The transition from fire protection provided by what is now known as the 188th Wing to an airport-run fire department has hit some speed bumps, the Fort Smith Airport Commission were told during its monthly meeting Tuesday (July 22).

According to Fort Smith Regional Airport Executive Director John Parker, "lack of movement" on the part of the National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C., has called into question whether the initial agreement announced by Parker to allow the airport to use vehicles and equipment already on-site at the 188th Wing's fire station once the National Guard ends its firefighting mission at the airport. The National Guard unit has transitioned from a manned flying mission to an unmanned flying mission, therefore eliminating the necessity of its own fire protection which also provided protection for the airport as a whole.

The Federal Aviation Administration requires airports to have varying levels of on-hand firefighting personnel and capabilities. According to Parker, Fort Smith will meet FAA standards by employing four full-time employees with an estimated two additional part-time employees and possible on-call, as needed staff to cover shifts.


On Tuesday, Parker provided to The City Wire an e-mail from Program Manager Kathy Franklin of the Federal Aviation Administration in Fort Worth, Texas. Franklin's e-mail recalled the a meeting between Parker and the National Guard Bureau at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in which Air Force Col. Peter Sartori made commitments to Parker regarding use of equipment and vehicles.

"During the meeting, Col. Sartori announced that the ANG Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) equipment and facility can be jointly used by the airport past the end of the fiscal year, until Ft. Smith Regional can secure their own ARFF equipment and facility. Therefore, two new joint use agreements between the airport and the ANG need to be written," Franklin wrote.

In a memo to the Airport Commission distributed at Tuesday's meeting, Parker said the Fort Smith Regional Airport has complied with requirements from the FAA that it place a new air response firefighting truck (ARFF) in its Fiscal Year 2017 plan and a letter to the National Guard Bureau seeking to renegotiate the land lease where the current National Guard fire station sits on airport land.

He noted that the FAA and the National Guard Bureau met in Washington following the April 4 meeting at Dallas/Fort Worth, ultimately resulting in a directive from the FAA that the Fort Smith Regional Airport move up the purchase of an ARFF truck to FY 2015, which Parker said has been done.

"We are now 10 weeks away from taking the responsibility for ARFF on ourselves without the NGB (National Guard Bureau) / US Air Force being full engaged on their verbal contract," Parker wrote. "I have asked the Chairman for permission to advertise for a complete ARFF service contract through a request for proposal and Chairman McGhee approved this action. Without the equipment offered by the NGB, we will have to contract for use which will be far more costly than the original plan."

Parker told commissioners during Tuesday's meeting that some movement had taken place with the National Guard Bureau and the U.S. Air Force regarding the ARFF situation, but he said the request for an ARFF service contract was still needed as a backup should the military not have a deal in place or back out before ARFF services end by the National Guard on Oct. 1.

Once the airport receives requests for proposals on the ARFF service, Parker said he would have a definite answer regarding costs though he noted that planning figures now allocate $750,000 for ARFF protection "which would be one third of our current revenues annually."

Parker told commissioners that the airport had already advertised for and received applications for its own fire department and he hoped to be able to fulfill the commission's original intent to hire its own department versus contracting services to an outside vendor.

"NGB officials made contact with the airport this week and I have answered a number of questions on the phone and through email from officers who did not have previous connection to our agreement from April, but I am willing to talk to anyone who might have the ability to honor the promises made to us," he wrote. "We are in the unenviable position of having to track every option available to us with equal effort, as the NGB has waited so long to finally answer our requests for information. We will continue to prepare for every option and seek to present the most cost effective method of ARFF services meeting the requirements of FAA."

Tonnage shipped along the Arkansas River is down for the first half of 2014, but it is not necessarily bad news according to a Fort Smith-area river operator.

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, January through June tonnage on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System totaled 5.782 million tons, down 3% from the same period in 2013.

Tonnage shipped into the Arkansas River system totaled 2.449 million tons and tonnage shipped out totaled 2.152 million tons during the first six months of 2014. The inbound figure represents a 6% increase in traffic while outbound saw a decline of 14%. Internal shipping stood out, with a 12% increase representing 1.181 million tons over the same six-month period in 2013.

Marty Shell, president of Van Buren-based Five Rivers Distribution, said the overall 3% decline (which includes inbound, outbound and internal combined) did not necessarily mean the economy was slipping. In fact, he said just the opposite.

He said some food-based items are being held longer by farmers before selling and shipping, which is keeping figures for that shipping sector either flat or slightly down.

"The outbound is probably going to be comparable for grain movements," he said. "All the corn that's grown in this region all goes to the chicken farmers. The only stuff that really moves out is wheat and soybeans. What's happening is these farmers are holding onto it. You'll see the increase in a couple of months when the soybeans are ready to cut. They'll dump the wheat (at that time)."

Overall, wheat tonnage along the river is down 9% at 602,100 tons while food/farm products are unchanged at 334,150 for the first six months of the year. Soybeans are up 69% to 415,100 and could increase further as more is harvested, Shell said. He added that it would take a few months for the wheat tonnage to rebound, depending on how much longer farmers hold their wheat for sell and shipment.

"The farmers are holding onto it to get the very best price on it. You'll see the outbound number increase."

Bryan Day, executive director of the Little Rock Port Authority, said while the grains and other food-based tonnage may be flat or down, one bright spot is building materials. The minerals and building materials category increased its tonnage by 23% to 254,980 tons while increasing its sand, gravel and rock tonnage by 18%, to 1.461 million tons. Iron and steel also increased by 5% to 832,325 tons.

"I think what you could say is the manufacturing sector is on the increase," Day said of the totals.

Shell said the increases, especially in sand and gravel, show construction could be on the increase, as well. But he said the one area dragging down the tonnage reports is coal, which is down 51% over the same six-month period last year, only totaling 221,400 tons shipped along the river.

"It costs more to get it out of the ground than what you can sell it for," Shell said. "The export market for it is weak and until it corrects itself, it will drag everything down."

And even though a big drop like what coal experienced is driving down the overall numbers, Shell said being down only 3% is not a bad place to be. He said a move up or down 3% from last year's total is fairly normal and to be expected.

As for what the rest of the year holds, he said it looks to be steady but still a long way off from the boom years before the Great Recession of 2008.

"I would say the economy is better off than where we were a year ago right now. I still just don't have that warm fuzzy feeling just yet. But we are in a better position than a year ago. Now, we're not making leaps and bounds like we were back in 2006, '07 and '08. We're just inching forward. But we're better off than we were."

As long as the weather holds and the Corps is able to handle potential weather hazards that could impact river flow downstream, Shell expects the final tonnage report for the year to turn out solid numbers.

"We're not knocking home runs, but getting singles and doubles," he said.

A recent study by the website Wallet Hub lists Arkansas as among the nation's most inexpensive states when it comes to energy consumption, but an official with a local electric cooperative said that could change if proposed federal environmental policies are fully enacted.

The study ranked Arkansas as the eighth-least expensive state when it comes to energy costs, being beat by only Colorado, Washington State, Montana, Rhode Island, Nebraska, the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania.

The study said a typical Arkansan spends on average $319 per month on energy, with breaks down to $101 for home electricity, $36 for natural gas and $182 for automobile fuel. While the rating might appear good for Arkansas, the different components that made up the rating have both extreme highs and lows when ranked against other states.

One example is in the electricity consumption per consumer, where Arkansas ranks 44 out of 51, while the state's rank on price of electricity ranks 3rd least expensive in the nation and on price of fuel, the state ranks 5th least expensive in the nation.

THE WALLET HUB METRICS
Wallet Hub's John Kiernan explained in more detail how the rankings were compiled.

"We used six key metrics to examine the various factors — from the price and consumption of residential electricity to the price of fuel at the pump and number of miles driven — that affect energy costs in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia," he wrote on the site.

He added that the following equation used to calculate the average monthly energy bill in each state using data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

"(Average Monthly Consumption of Electricity x Average Retail Price of Electricity) + (Average Monthly Consumption of Natural Gas x Average Natural Gas Residential Prices) + [Average Fuel Price * (Average Monthly Vehicle Miles Traveled / Average Car Consumption / Number of Drivers)] = Average Monthly Energy Bill Consumers Pay in Each State"

COAL SUPPORT
Greg Davis of Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperative said there is a simple reason why Arkansas' energy costs are low.

"There's a one word answer for that — coal," he said.

According to Davis, about half of the state's energy consumed during non-peak hours is generated by coal power plants.

"Coal is cheap because one, it's a domestic fuel source. We have (about a 250-year supply) of coal. We could be generating at current levels with coal and we have enough for another 250 years to do that,” he explained.

Part of the cost savings seen with coal deal with transportation, he said.

"It's domestic. Our coal (Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperatives) comes from Wyoming. The only transport costs are the rail charge to get it to the facility," he said.

A recent report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could back up Davis' assertion about coal's inexpensiveness, as it showed coal shipments down along the Arkansas River, with one local port operator noting that it costs more to get coal out of the ground than it would sell for on the open market.


NUCLEAR POWER
Davis said another 25% of the state's energy is provided by Arkansas Nuclear One near Russellville, which he said also contributes to the low costs for energy in the state.

"It is safe to assume the facility construction was paid for a long time ago and provides very low cost electricity. It certainly plays a role in the states’ lower than average electric rates," he said of nuclear power delivered by the Pope County facility.

Even though Arkansas Nuclear One has been a big driver in Arkansas' energy needs for decades (construction began in 1969 and the plant went online in 1974) and is likely to for decades to come, Davis said the same cannot be said of coal because of proposed new regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency. He said new EPA regulations aimed at reducing CO2 levels nationwide are going to have an adverse affect on Arkansas, increasing energy costs as coal is eventually phased out. The move, he said, is likely to impact everything from home energy prices to jobs.

"With the new EPA regulations, Arkansas will be tasked with a 44% reduction in CO2 emissions. So Arkansas won't have coal plants by 2030. We'll probably have some of the highest energy rates and that's an absolute fact," he said. "Manufacturing is attracted to where you have low energy rates. … So our rates will go up and it will certainly have a serious adverse affect on all economic activity."

He pointed to steel production as being a manufacturing sector that specifically came to Arkansas for its low energy costs, saying that could impact future manufacturer's decisions to relocate to the Natural State.

"Businesses look at a lot when look to build or relocate and energy costs are huge. The two biggest (energy) loads in Arkansas are steel mills. They use a ton of energy. Their decision to locate in Arkansas was based in large part on our overall energy costs."

