An Urban Air Adventure Park will be the new occupant of a 28,000-square-foot space at 801 S. Bowman Road in west Little Rock that has been vacant since Savers thrift store closed in November.
The facility will feature a ropes course, climbing walls, trampolines, dodge-ball courts and other attractions the company said in a news release.
The Little Rock outlet also will include a Sky Ryder Indoor Coaster in which riders strap in a harness and "zigzag overhead" through the facility, according to Michael Browning, the company's chief executive officer.
The Little Rock outlet will employ 60 people and open this winter, the company said.
Urban Air Adventure Park, which bills itself as a "premier full-service family entertainment facility," has more than 200 locations in the United States, including one in Conway that opened earlier this year.
-- Noel Oman
Two UALR scientists to study corn protein
Two professors at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock have been awarded $48,167 to study how proteins accumulate in corn seed, which could lead to strains that produce more nutrients, the school said in a news release.
Daniel Berleant and Phil Williams, professors in UALR's information-science department, received the grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Their team will analyze the expression of native and recombinant proteins from corn plants.
Berleant and Williams will work with the Elizabeth Hood laboratory at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro to discover genetic traits associated with protein accumulation in the edible kernels, UALR said. "Because protein accumulation in plants and seeds affect the nutritional value of food, this project will help scientists determine how people can grow more nutritious crops," Berleant said in the release.
-- Stephen Steed
Arkansas Index falls 6.16, ends at 440.16
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 6.16 to 440.16 Wednesday.
"Equities reversed early gains from the morning to close lower this afternoon following discussions by Trump administration officials on Chinese trade restrictions," said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock. "The S&P 500 index closed just below the 100-day moving average as the energy sector outperformed on tighter oil inventory data."
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 06/28/2018