LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If we don’t see further improvement in the
labor market, we will be prepared to take additional steps if appropriate.”
Ben Bernanke,
Federal Reserve Chairman Article, 1D
Valero to buy 29 stores in Arkansas
Valero Retail Holdings, a subsidiary of Valero Energy Corp., plans to purchase 29 stores in Arkansas, according to a news release Wednesday.
The company will buy stores in Little Rock and Hot Springs from The Crackerbox Stores and convert them to Valero Corner Stores within the next few months.
Valero Energy is an international manufacture and seller of transportation fuels.
The transaction between Valero Retail Holdings and Crackerbox Stores is expected to close mid-July, according to the release. The cost of transaction was not disclosed.
The stores, which will average about 3,700 square-feet, will be remodeled into a Valero Corner Store format.
Valero also purchased rights to the Crackerbox name and will use it as the stores make the transition to Valero Corner Stores.
Chesapeake to trim 70 positions
Chesapeake Energy Co. will lay off 70 employees in its north Texas offices, Julie H. Wilson, vice president of urban development, said in a statement Tuesday.
Wilson attributed the cuts to low natural gas prices.
“While the news was not a surprise given historic low natural gas prices and our company’s ongoing strategy to redeploy assets to more economically promising fields, it was of course a disappointment,” she said.
The trimming of staff in Chesapeake’s Fort Worth and Cleburne offices will reduce its workforce in the Barnett Shale gas field by 8 percent.
The positions being eliminated are in support departments such as public affairs, marketing communications, community relations, legal, land, land administration, administrative services and information technology- jobs most directly affected by the slowdown in drilling activity, Wilson said.
Fungus afflicts some corn fields
Arkansas corn growers are being urged to scout their fields for sign of Southern rust fungus, after plants with the fungus were found in Jefferson County.
Travis Faske, extension plant pathologist with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said the fungus was found in “small quantities.”
“It infects corn so it cannot mature,” said Faske. “You start losing yields,” if left untreated.
He said growers were being told to check their fields to see if it’s present. “Like most disease, it can catch you off guard if you don’t take care of it.”
He said if the fungus is found in a field, growers would need to apply a fungicide.
The fungus that causes southern rust, Puccinia polysora, creates round or oval pustules that are orange or light cinnamon-colored. In Jefferson County, symptoms appeared in “one of every 20 plants in the fields,” Faske said.
Because southern rust can be confused with other diseases, growers unsure of the symptoms should bring samples to their county extension office for testing.
Officials said the disease appeared in Arkansas about a month after being spotted in Louisiana. Conditions that favor the disease include temperatures ranging from 80 to 90 degrees, high relative humidity and frequent rainfall.
Burger King returns to the Big Board
NEW YORK - Burger King returned to the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
The world’s No. 2 hamburger chain last traded as a public company between 2006 and 2010. The company then was purchased and taken private by investment firm 3G Capital, which has been overhauling the chain’s operations.
Burger King’s listing on the exchange under the ticker “BKW” won’t be through an initial public offering, however. 3G Capital announced an unusual deal in April to sell a minority stake to Justice Holdings, a London-based entity that was specifically set up to invest in another company.
3G Capital received $1.4 billion in exchange and retains a 71 percent stake in the company.
Under the deal, Justice Holdings was to suspend trading on the London Stock Exchange once the deal was complete and emerge as Burger King Worldwide Inc. on the New York Stock Exchange.
Miguel Piedra, a Burger King spokesman, said only 16 percent of shares were made available to retail investors when the stock began trading again on the Big Board. Justice Holdings shares have been trading over the counter for $16 per share, he said.
Burger King Worldwide Inc. shares ended their first day of trading at $15.01.
Business, Pages 28 on 06/21/2012