MORE EFFICIENCY NEEDED
But Michele Halsell, director of the Applied Sustainability Center at the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, said costs do not necessarily have to go up for consumers just because the price of electricity is likely to increase. She pointed to an American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy study that showed Arkansas at 37th in the nation for energy efficiency.

"They say the typical Arkansas household could save 37% on average on residential energy bills. We're using way more energy than we should be. We use 25% more than the national average in terms of kilowatt hours," she said.

Halsell said by taking measures now to make your home more energy efficient through their energy providers, as well as state and local governments, Arkansans can prepare for the inevitable rise in energy costs.

"People who have been participating in those programs have seen their energy bills cut dramatically," she said. "The price of electricity, the price of a kilowatt hour is important, especially when you live in a leaky house. But when you live in an energy efficient home, that doesn't matter as much. So we need to get our homes, our multi-family apartment buildings, everyplace as energy efficient as we can because there's a difference in the price of a kilowatt and the bill."

MOVE TO NATURAL GAS
As for how energy companies like Arkansas Valley are preparing for the eventual switch in just more than 15 years to no coal, Davis said his company was making use of all sorts of different energy generation methods. Of hydro-electric, he said it helps but there are downsides.

"The hydro-electric power helps a little bit, but that's not base load. If we don't have enough rain fall, then hydro is not helping us whatsoever. But when we have a lot of rain, it helps out."

He said the Electric Cooperative of Arkansas has also invested in a gas facility in anticipation of the switch from coal power to other alternatives, but he said the switch over is going to impact just about every sector of the economy, again possibly bringing Arkansas off the top of the least expensive list.

"Of course, we're buying more wind and we've made some other preparations. But gas is more expensive and when everyone's generating with gas, supply and demand says that gas will get even more expensive."

Joint events in Fort Smith and Washington, D.C., Wednesday (July 23) unveiled the design of a U.S. Marshals commemorative coin to be minted later this year.

The official unveiling of the coin was held at the U.S. Department of Justice office in Washington with U.S. Sens. John Boozman, R-Ark., and Mark Pryor, D-Ark., in attendance, as well as U.S. Rep. Steve Womack and President Jim Dunn of the U.S. Marshals Museum, which will be built along the banks of the Arkansas River in Fort Smith.

Also in attendance were U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Marshals Service Director Stacia Hylton and U.S. Mint Deputy Director Richard Peterson.

Unveiled Wednesday was a $5 gold coin that features the U.S. Marshals Service's badge that is now in use, as well as the words "225 Years of Sacrifice." The other side of the coin features an eagle with a shield on its chest that reads "U.S. Marshal." The coin is meant to memorialize fallen U.S. Marshals.

A $1 silver coin was also unveiled that honors the agency's "frontier history," according to the U.S. Mint. The coin features a "historic badge and deputy U.S. Marshals on horseback. The reverse features a frontier U.S. Marshal holding a wanted poster that reads “Wanted in Fort Smith.” A half-dollar coin will also be minted, featuring missions from the agency's 225-year history.

"The obverse features a present-day female deputy U.S. Marshal and an old west U.S. Marshal in the background.  The reverse depicts Lady Justice holding scales in one hand and a U.S. Marshal's badge in the other.  Other elements symbolize U.S. Marshals' involvement during the Nation's changing times, including public school integration," the U.S. Mint said on its website.

"We are extremely proud that two of our own inspectors, Scott Sanders and Oscar Blythe, conceived this idea several years ago, working diligently with the help of several organizations to mark this special occasion," said Hylton, the first female director of the U.S. Marshals Service. "The artists' work depicts our rich history which is reflected in these designs. The coins represent the work of all the men and women behind the badge who have served our country throughout the decades, risking their lives to secure our judicial process and protect our communities and children from violent offenders."

POSSIBLE MUSEUM FUNDING SUPPORT
The U.S. Marshals Museum is counting on the commemorative coin to assist in its fundraising efforts. Dunn said in mid-August 2013 that the museum effort needs between $10 million and $15 million more to reach the “threshold” of between $30 million and $35 million needed to break ground on Sept. 24 — the 225th anniversary of the U.S. Marshals Service — and begin construction. Dunn is also banking on new market tax credits for partial funding of the museum, which he said should bring in nearly $10 million.

He has said an additional $4 million to $5 million could come from sales of a U.S. Marshals Service commemorative coin, with a U.S. Marshals Service press release Monday (July 21) said was scheduled to be minted by Sept. 24.

Money from the coin that go to the museum are restricted to fund “the preservation, maintenance, and display of artifacts and documents” at the Marshals Museum. Revenue from coin sales will also go to the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the National Law Enforcement Museum, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Dunn has said previously that about 98% of all coin sales happen through marketing and efforts of the U.S. Mint. Generating the most revenue from coin sales will require the Marshals Museum aggressively pursuing the remaining 2%. He said in August 2013 that meetings with U.S. Mint officials had been positive. The U.S. Mint will accept orders for the coins beginning in early 2015, its website said.

TROUBLED COIN SALE HISTORY
The hopes for potentially millions of dollars in proceeds from the coins may prove to be difficult, website Coin Week reported in January. According to the website, a commemorative coin for the Girl Scouts of America failed to produce any proceeds for the organization after lackluster sales.

"The reason is that sales of the coins, which only reached about a third of the congressionally-authorized maximum mintage, or 123,814 out of 350,000 (as of January 5 unaudited data), were insufficient to cover program costs. By the law organizations cannot receive funds from the sales of commemoratives unless all costs associated with the coin program are first covered. In this case, that meant forfeiting $1.23 million dollars as each proof and uncirculated coin comes with a $10 surcharge. This was the first time that has happened."

The article's author, Louis Golino, noted that the Girl Scouts employed marketing efforts to ensure sales of its coins much as other groups — including the Marshals Museum — have done.

"As Anna Maria Chavez, the CEO of the GSUSA explained in her interview with me, her organization worked to promote the coin through its web site and other venues such as local Girl Scout council partners, who sold the coins in Girl Scout shops. And yet that was not enough."

CONGRESSIONAL PRAISE
While other organizations may have had struggles with sales, Womack said demand for the Marshals coin was high.

"I’m delighted by the designs for the U.S. Marshals Service commemorative coins.  These coins highlight the Marshals’ long history of justice, integrity, and service, and their sale will be driven by high demand and help fund the U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith – a world class museum and permanent tribute to one of America’s greatest law enforcement institutions.”

Boozman noted how the coins were a tribute to the work done by Marshals across the nation and in Fort Smith during the service's long history.

“These great designs highlight the dedication and commitment of the men and women who serve in the U.S. Marshals Service as well as Fort Smith’s role in the history of this law enforcement agency," he said. "These coins are a great tribute to those who sacrifice their lives for law and order. I’m proud to have played a role in accomplishing this commemoration and celebrating Fort Smith’s storied history with the Marshals Service."

Pryor spoke of the work done by the Arkansas congressional delegation to get the bill authorizing the commemorative coins through Congress.

"Our state is deeply rooted in the heritage of the U.S. Marshals Service. It was an honor to join Jim Dunn, Senator Boozman, and Congressman Womack at the unveiling of the U.S. Marshals Museum 225th anniversary commemorative coins," Pryor said. "I was proud to work with the Fort Smith community and the Arkansas delegation to pass this bill and help honor the U.S. Marshals Service. I can’t wait to purchase the coins and visit the U.S. Marshals Museum when it opens in Fort Smith.”

Walmart U.S. CEO Bill Simon is stepping down after more than four years in the job and eight years with Wal-Mart. Greg Foran, 53, was named the new Walmart U.S. CEO and the transition is effective Aug. 9.

A company statement issued early Thursday (July 24) credited Simon with leading a turnaround that “reinvigorated the company’s focus on everyday low costs, everyday low prices and an increased product assortment.” Simon was also a leader in the effort by Wal-Mart to hire more veterans and to buy more goods made in America.

“During Bill’s eight years of service to Walmart, his passion for our mission, dedication to our associates and our customers, and innovative thinking pushed us forward,” Wal-Mart Stores CEO Doug McMillon said in the statement. “From the very beginning, his vision led us to lower the cost of health care through our $4 prescription offering. And, most recently, he put us on a path to future growth with small formats and efforts that integrate digital and physical retail.”

Simon and McMillon, 47, were the top choices for succession prior to Mike Duke stepping down as Wal-Mart CEO on Feb. 1. McMillon was eventually selected to lead the global retail operation based in Bentonville. Simon will remain as a consultant for six months to "ensure a seamless transition," according to Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar told the media on Thursday (July 24) that it was a mutual decision, and said Simon "is leaving on good terms."

“When someone else gets (the job) out of two candidates, it's not unexpected when the other person leaves to go do something else," said Tovar.

He said McMillon had "a number of conversations" with Simon about “the right time to leave," as he wanted to stay on through a transition period, which will give him time to "figure out his next challenge.”

“It’s been an honor to work for Walmart over the past eight years, and this felt like the right time to move on and focus on my next opportunity,” Simon said in the statement. “I look forward to helping the company as much as I can over the next six months.”

Simon leaves with a retirement package worth roughly $9 million in compensation and stock awards, including a $4.5 million payment to be paid in installments through July 2016. He will earn about $300,000 as a consultant through the holiday season. Wal-Mart has a strict noncompete agreement that should keep Simon from seeking work with a competitor for two years.

NOTES ON FORAN
Foran joined the company in October 2011 and became President and CEO of Walmart China in March 2012. Prior to Walmart, Foran held a number of roles with Woolworths, the leading retailer in Australia and New Zealand. He served as the managing director of supermarkets, liquor and petrol with responsibility for more than $40 billion in sales at that time. Foran also served as general manager of Big W, Woolworth’s industry leading discount store business and as general manager of Dick Smith Electronics. He has 35 years of retail experience.

“I’ve worked closely with Greg for the past few years and I’ve seen firsthand his passion for retail. I’m confident that Greg’s strong leadership skills and alignment with our culture will serve our customers and associates well,” McMillon said.

Foran said he is eager to address the changing nature of the retail business.

“Being asked to lead the Walmart U.S. business is a privilege that I don’t take lightly,” said Foran. “I am excited to get started. The needs of our customers are changing dramatically and we have an enormous opportunity to serve them in new and different ways. We must be fierce advocates for our customers, work meticulously to exceed their expectations and earn their trust every day.”

