News in brief

Food-storage firm announces $12.5M expansion of North Little Rock site

Zero Mountain Inc. of Fort Smith, which operates five low-temperature food-storage facilities in Arkansas, will more than double the size and workforce of its year-old North Little Rock facility, the company announced Monday.

The $12.5 million expansion is expected to add 86,000 square feet to the facility at 1400 Gregory St., which opened in 2017 with 76,000 feet of storage space. The workforce is projected to increase from 22 workers to between 44 and 50, the company said.

Zero Mountain is a 63-year-old privately held company that began in a limestone cave in Johnson with 25,000 square feet of refrigerated and freezer space, according to the company.

The company also has facilities in Fort Smith, Lowell and Russellville. Altogether, the five locations will have 41.3 million cubic feet of storage space when the expansion project is completed in April, the company said.

Zero Mountain will mark the expansion in a groundbreaking ceremony at 10 a.m. today at the North Little Rock facility.

-- Noel Oman

Windstream faces shareholder lawsuit

Cindy Graham, a North Carolina resident and Windstream Holdings shareholder, is suing the company and its directors, claiming violation of federal law and breach of fiduciary duty by the board members.

The lawsuit was filed last month in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Scott Poynter, a Little Rock attorney, represents Graham.

Among several allegations, the lawsuit claims Windstream led shareholders to believe after the EarthLink purchase that Windstream would continue to pay a dividend.

But it discontinued the dividend only a few months after buying EarthLink, the lawsuit claims. Almost immediately after the company ended the dividend, business publications and analysts called the change "the death of Windstream" and "enough for investors to throw in the towel."

Graham has requested a jury trial. Windstream declined Monday to comment on the lawsuit.

-- David Smith

State index picks up 3.56; 11 stocks rise

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 3.56 to 448.87 Monday.

Eleven stocks rose and four fell.

"A sloppy day for U.S. stocks, closing Monday's session mixed due to a combination of news regarding the U.S. and China trade issues along with investors' concern over rising interest rates," said Chris Harkins, managing director with Raymond James & Associates in Little Rock.

Total volume for the index was 15.5 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 10/09/2018

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