Capital Corp. CEO retires after 24 years
Sam Walls, chief executive officer of the Arkansas Capital Corporation Group, has retired after 24 years, the firm announced Thursday.
Under his leadership, Arkansas Capital Corp.
grew from an organization with a small portfolio of business loans to one with more than $1.4 billion in loans to Arkansas companies. Walls diversified the firm to include entrepreneurship education and allocations for tax credits. He also brought advocacy of high-speed Internet and a program facilitating foreign investment in Arkansas to the firm.
In 2001, Walls started what is now the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup college business plan competition, which has awarded more than $2 million to students and faculty.
Rush Deacon, the firm’s chairman, is now serving as the acting chief executive officer.
Arkansas Capital is privately held and includes affiliates such as Six Bridges Capital Corp., Diamond State Ventures and Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation.
- David Smith
AT&T is hiring 75 workers in Arkansas
AT&T Inc. plans to hire more than 75 people throughout Arkansas, the company said Thursday.
The jobs, which are being filled immediately, are in several cities, including Little Rock, Bryant, Hot Springs, Fort Smith and El Dorado, said Anita Smith, a spokesman for AT&T.
She said the positions vary but include U-Verse technicians and customer service and sales representatives.
Smith said 85 percent of the jobs are full-time positions.
AT&T is also recruiting military veterans and has a goal of hiring 5,000 veterans and their relatives in the next five years, according to a news release.
More information on the jobs can be found at http://connect.att.jobs/ Arkansas.
- Jessica Seaman Murphy Oil up 2% as index gains 1.04
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, increased 1.04 to 289.73 Thursday.
Murphy Oil Corp.
shares rose 2 percent to close at $64.18.
Acxiom Corp. shares increased 1.5 percent to close at $25.80.
P.A.M. Transportation Services Inc. shares fell 3 percent to finish at $10.50.
Volume for the index was 18 million shares, compared with average daily volume of 21.4 million shares.
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 07/12/2013