Twenty-five individuals have been chosen for the 2013-14 class of Leadership Fort Smith, a community program designed to educate and inspire the participants to make a bigger difference in our community and region.

Participants for Leadership Fort Smith, which is beginning its 26th year, go through an extensive application and selection process. Leadership Fort Smith focuses on key community issues and leadership skills while engaging in dialogue with leaders in various fields.

Dr. Paul B. Beran, UAFS chancellor, said Leadership Fort Smith is more than an education for its participants.

“Leadership Fort Smith is a launching point for real progress in a variety of different areas of our community, from touching the non-profit human service arena to economic development,” he said. “These are energetic, ‘go to’ people, who will learn from each other and from the numerous experiences they will have together in the coming year.”
 
Beran said the class members were selected by a Leadership Fort Smith committee in recognition of past involvement in the community and for their demonstrated potential to make an even greater difference in the future. The participants will then be challenged to assume additional leadership responsibilities and positions.
 
LFS director Barbara Harvel of Fort Smith is looking forward to the months ahead and what it will mean to the participants.

“It’s always exciting to welcome a new class to Leadership Fort Smith because we know how much each individual will learn during the year of the program,” she said. “Even those who have grown up in Fort Smith and have stayed here their entire lives will walk away in amazement of the lessons learned about their community and region.”

New class members are:
Greta Barr of Fort Smith, associate broker for Nunnelle & Wright Commercial Properties.

Scott Branton of Van Buren, owner of Scott N. Branton Architects, PLLC.

Susan E. Brockett of Fort Smith, attorney with Nolan, Caddell & Reynolds.

Kay Lynn Clay of Greenwood, senior marketing manager of marketing and corporate communications with Arkansas Best Corp.

Denora Coomer of Fort Smith, circuit clerk of Sebastian County.

Sarah Davis of Fort Smith, director of engineering and measurement for Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corp.

Renee Robinson Durham of Fort Smith, general manager for Harry Robinson Buick-GMC.

Todd Fretheim of Fort Smith, director of food service sales for O.K. Foods Inc.

Alison Houston of Alma, deputy prosecuting attorney with Sebastian County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Larry Johnston Jr. of Fort Smith, vice president of finance and treasurer with Baldor Electric Co.

Joshua Keifer of Fort Smith, vice president of commercial lending for Benefit Bank.

Lee Krehbiel Fort Smith, vice chancellor for student affairs at University of Arkansas - Fort Smith.

Katie Lejong of Greenwood, senior audit manager with Beall Barclay & Company PLC.

Neal Martin of Fort Smith, manager of software development with Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care Inc.

Ty Matlock of Fort Smith, owner of Matlock Media.

Jered Medlock of Van Buren, manager and partner at Medlock & Gramlich LLP.

Brooke Moreton of Fort Smith, branch manager for First National Bank of Fort Smith.

Grant Morris of Barling, director of regional operations/interim director of primary care operation with Mercy Clinic Fort Smith.

Keia E. Peeples of Fort Smith, human resource manager with Kraft Foods Group – Planters.

Donny Rogers of Fort Smith, senior vice president/location manager for asset management division for Arvest Asset Management.

Stacey P. Rogers of Fort Smith, vice president of financial planning and analysis for Golden Living.

Kerrie Taber of Arkoma, Okla., assistant professor with University of Arkansas - Fort Smith.

Barbara Webster-Meadows of Fort Smith, retired, volunteer secretary for Ninth Street Church of Christ.

Sharla Whitson of Fort Smith, principal at Bonneville Elementary School.

Leigh Zuerker of Fort Smith, deputy public defender for Arkansas Public Defender Commission.

The Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce and Leadership Fayetteville Chairperson Leah Spears have announced the 2013-14 Leadership Fayetteville Class.

Leadership Fayetteville program has graduated more than 575 business leaders since its inception 26 years ago. The mission of Leadership Fayetteville is to produce a continuous stream of concerned, motivated and educated individuals of diverse talents and interests eager to pursue and assume leadership roles and volunteer opportunities within the Fayetteville community.

The Leadership program consists of nine full-day sessions that begin in September and end in May, including an overnight trip to Little Rock for a State Government session.

The daily sessions include: Healthcare, Education, Social Services, Government, Economic & Personal Development, Northwest Arkansas Day, Call to Action and Quality of Life.

New class members are:
Alex Blass, Sage Partners

Matt Bumgarner, Arkansas Army National Guard

Nate Carbaugh, Pinnacle Foods

Adam Caudle, Bank of Arkansas Mortgage

Chance Chapman, Saatchi & Saatchi X

Nicole Chapman, Smith Hurst, PLC

Suzanne Clark, Clark Law Firm, PLLC

Tim Cornelius, Northwest Arkansas Community College

Jay Downing, Downtown Properties Real Estate

Tim Doyle, WACO Title Company

Will Gladden, Signature Bank

Nathan Harris, Liberty Bank

Eileen Jennings, Arvest Bank

Stephanie Lovell, Arvest Bank

Hal Marshall, Greenwood Gearhart, Inc.

Sasha Mayo, Arvest Bank

TJ Mohler, Coldwell Banker/Harris McHaney

John Newman, Life Styles, Inc.

Ryan Noble, CR Crawford Construction

Jodi Northcutt, Haas Hall Academy

Melania Powell, Hogan Taylor

Curtis Spatz, Simmons First bank

Sarah White, NWA Media

Deb Williams, University of Arkansas Graduate School of Business

A broad range of retailers from Wal-Mart to True Value to Whole Foods are using creative ways to connect their buyers with new suppliers – with 18 companies in the Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas areas hoping the creativity helps them “get on the shelf” at Wal-Mart.

Getting product on a retailer shelf is no easy feat, said Fran Free, owner of Fayetteville-based Oh Baby Foods.

She remembers loading up her car with her infant daughter and traveling to Little Rock to get face time with Whole Foods back in 2009. That was after she got nowhere using the supplier portal on the company’s website.

The face-time was all Free needed to get one foot in the door because her organic baby food was a natural fit for niche player Whole Foods, who was seeking out local suppliers.

FORAGER & FINANCE
She worked closely with a local forager for Whole Foods and eventually got the baby food products in the Little Rock and Tulsa stores. She said the forager was a new effort by Whole Foods at that time, to have someone on the ground seeking out potential suppliers.

Free is now in 80 stores after working with brokers in several regions. And come September, the Oh Baby brand will be sold in 150 additional Whole Food locations. She said it has taken lots of demos and promotions to get the broad exposure but Whole Foods also came through with additional financing to help fund her expansion as part of its local producer loan program.

The Whole Foods local producer loan program, lends money to small, local, independent producers to help them expand their businesses. The company just closed out a total $10 million in loans to small suppliers, like Free.

“It’s a great program. I just returned from a summit they had in Chicago and got to meet with all the national buyers in my category while I was there. There were sessions on topics like distribution, brokering and finance because they have a vested interest in your success,” Free said.

In addition to loans for small suppliers, and employing foragers to seek out local product, Whole Foods also holds supplier fairs in areas where they aim to put new stores. Whole Foods recently held a supplier fair in Tallahassee, Fla., ahead of the chain’s new store opening in that city this later this fall.

