News in brief

Blue Rooster facility to create 100 jobs

Blue Rooster LLC is finalizing plans to open a poultry deboning operation in Warren that would create about 100 jobs.

The operation will process chickens for Rogers-based Ozark Mountain Poultry, which will be a majority owner in the newly formed company.

Warren Mayor Bryan Martin said new jobs will help the local economy, which he said has about a 9 percent unemployment rate.

"We need jobs, and I hear that every day," he said. "People want to work, and this is going to provide them with that opportunity."

The operation will be housed at the former facility of H&L Poultry, which shut its doors four years ago. At its peak, that operation provided up to 270 jobs. By the time H&L closed, Martin said, it was down to 70 to 100 jobs.

"With the poultry market expanding, there's opportunity for companies like Blue Rooster," Martin said. "We're happy to have them here."

-- Brian Fanney

Trucker sets plans for exec incentives

P.A.M. Transportation Services executives are eligible for bonus payouts between 20 percent and 100 percent of base salary under an executive compensation plan adopted by the Tontitown trucking firm.

The company's board of directors approved an amended short-term cash incentive plan on Aug. 7, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Wednesday. Bonus payouts are tied to the company's operating ratio, a measure of efficiency calculated using operating expenses and net sales.

If P.A.M. reaches an operating ratio of less than 97 percent, Chief Executive Officer Dan Cushman is eligible for a bonus ranging from 20 percent to 100 percent of his salary. Cushman's annual salary was set at $470,000 by the board in May.

Chief Financial Officer Allen West, whose base salary is $250,000, is eligible for a bonus between 20 percent and 60 percent.

Under the plan, P.A.M. will adjust its operating expenses by reducing the amount of fuel surcharge revenue. Bonuses will be paid out in five annual installments with half of the payout due in 2015. Installments of 12.5 percent will be paid annually through 2019.

-- Chris Bahn

Despite U.S. gains, state index dips 1.86

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 1.86 to 348.27 Wednesday.

A slowdown in retail sales numbers led to speculation that the Federal Reserve might delay interest rate increases, pushing U.S. stocks higher, said John Blackwell, senior vice president and managing director of equity trading at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.

Dillard's lost 3.6 percent on more than twice its average volume.

Total volume of the index was 18.2 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 on 08/14/2014

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