Foran will receive a salary of $950,000, along with a bonus incentive plan earning him as much as 300% of that pay, or about $2.9 million. He also is eligible for an annual equity award with a target value of about $4.9 million, plus $1.63 million in restricted shares, and a $500,000 one-time cash payment, according a contract filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

MARKET REACTION
While it may not be a surprise Simon is leaving, the timing and the naming of Greg Foran as his replacement have some analysts scratching their heads. Belus Capital Advisors’ Brian Sozzi calls the timing of Wal-Mart’s move “odd.” 

“The move to replace Bill Simon as Walmart U.S. President and CEO comes at a very, very odd time. However, if one is good at putting puzzles together, then the reasons why the change is happening two weeks before earnings are obvious,” Sozzi noted.

Sozzi said the recent earnings warning that Simon disclosed on July 9 in a Reuters interview may not have been a popular action within the company and with institutional investors.

“That is a no-no, perhaps a final straw in light of poor management of the business during his tenure,” he noted, adding that same-store sales have fallen for five consecutive quarters and inventories are building.

He said the decision to replace a high-ranking leader of a major retailer before back-to-school and ahead of the holidays is no laughing matter. Sozzi also said the timing “speaks volumes as to the current trends in the U.S. business.”

Simon is credited with the company’s small-store expansion which began late last year in an attempt to grow U.S. sales that had been lost Dollar General and other convenience formats. Analysts applauded the retailer’s focus on small formats but often questioned Wal-Mart about over-saturation possibilities, to which Wal-Mart said it is not concerned.

Gene Hoffman, president of of Corporate Strategies International, said Foran must now transform a stale operation.

“Walmart's U.S. operation's appeal has aged. Its pricing is no longer overwhelming. New ideas and breakthrough concepts are needed,” Hoffman wrote. “Greg Foran has been handed staleness, which I believe is the greatest challenge facing him as the new leader. And his greatest opportunities lie creating new beginnings just as Sam Walton did in 1962.”

Jason Long, CEO of Shift Marketing Group, said his initial thought on the transition was that Simon’s recent signal regarding next quarter’s earnings being soft may have sealed his fate. 

“Doug McMillon’s on the clock to turn comp sales around and he can’t do it without a growing U.S. market. He needs to act with a sense of urgency and this could have been a step in that direction,” Long said.

David Stasser, a retail analyst with Janney Capital Markets, said Foran is “a strong leader with retail expertise to take control of this U.S. business,” but expressed concern about his lack of U.S. experience while at Walmart.

POSITIVE MOVE
Other experts see no problem with the timing or change in leadership at Walmart U.S.

“It’s no shock Bill Simon is leaving after not getting the lead role when Mike Duke stepped down as Walmart CEO last year,” noted Sandy Skrovan, U.S. research director at Planet Retail. “This move demonstrates that Walmart will not rest on its laurels and is definitely open to bringing in fresh blood and new thinking.”

Carol Spieckerman, CEO of NewMarketBuilders, said the timing of the transition makes sense on a number of levels.

“Walmart’s lagging U.S. sales would seem to present an obvious justification for a changing of the guard, but I see it more as a positive, future-seeking move. Walmart is aggressively rolling out small formats and fine-tuning its next-stage, digitally-integrated supply chain efficiencies. Thanks to its aggressive approach to acquisitions, it is also in an exciting and continuous test-and-learn cycle on the digital side of the business,” Spieckerman told The City Wire.

She said the move also combines the global retail experiences of Foran and McMillon. McMillon was head of international operations at Wal-Mart prior to being named corporate CEO.

“Mr. Foran is a terrific choice at this point since so many of these new initiatives either borrow from international markets or are critical to the success of Walmart’s global omnichannel ecosystem. His understanding of global retail dynamics is right for the times and his ascension, along with Doug McMillon’s, speaks to the importance of having a global perspective in today’s retail world,” Spieckerman added.
 
Spieckerman also said Simon’s six-month consulting role at Walmart, paired with the non-compete agreement, ensures he won’t land at a competing retailer in the near future – an important factor consider the number of executive level openings in retail.
 
Spieckerman said given the pace of retail change, it will be fascinating to see where and if Simon resurfaces, or if he will parlay his experience into a non-retail opportunity in the meantime. 

Long, with Shift Marketing, also said Walmart may not be the end of Simon’s retail career.

“He’s only 54 years old and leaves with his reputation largely intact. He’ll get a nice severance package, and after his reported two-year non-compete is up, can resurface for the next chapter in his retail career,” Long said.

July has been a month to reflect on the past and look to the future as Dr. Evelyn Jorgenson celebrated her one-year anniversary as President at NorthWest Arkansas Community College July 1.

“I think it was an excellent year,” Jorgenson said. “It was a year of learning as it should have been and as I expected it to be.”

Jorgenson spent much of the year getting acquainted with the NWACC faculty and staff, as well as the Northwest Arkansas community. She and the staff also worked to stabilize the college’s financial situation, including stabilizing tuition so that there were no increases.

“We looked very closely at all operations to tighten the belt wherever we can but not sacrifice being about to serve our students in both Washington and Benton counties,” she said.

A major focal point for the coming year – its 25th year following authorization on Aug. 15, 1989 – will be to improve student retention. Fall 2013 enrollment was 8,020 students, down 3.8% compared to fall 2012. However, a record 1,602 freshmen were enrolled in the fall. The fall-to-fall retention rate for all students held at 46%.

“We will be looking at every aspect of our operations to see what we can do better to make sure students are successful,” Jorgenson said.

Overall, NWACC had close to 20,000 students in the academic year 2013 (July 2012 to June 2013) enrolled in college classes, workforce development adult education and other non-traditional college courses.

Washington County growth is another focus for the next year as workforce training, and career and technical education become a priority. The college has planned a Washington County Center for several years and it appears those plans are closer to reality. The college hopes to close on land for the facility this fall and will focus on career and technical programs designed to get people immediately into the workforce, Jorgenson said.

Steven Hinds, executive director of public relations and marketing, said the college has been in negotiations with land owner Philip Taldo to purchase the 20 acres next to Arvest Ballpark in Springdale. The land appraised for $2.5 million and Taldo has agreed to a $2.4 selling price to the college.

The NWACC Board of Trustees approved a Parameters Resolution on June 9, which authorized up to “$3 million in aggregate principal amount of NWACC District Student Tuition Revenue bonds to finance the acquisition, construction, and equipping of capital improvements in Washington County (the center).”

Tuition revenue bonds must be used because the millage the college receives comes only from the Bentonville and Rogers school districts and therefore cannot be used to serve Washington County. If approved, tuition paid by students in Washington County would be the funding source for paying back the bonds.

The college must submit its plans to several state agencies for approval. Those steps include:
• Requesting approval from the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board to purchase the land using the tuition revenue bonds. This meeting is set for Friday (July 25);

• Submitting the method of finance to the Department of Finance and Administration; and

• Submitting a request before the Arkansas Legislative Council Review Committee (next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 3). This committee reviews the request and makes its recommendation to the Arkansas Legislative Council, which meets Sept. 19.

“If we receive approval from each of these groups, we would seek approval from the NWACC Board to issue and market the bonds,” Hinds said. “We plan to close on or before the end of September.”

The NWACC Foundation would then implement a fundraising campaign to raise money to construct a building.

The NWACC Board will meet for a retreat 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday (July 26) to discuss its five-year plan, goals for the upcoming year and other college planning activities.

A move by an Oklahoma state representative could potentially limit any future growth of strip clubs and other adult oriented businesses in the eastern Oklahoma areas near the Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas regions.

Rep. Ben Sherrer, D-Chouteau, earlier this month urged Gov. Mary Fallin, R-Okla., to call a special session to limit where adult-oriented businesses could open in rural, non-incorporated sections of the state.

According to Sherrer, construction of a commercial building in rural Mayes County — what he described as the heart of Oklahoma Amish country — lead to his request of the first-term governor. There has been no confirmation of what the building will be used for, though KOKI-TV 23 in Tulsa confirmed that the owner of the land is Hai Ying, who the television station reported owned three adult-themed businesses in other states.

Sherrer told The City Wire his goal was to introduce a solution for his constituents at a statewide level to keep an adult business from opening since the county does not have zoning to keep a strip club or adult oriented businesses from opening.

"The request from my constituents was to find a solution at the statewide level to set up a regulatory scheme, if you will, for adult sex-oriented businesses (establishing clear boundaries) between such businesses and property that is used for residential or church purposes."

He has proposed legislation that would limit adult-themed businesses from being closer than 1,000 feet from a home or church in unincorporated areas. The law, he said, would be based around ordinances already in affect in Rogers and Washington Counties in Oklahoma.

But Sherrer's call for the governor to hold a special session appears to be dead on arrival. Reached for comment, a spokesman for Fallin referenced comments by her communications director, Alex Weintz, to KOKI in which he made clear a session would not occur since she believes the issues raised by Sherrer could be addressed locally. Her office also noted the cost of a special session potentially running hundreds of thousands of dollars per day.

Sherrer said even though Fallin will not call the special session he requested in early July, the issue is not dead. The Oklahoma legislature is scheduled to return for its next regular session in February, Sherrer said, meaning he will have an opportunity to introduce the legislation and see whether his colleagues in the House and Senate are willing to take up the issue.

So far, no organized efforts by any adult entertainment lobby have risen to oppose Sherrer's proposal. In fact, the owner of Cheyenne Gentlemen's Club just west of downtown Fort Smith in Sequoyah County told The City Wire he did not think the proposed regulations would hurt businesses at all.

"I think there's a place for them and it needs to be (away from neighborhoods)," said owner Preston Cloud, who has owned the only strip club on either side of the border in the Fort Smith-area for 23 years and owns others in Tulsa County.

"In Tulsa, they do (have zoning laws). Tulsa is limited to the licensed areas, the zoned areas. We don't have a problem with that. We know where the zoning is and that's where we do business," he said, adding that it would be easy to comply with Sherrer's proposed law should it gain traction during next year's legislative session.

But gaining traction is going to be tough, the Chouteau Democrat said, calling the legislation "dicey."

"What I'm finding is when a Democrat comes off and does something like this, he's big government and anti-business and anti-property rights. When a Republican does this, it is a stand for family values," he said. "Depending on the level of spin you want to put on it, it's kind of dicey because you have the folks. ... what I'm experiencing is the exact same population that was wanting me as a state representative to get something done is the exact demographic of people who oppose more regulation and bureaucracy."