Jason Long, CEO of Shift Marketing Group in St. Louis, said the supplier fairs are beneficial to both small vendors and corporate buyers given Whole Foods’ goal to source local.

Whole Foods said during these fairs they go over the required protocol and the mandatory quality standards, relating to ethical sourcing and freshness requirements.

BUYING DAYS
Hardware giants True Value and Ace each use a similar strategy to connect their buyers with potential suppliers through an event they dub “buying days.” The retailers each held a “buying days” event in the past nine months.

Potential vendors could sign up to attend the “buying days” events if they made a donation to the chosen charity of each organization — $200 to the Ace Foundation or $500 to the United Way Fund toward True Value’s corporate giving goal.

In exchange for the charitable donation, potential suppliers got 20 minutes with an Ace Merchandiser or 30 minutes with a category buyer at True Value. The Ace event was held in June, while True Value’s “buying days” occurred in November.

Neither of these retailers provided additional information about those events when asked on Monday (August 12).

Long worked with a supplier who attended a “buying days” event. More than anything, he said the charitable contribution buys them a brief guaranteed meeting in front of a merchandiser, which is becoming more difficult to secure at some retailers.

“There was good back and forth dialogue after the meeting with Ace. But, Ace eventually said the category wasn't something they were going to make any changes to currently. It was a good experience overall even though we didn't get desired result. It’s often a marathon and not a sprint on sell-in,” Long said.

With recent layoffs at Lowe’s and a push from other retailers for more local sourcing, Long said buyers are being saddled with more product items and work than before, so getting a meeting can be a quite a challenge.

These efforts like “buying days,” supplier fairs or crowd-sourcing with Wal-Mart are interesting ways potential suppliers can get exposure for their products, he added.

But Long urges those potential suppliers who take advantage of these quirky gigs to be fully prepared when they get a buyer’s ear.

“It’s a mine field to navigate, one slip and they could fall to the bottom if they aren’t fully prepared for the retailer’s questions,” Long said.

GET ON THE SHELF
Wal-Mart recently launched its second installment of the “Get on the shelf” crowdsourcing contest which offers inventors and entrepreneurs the opportunity for broad exposure of their products.

“We received thousands of entries for our ‘Get on the Shelf’ contest, 39 of which came from Arkansas. Voting runs until early September, and we’ll choose up to 20 finalists for the next round,” said Wal-Mart spokesman Ravi Jariwala.

There are 14 entries from Northwest Arkansas and four from the Fort Smith area. (Link here for a a complete list of the Arkansas entries.)

Jariwala said each of the 20 finalists will be featured in an original web series. The public will again have an opportunity to vote for the finalists choosing up to 5 winners to be carried online at Walmart.com.

Of the winning products, the one that garners the highest number of pre-orders on Walmart.com will be crowned the grand prize winner.

Long said the Wal-Mart contest is interesting because it leverages technology with social crowd sourcing. He said the audience who votes online may not typically represent the core supercenter shopper.

In last year’s contest Wal-Mart said there were more than 5,000 entries. Humankind Water was the grand prize winner. Humankind Water eventually got its product in 200 stores.

Glenview Capital Management has succeeded in its effort to replace the Board of Directors at Health Management Associates – the parent company of Sparks Health System in Fort Smith and Summit Medical Center in Van Buren.

Monday’s (Aug. 12) news ends several months of a bitter proxy fight between New York City-based Glenview and HMA. Glenview, which owns 14.6% of HMA shares, had initiated a “consent” vote to remove the existing board of directors at HMA. Officials with Glenview alleged that HMA board and management actions in running the company were “substandard.”

On June 25 Glenview formally requested that HMA shareholders vote for a complete overhaul of the HMA board of directors. Officials with Glenview say the problems at HMA are so deep that they believe all new Board members are required who have the experience to make changes.

HMA officials refuted the allegations, but in late June noted that the company “recently engaged Morgan Stanley to assist with its ongoing consideration of strategic alternatives and opportunities available to HMA.” Also, in recent days HMA offered Glenview and olive branch of accepting one Glenview nominee to the board. An indication that the Glenview push may succeed when closely watched Institutional Shareholders Services recommended that HMA shareholders vote for the Glenview slate of board nominees.

Glenview has, apparently, won the shareholder battle to “Revitalize HMA.” Glenview issued the following statement.

“Earlier today, Glenview submitted to the appropriate representatives of HMA documentation that a majority of shareholders have voted for the removal and replacement of the entire Board of Directors at HMA. We anticipate that the Sitting HMA Board will work with their outside advisors to ensure a prompt fiduciary review of the voting results. Led by future HMA Chairman Steven Shulman, the nominees will be in contact with the outgoing HMA Board and their advisors to ensure a smooth transition to be effected this week.”

UPDATED INFO: HMA issued this statement late Monday: “An independent inspector of election will promptly review and certify the validity of the written consents delivered to the Company. The HMA board is committed to ensuring an orderly transition if the written consents delivered by Glenview are validated by the independent inspector of election. The Company will provide further information when the review of the independent inspector of election is complete.”

The news from Glenview raises questions about the July 30 announcement that Community Health Systems plans to acquire Naples, Fla.-based HMA in a deal valued at $7.6 billion that could close in the first quarter of 2014.

Community Health officials said in this Reuters report that the board shift is not changing their plans.

"Our definitive agreement to acquire HMA remains unchanged. We look forward to working constructively with the new board of directors at HMA to complete this strategic transaction," Community Health spokeswoman Tomi Galin said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

Community Health Systems is almost double the size of HMA, and its hospital portfolio includes eight facilities in Arkansas. Those include four in Northwest Arkansas – Northwest Medical Center-Bentonville, Northwest Medical Center-Springdale, Siloam Springs Regional Hospital and Willow Creek Women’s Hospital.

However, Glenview has said the $13.78 per share offering for HMA is too low, and said the offer from Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health will get a second look.

“Several months from now, with greater Board and Management engagement and greater transparency, Glenview and other shareholders will consider the Community Proposal with an eye towards maximizing shareholder value and positioning HMA to best serve the healthcare needs of its local communities,” noted the Glenview filing.

Glenview has investments of approximately $2 billion with five hospital chains, and manages more than $6 billion in all of its investment funds.

Glenview’s apparent success in replacing the HMA board delivers even more uncertainty for the 500-job regional service center HMA has planned for Fort Smith. HMA officials announced on April 4 that the center would be housed in what was once a portion of Phoenix Village Mall. HMA estimated the annual payroll will be $21.5 million, with the center at full employment within 12 months. The facility is scheduled to begin operations in early September.

Shares of HMA (NYSE: HMA) closed Monday at $13.24, unchanged from the previous close. During the past 52 weeks the share price has ranged from a $17.28 high to a $6.53 low.

Feeder cattle prices have risen about $20 per hundredweight since late May, according to Derrell S. Peel, analyst with Oklahoma State University.

He said after being on the defensive during the first half of 2013, feeder cattle markets are poised to hold stronger for balance of this year. 

