate balancing to do fending off the competition, growing sales and not incurring more risks in the process,” he said during a recent phone interview.

Jeff Williams, chief financial officer at Car-Mart, recently told The City Wire that the company believes the 15% interest rate charged to all of its customers is fair.

“We try to set everyone up to succeed and feel like the 15% is a good rate even for our very best customers,” Williams said.

That said, the company knows it stands to lose some of its better customers to other dealers willing to offer new cars at similar or even lower interest rates. More independent lenders are making new auto loans to credit challenged borrowers and then packaging the credit pools into portfolios and selling that debt instrument on Wall Street to investors seeking higher yields.

COMPANY EXPANSION CONTINUES
The company opened seven new dealerships in the past nine months with four more on tap before the company’s fiscal year end on April 30.

“Our new dealerships are performing well and we are excited to be adding great new towns to our footprint. We have added almost 4,400 active accounts and are working hard to make these new customers, and our existing customers, fans for life of America's Car-Mart," Henderson said.

WIlliams said because of the stubbornly high net charge-off levels, and the company’s expectation that tough conditions will continue at least over the short-term to mid-term, it was necessary for to increase the allowance for credit losses to 23.5% from 21.5%. 

This action is responsible for the $4.9 million ding to the company’s bottomline profits in the quarter. The last time Car-Mart adjusted its allowance was in April 2012 when it reduced the percentage to 21.5% from 22.0%.

“This non-cash charge will not in any way affect our efforts to help our customers succeed, and our cash on cash returns continue to be very attractive even with higher charge-off levels. We are focused on maximizing efficiencies on the operating expense side of the business and are committed to always being the lowest cost operator," Williams said. “We know we can do better, but the business model is certainly being stress tested by forces outside of our control. We are working hard to continue to grow in a healthy manner so that we are in a good position if conditions change in our favor.” 

Shares of America’s Car-Mart (NASDAQ: CRMT) closed Tuesday at $37.55, up 32 cents. The earnings were released several hours after the close of trading. For the past 52 weeks, shares of Car-Mart have ranged from a low $36.22 to a high $50.59.

Car-Mart management will hold a call with investors and analysts on Wednesday morning (Feb. 19). 

FAST FACTS (year-over-year)
Automobiles sold: 10,735, up 3.2%
Number of dealerships: 129, up 9.3%
Average sales price: $9,739, down 0.6%
Same-store sales: down 2.8% year-over-year
Accounts over 30 days past due: 5.8%, down from 6%
Finance receivables: $400.651 million, up 10.1%

“We have been a very blessed company,” said Joe Donaldson, co-owner and General Manager of Sam’s Furniture in Springdale. “We’ve actually had double-digit increases the last three years in a row.”

Donaldson’s parents started the furniture company back in 1992 with a handful of other employees. Sam’s Furniture now has two locations in northwest Arkansas and employs close to 50 people. Less than two years ago, Donaldson was even ready to expand into central Arkansas with a third location, but his plans changed.

“We would’ve probably already been open in Little Rock with a third store if this whole health care thing wouldn’t have taken place,” said Donaldson. “But it scared the heck out of us.”

Donaldson is, of course, referencing the Affordable Care Act — more commonly known as “Obamacare.”  The ACA was signed into law back in 2010, and with it, so too were several new taxes, including the Health Insurance Tax (HIT), which is set to kick in this year. The HIT is one of the largest tax increases included in the ACA, raising $101.7 billion in the first 10 years and $208 billion in the second 10 years.

While the HIT is not technically a small-business tax, most analysts say it might as well be. The actual tax will be levied on health insurance companies who operate in the fully insured marketplace. Eighty-eight percent (88%) of small businesses purchase their insurance through this particular marketplace, and insurance companies are expected to pass the added expense on to smaller employers like Donaldson.

“It’s taken the entrepreneurship out of the people that have the ability to grow,” said Donaldson, who sits on the board of the Springdale Chamber of Commerce. “And that’s sad.”

