Business

story and photo by Linda Kaufenberg

The first speaker in the 2010 Fall 360 Leadership Series was Chuck Hyde, the newly promoted CEO of the Soderquist Center. Hyde has served as the organization’s chief operating officer for the past two years.

Arkansas tax revenues are up almost 6% compared to last year, with consumer spending boosting the August revenue report from the Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration.

Year-to-date (July and August, first two months of fiscal year 2011) gross revenues totaled $856.9 million, up 5.7% above the same period in 2009 and up 3.1% over the forecast.

More than 40% of Fort Smith regional residents surveyed in the inaugural The Consumer Compass survey say their personal financial situation is worse than it was a year ago.

What’s more, 35.5% of those surveyed expect their personal financial condition to worsen in the next 12 months.

The good news is that the Fort Smith regional economy did not slip during the second quarter. The bad news is, it didn’t get better.

Second quarter earnings for Arkansas banks has jumped 25% from the previous year, according to FDIC's quarterly banking profile, yet loan losses continued to mute a full upturn in the state's financial sector.

The Fort Smith and Memphis-West Memphis metro areas were the only areas among Arkansas’ eight metro areas to see a decrease in their June to July unemployment rates.

Fort Smith’s jobless rate was 7.8% in July, down from 7.9% in May and down from 8% in July 2009. The Memphis-West Memphis unemployment rate was 10.1% in July, down from 10.4% in June.

Cheaper than expected pump prices could lead to crowded Arkansas highways as recession-weary consumers seek last-minute vacations.

AAA has projected the number of Americans traveling this Labor Day holiday weekend will increase 9.9% from 2009, with approximately 34.4 million travelers taking a trip at least 50 miles away from home.

Albuquerque, N.M.-based Delta Group Electronics Inc. will build a new operation in Fayetteville that is expected to add 75 jobs to the Northwest Arkansas economy, according to a press release from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
deltagroupinc.com

Sales tax collections in Fort Smith and Sebastian County have seen three consecutive months of comparative increases, but the revenue is still down compared to 2009.

Editor’s note: Following is the story based on an amended report from the Arkansas Realtors Association. The ARA released its June report on Aug. 24, but the report contained too many errors and, although other media outlets wrote stories based on the numbers, The City Wire chose to wait for a more correct report.