Peel credits good prospects for a large corn crop and lower commodity prices in conjunction with significantly improved forage conditions for the better feeder prices and more marketing options for cow-calf producers.
 
Calf prices are about $25 per hundredweight above this time last year.

Peel said last year calf prices increased $20 to $22 per hundredweight between August and November. The feeder futures price would indicate that 500 pound steers in Oklahoma City would be at least $172 per hundredweight in November but the strong basis this month suggests that the price could be $180 per hundredweight or higher this fall.

Both the cash market and the feeder futures indicate that cow-calf producers should expect calf prices that are $10 to $15 per hundredweight higher than last year come November.
 

Gov. Mike Beebe along with economic development officials from around Arkansas plan to attend a Wal-Mart organized manufacturing summit later this month that is part of the retailer’s effort to buy at least $50 billion in U.S. made products during the next 10 years.

The event, labeled by Bentonville-based Wal-Mart as the U.S. Manufacturing Summit, is scheduled for Aug. 22-23, and will be held in Orlando, Fla.

“Our goal is to convene suppliers, government bodies, thought leaders and other retailers to accelerate our mission of leading an American renewal in manufacturing,” Greg Hall, vice president of U.S. sourcing and manufacturing, told Site Selection magazine in a July 2013 interview. “If a supplier is evaluating U.S. production or expansion of U.S. production, attending this summit is designed to provide understanding of state and local incentives, opportunities, work-force capabilities, readily available raw materials, economics, etc., all in one place.”

Two-thirds of products purchased by Wal-Mart come from the U.S., but much of that is for food. The Jan. 15, 2013, announcement by Wal-Mart provided two areas in which the company hoped to help grow U.S. manufacturing.

“The company will grow U.S. manufacturing on two fronts: by increasing what it already buys here – in categories like sporting goods, apparel basics, storage products, games, and paper products, and by helping to onshore U.S. production in high potential areas like textiles, furniture and higher-end appliances,” noted the company statement.

As of July, Wal-Mart had been in contact with about 25 state governors and economic development offices about the program.

Matt DeCample, spokesman for Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, confirmed that Beebe would attend the summit. Others from Arkansas attending include Grant Tennille, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission; Tim Allen, president of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce; and representatives with the Northwest Arkansas Council.

“The governor is going. We’re going to make a big push on that,” Tennille said. “I’m real hopeful that the Wal-Mart onshoring (effort) is going to be good for Arkansas.”

THE FORT SMITH MESSAGE
Allen said he plans to travel to the summit with several flash drives full of information that speak to the advantages of doing business in the Fort Smith area.

“I’m going to bring the Fort Smith message, and make the rounds and target, or select companies (that fit),” he explained. “Fort Smith has several buildings, very nice buildings that are food grade and good for manufacturing.”


Allen said recruiting new businesses in recent years has more to do with the people than the facilities.

“It’s often about the people, the workforce, and the training that we can provide. ... I think, for a lot of reasons, that we can tell a good story with that,” Allen said.

Allen also believes Fort Smith may have a geographic advantage.

“One thing I will be talking about is our close proximity to the (Wal-Mart) corporate headquarters. I think logistically, just located 50 or 55 minutes south of the headquarters ... I think Fort Smith is sitting in a good location,” Allen explained.

Landing any piece of the $50 billion onshoring effort will help the Fort Smith area. Of Arkansas’ three largest metro areas, the Fort Smith region has been the hardest hit in the past decade in terms losing manufacturing jobs. Between June 2003 and June 2013, jobs in the sector are down 23% in central Arkansas, down 34.16% in the Fort Smith region, and down 20.8% in Northwest Arkansas.

U.S., ARKANSAS MANUFACTURING TRENDS
Tennille, Allen and many of their peers around the state and country have good reason to hope the onshoring effort helps the U.S. manufacturing sector.

Historically, U.S. manufacturing sector employment has ranged between 17 million and 19 million. It reached a high of 19.553 million jobs in June 1979. Sector employment has been stuck below 12 million since May 2009. Prior to May 2009, the last time sector employment was below 12 million was May 1941.

In early 2010, Arkansas’ manufacturing sector appeared to find a bottom and entered a 14-month period (April 2010-May 2011) in which employment remained above the 160,000 level. By early 2012, sector employment resumed its decline. May and June of 2013 marked the first time employment in the sector was consecutively below the 155,000 level.

Between June 2010 and June 2013, Arkansas lost 7,700 manufacturing jobs, a decline of 4.75%. Among Arkansas’ neighboring states, only Mississippi also saw a decline in manufacturing jobs in the same period, but that was just a 500 job loss, or a decline of 0.36%.

During the same three-year period, the manufacturing workforce grew by 3,600 jobs in Louisiana; grew by 9,500 jobs in Missouri; grew by 12,300 jobs in Oklahoma; and grew by an impressive 55,900 jobs in Texas. Nationally, there was a 3.7% gain in manufacturing employment between June 2010 and June 2013. However, all states have seen a manufacturing workforce decline when compared to the previous decade (June 2003). (Link here to read more about the manufacturing job rebound fading in Arkansas.)

‘RECRUITING LIKE CRAZY’
Allen is not unfounded in his hopes that Arkansas cities may have a leg up on landing new business from Wal-Mart’s onshoring drive.

Beebe’s office and Wal-Mart launched in May the “Arkansas’ Own” program that features consumer products from Arkansas. According to Wal-Mart, the retailer carries more than 1,700 units made, produced or processed in Arkansas. Hall, in the Site Selection interview, said the Arkansas items come from 73 brands and 44 suppliers. The companies range from such global operations as Springdale-based Tyson Foods to “smaller, lesser-known companies.”

“Walmart's goal is to create awareness and drive consumer interest in Arkansas products and help the vendors and suppliers in our home state,” Hall noted in the interview.

Hall also said he hoped the $50 billion push would rise to $500 billion in purchasing of U.S. goods if other retailers participate.

Whether it’s $50 billion or $500 billion, the program has Tennille’s attention.

“We’re very focused on trying to take advantage of that (Wal-Mart onshoring program), ... and recruiting like crazy in those areas,” Tennille said.

Christian Hofer, associate professor of supply chain management at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, has won the Journal of Operations Management Jack Meredith Best Paper Award.

Hofer received the award for his paper "The Competitive Determinants of a Firm's Environmental Management Activities: Evidence from U.S. Manufacturing Industries" published in the Journal of Operations Management, Volume 30.

"This is quite remarkable given that last year his paper "Lean, Leaner, Too Lean? The Inventory-Performance Link Revisited" was one of three finalists for the award," said Matt Waller, chair of the supply chain management department and holder of the Garrison Endowed Chair in Supply Chain Management.

Hofer earned his Ph.D. from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland after receiving a bachelor's degree with honors in general and international business from the European School of Business in Reutlingen, Germany, and Reims Management School in France.

His research focuses on competitive dynamics in supply chain management and operations, inventory management and aviation economics.

