Payments to go out in factory collapse
Some 3,600 workers and families owed compensation because of a factory collapse in Bangladesh last year will be able to make claims for payment as early as Monday, the IndustriALL Global Union said Thursday.
An advance payment of about $650 will be available to every beneficiary prior to the one-year anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory collapse that killed more than 1,100 workers April 24.
Payouts to the injured and the families of those who died are expected to top $40 million. Funding came from some of the retailers and brands that operated in the factory.
Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said none of its vendors were working at the Rana Plaza factory at the time of the collapse, but the company is working with the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety and other stakeholders to modernize the ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh.
“We recognize the unique factory safety challenges in Bangladesh and the need for the industry, nongovernmental organizations, worker organizations and government to work together to ensure worker safety, productivity and empowerment,” Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Gardner said.
- Cyd King
Six schools’ teams make contest finals
Teams from six colleges and universities have been named finalists for the annual Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Collegiate Business Plan Competition.
The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville has six team finalists; John Brown University has three finalists; and Arkansas State University, Hendrix College, Harding University and Ouachita Baptist University each have one finalist.
Winners for the four categories will be announced April 9. The teams will compete for cash prizes totaling $144,000. The prizes will be given out during the Governor’s Cup awards luncheon at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, according to the Arkansas Capital Corporation Group.
The competition is managed by the Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation.
- Jessica Seaman
Arkansas Index rises 1.66 to close 334.48
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 1.66 to 334.48 Thursday.
Deltic Timber Corp.
shares rose 1.3 percent to close at $64.87, and Home BancShares Inc. rose 2.1 percent to $36.25. Windstream Holdings Inc. shares gained 1.3 percent to close at $8.36.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. shares rose 1.3 percent to end at $75.38.
JB Hunt Transport Services Inc. shares fell 1.1 percent to finish at $70.20.
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 27 on 03/21/2014