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| Fri, Nov. 21, 2008 |  |
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Verizon buyout could vex alltel vendors Saturday, Jun 7, 2008 By Roby Brock Special to the Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - While anxiety regarding Alltel's $28.1 billion sale to Verizon has many company employees pondering their job future, there is another group of workers worried about their fate ? the vendor community. The potential ripple effect on the Central Arkansas economy could be vast considering Alltel corporate headquarters conducts business with hundreds of local, regional and national firms providing a range of items from telephone products to toilet paper. Many of the Arkansas-based firms have grown up with Alltel and have benefited through company acquisitions over the years. Alltel officials declined to provide the names of those businesses or the dollar amounts the company spends on product and service providers, but they acknowledge there are many. "There will be an impact on vendors," contends Robert Pittman, executive director of the Community Development Institute at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. "With this acquisition, there is an increased risk that some of the vendors and suppliers for Alltel that are currently located in Arkansas may have to compete with current Verizon vendors for that business." Declining to be named, an employee of a Little Rock-based business that provides consulting services to Alltel said his enterprise is "uneasy" about the surprise announcement of Alltel's sale but hopes for the opportunity to continue its relationship with Verizon. In addition to consulting services, local and regional vendors provide janitorial services and products, paper supplies, computer and office equipment, security badges, food and catering services and many other items that are a life-blood for those Arkansas-based firms. To try to save money, Verizon could transfer some of those vendor relationships to existing Verizon suppliers. Still, some Arkansas firms likely will be allowed to bid for work with Verizon, Pittman said. A Verizon spokesman declined comment. Another immeasurable effect of the Alltel sale will involve the decrease in traffic to the company's corporate headquarters as high-level executives wind down their decision-making responsibilities. No longer will Little Rock and North Little Rock benefit from the large number of national and regional vendors who travel to the capital city seeking to do business with Alltel, said Terry Hartwick, President and CEO of the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce. "Yes, it's going to have a direct impact," Hardwick said. He suggested losing a corporate headquarters would decrease airport traffic, hotel reservations, rental car business, cab rides, gas sales, shopping and restaurant spending for the region. "To make a long story short, it will have a trickle down effect on our local economy," he said. |
