Jordan firm making
new Wal-Mart vests
A top executive associated with Wal-Mart's Made in the USA initiative confirmed Friday that vests being provided to Wal-Mart employees are made by a supplier in Jordan. The blue lightweight vests are required apparel for all 1.3 million U.S. workers no later than Sept. 29.
"While we looked at making them in the United States, the timing and the sheer number of them [needed] to clothe all of the associates is a huge number," said Michelle Gloeckler, executive vice president of the consumables division and U.S. manufacturing lead for Wal-Mart U.S.
She said she has worked the better part of a year to find U.S.-based suppliers who can make the vests. Wal-Mart will provide two vests to each full-time employee. Employees were told in July about a new dress code, which they hope will make workers more identifiable in stores.
-- Cyd King
Chicot County land
part of Delta auction
More than 1,000 acres in the Arkansas Delta is going on the auction block, part of a larger sale of property in a three-state area.
Schrader Real Estate Auction Co., based in Columbia City, Ind., is overseeing the auction of 4,783 acres of cropland in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi on Oct. 22. The property is owned by Proventus LLC, an investment group, according to the auction website.
In Arkansas, two tracts -- of 634 acres and 640 acres, both near Lake Village in Chicot County -- will be auctioned. Most of both tracts have been precision leveled and were used to grow soybeans, corn and rice, according to an online description.
In Mississippi, 2,357 acres in seven tracts in Sunflower County will be auctioned while in Louisiana a single 1,152-acre tract near Sicily Island in Catahoula Parish is up for bid.
The auction will be 10 a.m. at the Washington County Convention Center in Greenville, Miss., with satellite bidding at the Natchez Grand Hotel in Natchez, Miss., according to a release.
-- John Magsam
Index sheds 3.39
to close at 350.93
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, slid 3.39 to 350.93 Friday.
Deltic Timber Corp. shares fell 2.8 percent to $64.70 in light trading.
P.A.M. Transportation Services Inc. dropped 2.5 percent to $36.70 in very light trading.
Tyson Foods Inc. fell 1.4 percent to $38.26.
JB Hunt Transport Services Inc. rose 10 cents to $75.36 in light trading.
For the week Bear State Financial rose 9 percent.
Murphy Oil Corp. saw the biggest loss at 4.5 percent for the week.
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 09/13/2014