“If you remember last fall, whole books of individual policies were being cancelled because they did not meet the minimum essential benefit requirement under the health care reform,” explains Tom Kane, senior vice president with Stephens Insurance. “Well, the small group market is the same kind of thing. If you’re in a non-grandfathered plan in a small group, you have to have a plan that meets the minimum essential benefit requirements, and so some small employers are being forced into plans that have much richer benefits than what they had previously, and that’s also driving up their costs.”

Another headache is the “employer mandate,” which requires small businesses with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees to provide “qualified and affordable” health insurance or pay a penalty.

“Small employers need to be very careful about thinking that I can get up to 48-49 full-time [employees] and then manage hours of a part-time population to avoid that 50 threshold,” warns Kane. “If you’re using a large part-time population and you’ve got 40 full-time employees, you might hit that 50 threshold because it’s 50 full-time equivalent hours.”

The hardship could be even greater for employers with 50-100 employees.

“They have to offer ‘qualified and affordable’ coverage or pay the penalty if they have more than 50 full time employee equivalents,” adds Kane. “They also are subject to the ‘essential benefit’ requirement forcing their insurance to cover more services unless they have a grandfathered plan or more than 100 employees.”

The mandate, originally scheduled to kick in this year, has been pushed back twice now by the Obama administration. Last summer, employers were told the mandate would be delayed until 2015. Earlier this month, the White House announced yet another delay. Employers now have until 2016 to comply before the government starts doling out penalties. But with all of this uncertainty, small businesses are already planning ahead.

“We were at about 56 employees when this whole health care thing started,” explains Donaldson, who estimates the HIT will cost his company tens of thousands of dollars in 2014. “Not only have we grown our volume, but we’ve had to do it with six or seven less people because we had to get under that 50.”

The penalty for not providing coverage is $2,000 per full-time employee, exempting the first thirty. If employers decide it’s easier to simply pay the penalty and tax consequence, their employees may end up paying the price, warns Kane.

“It’s really going to be painful for your higher paid employees to replace that coverage,” said Kane. “If you have a very low paid workforce, the employees may not be as impacted because they can go to the exchange and get premium subsidies based on household incomes. If you’ve got a higher paid income workforce, they may or may not be eligible for any premium subsidies and they are having to access the exchange with post-tax dollars.”

Small business owners won’t be the only ones affected by HIT. According to a study by Doug Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, the HIT will cost each family, on average, about $5,000 in higher premiums over the next decade. That’s about $500 a year. And it won’t stop at premiums either, as Donaldson points out.

“I hate to say that businesses will just raise prices, but – in reality – that’s what is going to happen,” said Donaldson. “We’re either going to have to raise prices to offset the loss of that margin of profit to basically get over that added expense, or they will cut benefits and cut employees.”

So, for now, an expansion into Little Rock – which would add between 30-40 new Arkansas jobs – will have to wait.

“It’s the thumbtack that’s just poking you and pushing you backwards,” adds Donaldson.

The U.S. House and Senate have bills that, if passed, would repeal the HIT, but the odds of getting those through an already gridlocked Congress — in an election year — is easier said than done.

A proposal that would have seen the city of Fort Smith seek to impose fines against Whirlpool Corporation for violating the city's nuisance ordinance by spilling trichloroethylene (TCE) at its site more than 30 years ago, a spill that eventually spread to the neighborhood north of the site, failed at Tuesday's (Feb. 18) meeting.

The plan, which was proposed by attorney Melissa Sims of the Sims Law Office of Princeton, Ill., would have had the firm investigate methods in which is could pursue large fines against the company for, among other things, littering. Whatever fine the firm was able to secure for the city would have had a third of the settlement or fine paid right off the top, with the rest to be used by the city as it saw fit.

In expressing his opposition to the plan, which failed in a 2-5 vote, Vice Mayor Kevin Settle said he felt any pursuit of fines by the city could place current litigation, including a class action lawsuit, in jeopardy for property owners who live above the TCE plume in south Fort Smith. He also said he did not want the city to take action that could change the way businesses operate in the city.

