Conway gains on Tech business index

Conway made the biggest leap in April on the Arkansas Tech Business Index, which measures economic activity of 18 cities, encompassing labor, housing market, construction and retail sales data, according to figures released Tuesday.

Conway’s rating on the index increased by 1.73 points to 105.42, just below front-runner Fort Smith, which scored 105.96, the university said. A rating above 100 indicates a city is doing better than the state average from 2009 to the present.

Fort Smith has led the index for 12 of the past 16 months, but new-home construction in Conway propelled that city nearly to the front, the university said.

“Construction permits increased from a reading of 97 in March to almost 115 in April for Conway,” Marc Fusaro, associate professor of economics at Arkansas Tech and developer of the Arkansas Tech Business Index, said in a statement. “This was on the strength of residential construction permits of about $10 million. Commercial construction permits were also pretty high at $4.5 million.”

Other cities with 100-plus ratings in April were Fayetteville, with 105.25; Springdale, with 103.99; Bentonville, with 103.54; Hot Springs, with 101.54; and Jonesboro, with 100.53.

Rounding out the list were Rogers, with a rating of 99.65; Mountain Home, 99.40; Van Buren, 99.39; Russellville, 99.02; Searcy, 98.12; Texarkana, 96.35; El Dorado, 95.76; West Memphis, 95.64; North Little Rock, 95.37; Little Rock, 94.74; and Pine Bluff, 93.03.

The Tech index was created by the Arkansas Tech University College of Business and is sponsored by Arvest Bank.

Upcoming Events