His work also has been published in the Journal of Business Logistics, Journal of Retailing, International Journal of Production Economics, Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, Transportation Research Part E, International Journal of Logistics Management, Transportation Journal, Transportation Research Part D and Journal of the Transportation Research Forum.

Prior to returning to academia in 2003, Hofer worked as a management consultant with Booz & Company in Munich, Germany.

Leaders of Arvest Bank, First Bank Corp., Benefit Bank and reps from the Arkansas Bankers Association gathered Tuesday (Aug. 13) in Fort Smith with U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, to reinforce their concern that new and expected federal regulations are a threat to community banks.

The bankers – along with Bill Holmes, president and CEO of the Arkansas Bankers Association, and Eric Munson, director of legislation and regulation for the association – met with Womack in the board room at the First National Bank building in downtown Fort Smith. The bankers attending the meeting were Joe Edwards, president of Fort Smith-based Benefit Bank; Keith Hefner, president and CEO of Citizens Bank & Trust in Van Buren; Craig Rivaldo, president of Arvest Bank in the Fort Smith region; Sam T. Sicard, president of First Bank Corp.; and John Womack (no relation to Rep. Womack), president of Arvest Bank in the central Arkansas area.

The specific angst of the gathered bankers is with federal rules promulgated under the Dodd-Frank law. Named after legislative authors U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd and U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, the “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act” was signed into law on July 21, 2010. Dodd and Frank have since retired from Congress.

It was passed in response to the near collapse of several large U.S.-based banking operations in 2007-2008. Democratic leaders in Congress blamed the financial problems on a lack of federal oversight.

Advocates of the law say it will prevent banks and other financial institutions from essentially creating a financial house of cards.

Key provisions of the Act, which are expected to be more fully articulated in 2013 and 2014, include:
• Creation of a consumer interest “independent watchdog” housed at the Federal Reserve;
• Establishes capital requirements designed to end the “too big to fail” possibility among the big banks;
• Creates an “advance warning system” to identify systemic problems before they become big problems;
• Eliminates loopholes that allow the “exotic instruments” that helped fuel the financial meltdown in 2008; and,
• Creates new accountability and transparency rules for credit rating agencies.

The law was designed to increase examination and enforcement of banks and other financial service companies with more than $10 billion in assets. However, regulations will also increase for banks under the $10 billion level.

Community and regional bank operators in the Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas areas have been on record as saying Dodd-Frank was an overreaction to what happened in 2007-2008. They reiterated that belief during the visit with Womack.

Sicard, president of Fort Smith-based First Bank Corp., said Dodd-Frank is a “one-size-fits-all approach” that is making it difficult for community banks to approve home and other loans.

“We wanted him (Womack) to see the challenges with the regulation that is burying our business,” Sicard said. “This will have a definite impact, a negative impact, on local communities.”

First Bank Corp. operates several banks, including First National Bank of Rogers and Citizens Bank and Trust in Van Buren.

According to Accenture, which recently issued results from a global survey of the financial sector about Dodd-Frank, the legislation is the “most comprehensive set of U.S. regulatory reform measures since the Great Depression.”

But the Accenture report also noted that more regulations are coming.

“Yet, more than two years after the Act was signed by President Barack Obama, only a third of Dodd-Frank’s nearly 400 required rules have been finalized and only a third have been proposed,” noted the Accenture report.

Accenture’s survey results included the following findings:
• Overall, 10% of companies anticipate spending from $100 million to $200 million on Dodd-Frank across the lifetime of the program, and half anticipate spending at least $50 million;
• Many companies see beneficial results from Dodd-Frank; for example, 64% of respondents believe the Act will strengthen their competitive position, especially within the capital markets industry, and a strong majority believe Dodd-Frank will lead to greater profitability across the lifetime of the program; and
• 77% of companies responding believe the proposed regulatory reforms — and their effect on revenue streams — will cause them to revise their long-term business strategies.

The Republican leadership of the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services continues to be a proponent of reversing Dodd-Frank. The U.S. House has passed seven bills that would essentially kill Dodd-Frank.

Rep. Womack likely needed little convincing from the bankers about the impact of Dodd-Frank.

“This creates a terrible regulatory environment ... that will put community banks out of business or turn them into glorified ATMs,” Womack said prior to a luncheon with the bankers.

Womack believes a “handful of political victories” are needed to change enough votes in the U.S. Senate if Dodd-Frank is to be reversed.

“But the real question is, ‘Can it be done (reversed) in time to save some of the more vulnerable banks?’” Womack added.

Certainly not all members of Congress oppose Dodd-Frank.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., recently said she will push back against any legislation that comes to the Senate attempting to reverse or weaken Dodd-Frank.

"Wall Street’s aggressive determination paid off last week when the House Financial Services Committee reported out several bills to roll back reforms to the derivatives markets included in the Dodd-Frank Act," Warren said in a statement published by the Huffington Post. “I strongly agree with Treasury Secretary Lew’s opposition to the bills. The Dodd-Frank Act put in place a variety of measures that work together as a system to protect consumers, hold big banks accountable, and reduce the risk of future crises. It is dangerous for Congress to amend the derivatives provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act without at the same time taking accompanying steps to strengthen reform and maintain the law’s equilibrium."

Mercy in Fort Smith now has three new primary care clinic locations in the Fort Smith region.

Mercy Convenient Care-Zero Street is now open. Mercy Clinic invested $2.6 million in building renovations, and the 5,614-square-foot clinic includes 13 exam rooms with fully integrated electronic health record capabilities, a comfortable waiting room and new exterior.

The facility, located at 3503 S. 79th St., is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., open Saturday between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., and open Sunday 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

“This clinic is a real investment in the health of our community,” Dr. John Weddle, Mercy Clinic Convenient Care physician, said in a statement. “We’re now open 74 hours a week at two different locations. Patients can walk right in days, nights and weekends and get care for their minor illnesses and injuries.”

Mercy also operates Mercy Clinic McAuley Family Medicine at 3420 S. 74th St., in Fort Smith. The clinic provides health care for Medicaid patients needing to establish with a primary care provider, and is open weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Also open is Mercy Clinic Primary Care-Sallisaw.

“It is the first Mercy Clinic Fort Smith location on the Oklahoma side of the border allowing Mercy to work toward its goal of providing care to people where they live,” noted the Mercy statement. 

Mercy Clinic now includes 12 total primary care locations and 20 specialty locations. 

Northwest Arkansas’ hospitality sector continues to register robust growth posting revenue of $2.799 million through the first half of 2013. Taxes collected on prepared food and lodging revenue in the region rose 15% as consumers opened those wallets a little wider in the second quarter, despite a somewhat stagnant national economy.

The cities of Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale and Fayetteville collect a 2% room tax on hotel and meeting space, Bentonville and Fayetteville also collect a 1% tax on prepared food.

HOTEL GAINS
The local hotel sector continues to see better results as business travel has improved and groups and conventions are once again booking rooms.

“So far, February through June have all been record breaking months for the Rogers hotel tax. The second quarter was great for conventions with the FLW fishing tournament, Questers National Convention, Arkansas Master Gardeners, Poultry Festival, LPGA, and Daisy BB Gun Championships to name a few of the conventions that visited during the recent quarter,” said Allyson Dyer, executive director for the Rogers Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Dyer is looking forward to a busy season this fall with Razorback football, Bikes Blues and BBQ, craft fairs as well as several other conventions on the books.