In spite of the accusations that the legislation he plans to introduce could be considered "big government," Sherrer said he would introduce it anyway.

"Constituents asked for me to do what I could and I tried to call the special session to do something immediately," he said. "I told those folks I would file legislation and I intend to keep my word on that."

As for Cloud, the strip club owner serving the Fort Smith market, he said he had no complaints about the proposed law.

"The law works for me, you know?"

This year the four major cities in Northwest Arkansas have reported yo-yo tax revenue month-to-month, but in July revenue bounced higher topping $4.936 million reported by Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale and Fayetteville. The cumulative gain is up over the $4.406 million in July 2013.

City leaders have said they are not sure where the particularly strong July numbers came from but it’s been that kind of year — unpredictable. The July reports for the four cities were:
• Bentonville, $1.010 million, up 23.9%;
• Fayetteville, $1.572 million, up 4.45%;
• Rogers, $1.328 million, up 12.82%; and
• Springdale, $1.024 million, up 12.94%.

All of the cities collect a 2% tax on sales and services. Those collections are split evenly with 1% going toward debt repayment and 1% going into the cities’ general budget fund. This report reflects the latter. The July tax revenue reflects sales and services rendered in May creating a two-month lag in the reporting.

Bentonville officials report that through July the city has collected about 60% of the budget for this year. Finance Director Denise Land said the financial budget is in great shape even though collections are trailing revenue in 2013. In June, Bentonville’s revenue dipped 26%, only to rebound 23% in July. Land said the roller coaster ride is nothing new, and as long as collections top budget estimates she is content with the rocky ride.

Springdale posted its best month since 2006, bursting through the $1 million monthly threshold on the heels of a strong revenue gain of 12% in June. Mayor Doug Sprouse expects the tax revenue to continue growing though the balance of this year as the new Walmart Supercenter is slated to open this summer. He said the convenient location on the west side of town and I-49 should keep some Springdale shoppers in town that had driven the store in southwest Rogers at Pleasant Grove Road.

Fayetteville city leaders are happy about the 4.5% gain in their July revenue in a year where collections have been flat. Through July Fayetteville reports county and city collections are down more than $90,000 below last year.

Rogers reported a strong month of collections, up 12.8% from a year ago, and considerably better than the flat collections tallied in June. City leaders recently told The City Wire collections are well within the $14 million budget for 2014. Finance Director Casey Wilhelm said the city expects collections to remain strong the balance of this year, on the strength of activity surrounding the Walmart AMP, now in full swing. 

Sales tax revenue collections are directly linked to consumer confidence readings and when looking back at the May reading, consumers took a gloomy view on income growth with a conservative and tepid outlook.

The University of Michigan's final May reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 81.9, down from 84.1 the month before. Survey director Richard Curtin said the main concern expressed by consumers involved dismal prospects for wage growth, which for nearly half of all households meant anticipated declines in inflation-adjusted incomes and living standards during the year ahead. Some 56% of consumers reported that the economy had improved somewhat, though wages lagged behind.

Arvest Bank recently released its first regional consumer sentiment report from surveys completed in May and June. That localized report found Arkansas consumers to be less optimistic than their neighbors in Missouri and Oklahoma. The consumer sentiment index for Arkansas was 67.4, trailing that of Missouri (68.6) and Oklahoma (76.4). 

“These new consumer sentiment data indicate that Arkansas can expect continued on-again, off-again growth. Until consumers indicate that they feel confident about their economic futures, personal income growth will be the key to additional spending and a breakout recovery. We will look forward to our next data point to begin telling us about trends in optimism,” Kathy Deck, director for the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas, said in the report.

She said the initial readings indicate that consumers in the region, and especially in Arkansas, are “leery” about overall economic conditions in the near future, although they reported being relatively upbeat about their current financial status.

When Tom arrives at work, he enjoys spending time with co-workers and simply getting time out of the house. He says the paycheck “is just icing on the cake.” 

Tom is a client at Open Avenues, a non-profit organization in Rogers that offers people with physical and developmental disabilities programs that foster independent living and socialization. Open Avenues is an example that not all Wal-Mart suppliers are consumer goods companies, grocery vendors or other high-volume players.

One of those programs is through The Work Center, which contracts with local companies, including several departments of Wal-Mart Stores, to have Open Avenues clients perform a variety of tasks in the organization’s facility.

“We do much needed work for the vendors, and it is fulfilling work,” Tom said.

He was the Open Avenues Spirit Award recipient at Open Avenues’ 17th annual Spring Fling Luau in May.

“This award is presented each year to a program participant who best demonstrates the qualities and characteristics that make Open Avenues a great place,” said Allison McElroy, Open Avenues Foundation director.

McElroy shared a list of more than 15 area companies that contract with Open Avenues to have simple manufacturing, sorting, collating and many other functions performed by the clients at the facility. This in turn creates a workforce program for the Open Avenues clients where they learn job skills that can either be used to get a job outside of Open Avenues or provide a simple income and sense of accomplishment for work the clients do at the center. The companies pay Open Avenues and in turn the organization pays its clients for their work. An estimated 25% to 30% of the Open Avenues budget comes from The Work Center, McElroy said. 

According to information from McElroy, at least three of the contracts are with Wal-Mart entities including Wal-Mart, Walmart Print Solutions and Walmart Reverse Logistics. An ongoing project is to have the clients repack shipping boxes for Wal-Mart. 

Sam Dunn, senior vice president of Strategy & Business Planning Walmart Leverage, works at Wal-Mart but is also on the Open Avenues board. He said the box repacking program is a part of Wal-Mart’s sustainability initiative. The clients inspect each box as it comes through and decides if it can be reused or if it needs to be recycled. The boxes that can be reused are bundled and returned to Wal-Mart.

Open Avenues clients also disassemble scanners from old Walmart stores for possible recyclable materials.

By contracting with organizations such as Open Avenues, Wal-Mart is able to leverage a resource that doesn’t require the company to hire its own employees or find additional space to perform the projects. It also contributes to Wal-Mart’s initiative to “keep jobs local” and to help provide jobs for local residents who might not otherwise be able to find work. 

One residual benefit, Dunn said, is that some of the clients who are able to gain enough skills and independence to work outside of Open Avenues sometimes come work in the Walmart store locations. 

McElroy said each client has an individual plan and set of goals to achieve. Sometimes the goal Is full independence outside the center, other times it is simply to increase productivity and help the client achieve the greatest level of independence possible.

Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas areas do not sit on or near regularly active fault lines, but residents in the regions should pay attention to a new hazard map issued by the United States Geological Survey.

The reason, notes Geologist Scott Ausbrooks of the Arkansas Geological Survey, is because if the big one hits in northeast Arkansas — along the New Madrid Fault Line in what the USGS classified as being in the nation's highest hazard — impacts will be felt across the state and region.

"The effects of a 7.0 magnitude or greater along the New Madrid, especially on the southern extension from Blytheville (in Mississippi County, Ark.) to Marked Tree, will have a profound impact not just locally but regionally," he said. "The other impacts will be felt nationally."

For one, Ausbrooks said, an earthquake of that magnitude would be felt in cities like Fayetteville, Fort Smith and Rogers. He said it could be enough to make items fall off shelves, though he said heavy structural damage as far away as the northwest region of Arkansas would be unlikely.

Even though severe structural damage would be unlikely, infrastructure problems are likely to present themselves.

"You guys probably wouldn't have any damage, but it could impact power and communication that far out, especially if the grid is impacted. And just imagine Interstate 40 becoming a parking lot getting goods to the east. It would have some major impacts. Again, not directly where you're at, but indirectly there would be impacts."

But while it may seem far-fetched to some that an earthquake would even strike in Arkansas, Ausbrooks points to history as a guide and specifically pointing to the earthquakes along the New Madrid in 1811 and 1812 that many seismologists estimate registered as high as 9.0 magnitude and caused church bells to ring in Boston and resulted in damage hundreds of miles from the epicenter of New Madrid, Mo.

And the new maps released by the USGS rank the highest risk not simply based on the likelihood of another earthquake, but when the earthquake is likely to strike.

"While all states have some potential for earthquakes, 42 of the 50 states have a reasonable chance of experiencing damaging ground shaking from an earthquake in 50 years — the typical lifetime of a building," the USGS said in a press release.

In the 243-page study released with the updated maps, the USGS noted that more than 100 years of global earthquake observations were included in the map update process, which includes Arkansas as one of the 16 states with the highest risk of a major earthquake during the next half-century.


But the risks are coming from more than just the New Madrid, the map shows, with Oklahoma's earthquake risk rising, as well. It is that risk that Ausbrooks said could pose a greater threat to the Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas regions, as the quakes in Oklahoma in recent years have tended to be more shallow and therefore felt more broadly and in some cases, more violently.

And while the New Madrid shows the highest risk, recent memory will remind locals in western Arkansas that Oklahoma's earthquakes — which have led to a rarely issued earthquake warning being issued for the state — are a closer threat. Ausbrooks notes that a 2011 earthquake centered near Prague, Okla., registered a 5.6 magnitude. The quake destroyed several homes in the area and shook items off shelves as far away as Arkansas, he noted.


"In fact, that (5.6) magnitude in Prague actually knocked pictures and stuff off the walls in Fort Smith. There was an impact that far away," Ausbrooks said, before noting that should a 6.0 or higher strike in central Oklahoma, the border region would likely see more of those impacts on a wider scale.

The bottom line, he said, is to take the USGS hazard map seriously and be prepared for the impacts of an earthquake just as you would a tornado or a flood.

"Have a basic flashlight and a call list. Non-perishable goods, batteries, things like that. And just have a plan of action. If something happens, where do you go? What do you do? Basic stuff like that will go a long way in preparedness," Ausbrooks said.

Many of the nation’s industrial sectors saw major declines in the first quarter of 2014 as 16 of 22 industry groups contributed to the 2.9% decrease in U.S. economic activity, according to a quarterly report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

The bellwether industry data from the U.S. Department of Commerce is derived from last month’s GDP report showing the U.S. economy fell nearly three points in the first quarter of 2014, following an increase of 2.6% in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Overall, both private services- and goods-producing industries contributed to the decrease, while the government sector increased slightly. Durable-goods manufacturing; wholesale trade; and agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting, all key contributors to the Arkansas economy, were major factors in the GDP decline.

