LITTLE ROCK — NW airport looks at valet service
Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport officials are considering valet parking service for passengers in the coming year, as well as an option to get their vehicles cleaned and serviced while they’re away.
Passengers and car rental firms have pushed for a valet parking operation for some time, said Scott Van Laningham, the airport’s executive director. “While you’re gone, you get your car cleaned up and the oil changed - it would be a nice customer convenience,” he said.
The service would be possible with the planned addition of a new, $2.68 million car wash facility for rental cars, part of the airport’s proposed 2013 budget. The Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Authority will consider the $58.68 million spending plan during a meeting at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the airport.
Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock offers valet parking, spokesman Shane Carter said Monday. The service doesn’t include cleaning or servicing cars while passengers are away, he said.
Also in Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport’s proposed budget is a 3 percent pay raise for airport employees.
- Lisa HammerslyFunds available
for conservation
The Natural Resource Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is accepting applications for the funding of conservation projects in Arkansas.
Farmers and landowners in the state can apply for 19 Mississippi River Basin Initiative projects, according to the news release from the department Monday.
The projects will focus on improving water quality and water quantity, the release states.
The amount of total funding for the projects has not been released.
Applications may be submitted to the Conservation Service’s local field service center. They are due Jan. 18, 2013.
Center locations may be found at nrcs.usda.gov/wps/ portal/nrcs/main/national/ contact/local/.
More information about the projects is available at ar.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/ mrbi.html.
- Jessica SeamanTrucking stocks
give index boost
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, was up 0.89 to 245.53 Monday.
“Arkansas stocks reflected an upside bias with advancing issues leading declining by just over 2 to 1,” said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock.
Trucking stocks dominated, with Arkansas Best, P.A.M. Transportation Services and USA Truck leading the pack with gains of 6.2 percent, 3.9 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.
Index volume was 20.1 million shares; the average is 24 million.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business, Pages 23 on 12/11/2012