"I don't want this Board to make a policy decision that would greatly affect the way business is done today or greatly affect the businesses that will be here tomorrow. What we don't want to do is create a policy that in essence tells the public, 'Hey, we're going to overstep the reach of our government, of our city government, and try to do more than the state government and federal government already have to do."

Settle said at this point in the clean up, it is time for the city to move out of the way and allow the process to work – regulatory processes and legal processes.

"I've been an advocate of these homeowners in this area. I think they need to be righted as quick as possible. I'm hoping Whirlpool will step up to the plate and do them right. And there are ongoing discussions with that, but ultimately we need to step out of the way and let what happen, happen. If at sometime down the road Whirlpool does not do the right thing, the ADEQ will fine them."

The discussions Settle said are ongoing apparently have not gone far, according to one resident who spoke after the meeting.

Laretha Plunkett, who is resident in the neighborhood north of the now-shuttered facility and a defendant in a lawsuit against the company, confirmed to The City Wire after the vote that Whirlpool had just last week made an offer through her attorney to settle the case for $25,860.

While Plunkett's attorney, Rick Woods of Taylor Law Partners in Fayetteville, told The City Wire Monday (Feb. 17) that any action by the city could impede his and other attorneys' efforts to secure settlements or a positive ruling in court, Plunkett said she was disappointed by the no vote.

"I don't think it would (impact lawsuits against the company)," she said.

Plunkett said she agreed with the stance of City Director Philip Merry, who along with City Director Pam Weber were the only two to vote in favor of the lawsuit. Merry said during the meeting that the city should not pick and choose how the laws are enforced, adding that he believed the city's laws should be enforced on everyone, corporations included.

"This vote to vote against it is to vote against enforcing law that we have. …I don't understand why we are voting on whether or not to enforce the law that our forefathers already put there."

In the end, City Director Keith Lau summed up the collective thinking of the five Board members who voted against pursuing legal action against the company by saying it comes down to the "validity of our ability to prosecute or collect fines" as well as whether pursuing action would promote the city as business friendly.

"I think, for me, I want this city to be perceived as fair and equitable in promoting business, as well as the interests of our citizens. And if we have a manufacturer who inadvertently pollutes the environment, then self reports, and then through the governing entity of the state comes up with a remediation plan to fix the problem, and then for us to come back in after it's all said and done because of outcry from the citizens on that side of the equation — we're not treating that manufacturing group equitably or justly. So what I'm saying is let the courts run their course."

If the city had agreed to contract with the Sims Law Office, no payment would have been required unless the case was won or settled.

A recent poll shows U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Dardanelle, gaining ground in his bid to unseat Democrat U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor. The poll results also show the Arkansas’ governors race to be tied up, and U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, R-Little Rock, with an advantage in the race for lieutenant governor.

On Feb. 12, Little Rock-based Impact Management Group polled 1,202 likely Arkansas voters to ask their opinions on the candidates for U.S. Senate, Arkansas governor and Arkansas lieutenant governor. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 2.83%. Poll questions also included voter opinions on Arkansas’ private option plan.

In the U.S. Senate race, Cotton had 46% support from poll respondents and Pryor had 42%. This is a favorable shift for Cotton compared to an Oct. 24 Impact Management poll that had Cotton at 43% and Pryor at 41%.

Pryor was supported by 84% who identified as Democrats, and 8% from Republicans. Cotton was supported by 81% who identified as Republicans, and 7% from Democrats. Also, Cotton leads Pryor, according to the Impact poll, in all four of Arkansas’ Congressional Districts.
District 1
Cotton: 45%
Pryor: 43%

District 2
Cotton: 46%
Pryor: 43%

District 3
Cotton: 44%
Pryor: 41%

District 4
Cotton: 48%
Pryor: 39%

Clint Reed, a partner at Impact Management Group, said the national brand for the Democrat Party is hurting Pryor in Arkansas.

“As the ad war begins to ramp up and the debacle of the of the Obamacare rollout nationally, it appears that Cotton is gaining ground with the electorate. Cotton leads in each congressional district and leads in the large Little Rock media market (+9),” Reed wrote in an analysis for The City Wire. “Cotton’s lead among self identified independent voters (+30) signifies just how bad the national environment is for Democrats.” 