The new report from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s statistical arm could also put a damper on last month’s news that Arkansas’ economy grew 2.4% in 2013. At the time, John Shelnutt, head of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration’s Economic Analysis and Tax Research division, called the sources of growth in Arkansas “a little unusual.”

He said the state experienced robust gains in the service and agriculture sectors, but saw contraction in construction and manufacturing. But the most unusual source of growth came in the mining sector, which saw a huge decline in 2012 as natural gas prices and low rig counts buffeted the Fayetteville Shale.

“That is a little odd because it is a volatile sector where (growth) doesn’t persist year after year, or multiple years,” Shelnutt said. “It could be seen as a one-time contribution. It is a rebound from the negative year in 2012, but goes beyond a simple recovery.”

Other recent signs of a downturn in Arkansas came in a June 24 report from the U.S. Commerce Department indicating that personal income fell 0.2% in the first quarter as earnings for state workers failed to keep pace with inflation and Arkansas farms lost more than $1 billion.

And to add fuel to the fire, the first quarter downturn across the U.S. was not limited. Overall, 19 out of 22 industry groups contributed to the 5.5 percentage points downturn in real GDP; the leading contributors to the downturn were wholesale trade; professional, scientific, and technical services; and durable-goods manufacturing.

Here are some other highlights of the BEA report:
• Growth in real value added slowed for nondurable-goods manufacturing in the first quarter; however, the industry group contributed the largest positive offset to the decrease in real GDP in the first quarter. Nondurable-goods manufacturing, which includes petroleum and coal product manufacturing, increased 15.1% in the first quarter of 2014, after an increase of 18.6% in the fourth quarter;

• Professional, scientific, and technical services turned down in the first quarter, decreasing 6.5% after increasing 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Professional, scientific, and technical services includes industries such as legal services, engineering, and administrative management and management consulting services; and

• Federal government turned up 3.2% in the first quarter—its first increase since the second quarter of 2011.

Economists are split on the direction the economy is heading. There is a school of thought that blames the rough first quarter numbers on harsh winter weather that crippled the U.S. economy for weeks. Other economists predict the financial markets will lose steam and are awaiting other indicators of second quarter performance.

This is only the second time that the BEA has published quarterly GDP by industry statistics. The first release was on April 25, 2014, spanning the period 2005 through the fourth quarter of 2013. Previously, BEA published these statistics only on an annual basis, so businesses and policymakers had a much longer wait for such information.

Generally, GDP statistics are monitored closely by businesses to help them make decisions about whether to boost hiring and to expand capital spending. Real gross domestic product, or GDP, is the output of goods and services produced by U.S. workers.

A study released July 22 by the University of Arkansas this week said research showed that charter schools provide a greater return on investment and are more cost effective than traditional public schools. The head of Arkansas' largest education trade group said the study only tells part of the story.

The study was released by the university on Tuesday and was said to have included research of schools in 28 states.

"The national report, titled 'The Productivity of Public Charter Schools,' found that charter schools deliver on average an additional 17 points in math and 16 points in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exam taken by students for every $1,000 invested," the university reported on its website. "These differences amount to charter schools being 40 percent more cost-effective in math and 41 percent more cost-effective in reading, compared to traditional public schools."

One of the university's education professors said there were two primary reasons for claiming that charter schools were more cost effective than public schools.

“Across all states, we found charter schools to be more cost-effective than their traditional public school counterparts for one of two reasons: they either generate higher student achievement at a lower cost or they generate equal to slightly lower student achievement at a much lower cost,” said Patrick Wolf, Distinguished Professor and holder of the Twenty-First Century Chair in School Choice at the University of Arkansas. “Now that we know how well schools are using the public funds they receive, it would be fascinating to see what charters could accomplish if they had close to equitable funding.”

But Tom Dooher, executive director of the Arkansas Education Association, said Friday (July 25) that the study was flawed for several reasons.

"First, I think the readers need to know who funded the project — the Walton Family Foundation. They are pro-charter school advocates. So there is a bias going into that," he said.

Dooher also said the study only reviewed math and reading test scores and did not look at the "whole child."

"We know that a child is much more than a test score," he said, adding that public schools are tasked with providing a full curriculum and set of extra-curricular activities, such as arts, athletics, band and more, which contribute to some of the increased costs that may have been included in the study.

Dooher said limited extra-curricular activities coupled with the fact that charter schools are not necessarily under a mandate to accept and educate all children within district boundaries play into why the study is not an "apples to apples" comparison.

Even though he said the study was not a fair comparison, the university said the study compared "two similar students, one attending a charter school and the other attending a traditional public school. ROI (return on investment) calculations then factor in dollars invested in a school, academic achievement and projected lifetime earnings – to see which school type 'pays off' over time in terms of the economic benefits from increased learning."

“This study is path breaking and is likely to spearhead a new and important policy debate,” said Eric Hanushek, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, who reviewed the report’s methodology and key findings. “Until the 2008 recession, schools largely acted as if they were immune from considering finances and returns on expenditures, but we now know that this is no longer possible. This timely study invites a more rational discussion of policy choices, not just with respect to charter schools, but also in a wider context.”

But Dooher said a larger study needs to be conducted over the long-term before any policy discussions take place. He said that Art Rolnick, former director of research and public affairs at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, conducted a study that showed a real emphasis should be placed on early childhood education in order to increase return on investment and cost effectiveness in education.

"He did a 16- to 20-year study and started with children in early childhood. He found that when you educate the whole child, you get a 16% better return rate on that child," Dooher said, adding that overall welfare costs and incarceration rates proved to be lower, as well.

"You can't take a one year snapshot of one test that looks at a child's reading and math score. You need to look at the career of a child. If you want the answer on the return on investment, you need to look at the career of a child."

Dooher said charter schools have not been in existence long enough for a study of significance to yet exist and added that until charters take on any and all students just as public schools must do by law, any studies would continue to be fundamentally flawed.

"Look, it makes for a good headline and it makes charter schools feel good about what they're doing, but it does nothing to tell us how well they're doing," he said. "I think what we need to make sure is that the public has an understanding of what do they want schools to produce? And once we have that understanding and ask that question, then we can understand what we want our kids to look like when they graduate. Once we have that, we can study to see if we're getting what we want. But to say are we doing that cost effectively is not an apples to apples comparison."

Tyson Foods announced late Friday (July 25) plans to shutter three of its processing facilities as it streamlines its prepared foods segment ahead of the anticipated merger with Hillshire Brands.

The meat giant said a total of 950 jobs will be impacted with these closures by mid next year:
• 450 jobs Cherokee, Iowa, plant to be shuttered Sept. 27;
• 
300 jobs Buffalo, N.Y., plant closing by mid 2015; and

• 200 jobs Santa Teresa, N.M., plant closing by mid 2015.

Tyson said in a press release that the closings will enable the meat giant to use more of the available production capacity at some of its other prepared foods plants. 

“This is a very difficult decision since it affects the lives of our team members and their families,” said Donnie King, president, prepared foods, customer and consumer solutions for Tyson Foods. “However, these plants have been struggling financially. After long and careful consideration, we’ve concluded it no longer makes business sense to keep them open.”

The planned closures are due to a combination of factors including changing product needs, the age of the Cherokee facility and prohibitive cost of its renovation and the distance of the Buffalo and Santa Teresa plants from their raw material supply base in the Midwest. In addition, the closings will allow the company to shift some of the production and equipment to other, more cost-efficient Tyson Foods locations, according to the release.

All three plants have been part of Tyson Foods since 2001, when the company acquired IBP Inc.

The Cherokee plant, which Tyson Foods leases, has produced processed meats since 1965. It makes deli meats, hams, Canadian bacon and hot dogs.

The Buffalo facility produces hot dogs, sausage and hams. It first opened in 1969 and operated as Russer Foods until 1999, when it was acquired by IBP.

Santa Teresa makes a variety of cooked products including dinner meats, diced ham and roast beef. The facility was built by John’s Brothers and opened in the spring of 1982. It became part of IBP in 1994.

In the past year, Tyson Foods has expanded its deli meat capacity in the Houston, Texas plant. That was on top of the Hillshire Brands operations for deli meats and hotdog facilities in Kansas City, Mo.; St. Joseph, Mo.; Zeeland, Mich.; New London, Wisc.; and Claryville, Ky. Hillshire also operates sausage processing plants in Tennessee and Alabama. In total, Hillshire operates 11 separate meat processing plants on top of four non-meat facilities.

Tyson CEO Donnie Smith estimates that when the merger is complete, the companies will see $300 million in synergies in the first three years, which would be primarily gained from operational and supply chain efficiencies. Tyson has agreed to pay $63 per share for Hillshire Brands, a deal worth $8.55 billion.

Tyson management will answer questions about the pending merger and plant closures Monday morning during the company’s third quarter earnings call with analysts.

The meat giant noted in its release that affected workers will be encouraged to apply for openings within the company and also will be invited to job fairs Tyson Foods plans to host. In addition, the company intends to work with state officials to ensure employees are informed about unemployment benefits and any potential re-training opportunities.

A new five-year strategic plan is in the works at NorthWest Arkansas Community College and it is specifically geared to measure against how it helps students succeed.

The NWACC Board of Trustees met for its semi-annual board retreat, which is a brainstorming and planning meeting where consensus can be reached but no binding votes are taken. The retreat, held Saturday (July 26) at the college, was followed by an official board meeting where the board members approved researching plans to expand the college’s culinary arts program.


NWACC has had a five-year plan but in the process of reviewing and revising it for the next five years, NWACC President Evelyn Jorgenson said.

“Everything we do needs to be for the benefit of the students.”

The trustees got the first look at the plan draft and after their comments the proposed plan will be presented to various stakeholders including faculty. The final 5-year strategic plan would then be approved in January. 
The strategic plan is divided into eight areas with key goals and corresponding action plans described within each area. The staff and board members focused on goals they are trying to accomplish for the 2014-2015 school year. 
There are eight key areas for the five-year strategic plan and the goals for this school year, if approved by all stakeholders and the college board.

INCREASE ENROLLMENT
The college will institute direct marketing plans that target specific audiences including high school students and other key markets for growth. College officials will also develop an internal marketing plan for employees so they better understand and can promote the college’s student-centered focus and assist in recruitment and retention.


