Windstream drops 21 workers, 18 in LR
Windstream Holdings Inc. eliminated 21 jobs Thursday, 18 of them in Little Rock, the publicly traded telecommunications company said.
In its second-quarter earnings call, Windstream indicated there would be some workforce changes "to better serve our customers and operate more efficiently," David Avery, a Windstream spokesman, said Thursday.
"While we continue to invest in the strategic growth areas of our business, we must remain disciplined in our overall cost structure and that forces us to make tough decisions at times that affect our people," Avery said.
In the first six months of this year, Windstream eliminated about 375 positions, the company said in a federal filing last month.
Windstream has about 13,000 employees overall, with about 1,400 in Arkansas.
Windstream shares were unchanged Thursday, ending the day at $1.94 a share.
-- David Smith
Wal-Mart's $565,000 donated to Mexico
The Walmart Foundation is contributing $565,000 to relief efforts in Mexico after the country suffered a 7.1-magnitude earthquake earlier this week.
The company said in a news release that the donation would go to organizations providing immediate recovery and relief in Mexico. It is in addition to the Walmart Foundation's $2.2 million commitment of cash and 300 tons of product donations made by the company's Central America business division.
Wal-Mart and the Walmart Foundation recently committed about $30 million toward disaster relief after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas and Irma slammed Florida.
Wal-Mart has about 2,300 stores in Mexico, including 265 Supercenters and 160 Sam's Clubs.
-- Robbie Neiswanger
ArcBest rises 1.3% as index slips 0.25
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 0.25 to 353.92 Thursday.
"Equities retreated Thursday with the Dow Jones industrial average closing lower for the first time in nine days as telecommunications and consumer staples underperformed other sectors," said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.
Shares of ArcBest Corp. rose 1.3 percent in above-average volume.
USA Truck Inc. shares fell 1.4 percent in low volume.
Total volume for the index was 21.6 million shares.
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 09/22/2017