The hotel industry STR report provided by Smith’s Travel Research indicates 99 hotels in the two-county area posted cumulative sales revenue of $26.492 million in the first quarter of 2013, a 12.4% increase from 2012, and the best start since 2007. The region’s 8,299 rooms were occupied 53.5% of the time, improving from 51.3% in the prior year. Room rates averaged $78.90 per night, up 5.4% from a year ago.

Roger Davis, general manager for the Springdale Holiday Inn, said there is still some slight discounting for large groups, but overall revenue is growing as the rooms are filling up for longer periods of time.

The U.S. hotel industry reported increases in all three key performance metrics during the first half of 2013 in year-over-year measurements, according to data from STR.

“We continue to be bullish on industry-wide performance in 2013," said Brad Garner, chief operating officer at STR. 

He said while demand for transient hotel rooms was solid for the recent quarter, year-over-year demand for group rooms has been tepid.

Hotels in Bentonville collected $267,415 in taxes from January through June of 2013, Revenue rose 20% from the same period last year. The 21-c Museum Hotel opened in February and brought in more than $25,000 in tax revenue through the end of June, boosting the city’s overall year-over-year comparisons.

In Fayetteville, hotel collections totaled $135,655 in the first half of this year. The hotel tax revenue improved from a year ago, thanks to more than $17,700 in taxes paid by the Chancellor Hotel, which opened last fall in downtown Fayetteville.

FOOD, ENTERTAINMENT
Bentonville and Fayetteville continue to see gains in the revenue collected for prepared food, despite the fact their neighboring towns do not collect the added 1% tax.

Fayetteville food venues collected $1.34 million in taxes during the first two quarters of 2013. Collections are up from roughly $1.27 million in the year-ago period.

In Bentonville, prepared food taxes totaled $556,139 during the first half of this year, rising 6.4% from the same period in 2012.

Again the top grossing restaurants in Bentonville is Eurest Dining Services which operates inside the corporate headquarters of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. This corporate cafeteria generated $31,600 in prepared food taxes in the first six months of 2013.

The next highest food venue in terms of taxes collected was Eleven, the restaurant inside Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Eleven collected more than $11,600 in prepared food taxes in the first half of this year. Cities from Van Buren to Bentonville have seen added hotel and restaurant traffic related to the world-class museum. Crystal Bridges expects to welcome its one-millionth visitor to the museum this week.

“Reaching one million visitors just 21 months after our opening is a huge milestone for us,” said Crystal Bridges Executive Director Rod Bigelow. “From the day we opened our doors, our goal has been to welcome visitors to experience the power of art and the beauty of nature, and we’re thankful to have been able to create these connections with such a vast audience.”

He said the museum has had a warm welcome from visitors not only throughout our region, but from across the globe.

Of those one million visitors, 64% were from Arkansas, and 20% came from the six nearby states: Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi. 

The remaining 16% hailed from other states in the U.S. and global addresses. The visitors include more than 27,000 school children from districts throughout the region.

Hospitality Revenue (January through June)
Bentonville
2013: $823,554
2012: $749,631
9.86%

Rogers
2013: $345,141
2012: $328,459
5.07%

Springdale
2013: $147,552
2012: $133,759
10.31%

Fayetteville
2013: $1.483 million
2012: $1.229 million
20.6%

Source: Respective cities

Enplanements turned positive during July at the Fort Smith Regional Airport, and the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) saw its year-to-date traffic growth expand to 3.7%.

During the first quarter of the year, enplanements at XNA were up 2.4%, and rose to a 3.18% increase for the first six months of the year.

July delivered 52,577 enplanements at XNA, up 6.67% compared to July 2012. For the first seven months of 2013, enplanements at XNA total 337,760, up 3.7% over the 325,676 enplanements during the same period of 2012. The enplanement tally for the seven-month period in 2013 is also ahead of the 335,948 during the same period of 2011.

August could bring more traffic to the airport. American Airlines is adding non-stop flights from Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport to Los Angeles International Airport in Southern California starting Aug. 27. XNA provides service to 14 destinations on five airlines across the country.

Enplanements at XNA totaled 565,045 during 2012, up just 0.4% compared to 2011. Although slight, the gain prevented XNA from posting two-consecutive years of enplanement declines. XNA’s first full year of traffic was 1999, and the airport posted eight consecutive years of enplanement gains before seeing a decline in 2008. It reached a peak of 598,886 in 2007.

FORT SMITH TRAFFIC

The Fort Smith Regional Airport, posted July enplanements of 7,673, up slightly compared to the 7,661 in July 2012 1.4% compared to June 2012.

The airport is served by flights from Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth.

Although still in negative territory, the enplanement trend is improving in Fort Smith. For the first six months of 2013, enplanements at the airport were down 3.9% compared to the same period in 2012, and enplanements during the first quarter were down 7.4% compared to the same period in 2012.

For the first seven months of 2013, enplanements at Fort Smith total 49,714, down 3.37% compared to the same period in 2012.

Enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport totaled 86,653 during 2012, just ahead of the 86,234 in 2011, and marking three consecutive years of enplanement gains.

American Airlines enplanements out of Fort Smith during the first seven months of 2013 total 28,971, down 4.28% compared to the same period in 2012. Delta enplanements during the first seven months of 2013 total 20,743, down 2% compared to the same period of 2012.

LITTLE ROCK
Enplanements at the Bill & Hillary Clinton Airport (Little Rock National Airport), totaled 549,329 during the the first six months of 2013, down 4.33% compared to the same period of 2012. June 2013 enplanements totaled 114,856, up 4.3% compared to June 2012. (As of Aug. 13 officials at the airport did not have July traffic figures.)

Enplanements in 2012 totaled 1.147 million, up 4.07% compared to 2011. The 2012 numbers also ended five consecutive years of enplanement declines at Arkansas’ largest commercial field.

Sentiment out of Bentonville on Thursday (Aug. 15) was one of caution by Wal-Mart executives who slashed the company’s growth projections for this fiscal year by 50%, on the heels of two softer-than-expected quarters.

Wal-Mart is seen as a barometer for the broader economy as its sales comprise roughly 10% the nation’s retail spending, excluding automobiles. This negative sentiment sent the broader markets south with the Dow Jones Industrials and the S&P 500 sliding 1.38% and 1.33%, respectively.

The retailer continues to blame higher payroll taxes and unusual weather patterns paired with cautious spending habits for its second consecutive quarter of negative U.S. same-store sales, after five straight quarters of positive comps.

The retail giant reported fiscal second quarter net income of $4.069 billion, up 1.3% compared to the 2012 quarter, with earnings per share of $1.24 just a penny below the consensus analyst estimate of $1.25. Absent a 1-cent charge relating to a non-income tax matter, earnings would have met Wall Street expectations, the company said.


Total revenue of $116.945 billion for the quarter also missed the consensus estimate of $118.47 billion. However, the revenue in the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the 2012 quarter.

