Cooks BBQ to open
Searcy County plant
A company that produces charcoal products sold at Trader Joe's and other stores is opening a $1.4 million manufacturing facility in Searcy County that will employ 45 people, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission announced Thursday.
Cooks BBQ Products said it expects the facility in Pindall, midway between Marshall and Harrison on U.S. 65, to be fully operational by mid-January, according to a news release.
"Arkansas is the ideal location for us thanks to its central location and abundant natural resources that go into our products," Shawn Elbaz, chief executive officer of Cooks BBQ Products, said in the release.
Products made at the Arkansas plant will include wood chips, wood chunks, pellets, logs, firewood and barbecue charcoal.
-- Noel Oman
Stocks edge higher;
state index dips 0.48
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 0.48 to 408.85 Thursday.
"Stocks moved higher today on light volume with the support of seasonal strength due to end-of-year trading and as telecommunication stocks outperformed other sectors," said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.
Eleven stocks rose, and seven fell.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 12/29/2017