NEWS IN BRIEF

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Sessions to educate on health insurance

The Arkansas Insurance Department is joining with the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center to educate small-business owners and employees about new health-insurance options and requirements.

The development center will lead 56 sessions across the state beginning Wednesday in Little Rock.

They are free to attend.

Key provisions of the federal health-care law - the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 - and the new Health Insurance Marketplace opening Oct. 1 will be discussed during the sessions.

Wednesday’s session will be from 1-3 p.m. at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Reynolds Business Center. Registration is required. For more information, call (501) 683-7700 or visit asbtdc.org/aca.

Sessions are already scheduled for the Crossett Public Library on Nov. 12 and the Bradley County Economic Development Commission boardroom in Warren on Dec. 10.

World-affairs group adds Wal-Mart exec

Fumbi Chima, vice president of global technology services and strategic partnerships for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., has been elected to the board of directors for the World Affairs Council of Washington, D.C.

At Wal-Mart, Chima is responsible for the retailer’s vendor management office, project management office and its global technology services office in India. She also oversees Wal-Mart’s information-technology asset-management team.

“Chima’s commitment to global education, female mentoring and international communications will be a decided asset to our organization’s expansion program,” said Edie Fraser, chairman of World Affairs Council-D.C., a nonprofit organization aimed at educating the public about international affairs.

She has held leadership roles in organizations including Walmart’s Women’s Resource Council, STEM Innovation Task Force and the African American Officer Caucus.

Arkansas Index up 1.62 as 9 stocks rise

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 1.62 to 294.83 Friday.

Nine stocks advanced, seven declined, and one was unchanged.

Simmons First National, which announced on Thursday it acquired Metropolitan National Bank of Little Rock for $53.6 million, climbed 5.6 percent and reached a 52-week high in heavy trading.

Volume for the index was 15.5 million shares.

The average daily volume for the week was 21.6 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 31 on 09/14/2013