"The retail environment remains challenging in the U.S. and our international markets, as customers are cautious in their spending," Wal-Mart Chief Financial Officer Charles Holley said in pre-recorded call.

Wal-Mart's commentary is in line with what other retailers, like Macy’s, Kohl’s and American Eagle, have also said this week.

Consumers have become deep value seekers and they need a strong catalyst to prompt spending outside of consumables, said Patrick McKeever of MKM Partners. He said while Wal-Mart does offer value, it is still facing increased competition with the dollar stores who have their own value propositions in very convenient store formats.

Wal-Mart updated its full-year earnings guidance to a range of $5.10 to $5.30 from the previous range of $5.20 to $5.40. This new range includes third quarter EPS guidance of $1.11 to $1.16. Guidance was lowered on expectations of flat same-store sales in Walmart U.S. for the third quarter, and a flat to 2% comps at Sam’s Club.

This cautious growth forecast sent some investors packing as Wal-Mart’s stock price fell to $74.25 in heavy trading. Shares were trading down nearly 3% following the lackluster growth report from Wal-Mart.

Budd Bugatch, analyst with Raymond James & Associates, said the pullback in price is an opportunity for investors wanting to own Wal-Mart shares to buy in. Wal-Mart’s share price has risen 7.9% since Jan. 2. The Dow Jones Industrials, of which Wal-Mart is included, has gained 18.3% his year. He said the retailer is a good place for investors to hide amid some volatile market swings expected in this yo-yo economy.

U.S. SLUMP
Walmart U.S., which accounts for a lion’s share of company’s gross sales, posted net revenue of $68.728 billion in the quarter ending July 31. Sales grew by 2.1% from a year ago. But through the first half of this year, sales have risen a dismal 1.2%.

In the recent quarter, Wal-Mart posted a 0.3% decline in same-store sales, recording less traffic with a slightly higher average ticket.

“While I'm disappointed in our comp sales decline, I'm encouraged by the improvement in traffic and comp sales as we progressed through the quarter. The 2% payroll tax increase continues to impact our customer," said Bill Simon, Walmart U.S. president and CEO. "Furthermore, we also expected an increase in the level of grocery inflation, which did not materialize in a meaningful way. We were pleased that both home and apparel had positive comps.”

He said the company gained some market share in food and consumables during the quarter, based on Nielsen data.

For the 13-week period ending Oct. 25, Walmart U.S. expects comp store sales to be relatively flat. Last year, Walmart's comp sales rose 1.5% for the comparable period.

Meanwhile Walmart U.S. continues to roll out more stores. In the second quarter the retailer added 49 net new units, including new stores, expansions, relocations and conversions. The new units were composed of 29 supercenters and 35 small formats, most of which were Neighborhood Markets. In the third quarter, Wal-Mart plans to open approximately 90 units, more than half of those are Neighborhood Markets.


Analysts have said Wal-Mart efforts to saturate its U.S. markets is helping to cannibalize the firm’s same-store-sales growth.

Also concerning some analysts is the 6.9% increase in inventory levels reported by Wal-Mart in the quarter. Wal-Mart said the increase is primarily driven by softer than anticipated sales trends, the delay in summer weather and timing shifts in the receipt of merchandise for back to school and the upcoming holiday season. Analysts said higher than normal inventory levels at time when consumers are spending less ultimately means deeper discounting or price rollbacks which will likely further erode margins in the back half of this year.

“While we’re not concerned about the quality of the inventory, it will continue to be an area of focus in the coming months, as we get ready for the key holiday season and continue to balance in-stock and an expanded assortment,” Simon said during the call.

On a positive note, Wal-Mart said it has seen strong back-to-school sale in ongoing quarter, which was no surprise to Citi analyst Deborah Weinswig.


Weinswig recently reiterated a "buy" recommendation for Wal-Mart noting,“We believe Wal-mart will be at the head of the class in a competitive back-to-school season as our retailers fight for share of a smaller wallet.”

GLOBAL HEADWINDS
Wal-Mart International posted $32.956 billion in sales revenue for the second quarter, up 2.9% from a year ago.

"Across our International markets, growth in consumer spending is under pressure," said Doug McMillon, Walmart International president and CEO. "Consumers in both mature and emerging markets curbed their spending during the second quarter, and this led to softer than expected sales. While this creates a challenging sales environment, we are the best equipped retailer to address the needs of our customers and help them save money.

Currency fluctuations trimmed $444 million from the firm’s International sales results. On a constant currency basis Wal-Mart said its international sales increased 4.4% from a year ago. McMillon said he expects third and fourth quarter results to be better than the first half of this year.

International operations are being negatively impacted by charges related to the ongoing Federal Corruption Practices Act investigations. With probes underway in Mexico, India, China and Brazil. Holley estimates spending related to FCPA and internal compliance efforts will top $310 million this fiscal year. Already this year he said the company has spent $155 million in FCPA and compliance matters. The company expects to dole out another $155 million in the back half of the year on these efforts.

Holley said in the third quarter roughly $75 million will be spent on FCPA matters and $80 million on internal compliance protocol. He expects the same expenditures in the fourth quarter as well.

SAM’S CLUB
Sam’s Club was a bright spot in the retailer’s otherwise challenging quarter. The warehouse club reported net sales of $14.532 billion, up 2.6% from a year ago.

Sam’s returned positive same-store sales of 1.7% in the quarter, in a challenging economic environment. A year-ago Sam’s posted comparable sales growth of 4.2%.

"Sales were up, traffic continued to improve, and comp sales were within our guidance. Response to our recent membership enhancements has been favorable, resulting in solid membership income growth and positive response to our Instant Savings Book. We were pleased with our improvement in business member traffic, reversing the decrease from the prior quarter," said CEO Rosalind Brewer.

Sam’s raised its membership fees in the recent quarter for the first time several years.

Brewer said membership and other income grew 9.2% in the quarter.

E-COMMERCE OPPORTUNITY
While Wal-Mart does not break out its e-commerce sales, the company did say it continues to invest heavily in this segment.


“During the second quarter, we had a hiring blitz which ramped up our visibility in the Bay area and added nearly 200 associates. We saw an offer acceptance rate well over 90%. People in Silicon Valley are excited to come to Wal-Mart, said Neil Ashe, CEO of Walmart Global eCommerce.


The company closed four acquisitions in the quarter — Tasty Labs, OneOps, Inkiru and Torbit. 


“E-commerce is important to our customers and our company’s future. Year to date, the incremental impact from e-commerce investments is approximately 5 cents per share. We anticipate the incremental impact to third quarter earnings will be about 2 cents per share,” Holley said.

Aimee Arzoumanian is now serving as assistant administrator for Sparks Health System in Fort Smith.

With more than a decade of experience in the healthcare industry, Arzoumanian began her career at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, N.Y., as a physician assistant in the hospital’s emergency room, the second busiest emergency room in the nation.

She then worked for the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Ark., serving cancer and transplant patients.  Most recently, she has served as a member of the hospitalist group at Sparks.  

