Walmart says center will provide 750 jobs
Walmart Inc.'s new $135 million distribution center in Mobile, Ala., is expected to create more than 750 full-time jobs when fully operational, the company said in a news release Tuesday.
About 575 full-time positions have been filled so far, largely through two job fairs. Most jobs pay about $16.50 an hour. Salaried employees are expected to earn $50,000 or more annually.
The new building, which covers 60 acres, serves as an import distribution center. It will store items to supply several regional distribution centers that in turn serve about 700 stores throughout the South.
The facility is the Bentonville-based retailer's sixth import distribution center in the U.S.
Jeff Breazeale, Walmart's vice president of direct import logistics, said in the release that the center will help the company better serve its customers in the South "while creating a positive economic impact locally through job creation and future development."
-- Serenah McKay
Job fair to fill posts at LR airport eatery
HMSHost, the food and beverage concessionaire at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field, will hold a job fair Aug. 22-23 as it prepares to hire 35 to 40 people to staff a new Chili's restaurant at the airport.
The job fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days at the airport to fill positions for bartenders, cashiers, cooks, hosts and hostesses, prep cooks and servers. Full-time and part-time positions are available.
Qualified candidates are encouraged to apply online at hmshost.com/careers [search location: Little Rock] or through a mobile device by texting "FOOD" to 242324 before the event to express interest in an on-site interview.
HMSHost is adding the Chili's restaurant as part of a nearly $4 million upgrade to its food and beverage offerings at Clinton National, which also includes the addition of a Chick-fil-A. The Chili's restaurant is expected to open in the fall.
-- Noel Oman
Flirting with record, index ends at 454.95
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, climbed 4.88 to 454.95 Tuesday.
The index hit a record high of 456.36 during trading, breaking the previous intraday high reached June 20.
"Stocks finished higher on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 on track for its best day in three weeks as concerns eased over a possible Turkish contagion and a handful of strong earnings boosted investor optimism," said Chris Harkins, managing director with Raymond James & Associates in Little Rock.
Total volume for the index was 18.3 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 08/15/2018