Another aspect of increasing student enrollment will be to identify and address barriers that potential students face during the enrollment process and to create strategies that remove those barriers. Action plans to achieve this goal include investigating lowering out-of-state and online tuition; development pathways to move adult education (GED, ESL) students into credit and non-credit programs (a low percentage of these students enroll in NWACC after completing their initial program); increasing opportunities for veterans to earn more credit for military training; identify enrollment and registration processes that need improvement; and identify which population groups are facing unique challenges and what it would take to remove those challenges. 


The college will also focus on increasing enrollment of students who come from under-represented populations through increasing funding for various programs and identifying new ways to appeal to these students, especially various types of non-traditional students. 
Increasing early college experience program participation rates is an ongoing goal but no specific changes to the processes were outlined for this school year.  


INCREASE STUDENT SUCCESS
Increasing the fall-to-fall semester retention rates is a big task for the college staff this school year, which they hope to accomplish through analyzing retention data trends and targeting improvement areas; developing professional development opportunities for faculty and staff to improve the learning experience; determining and overcoming potential barriers for under-served student groups; and re-inventing the first-year experience for new, first-time, full-time students.


Two other goals within increasing student success are to identify key campus improvements that will enhance the overall student experience – such as increased security and a security smartphone app, and partnering with the IT department to create a better experience for students. 


PROGRAMMING IMPROVEMENTS
A major component of attracting and keeping students is having quality programming and assessment programs. This ensures that the programs and ultimately the students are meeting state, federal and personal goals. The college plans to improve its procedures for program review, but also meet with employers and business leaders to determine where new programs might be needed. 


New programs must also be taught well so the college will work to improve its teaching and learning processes by creating more orientation and faculty development opportunities for part-time faculty. 


The college also wants to create cost-effective strategies for ending current major grants and sustaining those programs that continue to be valuable. This will be achieved through making several improvements and enhancements to the grant processes within the college. 


FINANCIAL STABILITY
College officials have worked in recent years to create a more financially stable environment for the college and were recently able to stabilize tuition rates. A major focus this year will be to balance enrollment with revenue and potential expenses with specific strategies such as making sure NWACC has an affordable and comprehensive insurance portfolio; making changes in the treasurer’s office so that students are counseled more on their financial decisions regarding their academic future; implementing specific technology; improving finance workflow processes and enhancing usage and communication of available surplus assets across the entire college.

Another goal is to “further develop and improve budgeting process that supports the college strategic plan and processes.” The actions planned to achieve this financial goal include creating a balanced budget; building an annual operational contingency; reducing costs with various measures such as energy efficiency and automation; and increasing monthly financial reporting. 


The college also hopes to diversify its state appropriation funding by pursuing different types of funding for programs such as workforce development, capital request projects, and other state-funded programs that are outside the standard state appropriation. 


While state and grant funding are vital for success, the college has a history of not being adequately funded by the state, according to school officials. The NWACC Foundation helps with scholarships, some capital projects and other programs that enhance the overall learning experience at NWACC. The college plans to pursue specific means of increasing Foundation revenue, according to the plan. Another goal is to increase corporate and learning programs, which meet community needs but also increases income for the college. 


COMMUNITY OUTREACH
The fifth area set out in the proposed strategic plan addresses how the college will further engage the community and create opportunities for its students to be a part of the community. This includes goals such as offering community education programs and supporting student and employee involvement in community non-profit events, such as developing a team to participate in a fundraiser event. 


OPERATIONAL SUPPORT
Many programs and initiatives in the strategic plan will be noticeable and public to the students but some are behind-the-scenes, all with the intent of improving student experience. A part of this initiative is to increase technology alignment with all of the strategic goals through actions such as creating plans that increase communication, streamline software upgrades and create easier remote access to applications and services for students. 


Another aspect of operations is the employees and how they are managed. A goal for this year is to increase employee satisfaction rates through promoting work/life balance, providing consulting for individual employee growth and development , and streamlining human resources processes using technology. The college also wants to make improvements in its finance area to improve the employee experience in that department. Other action plans include evaluating and improving new employee orientation, investigating retirement planning services for employees and investigating alternative health plans. 


FACILITIES EXPANSION
Maintaining facilities and establishing new locations are major goals for NWACC this school year. Several renovations and repairs are expected for existing facilities and officials hope to complete the purchase of land in Springdale near Arvest Ballpark by the end of September. During the official board meeting after the retreat, the board authorized college staff to research the possibility of expanding its culinary arts program to a building on Southeast 8th Street in Bentonville. 


Part of maintaining a campus is working with other businesses and government agencies. The college hopes to complete the purchase of land where railroad tracks run through the campus, and will continue talks with the City of Bentonville regarding the expansion of 8th Street and Water Tower Road. 


Another goal is to “maximize facilities and support educational programs,” which will be achieved through activities including evaluating space in the National Child Protection and Training Center, identifying renovations necessary to move adult education programs to the main campus and creating an inventory of classroom needs in Burns Hall. 


The Northwest Arkansas community has strong support for a community college-level sports program, a room full of area sports program advocates told the NorthWest Arkansas Community College Board of Trustees on Saturday (July 26). 


The board met for its semi-annual board retreat, which is where the board member discuss ideas and provide general direction for staff but no binding votes are taken. 
Board member Todd Schwartz broached the subject of the college offering organized sports for the first time in its nearly 25-year history. It offers club sports, which has nearly 80 participants. Schwartz said he recently attended a conference where the idea of community colleges having competitive sports teams was discussed. 


“NWACC has always supported its students through organizations,” he said. “A sanctioned sports program seems to be another way.”


It was standing room only with a large group of people advocating for the program including coaches and local businessmen such as Cameron Smith. Former Razorback baseball coach Norm DeBriyn was also a part of the group and he supported the idea, saying it would draw students, enhance the NWACC brand and encourage more money to come into the college. 


All of the advocates speaking at the retreat said the program could be funded entirely through private dollars. Cameron Smith said he has five years teaching experience with fast-pitch girls’ softball and knows how to build a program from the ground up. 


“I know how to build this from square one and will not let it affect the college’s finances,” he said. 


Through the discussion, several concerns and potential issues were raised including the fact that NWACC’s average student age is 26 and many of those students are full-time workers who might not fit the type who wants to play college sports. Several supporters said they believe NWA has many talented young people who don’t qualify for Division 1 sports but who still want to play. 


“There’s a lot of kids out there in our communities that get a lot out of athletics,” board member Joe Spivey said. “It gives them purpose. Both young men and young women.” 


Another potential concern is the idea of recruiting students from out of state because Arkansas does not allow community colleges to have residence halls. 
Spivey said if such a program came to the college he would not be interested in recruiting outside the state because he wants to give Northwest Arkansas student athletes more opportunities.

Schwartz agreed that most the talent would come from the region but that it didn’t mean that a quality program wouldn’t be a draw for those outside the area. 


Other concerns that were raised included the potential misconception of the college starting a sports program while it’s trying to solve financial problems and purchase land. 

“Would it be a stigma?,” board member Scott Grigsby said. 


Meredith Brunen, executive director of development, said that with the NWACC Foundation’s current fundraising activities it would be difficult to add on raising money for that size of a project.

In the end, the board authorized a committee to research the potential costs and funding sources for a baseball (men) and softball (women) program for the college.

Superior Industries announced early Wednesday (July 30) that it would close its Rogers wheel manufacturing plant as “part of an initiative to reduce costs and enhance its global competitive position.” The closure will result in the loss of 500 jobs, with the plant expected to end operations by the end of the year.

The company’s plant in Fayetteville will remain open, with some of the work from Rogers being shifted there and to operations in Chihuahua, Mexico. Company officials said the move would result in a $15 million per year labor cost savings. Average local wages at Superior Industries range from $55,000 to $80,000 annually, according Glassdoor.

“This action follows a comprehensive review of the company’s cost position in what continues to be an intensely competitive environment,” Don Stebbins, who joined Superior in May 2014 as its president and CEO and member of the Board of Directors, said in the statement. “Our board and management team remain focused on building an efficient, operationally stronger organization that can compete effectively with manufacturers around the globe. We appreciate the contributions of our team members at Rogers and will be providing assistance to them during the transition process”

Superior noted in June of 2013 that its U.S. facilities were unable to keep pace with the demand out of Detroit. Management said the plants in Rogers and Fayetteville faced capacity restraints and ran far less efficiently than their sister facilities in Mexico.

Kerry Shiba, chief financial officer for Superior Industries, said in June 2013, the challenges in the local plants related to their older age, equipment reliability and they are less adaptable to the “increasingly challenging product mix” in orders it gets from its two largest customers Ford and General Motors.

Despite retooling the Rogers plant in 2013, and a hefty $18 million capital investment last year in the two local plants, the company said it continued to lose some marketshare because it could not keep pace with demand. The company said most of the $18 million was earmarked for the larger Fayetteville plant, perhaps another hint that the Rogers facility’s days were numbered.

In 2013, the company said it squeezed 800,000 extras wheels from the two plants but that was not enough. Soon after, the company broke ground on its fourth facility in Mexico hoping to recapture some additional market share.

At $125 million, the new plant in Mexico will produce up 2.5 million wheels a year, giving the company 20% more capacity.

The closure is a huge blow to the Northwest Arkansas employment sector that continues to lose higher paying manufacturing jobs, despite a few recent announcements related to Wal-Mart’s U.S. manufacturing jobs initiative. Manufacturing employment in Northwest Arkansas was an estimated 26,300 in June, down from 26,500 in June 2013, and well below the 33,300 in June 2004 – a more than 21% drop in the 10-year period.

Wall Street analysts said Tuesday that they are concerned about the increasing capacity in the auto industry over the past few years. Adam Jonas, auto analyst with Morgan Stanley, said that the auto market's five year run of expanding production and profits is peaking.

"We're pulling forward from the future and it's worrisome" Jonas said.

The industry has added back 120% to 130% of the capacity lost during the recession, according to Jonas. 

“The current boom in auto production in Mexico is an example of the new surge in supply heading to U.S. showrooms,” he said.

Auto dealerships across the country report brisk sales that have them worried there won’t be enough automobiles coming to keep pace with the average 16.5 million units sold annually. 

In the first quarter of 2014, Superior reported lackluster earnings as its biggest customers, Ford, General Motors, Chrysler and Toyota worked through unsold inventories. The company reported net income of $4.8 million for the first quarter, flat with the year-ago period.