Arzoumanian earned a master’s degree in physician assistant studies from Mercy College in New York and a master’s degree in health care administration from Trinity University in San Antonio.  

With earnings reports from major U.S. retailers indicating a slowdown in discretionary spending, it’s not a surprise to see declines in hospitality tax collections in the Fort Smith and Van Buren areas.

Collections in Van Buren during the first six months of 2013 total $213,288, a slight decline of 0.3% from the $212,704 in the same period of 2012. June collections in Van Buren were $36,523, just slightly below the $36,527 in June 2012. The city collects a 1% tax on lodging and a 1% prepared food tax.

Maryl Koeth, executive director of the Van Buren Advertising & Promotion Commission, continues to believe that vacation and business travelers are spending less – fewer nights in hotels, fewer restaurant visits, etc. – while on vacation or business trips. The concern is that the trend will begin to result in a growing year-over-year decline.

“As you can see, the June 2013 tax receipts were even with last year's numbers. I'm hoping to see this trend continue through the end of the year,” Koeth said.

During 2012, Van Buren hospitality tax collections totaled $425,554, up 5.2% compared to the 2011 collections. Hospitality tax collections in Van Buren during 2011 totaled $429,561, up 2.34% compared to 2010. The 2011 collections ended a two-year skid in Van Buren.

FORT SMITH NUMBERS
Collections in Fort Smith during the first half of 2013 totals $370,590, down 3.9% compared to the same period in 2012. June collections were $68,552, down 8.5% compared to June 2012. The city collects a 3% tax on lodging.

“Last year we hosted one Jehovah’s Witnesses conference in June and two in July. The lack of hosting that conference, as well as the United Methodist Church event resulted in lower occupancy for June of this year,” said Claude Legris, executive director of the Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Looking ahead to July, we had a solid month of events with two Jehovah Witnesses events (they held two large vents this year instead of three), with the Arkansas Sheriff’s Association in between.  Following the second Jehovah Witnesses conference this year we hosted the 12th District African Methodist Episcopal church Youth Conference, so I expect to see this year’s July collections compare favorably with 2012, helping us to make up some of the ground on the year to date figure.”

During 2012, Fort Smith hospitality tax collections totaled $746,182, up 5.37% compared to the 2011 period.

Employment in the region’s tourism industry was 9,600 during June, up from 9,400 in May and above the 9,200 in June 2012. The sector reached an employment high of 9,800 in August 2008. The monthly average employment in 2012 was 9,000, higher than the 8,800 in 2011 and 8,700 in 2010. However, employment averages peaked in 2007, 2008 and 2009 at 9,300.

STATE, NATIONAL DATA
Arkansas’ tourism sector (leisure & hospitality) employed 102,500 during June, up from the 102,300 during May and slightly less than the 102,600 during June 2012. At a revised 103,700, January 2013 marked a new employment high in the sector.

Arkansas’ 2% tourism tax receipts totaled $4.954 million for the first five months of 2013, up 2.58% compared to the same period in 2012. The increase is a shift from a year-over-year decline of 0.11% during the first quarter of 2013.

Arkansas’ 2% tourism tax receipts totaled $12.405 million during 2012, up 3.16% compared to the $12.025 million during 2011. The gains marked the third consecutive year of improving tourism tax revenue.

The June STR report posted at HotelNewsNow.com shows a slight decrease nationally in hotel demand.

The U.S. hotel industry’s occupancy fell 0.3% to 69.9%, and the average daily rate was up 3.3% to $111.27. The evenue per available room increased 3% to $77.76.

“The hotel industry reported the highest monthly room revenue ever in June (US$11.5 billion), a clear indicator that the U.S. hotel industry is healthy and that most benchmark metrics are recovering to their old highs,” Jan Freitag, senior VP of strategic development at STR, said in this report. “With that said, demand only increased 0.5 percent in year-over-year comparisons, and RevPAR only increased 3 percent.”

The U.S. Postal Service announced several changes to its “Priority Mail” service, offering free insurance and tracking, and day-specific delivery of packages.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said he expects the new features to make the Postal Service more competitive with private package-delivery services and generate more than $500 million in new revenue over the next year.

He said “Priority Mail” generated $5.9 billion in revenue in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, an increase of 8.9% since 2010.

That increase help to defray its receding revenue of 2.7% over the past two years. During that time sales fell to $65.2 billion.

Online commerce has helped increase package volume by more than 14% since 2010. Postal officials expect that trend to continue as e-commerce sales are poised to reach $370 billion annually by 2017.
 

Pilgrim's Pride Corp. plans to close a rendering facility in El Dorado, that produces chicken meal used in pet food. The plant closure in September will eliminate 29 jobs, the company said on Wednesday (Aug.14).

Those operations will shift to another Pilgrim's facility in Texas, the company said.

Pilgrim’s said the decision to close the plant is based on supply chain and operational efficiencies that it can’t achiever in El Dorado.

Pilgrim’s has idled four other poultry plants in the U.S. in recent years as it worked to streamline its operations following its bankruptcy filing and subsequent acquisition by South American beef company JBS in 2009.
 

Wal-Mart Stores continues to integrate its e-commerce platform with stores to create what company officials hope is a unique shopping experience.

Walmart U.S. CEO Bill Simon said the company recently launched the locker test for site-to-store in the Washington, D.C. area.

“While this test is still in the early stages, the initial read on customer satisfaction and acceptance is very encouraging, with 90% of the customers who have used the service providing positive feedback,” Simon said during Thursday’s (Aug. 15) pre-recorded earnings call.

Washington D.C. is an interesting market for the test lockers, given that the retailer is battling the city council over a new wage law that requires big box retailers to pay a minimum of $12 an hour in wages and benefits. Wal-Mart warned the city council it would withdraw several of the six new stores planned if the law wasn’t vetoed, but the first of those stores opened earlier this week.

Mayor Vincent Gray has not yet signed or rejected the bill, but he’s expected to do one or the other within the next week.


In the meantime, Wal-Mart is optimizing its online fulfillment centers to work in conjunction with Wal-Mart’s shipping network, distribution centers and stores, according to Neil Ashe, CEO of Walmart Global e-Commerce.


Carol Spieckerman, CEO of New Market Builders in Bentonville, has said locker-sites and e-Commerce, could be the way Wal-Mart wins entry into those tougher markets like New York City and Washington. She said the final mile delivery is made easier for Wal-Mart if it can leverage its massive physical footprint to act as fulfillment centers across the country. 


Two-third’s of the nation’s consumers live within 5 miles of a Wal-Mart Store. Using these stores to fill online orders and putting lockers in urban areas give the retailer some really good options for tackling delivery and final mile challenges, according to Spieckerman.


Now that Wal-Mart has a new store open in D.C. the retailer has foothold in that market. Two other stores are set to open in the coming weeks, but three of the six stores have been put on hold pending the mayor’s decision to sign or veto the wage bill.


Simon said Wal-Mart views its physical presence as a significant competitive advantage for its Walmart.com business. In the past quarter Wal-Mart has expanded its “Ship from Store” program. 

