News in brief

Tyson chooses site for Tennessee plant

Tyson Foods Inc. is moving forward with plans to build a chicken plant in west Tennessee that will employ about 1,500 people.

The $300 million facility will be built in Humboldt, Tenn., about 85 miles northeast of Memphis. The plant will process about 1.25 million birds a week for packaged trays of fresh chicken for grocery stores. It is scheduled to open in late 2019, officials said Monday at a news conference.

"The location is attractive to us because of the strong support we've received from state and local leaders, the existing industrial park and availability of labor," said Doug Ramsey, Tyson's poultry president, in a statement.

The facility will feature a hatchery, processing facility and feed mill. Tyson's project will be built at a 500-acre Gibson County industrial park that's been seeking a tenant for about 20 years, county mayor Tom Witherspoon said.

-- Nathan Owens

Fed official to visit, lead economic talk

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard will lead a regional economic briefing on Dec. 1 at the Clinton Presidential Center.

Michael Pakko, chief economist and state economic forecaster at the Arkansas Economic Development Institute, also will participate in the briefing, which will provide an update on economic conditions and the outlook for the state and the nation.

The Little Rock branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the institute, which is at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, are hosting the event.

The two-hour program begins at 8 a.m. in the Great Hall of the center at 1200 President Clinton Ave. The program will be preceded by a breakfast that begins at 7:30 a.m. A question-and-answer session will follow the program.

The event is free, but space is limited. The deadline to register is Nov. 28. More information and registration is available at www.stlouisfed.org/events.

-- Noel Oman

Index of state firms gains 1.98 for day

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 1.98 to 390.19 Monday.

"The major averages closed higher as investors responded to positive economic releases along with mergers and acquisition activity in the tech sector," said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Simmons First Investment Group Inc. in Little Rock.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

Business on 11/21/2017

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