Net sales for the 2014 first quarter decreased 11% to $183.4 million from $206.4 million in the comparable period a year ago. However, the company’s gross profit improved to $15.6 million for the 2014 first quarter from $13.5 million in 2013, while the 2014 first quarter gross profit margin improved to 8.5% of net sales from 6.5% last year.

The gross profit margin improvements were attributed to lower labor costs and improved operational efficiencies.

Superior Industries will report its second quarter earnings on Thursday (July 31.)

A continued decline in the size of the workforce and the number of employed edged the Fort Smith metro jobless rate to 6.4% in June compared to 6.3% in May. The rate was lower than the 8.2% in June 2013, but the number of employed in the region fell 2.24% in the 12-month period.

June’s data is subject to revision in future reports from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The size of the Fort Smith regional workforce during June was 126,822, down slightly from 126,971 during May, and well below the 132,323 during June 2013, according to figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The labor force reached a revised high of 140,253 in June 2007, meaning the June workforce size is down 9.57% from the peak number.

The number of employed in the Fort Smith region totaled 118,751 in June, down from 118,929 in May, and an estimated 2,726 jobs below the 121,477 employed in June 2013.

Six of the eight metro areas in or connected to Arkansas had jobless rate increases in June compared to May, but all had jobless rate declines compared to June 2013. Northwest Arkansas and central Arkansas jobless rates in June were unchanged compared to May. During June, the lowest metro jobless rate in the state was 4.9% in Northwest Arkansas and the highest rate was 8.7% in the Memphis-West Memphis area.

FORT SMITH METRO NUMBERS
Unemployed persons in the region totaled an estimated 8,071 during June, up from the 8,042 during May, but well below the 10,846 during June 2013.

The Fort Smith area manufacturing sector employed an estimated 18,400 in June, up from 18,200 in May, and unchanged compared to June 2013. Sector employment is down almost 36% from a decade ago when June 2004 manufacturing employment in the metro area stood at 28,500. Also, the annual average monthly employment in manufacturing has fallen from 28,900 in 2005, 19,200 in 2012, and to 18,300 in 2013.

Jobs in the Trade, Transportation and Utilities sector — the region’s largest job sector —  totaled 24,400 in June, up from 24,300 in May, and above the 23,700 during June 2013. Employment in the sector reached a high of 25,700 in December 2007.

Employment in the region’s tourism industry was 9,600 during June, down from 9,700 in May and above the 9,400 in June 2013. The sector reached an employment high of 9,800 in August 2008.

In Education & Health Services, employment was 16,300 during June, down from 16,500 in May and below the 17,000 during June 2013. Annual average monthly employment in the sector has steadily grown since 2005 when it reached 14,000. In 2012 the average was 17,000, but fell slightly to 16,800 in 2013. Employment in the sector reached a record 17,300 in October 2012.

In the Government sector, employment was 18,800 during June, down compared to 19,700 in May and unchanged compared to June 2013.

NATIONAL NUMBERS
Unemployment rates were lower in June than a year earlier in 359 of the 372 metropolitan areas, higher in 10 areas, and unchanged in three areas, noted the broad BLS report.

The U.S. unemployment rate in June was 6.1%, down from 7.5% from a year earlier. Arkansas’ jobless rate was 6.2% in June, down from 6.4% in May and down from 7.6% in June 2013.

Oklahoma’s jobless rate during June was 4.5%, down from 4.6% in May, and down compared to 5.5% in June 2013. The Missouri jobless rate during June was 6.5%, down from 6.6% in May and below the 6.8% in June 2013.

ARKANSAS METRO AREAS
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers
June 2014: 4.9%
May 2014: 4.9%
June 2013: 6.1%

Fort Smith
June 2014: 6.4%
May 2014: 6.3%
June 2013: 8.2%

Hot Springs
June 2014: 6.5%
May 2014: 6.4%
June 2013: 7.9%

Jonesboro
June 2014: 6%
May 2014: 5.8%
June 2013: 7.5%

Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway
June 2014: 5.8%
May 2014: 5.8%
June 2013: 7%

Memphis-West Memphis
June 2014: 8.7%
May 2014: 7.5%
June 2013: 10%

Pine Bluff
June 2014: 8.6%
May 2014: 8.4%
June 2013: 10.5%

Texarkana
June 2014: 6.3%
May 2014: 6.1%
June 2013: 7.5%

FORT SMITH METRO AREA HISTORY
Past annual average unemployment rates
2013: 8%
2012: 7.7%
2011: 8.3%
2010: 8.2%
2009: 7.9%
2008: 4.8%
2007: 5.3%
2006: 4.9%
2005: 4.5%
2004: 5.2%
2003: 5.5%
2002: 5%
2001: 4.2%
2000: 3.7%

The Northwest Arkansas jobless rate in June was the lowest metro rate in Arkansas, but  declines continued in the size of the regional labor force and the number of employed.

The June rate of 4.9% was unchanged compared to May but below the 6.1% in June 2013.

Metro employment of 222,357 was slightly below the 222,568 in May, and also below the 223,267 in June 2013, according to figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The June numbers are subject to revision.

June marked the 12th consecutive month the NWA metro jobless rate has been below 6%, and the third consecutive month below 5%. The metro area is the only one in Arkansas to post a rate below 5%.

The size of the Northwest Arkansas regional workforce during June was estimated at 233,831, down from the 234,017 in May, but 1.63% below the 237,715 during June 2013. The average annual monthly labor size was 234,412 in 2013, 232,208 during 2012, 228,918 during 2011 and 225,974 during 2010.

Six of the eight metro areas in or connected to Arkansas had jobless rate increases in June compared to May, but all had jobless rate declines compared to June 2013. Northwest Arkansas and central Arkansas jobless rates in June were unchanged compared to May. During June, the lowest metro jobless rate in the state was 4.9% in Northwest Arkansas and the highest rate was 8.7% in the Memphis-West Memphis area.

NWA METRO NUMBERS
Following are other key figures from the BLS metro report.

Unemployed persons in the region totaled 11,474 during June, up from the 10,449 during May and more than the 14,448 during June 2013.

The Northwest Arkansas manufacturing sector employed an estimated 26,300 in June, up from 26,200 in May, and down from the 26,500 during June 2013. Sector employment is down more than 21% from more than a decade ago when June 2004 manufacturing employment in the metro area stood at 33,300.

Jobs in the Trade, Transportation and Utilities sector — the region’s largest job sector —  totaled 47,500 in June, below the 47,700 during May, and down from the 47,700 in June 2013. The sector reached record employment of 50,500 in December 2006.

Employment in the region’s tourism industry was 22,700 during June, which set a new record for the sector. The June data is subject to revision. The level was up from 22,500 in May and up from 22,000 during June 2013.

In Education & Health Services, employment was 24,500 during June, down from 24,900 in May and up from 23,600 during June 2013. The May employment, if it stands, set a new record for the sector.

In the Government sector, employment was 30,800 during June, down from 32,700 in May and up compared to 30,100 during June 2013.

NATIONAL NUMBERS
Unemployment rates were lower in June than a year earlier in 359 of the 372 metropolitan areas, higher in 10 areas, and unchanged in three areas, noted the broad BLS report.

The U.S. unemployment rate in June was 6.1%, down from 7.5% from a year earlier. Arkansas’ jobless rate was 6.2% in June, down from 6.4% in May and down from 7.6% in June 2013.

Oklahoma’s jobless rate during June was 4.5%, down from 4.6% in May, and down compared to 5.5% in June 2013. The Missouri jobless rate during June was 6.5%, down from 6.6% in May and below the 6.8% in June 2013.

ARKANSAS METRO AREAS
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers
June 2014: 4.9%
May 2014: 4.9%
June 2013: 6.1%

Fort Smith
June 2014: 6.4%
May 2014: 6.3%
June 2013: 8.2%

Hot Springs
June 2014: 6.5%
May 2014: 6.4%
June 2013: 7.9%

Jonesboro
June 2014: 6%
May 2014: 5.8%
June 2013: 7.5%

Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway
June 2014: 5.8%
May 2014: 5.8%
June 2013: 7%

Memphis-West Memphis
June 2014: 8.7%
May 2014: 7.5%
June 2013: 10%

Pine Bluff
June 2014: 8.6%
May 2014: 8.4%
June 2013: 10.5%

Texarkana
June 2014: 6.3%
May 2014: 6.1%
June 2013: 7.5%

NORTHWEST ARKANSAS METRO AREA HISTORY
Past annual average unemployment rates
2013: 5.7%
2012: 5.6%
2011: 6.2%
2010: 6.4%
2009: 6.2%
2008: 4.1%
2007: 3.8%
2006: 3.6%
2005: 3.3%
2004: 3.8%
2003: 3.7%
2002: 3.3%
2001: 3%
2000: 2.9%

The seemingly unstoppable Northwest Arkansas economy was punched in the gut Wednesday (July 30) as Superior Industries announced the closure of its wheel making plant in Rogers, eliminating 500 jobs as production is transitioned to sites in Fayetteville and Mexico.

Part of the reasoning behind the closure of the Rogers location is the age and lack of capacity in the older plant. Superior said it retooled the Rogers plant in 2013, but running at full capacity it was not able to keep pace with demand. The company doled out $18 million in the past year on the two facilities in Northwest Arkansas, and still lost marketshare because orders could not filled.

Most of the investment went to the larger plant in Fayetteville, a sign that those estimated 800 are not in imminent danger. It is not clear how many of the jobs in Rogers could be transferred to the Fayetteville site. About a year ago, Superior officials told The City Wire there were about 600 workers employed at the Rogers facility.

There were 26,300 manufacturing jobs in Northwest Arkansas as of June, this Superior closure is a 1.9% decrease in the overall sector, according to Kathy Deck, director for the Center for Economic Research at the University of Arkansas. While the news is not surprising, Deck said swallowing the losses is not easy, even for a growing economy like Northwest Arkansas.

Rogers Mayor Greg Hines issued this statement: “This is a very unfortunate and unexpected loss to the city and the region.  This underscores what I have been saying for the last several years, ‘It is just as competitive trying to keep the manufacturing jobs you have as it is to attract new ones.’ The end result of this is most likely another example of America losing manufacturing jobs to other countries instead of other towns.  The reasons for the move, I suspect, are more likely a result of the ability to reduce costs by outsourcings the work to Mexico. It is unfortunate American companies are forced to make these hard decisions in many cases just to survive. Company officials have been very complementary about the Rogers Plant and the overall business- friendly environment in Rogers. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the workers and their families.”