RACE FOR GOVERNOR
The contest between Republican and former U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson and Democrat and former U.S. Rep. Mike Ross to succeed a term-limited Gov. Mike Beebe (D) remains locked in a statistical dead heat.

Impact Management poll results show 42% of respondents support Hutchinson and Ross, with 17% undecided.

Among Democrats, Ross has 79% support and 10% support among Republicans. Among Republicans, Hutchinson has 75% support and 7% support among Democrats. Hutchinson does hold a lead over Ross (47% to 29%) among self-identified Independent voters. That could be an important element in the tight race, Reed said.

“Our polling shows this race continues to be a very close race. Hutchinson continues to lead by a wide margin among independent voters (+18) which will be the key voting block heading into the fall election,” he explained.

Hutchinson and Ross also split support among Arkansas’ Congressional Delegations.

District 1
Hutchinson: 43%
Ross: 38%

District 2
Hutchinson: 41%
Ross: 45%

District 3
Hutchinson: 43%
Ross: 40%

District 4
Hutchinson: 41%
Ross: 43%

RACE FOR LT. GOVERNOR
The race for Arkansas’ second highest elected position, but a position that comes with few duties and relatively little power, has taken on a higher-profile than normal. Former Lt. Gov. Mark Darr (R) was pressured to resign after an ethics investigation discovered he misspent more than $44,000 in campaign and state funds.

Democrat and Little Rock businessman John Burkhalter announced June 11, 2013, he would run for the office. Burkhalter and Ross held a joint press conference June 15 to endorse each other. Ross said if elected he would name Burkhalter as chairman of a new cabinet focused on economic development. Burkhalter is the only Democrat to announce for the office.

But it’s been chaotic on the Republican side. Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, said he would run for the office, but on Feb. 8 backed out after learning that Griffin would enter the race. Rep. Debra Hobbs, R-Rogers, exited her bid for governor to enter the lieutenant governors race. Also, Rep. Andy Mayberry, R-Hensley, has said he will run for lieutenant governor.

U.S. Rep Tim Griffin, R-Little Rock, previously announced he was retiring from Congress to spend more time with his family. However, he announced Feb. 13 he would enter the race for lieutenant governor.

The Impact Management poll, conducted three days before Griffin officially entered the race, show that 45% of likely voter respondents support Griffin, compared to 30% for Burkhalter.

“Congressman Tim Griffin is the clear front runner in the race for Lieutenant Governor. Griffin holds a substantial lead most notably across each congressional district and has a 5 to 1 advantage among independent voters,” Reed said.

Following are the breakdowns among the Congressional districts.
District 1
Burkhalter: 33%
Griffin: 40%

District 2
Burkhalter: 33%
Griffin: 49%

District 3
Burkhalter: 26%
Griffin: 44%

District 4
Burkhalter: 27%
Griffin: 47%

GENDER GAP, TURNOUT
The Impact Management poll also shows a split among men and women on candidate support in the statewide races surveyed. For example, female support for Pryor was 48% and 37% for Cotton. Support among men for Pryor was 35%, but was 56% for Cotton.

“The telling story from the Governor and Senate race data is that the gender gap exists. Both Republican candidates (Cotton and Hutchinson) have double digit leads among men while the Democrat candidates (Pryor and Ross) have double digit leads among women. This will be a significant part of the storyline moving forward on who can successful appeal across that gap,” Reed said.

The tight races, especially for the U.S. Senate and Arkansas Governor, will result in a more focused need than normal for all campaigns to focus on getting their supporters to the polls, Reed said.

"The Governor and Senate races, even though nearly nine months away, are all about one thing: Who can get their voters to the polls,” Reed said in his analysis. ‘We always say that voter turnout is key to winning every election, but this polling data indicates that we are looking at one of the largest get-out-the-vote programs in Arkansas’ history.”

Link here for the PDF report of poll results from Impact Management.