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THE BIZBLOG
Breaking business news from around Arkansas
Editor: Roby Brock |
roby@talkbusiness.net
Friday, July 03, 2009 - 2:33:31 PM
THIS WEEK ON TALK BUSINESS: REP. VIC SNYDER
We'll spend the majority of our half-hour in a lengthy conversation with 2nd District Congressman Vic Snyder.
He was the lone vote among Arkansas House members in supporting the Obama-backed climate change/energy bill approved late last week.
Snyder explains the merits of the legislation, including specific language benefiting North Little Rock. He also addresses many critics who have only focused on the cap-and-trade provisions of the bill.
The six-term Congressman also addresses health care reform. As a former physician, Snyder has a keen understanding of the different constituencies that will be impacted by changes. His concerns: small business, mandates, and the trillion-dollar price tag.
It's not all serious conversation - we divert into a few personal areas, too. Tune in to Talk Business this week and check our web site over the weekend as we roll out a feature piece on the congressman from the interview. Here's a link to air times in your area!
Friday, July 03, 2009 - 10:27:17 AM
SPARKS HEALTH IMPROVING CASH FLOW EASES SALE MENTALITY
On June 1 of this year, Fort Smith-based Sparks Health System called off its proposed sale to Georgia-based Jackson Healthcare.
Sparks, which has struggled financially in the past several years, didn't have much comment on the collapsed deal, although by all indications it was the Sparks board that seemed to drive the cancellation.
Click here to review our coverage of the transaction.
Michael Tilley with The City Wire interviews Sparks CEO Ted Woodrell, who is still cautious in addressing the called-off deal. He does, however, speak to the improving financial picture for the hospital - it was a major factor in easing the desperation that initially spurred the possible sale.
Woodrell said the hospital began seeing positive cash flow in January and that continued through May. It will take "several years" before the hospital is financially strong, but Woodrell said the pressure is off the Sparks Board of Trustees to quickly find a financial relief valve. The board, however, is keeping options open.
"Our operations have improved so much that we don't have to do a deal now. That's really the great news. With the volumes that we have and the cash flow we have, we have options today that a year ago we didn't have. That's a very comforting thing," Woodrell said. "But to not be looking at your options would mean you're not doing your job. We continue as an organization to want to make sure that we meet our goals of serving this community. If that means a partner, as a best means of doing that, so be it. But we don't have to today. That's a huge change from where we were."
Click here to read more.
Friday, July 03, 2009 - 10:22:36 AM
NASDAQ DENIES AERT REQUEST
Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies (AERT), the Springdale-based plastics recycler, was notified by NASDAQ officials that its request for continued listing on The NASDAQ Capital Market was denied.
AERT must appeal the ruling to a qualification panel to regain compliance and complete its recapitalization plan.
Recently, AERT's shareholders approved a 20-for-1 reverse stock split in an effort to push the stock's trading value higher. The company's shares have traded below $1 for a period of time out of compliance with NASDAQ requirements.
"AERT understands and respects the rules and will submit its plan to the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel and intends to regain and maintain compliance with NASDAQ requirements," said AERT CEO Joe Brooks.
Thursday, July 02, 2009 - 8:57:37 AM
STATE REVENUES BELOW LAST YEAR, TOP FORECAST
The state ended its fiscal year, slightly ahead of forecast, but below last year's tax collections. The decline is the first annual decline since 2002 and one of the largest annual declines in decades, according to DF&A officials.
For the full fiscal year, net available general revenues totalled $4.43 billion. This amount is $23.7 million or 0.5 percent above forecast. The amount is also $94.5 million or -2.1 percent below last year.
DF&A officials said that individual income and gross receipts (which include sales and use taxes) were lower during the year. Corporate income taxes, alcohol taxes and tobacco taxes were all higher.
Thursday, July 02, 2009 - 8:54:54 AM
U.S. JOBLESS RATE CLIMBS TO 26-YEAR HIGH
National unemployment climbed to 9.5% in June, a 26-year high, according to today's U.S. Labor Department jobs report.
The report shows that employers shed 467,000 jobs nationwide during the month. It will be a few weeks before the state-by-state breakout numbers are released for Arkansas.
In May, the U.S. jobless rate was 9.4%. Arkansas' unemployment rate was nearly two-and-a-half percent lower at 7.0%.
Last week, Talk Business reported on how unemployment is calculated, how it can fluctuate widely, and what the jobless rate really tells us.
Talk Business contributor Eric Francis filed the report, which you can read at this link.
Thursday, July 02, 2009 - 8:51:25 AM
POLITICAL BUZZ: LINCOLN & LOTTERIES
You may have missed some of our coverage late yesterday from our politics blog, The Political Buzz.
We found out from Sen. Blanche Lincoln that a health care reform proposal may surface next week when Congress returns after the July 4th recess.
Lincoln also staked out a position on employer mandates in the wake of Wal-Mart's Tuesday announcement embracing the concept. Lincoln cautioned that there are many moving parts to the debate and she's keenly aware of how health care policy could affect big business and small business differently as well as rural and urban America.
Click here to read her full comments and our coverage.
Also, the Arkansas Lottery Commission approved the state's participation in the multi-state lottery known as Powerball. Look for your chance to win multi-millions before the end of the year.
More on that story at this link.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009 - 4:25:10 PM
FORT SMITH NURSING HOME GROUP SELLS ARKANSAS OPERATIONS
Fort Smith-based Golden Living is officially out of the nursing home business in Arkansas.
The private company that bought Beverly Enterprises, once the largest nursing home chain in the U.S., has maintained a home base and 14 facilities in Arkansas.
Golden Living sold the 14 nursing homes and assisted living centers to Capital SeniorCare Ventures. SeniorCare is owned by Baltimore, Md.-based Capital Funding Group.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
"The sale represents Golden Living's entire portfolio of skilled nursing facilities in the state," noted a statement from Golden Living. The statement noted that the transaction did not include the company's headquarters facility in Fort Smith.
Michael Tilley with our content partner, The City Wire, has more in this report.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009 - 7:02:16 AM
THE SCARLET WOMAN OF WAL-MART
You may remember the big fall-out and scandal a few years ago between Wal-Mart and its hot-shot marketing executive, Julie Roehm.
She was a rising star in the marketing world for her work in the auto industry; she led the effort to brand Dodge vehicles with the tag line "Grab Life By The Horns."
Wal-Mart recruited her to push its marketing into edgier territory towards the end of former CEO Lee Scott's tenure, but the personality clash between risk-taking Roehm and Wal-Mart's long-standing conservative culture was a bad fit.
Roehm was terminated on the premise of violating corporate ethics policies. In her legal quest for severance pay, it was alleged that she had an affair with a subordinate. Roehm's legal team countered with ethics charges and allegations of affairs against high-ranking Wal-Mart execs.
The whole sordid business ended rather abruptly after several lawsuits and counter-lawsuits and an ultimate undisclosed settlement. Both sides did plenty to tarnish each other's images.
Roehm re-surfaces in a Fast Company article (thanks to a Twitter follower for the tip), and guess what? She's still in Bentonville.
The reporter on the story accompanies Roehm on a trip to Wal-Mart - her first since leaving the company - and she confesses to how hard it's been to live in the town dominated by Wal-Mart's omnipresence.
She hasn't left town primarily because she can't sell her $800,000 house in the current real estate market, and she amassed substantial debt during the legal battle. It's a pretty interesting read for those who follow Wal-Mart closely and for those who remember the debacle. Click here to read more.
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