He said a steadily increasing percentage of all items shipped to customers’ homes are now fulfilled through the “Ship from Store” program. The majority of orders are delivered in two days or less and at a lower cost.


Ashe said the company is now using 35 stores as additional nodes in the online fulfillment network.

“Those stores now handle a double-digit percentage of Walmart.com orders, and the majority of those are delivered in two days or less at a significantly lower cost,” Ashe said.

The company’s “Pick Up Today” option gives customers the ability to buy a item online and pick it up in a store that same day.,

“We have more than tripled the items available for ‘Pick Up Today’ since the beginning of the year. We have also developed a new capability that automatically searches our broader inventory for an item if that item isn’t available in a customer’s primary store. That has significantly improved our fill rate,” Ashe said, during the call.

He said the pilot program to deliver groceries in San Francisco and San Jose is gleaning interesting results.

“We’ve proven we can successfully use a supercenter for online grocery delivery, and we’re getting high marks from customers. Many of these are new customers. Some 75% of the customers say they would have purchased through another retailer other than Wal-Mart. And, 83% would recommend Wal-Mart grocery delivery,” Ashe said.

Benton County resident Robert McCurry filed suit this week against the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Division after his application for a liquor store permit was denied last month.

The case was filed Tuesday (Aug.13) in U.S. District Court Eastern District. It’s the second lawsuit filed in federal court challenging state law liquor store limits since Benton County became "wet" and the hearings for liquor store permits were held last month.

McCurry applied for a retail liquor store permit in April for The Fine Wine & Spirits Store which was to be located at 2503 S.E. J. Street in Bentonville. On that application, he stated that he had an interest in another liquor store in Missouri. McCurry was chosen in a lottery drawing and allowed to pursue his permit through a hearing process held last month in Little Rock.

During that hearing, the ABC asked McCurry if he held or owned an interest in Gild Corporation, which has liquor permit for Macadoodles in Springdale. McCurry told them he owns a minority interest in Gild Holdings and Gild Corporation. The ABC then denied his application on the basis that he already owned an interest in the Macadoodle franchise and state law prohibits anyone person from owning more than one liquor store in the state, and that includes fractional shares of franchises.

The suit claims the state law passed in 2011, violates the commerce clause and “substantially interferes with interstate commerce.”

If the law is truly applied as written, then anyone who owns a share of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. or Walgreens could also be prohibited owning a liquor store in Arkansas. The suit states that Wal-Mart and Walgreens’s each own one liquor store permit in Fayetteville and West Memphis, respectively. And their shareholders have fractional financial interests in those operations.

The complaint states that the law interferes with interstate commerce as it prevents or restricts the trading of stock of publicly held corporations because it prevents people who own any interest in a retail liquor permit from owning any stock in a publicly traded corporation such as Wal-Mart or Walgreens.

The compliant also charges the law is unconstitutionally vague and violates due process.

Plaintiff counsel Jim Lyons also represents Gild Holdings and Steven Cherry who filed a similar case against the ABC last month.

Lyons said there have been no new developments in the Gild Holdings suit at this time, both sides are waiting on a judge’s ruling to continue or dismiss.

Members of the Texas Hearing Aid Association have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. based on claims that the world's largest retailer sells hearing aids without the state-mandated license.


The trade group is seeking to stop Wal-Mart's hearing aid sales immediately, in addition to asking the court to require the return of profits from prior sales.


"Wal-Mart knew it was required under Texas state law to become licensed in order to dispense hearing aids in Texas stores, yet the corporation has failed to take all necessary steps to ensure their ability to do so," said attorney Bill Chamblee, managing partner of Dallas-based Chamblee, Ryan, Kershaw & Anderson and lead counsel for the hearing aid group.

Chamblee said the Bentonville-based retail giant has chosen profits over the health interests of 3.8 million Texans suffering hearing loss.

The group advocates that a licensed hearing professional give a complete examination of the patient's auditory health in order to detect infections and other problems that aren't addressed by simply wearing a hearing aid.

Wal-Mart said its mission is to help people save money so they live better and one way they do that is offer affordable hearing aids at select locations.

“While a medical exam is recommended before purchasing a hearing aid, under federal law, adults have the option to waive an exam before buying them. We offer our customers that option, although we do require a signed waiver indicating that they have elected to purchase them without the benefit of an exam,” said Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Fogleman.

The same day a new Board of Directors was seated for Health Management Associates, the hospital company announced it would move 75 jobs from a service center in Knoxville, Tenn., to the service center under construction in Fort Smith.

A new board is the result of a successful effort by New York City-based Glenview Capital Management to seek shareholder approval of a plan to “Revitalize HMA” by changing board and executive leadership.

Naples, Fla.-based HMA is the parent company of Sparks Health System in Fort Smith and Summit Medical Center in Van Buren.

On June 25 Glenview formally requested that HMA shareholders vote for a complete overhaul of the HMA board of directors. Officials with Glenview said financial and structural problems at HMA are so deep that they believe a new Board was required to provide the experience to make changes.

It was announced Aug. 12 that the board nominees submitted by Glenview, which owns 14.6% of HMA shares, had received more than 50% of shareholder support.

The new members of the Company's Board of Directors are Steven Epstein, Mary Taylor Behrens, Kirk Gorman, Stephen Guillard, Joann Reed, John McCarty, Steven Shulman and Peter Urbanowicz. Link here for bio information on the new board members.

The hospital industry is waiting to see if the board will reject, adjust or move forward with the Community Health Systems plan to acquire HMA in a deal valued at $7.6 billion that could close in the first quarter of 2014.

A new board and the Community Health Systems deal delivers a level of uncertainty to the planned regional service center now under construction in Fort Smith. HMA officials announced in April that the center would be housed in what was once a portion of Phoenix Village Mall. HMA said at least 500 will be employed at the center, and estimated the annual payroll at $21.5 million, with the center at full employment within 12 months. The facility is scheduled to begin operations in early September.

However, Lance Beaty said construction on the HMA service center continues and he sees no hint that the service center will not open. Beaty, general manager of FSM Redevelopment Partners and owner of the property HMA is leasing for the Fort Smith service center, said crews are working an expedited schedule to open the center as soon as possible.

On Friday (Aug. 16) officials with Tennova Healthcare, based in Knoxville, Tenn., and a system owned by HMA, said 75 jobs in the Knoxville service center will be moved to the Fort Smith operation.

“In a further response to this challenging economic environment and the pending implications of the Affordable Care Act, we will be consolidating some of the activities at our Knoxville regional service center into our center in Arkansas. That will result in 75 positions being moved from the Knoxville center to Arkansas,” noted an HMA statement.

The jobs will be moved by October, according to this report by Channel 6 ABC affiliate WATC in Knoxville.

HMA said the Knoxville employees will be offered opportunities to move to service center jobs in Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina and Mississippi, or apply for positions in Tennova hospitals.

The HMA statement said the job consolidations and service centers are part of efforts to improve overall hospital operations.

“With major changes underway in healthcare and the strong economic pressures that have resulted, Health Management Associates must now, more than ever, work to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our hospitals’ operations. One way we have done so has been to create regional service centers that consolidate hospital business office operations.”