Hunt CEO to be luncheon moderator
John Roberts III, president and chief executive officer of J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc., will serve as moderator for the 2013 Business Forecast Luncheon coordinated by the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas.
The quarterly luncheon will be 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Feb. 8 in the John Q. Hammons Convention Center at 3300 Pinnacle Hills Parkway in Rogers.
Panelists will include Kathy Deck, center director at the Sam M. Walton College of Business to give the state and local economic forecast; Adolfo Laurenti, deputy chief economist and managing director of Mesirow Financial for an international view; and Christopher Waller, research director and senior vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, for the national perspective.
Laurenti was selected as an emerging leader by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and was an Earhart Foundation Fellow. He lectures at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and is on the board of the National Association for Business Economics and the American Economic Association.
Before his appointment at the Federal Reserve, Waller served in the economics departments at Notre Dame University, the University of Kentucky and Indiana University-Bloomington, and has served as a visiting professor at numerous European universities.
Tickets are $50 for the luncheon, with a student rate of $25. Tables of 10 have priority seating for $600. Registration information can be found at cber.uark.edu/383.asp or (479) 575-4151 or [email protected].
Capital group opens Bentonville office
The Arkansas Capital Corporation Group will open a new office at 1005 Beau Terre Drive in Bentonville. The privately held group of for-profit and nonprofit corporations is a major factor in the Small Business Administration’s loan program in Northwest Arkansas.
The group includes eight affiliates: Arkansas Capital Corp., Six Bridges Capital Corp., Arkansas Capital Relending Corp., Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation, Diamond State Ventures, Heartland Renaissance Fund, Connect Arkansas and Pine State Capital.
Arkansas Capital Corp., established in 1957, is the flagship company of the Arkansas Capital Corporation Group. The private, nonprofit lending corporation remains dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs in Arkansas through partnerships with the lending community. In partnership with financial institutions, the corporation provides permanent, long-term financing for business startups, expansions and acquisitions. Risk mitigation for businesses and financial partners is at the foundation of its success.
The group’s new business development officer for Northwest Arkansas will be John Harrell, who previously was senior vice president of commercial lending at Bank of the Ozarks in Fayetteville. He is a graduate of John Brown University and holds a master’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance from the University of Arkansas.
Briefs are for businesses in Northwest Arkansas that are new, have moved or closed, opened a new branch, changed owners or have been honored by an independent organization. E-mail items to [email protected]. Information will be published as space allows.
Business, Pages 58 on 01/27/2013