LITTLE ROCK — Four businessmen named hall honorees
Auto dealer Frank Fletcher, the late dairy owner W.C. “Buddy” Coleman, document imaging founder Thomas Boyer and banker William Cravens were selected to join the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame, the University of Arkansas said Tuesday.
Established in 1999 by the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame recognizes the business success its honorees have achieved in Arkansas and beyond. There are 58 members of the hall of fame.
Fletcher is chairman of North Little Rock-based Frank Fletcher Cos., which controls 20 separate corporations including auto dealerships.
Coleman, who died in 2011, was chairman and chief executive of Coleman Dairy in Little Rock.
Boyer of Amarillo, Texas, is owner and founder of Micro Images.
Cravens of Little Rock retired after a long career in banking and telecommunications management.
The four will be inducted into the hall Feb. 15 at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
- David Smith
Supplier gets state minority-group loan
Gladden & Metz, Inc.
a supplier of medical and safety supplies, will receive the first loan guaranteed through Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s Minority Business Loan Mobilization Revolving Loan Fund.
The Bryant-based company will receive $13,000 through the loan fund, the commission said Tuesday.
The fund helps promote enterprises owned by minority group members in the state and is intended to bolster their ability to compete for state contracts.
The loan to Gladden & Metz is being provided by alt.Consulting of Pine Bluff, a company that advises small businesses.
More information about the loan fund is available at arkansasedc.com.
- Glen Chase Arkansas Index falls
2.88 on Fed doubt
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 2.88 to 241.29 on Tuesday.
“Stocks fell Tuesday after Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said the U.S. central bank’s new mortgage bond-buying program is unlikely to boost growth and could harm the Fed’s credibility,” said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock.
Acxiom and Home Bancshares both established 52-week highs during the session, Williams said.
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 25 on 09/26/2012