Dassault Jet to cut jobs at LR location
Dassault Falcon Jet plans to reduce the number of its employees in Little Rock in the second quarter, the French firm said Friday.
In a news release, the company said the number of jobs involved has not been determined. Dassault employs about 1,800 people in Little Rock.
Dassault previously announced a plan to offer early retirement to qualifying employees.
The current business aviation market and an adjustment in the production schedule in Little Rock make the cuts necessary, John Rosanvallon, president of Dassault Falcon Jet, said in a statement.
Arkansas provided incentives to Dassault in 2013 and 2015 for an expansion at the Little Rock plant and for the creation of 420 jobs, said Scott Hardin, spokesman for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
-- David Smith
Fed asks Simmons about loan disparity
The Federal Reserve of St. Louis this week asked Simmons First National a series of questions about its plans in the proposed purchase of Hardeman County Investment Co. of Jackson, Tenn., and its bank subsidiary, First South Bank.
The letter dated Thursday said the Federal Reserve received a public comment in December that alleged disparities in the rates which Simmons denied applications by black customers as opposed to whites for conventional home loans in Little Rock and Memphis. Simmons responded last month that the allegations do not "fairly present the lending activities of Simmons in those markets."
The Fed requested other details about the proposed purchase.
In a conference call last month, George Makris, Simmons' chief executive officer, said that Simmons' application for the Hardeman purchase has been turned over to the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C.
-- David Smith
15 state stocks rise; index up 2.24 points
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 2.24 to 361.88 Friday.
All but three stocks rose.
USA Truck rose 5.5 percent in double its average volume.
Bear State Financial climbed 4.8 percent in light trading.
For the week, 10 stocks lost ground, seven rose and one was unchanged.
Dillard's rose 2.8 percent for the week.
Total volume for the index Friday was 23.8 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 02/11/2017