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Heifer International headquarters dedicated Sunday, Mar 19, 2006 By Roby Brock Heifer International officially dedicated its $17.5 million headquarters in Little Rock on Thursday. The environmentally friendly building boasts recycled materials used in its construction, plus a cistern that collects rainwater for use in the building. Heifer is dedicated to fighting hunger in impoverished parts of the world. It is also seeking to add to Little Rock's downtown attractions as it shares a property line with the Clinton Library. Heifer has plans to further develop its campus over the next four to six years to include a global village and education center. Entergy files for rate increase Customers of Arkansas' largest electric utility would see a nearly 10 percent jump in their monthly electric bills this year if state regulators approve the rate adjustment request that Entergy Arkansas filed Wednesday. Entergy cited unusual circumstances, including two Gulf Coast hurricanes, nuclear plant shutdowns, and a record spike in natural gas prices for the rate adjustment filed with the state Public Service Commission. Tyson CEO expects to stay out of the red Despite earlier warnings that the company may post a quarterly loss, Tyson Foods CEO John Tyson tells an analyst group that he does not expect profits to slip into "negative territory" even though overseas chicken demand has weakened because of concerns about bird flu. Tyson also said his company and the industry are prepared to deal with an outbreak of avian bird flu in the U.S. and he expressed confidence that the company's beef segment would be above "a little bit better than break-even" this year despite recent mad cow scares. Murphy Oil reduces guidance Murphy Oil Corp. is revising its production guidance for both the first quarter and full year 2006 to approximately 110,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. The lowered volumes are primarily due to an unscheduled shutdown in its Terra Nova field, offshore eastern Canada. Murphy is a 12 percent owner in that investment. Murphy Oil is also forecasting lower production in its Gulf of Mexico operations including continued downtime for a nonoperated field which remains partially offline following Hurricane Katrina. Dry hole charges for the first quarter of 2006 are now expected to be between $27 million and $58 million and include another unsuccessful well drilling in offshore Malaysia. Beverly-Pear Senior Care gets new CEO Beverly Enterprises closed on its buyout by Pearl Senior Care as the nation's largest publicly traded nursing home operator became a private entity. Randy Churchey, 45, was named president and CEO of Pearl, replacing Beverly's William Floyd, who announced his retirement earlier in the week. Pearl Senior Care's new owner, Ron Silva, indicated that he has concerns about the company's headquarters and 600 employees remaining in Fort Smith in the long run. Wal-Mart ups stake in Central America Wal-Mart is taking control of a Central American retail chain that it first bought into last September as it expands in Latin America to bolster its international growth. Wal-Mart has raised its stake in Central American Retail Holding Co., also known as CARHCO, to 51 percent from the 33.3 percent it bought last year. Terms of the latest deal were not disclosed. CARHCO is Central America's leading retailer with 375 supermarkets and other stores in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. It has about 23,000 employees and had 2005 sales of about $2.2 billion. Alltel buys out Carolina partner Alltel Wireless has purchased the remaining stake in 10 wireless partnerships from Palmetto MobileNet, a move that does not add any new customers, but solidifies Alltel's position in North and South Carolina. Alltel already managed and owned 50 percent of each of the 10 partnerships and has purchased the remaining interests from Palmetto. The partnerships include 34 counties across South Carolina and seven counties in western North Carolina. No terms of the transaction were announced. Nestle expands Jonesboro plant Nestle Foods announced plans to invest $19.7 million in new production equipment at the company's Jonesboro manufacturing facility. Nestle will add production of its Hot Pockets brand sandwiches in Jonesboro, in addition to the Stouffer's Lean Cuisine frozen prepared meals, which have been made there since the facility opened in 2003. Nestle's employment in Jonesboro - now at nearly 400 - will grow. The company expects to add approximately 65 new positions by the end of 2006 and an additional 35-45 positions in early 2007. Job security in Camden Raytheon Corp. has landed a $346 million contract with the U.S. Navy to build about 500 missiles. Raytheon's manufacturing facility in East Camden will have a major role in fulfilling the order for 473 Tomahawk cruise missiles and 65 submarine torpedo tube-launched missiles. The contract runs through 2009. Car-Mart buys Kentucky operation America's Car-Mart is acquiring a Lexington, Ky., auto dealership. The Bentonville-based used car chain will buy Dan's Auto Sales, which touts itself as the premiere "Buy Here/Pay Here" used car dealer in Lexington. The dealership will operate under the name "Car-Mart." Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Including this dealership in Lexington, Car-Mart has added nine new dealerships in its current fiscal year. America's Car-Mart operates a total of 85 dealerships nationally. Survey says no layoffs expected Manpower's latest survey results for second quarter expectations are out. Statewide, Manpower reports that 17 percent of Arkansas employers plan to increase their payrolls, 77 percent expect no change and 6 percent are unsure. No employers in the survey reported plans to shed workers. New jobs for Springdale Ozark Electronics Repair announced that it will open a new product refurbishment production facility in Springdale. The new plant will re-manufacture products from companies such as Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Polaroid. The company will move into an existing 104,000-square-foot facility on South 40th St. Initially, 60 to 70 people will be employed in Springdale, with an additional 50 being hired within a year, say plant officials. Ozark Electronics Repair, which is headquartered in Siloam Springs, also has production facilities in El Paso, Texas, and Cullman, Ala. ------- Roby Brock, a freelance journalist based in Little Rock, writes weekly for the Arkansas News Bureau. His weekly television program airs at 10 p.m. Sundays in Central and Northwest Arkansas. His e-mail address is roby@talkbusiness.net; his Web site address is www.talkbusiness.net. |