The Northwest Arkansas jobless rate in June was the lowest metro rate in Arkansas, but  declines continued in the size of the regional labor force and the number of employed. The June rate of 4.9% was unchanged compared to May but below the 6.1% in June 2013. Metro employment of 222,357 was slightly below the 222,568 in May, and also below the 223,267 in June 2013, according to figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The June numbers are subject to revision.

‘NEWS IS NOT GOOD’
The loss of 500 jobs creates a big void to fill even if it is no more than part of the manufacturing ebb and flow as Deck adds that the local economy typically sees much smaller gains and losses.

“This Superior news is not good, but if there is a bright side in the timing of this announcement it’s that we are starting to see a push back into U.S. manufacturing. One of the issues in Northwest Arkansas has been a skilled manufacturing workforce. While we would rather have these folks employed, their presence here is a positive for company’s wanting to expand and locate in the region,” Deck said.

She said having two sister plants within the same region has been a bonus given so much of the auto parts and auto production has already been clustering south of the border.

Superior says jobs at the Fayetteville plant are not in jeopardy. Average local wages at Superior Industries range from $55,000 to $80,000 annually. At the lowest end of that range the economic impact is significant as there are not enough transferable job openings to absorb the 500 positions lost.

“Rogers has certainly seen better days,” said Raymond Burns, CEO of the Rogers- Lowell Chamber of Commerce. “We are working with the Arkansas Workforce Commission and plan to hold a job fair October 8 to try and help workers seek other opportunities.”

Burns said the loss to the city’s workforce is major and while the transition of jobs to Superior’s plant in Mexico will save the company money, much work must be done to ensure the local displaced workers can find other job opportunities.

RETENTION, NEW RECRUITMENT
The Northwest Arkansas Council and the local chambers of commerce have worked for two years meeting with local manufacturers and businesses to assess expansion and job retention plans. 

Grant Tennille, director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission said the agency was aware of the company’s decision to relocate the jobs and the agency continues to work with the community and company to develop a plan to market that facility for other manufacturers. 

“Superior has been clear that this decision had nothing to do with Rogers or that workforce, it’s simply that the math no longer works. OEM (original equipment manufacturers) auto manufacturers have revamped their business models through the economic downturn. They are now requiring shorter turnaround times on their orders which used be made a full year out. Suppliers are still struggling to adjust to the new reality requirements coming from auto manufacturers,” Tennille said. “We are working with suppliers who are looking for large manufacturing facilities and a skilled workforce. The Superior plant in Rogers is the biggest facility to come open in some time and the skilled workforce is also an added plus in a market with 4 and something percent unemployment.”

WAL-MART HELP?
The AEDC priority is to get the Governor’s Dislocated Worker Task Force into Rogers for a full assessment of the skills level for every worker. Tennille said a skills profile will be completed on each worker so other manufacturers and employers with needs can be alerted. He said talks continue with Superior to try and place some workers at the Fayetteville plant, though the majority will need to find other jobs.

“I hate to see anyone lose a job, much less 500 in one city. But if someone put a gun to my head and made me close a plant in Arkansas, I dare to say I would chose one in Northwest Arkansas, given the region’s resiliency and the new opportunities we are seeing from Wal-Mart suppliers looking at the state for possible onshoring operations,” Tennille said.

Tennille also said the effort by Wal-Mart Stores to return manufacturing jobs to the U.S. could help absorb the Superior loss. Tennille recently told The City Wire that talks with potential manufacturers doing business with Wal-Mart showing interest in onshoring jobs specifically point to Northwest Arkansas. He has said there are two Northwest Arkansas announcements coming before the end of the summer that are directly linked to the Wal-Mart campaign.

Mike Harvey, chief operating officer of the Northwest Arkansas Council, said the loss of 500 jobs skilled labor jobs will no doubt negatively impact job numbers in the short term. He too, said there are several other manufacturers in the region investing and planning to add workers in the next year. 

“We hope to be able to match some of the displaced workers with the new opportunities before the end of the year. The big job fair in Rogers in early October is also timely,” Harvey said.

Superior Industries will hold its quarterly earnings call on Thursday (July 31) and hopefully provide more details about the closure and job transfer opportunities.

A new Talk Business & Politics-Hendrix College survey of 1,780 likely state voters shows Republican Asa Hutchinson with a 46-41% lead over Democrat Mike Ross in the Arkansas Governor’s race.

The poll, which was conducted July 22-25 across all four Congressional districts, has a margin of error of +/-2.3%.

In the race for Governor, the candidates are Democrat Mike Ross, Republican Asa Hutchinson, Libertarian Frank Gilbert, and Green Party Candidate Joshua Drake. If the election for Governor were today, which candidate would you support?
41% – Democrat Mike Ross
46% – Republican Asa Hutchinson
3% – Libertarian Frank Gilbert
2.5% – Green candidate Joshua Drake
7.5% – Undecided

“This current state of the race is obviously good news for Asa Hutchinson and if some of the trends in this poll continue, it will become his race to lose,” said Talk Business & Politics Editor-in-Chief Roby Brock. “However, I view the Governor’s race as much more fluid and lacking in definition than the Senate race. With neither candidate breaking 50% at this point in the campaign, I won’t be surprised to see the race go in any direction over the next three months.”

Two previous Talk Business & Politics-Hendrix College polls have shown this potential gubernatorial match-up to have volatility.  In October 2013, a hypothetical race between the two candidates showed Hutchinson with a four-point advantage over Ross at 41-37%. In April, our survey suggested the race was a dead heat with Ross leading 44-43%. The Libertarian and Green party candidates each settled at 3% and 2% respectively in the April survey.

INSIGHT
In the latest poll, several key demographics provide insight on how the Governor’s campaign is unfolding.

Like the U.S. Senate race, Republican Asa Hutchinson has a comfortable lead with independent voters. Hutchinson holds a 50-32.5% lead over Ross among indies.  Hutchinson is leading Ross among male voters by 48.5-39% and has a one point lead among female voters 44-43%. Hutchinson also leads 47.5-43% among voters age 65 and older.  Conversely, Ross is doing very well with African-American voters, winning this voting bloc by a 70-18% margin.

“Asa is in a very solid position at this point. To me, It is difficult for anyone to dispute that Hutchinson leads in this race,” said Clint Reed, strategist with Little Rock-based Impact Management Group, which works traditionally with GOP candidates.

“I have seen a steady stream of public and private polling showing Asa ahead. Hutchinson continues to outpace Ross among Independent voters (+17), he leads among white voters (+10), he is doing very well among seniors, and there is no significant gender gap in this poll,” he added.

“This a very healthy, broad base of support to begin the final thrust of the campaign. The DGA and Ross recently spent almost $2 million collectively to define Asa, but Asa still maintains a significant lead. Take all of this and add in the mix that Ross’ early money has evaporated. Every single piece of evidence shows that Asa Hutchinson has the momentum in this race,” Reed said.

Robert McLarty, Democratic campaign strategist with Little Rock-based Markham Group, offered a different perspective.

“Mike Ross has never run for statewide office, so his name ID is still relatively low across the state and still has some room to grow. Asa Hutchinson’s lead at this point is most likely the result of his high name ID from his four decades of running for statewide office, but it’s got to be troubling to the Hutchinson campaign that he still can’t seem to break 50 percent,” McLarty said.

“Just like in the Senate race, this polling sample under-represents African-Americans as 8 percent of the electorate, when the real number is closer to 12 percent. This sample also has Ross at 70 percent with African-Americans, and based on historical trends, African-Americans are likely to break 90–10 for Ross, which would make the head-to-head actually 45 Asa, 44 Ross,” he added.

“In addition, I feel confident that Mike Ross will begin to show support among the key voting block of women voters. This poll has Ross and Asa essentially tied among women, but that will change as we get closer to Election Day once his plans for pre-kindergarten, job creation, domestic violence and child abuse start to reach voters,” McLarty said.

ANALYSIS
Dr. Jay Barth, professor of political science at Hendrix College, helped analyze the survey results.

The results from our survey of Arkansas voters show a lead for Republican Asa Hutchinson in the governor’s race that is just outside the margin of error. In our last survey, a statistical tie was shown between Hutchinson and Democratic nominee Mike Ross. Thus, Hutchinson seems to have grown a small lead in the race moving into the last 100 days of the contest.

The patterns across key demographic, geographic, and political groups track those seen in our results in the U.S. Senate race.

First, as in the Senate race, a gender gap is showing itself in the race. Among men, the Republican has a sizable lead (49% to 39%) while a near dead heat is show among women (Hutchinson leads 44% to 43%).

Second, Hutchinson leads strongly among white Arkansans (49% to 39%) while Ross, the Democrat, leads solidly among African-Americans (70% to 18%). That said, our polling in the last couple of cycles shows a consistent chunk of African-American voters supporting Republican candidates, a marked difference from the recent past. While the percentage is still a distinct minority, in a close race an underperformance by Democrats among a group of voters that the party has relied upon consistently could spell real difficulties.

Like Senator Mark Pryor, Ross leads in the Second Congressional District, but trails by a large margin in the Third Congressional District (50% to 36%) and by single digits in the other congressional districts.

Because Ross did represent the Fourth Congressional District in Congress for a dozen years, his small disadvantage there is notable. However, it should be noted that the district was reconfigured significantly in the post-2010 redistricting and Ross never ran in much of the area that now falls in the district.

Finally, expected patterns show themselves among partisan groups. Ross is running slightly better among his fellow partisans than is Hutchinson but both have shored up their bases nicely. While Ross can afford some deficit among independent voters on election day, he cannot survive the kind of lead now shown by Hutchinson among that group of voters (50% to 33%). That is the key to what is now a very small, but real lead for Hutchinson. (Editor’s note: Dr. Barth has been a financial contributor to the Ross campaign.)

METHODOLOGY & DEMOGRAPHICS
This survey was conducted by Talk Business Research and Hendrix College on Tuesday-Friday, July 22-25, 2014. The poll, which has a margin of error of +/-2.3%, was completed using IVR survey technology and through live contact calls.

Approximately 18% of the voters in our sample were contacted via cell phone with live callers. This is in response to the increased reliance by voters on cell phones. Additionally, we applied our standard weighting to the poll results based on age, gender, and Congressional district.