In first, turkeys' flu jumps to chickens
A strain of avian flu that has killed hundreds of thousands of turkeys has spread for the first time to chickens.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic avian flu in a flock of 200,000 laying hens in Wisconsin on Monday.
The Jefferson County farm has been quarantined and surviving hens will be killed.
Turkey flocks in Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Minnesota and other states have previously suffered from the disease, which kills about 95 percent of the commercial turkeys it infects.
Major trading partners, like Mexico and Canada, have stopped importing poultry from areas where infections have been identified.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers the risk to people from these infections in wild birds, backyard flocks and commercial poultry to be low.
-- Brian Fanney
For new HQ, ArcBest breaks ground today
ArcBest Corp. will break ground today on its new corporate headquarters at Chaffee Crossing in Fort Smith during a 1:30 p.m. ceremony. Gov. Asa Hutchinson is scheduled to be in attendance.
The company announced last May that it would spend $30 million to build its headquarters and add 975 jobs to the area over the next seven years. The 200,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to be completed in 2016 and will house about 850 employees, according to a news release.
"I am truly excited to take the next step toward another milestone as we break ground on a new company headquarters," ArcBest Chief Executive Officer Judy McReynolds said in a news release. "We believe this region possesses a great pool of talent, and we look forward to having these exceptional employees build a career with us."
-- Robbie Neiswanger
State index up 1.11 on mixed trading day
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 1.11 to 404.52 Tuesday.
"The major market indexes were mixed as investors weighed earnings and rising energy prices against disappointing economic data," said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Simmons First Investment Group Inc. in Little Rock.
J.B. Hunt gained more than 4.5 percent after a better-than-expected earnings report and established a 52-week high on strong volume, Williams said.
Bank of the Ozarks spiked just over 3.5 percent in active trading while setting a 52-week high before pulling back slightly at the close, he said.
America's Car-Mart fell 1.8 percent.
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 04/15/2015