Chicago's AJ Capital Partners finalized its purchase of The Chancellor Hotel in downtown Fayetteville with plans to turn it into one of its boutique Graduate Hotels, according to a Thursday news release.
The hotel will operate under The Chancellor name while it undergoes renovation and will be rebranded Graduate Fayetteville in the fall of 2019. The Graduate brand features hotels in "dynamic university-anchored cities across the country," according to the release.
"We couldn't be more pleased and excited about our acquisition of The Chancellor Hotel and becoming a longtime member of the vibrant and dynamic Fayetteville community," Tim Franzen, president of Graduate Hotels, said in a statement.
AJ Capital has 13 Graduate Hotels, and has 13 others under development and expected to open by 2020.
In 2011, the 206-room hotel near the city square on East Avenue was sold to Southwind Hospitality Holdings. The property underwent a significant renovation at that time.
-- John Magsam
Rockline plant gets state safety award
Rockline Industries' wet-wipes manufacturing plant in Springdale has received a safety award from the Arkansas Department of Labor for logging 10 million work hours with no lost-time accidents, the company said in a news release Thursday.
That milestone has only been achieved six other times since Arkansas began recognizing workplace safety in 1976, according to the release.
The Occupational Safety and Health Division of the state labor department bestows the Million Work Hour Awards as part of an educational program that encourages safety in the workplace.
"More important than any milestone achieved is the knowledge that our employees are acting safely and have a safe place to work," General Manager Joel Slank said in the release.
The facility at 1583 E. Mountain Road is undergoing a $3.2 million expansion. Wisconsin-based Rockline is one of the world's largest makers of wet wipes and coffee filters. It also has facilities in Russellville and Booneville.
-- Serenah McKay
Arkansas Index off, ends day down 5.27
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 5.27 to 378.75 Thursday.
"Equities closed relatively unchanged on lackluster volume with the Materials and Financials sector underperforming as the last three trading sessions have been marked by strength early in the day followed by afternoon weakness," said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens 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 12/14/2018