Northwest Arkansas apartments reached a new high in occupancy as the 2015 began with apartments communities nearly full, reporting a 98% occupancy rate, according to the CBRE year end-2014 apartment market survey.

That’s the highest occupancy rate recorded since CBRE, a commercial real estate company, started the survey in 2010. Brian Donahue, an associate with CBRE, conducted the survey. 

The survey found the occupancies and rental rates increased 1.5% over 2014, which indicated a strong apartment market in the Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale and Fayetteville areas. According to the survey, the average rental rate for a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment in Fayetteville is $669; Springdale, $615; Rogers, $861; and Bentonville, $725. 

The CBRE report noted that “the strength of the multifamily market mirrors the strength of the local economy. With an unemployment rate of 4.5% in November 2014 for the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers-Bentonville area continues to out-perform the state and nation.”

The survey included more than 22,000 units of the approximately 29,000 apartment units located in the four cities. Property owners and managers provided the information. The data doesn’t include student housing apartments which have opened in the last two years around the University of Arkansas.

A separate Skyline Report released Thursday (April 16) by the University of Arkansas and funded by Arvest Bank reported similar results. Skyline notes regional multifamily vacancy rates of 3.7% in the back half of 2014, down from 5.8% reported a year ago. Within the specific cities the Skyline Report notes that Bentonville had the largest year-over-year decrease in vacancy rates from 6.3% in the second half of 2013 to 1.4% in the second half of 2014.

In Fayetteville, vacancy rates decreased from 7.7%  in the second half of 2013 to 5.3% in the second half of 2014.

The Skyline Report also noted that in Bentonville more than 1,000 rental units have been announced or are under construction. In Fayetteville, close to 4,000 rental units have been announced which will likely increase the vacancy rate in future quarters as these units come online.

Kathy Deck, director for the UA Center for Business and Economic Research, said multifamily unit vacancy rates in every market were at the bottom of the range for sustainable levels to start 2015. She said some of the decline in vacancy rates in rental properties can be attributed to some fear of the single family residential housing market and uncertainty on behalf of the renters on whether they can qualify for mortgages.

“We’ve seen strong employment growth in Northwest Arkansas and all the multifamily data we are seeing aligns with that growth,” Deck added.

MULTIFAMILY DEALS
Donahue said the area also recorded an increase in transaction activity last year with 12 deals for apartment communities over 50 units in size compared to only seven in 2013. Of the 12 transactions, eight involved properties built since 2000. The average sale price of these eight was $43,159 per unit and the range was $26,000 per unit to $75,000 per unit. Other communities were older: one of 1990s vintage; two were 1980s and one was 1970s. 

“We expect transaction volume to exceed historic norms in the near term as demand for multifamily investments continues to remain high,” Donahue said in the survey narrative.

With investor competition high in primary and secondary markets, regional and national investors are becoming interested in tertiary markets like Northwest Arkansas, he said.
 
“If competition for multifamily assets remains high in primary markets, then we feel the potential of being added as a preferred territory” for real estate investment trusts, making institutional capital possible, Donahue said.

COMING SOON
With the high occupancy rate across the region, there are at least 549 new apartment units under construction including the Trails at Bentonville and 62 units at Thrive, also in Bentonville. Donahue said the completion of these units could affect occupancy rates in the near term as they are set to open this year.

Four other apartment communities have been announced but all are in different phases of planning and development. The closest to completion is Promenade Point in Rogers, a 200-unit luxury community scheduled to have the first phase open by the fall. The $14 million project is managed by Sterling Construction Corp. 

“The 200 units are underway now with a leasing center, maintenance building and trash compactor. The leasing center contains a cyber café, media room, swimming pool, pool cabana with grill station, outdoor fireplace with TV and fitness center. We broke ground in November and the leasing center will be open in late June with the first building available in July. The project will be completed in December of this year,” said Darren Fulford, spokesman for Sterling Group.

Other projects on tap are Uptown Apartments on Steele Boulevard in Fayetteville and the Links of Fayetteville, phase two, off Wedington Drive. The Parc at Bentonville should show some progress this year, Donahue said.

Occupancy rates above 95% generally spur new construction although that wasn’t the case in 2014, which is likely why the most recent occupancy rate is at 98%, Donahue said. But, he said more market construction announcements are expected this year. 

Other CBRE predictions for 2015 include:
• Rental rates are expected to increase above the 2014 levels;
• As new units come on line, occupancy rates are expected to drop one percent in 2015 but still remain above a healthy 95%; 
• Investment sales are expected stay robust with transaction numbers on pace with 2014 and average pricing up as demand continues to drive pricing; and
• Investors are expected to remain active as long-term interest rates remain low with attractive fixed rates still available.

Mike Duke, the former CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., has joined the global consumer and retail group of private equity firm The Carlyle Group.

He will began work at Carlyle this month, according to a release from the Washington, D.C.-based company.

Duke stepped down from Wal-Mart in February of last year and joins a group of more than 25 senior business executives who provide strategic guidance to Carlyle to help it buy and invest in companies.

Carlyle has invested about $12 billion of equity in dozens of retailers like Dunkin Brands and Beats headphones. The private equity firm had about $194 billion of assets under management as of Dec. 31.

Duke remains on the Wal-Mart board of directors.

In just under three years Kourtney and Beau Barrett have disrupted the fitness headband segment with Junk Brands, a growing custom headband manufacturing operation based in their hometown of Bentonville.

Their finished products have resonated with fitness enthusiasts garnering Junk Brands a key partnership in the National Reebok Crossfit Championships, and a new licensing deal gives Junk an inside opportunity with the NBA. Junk is also has working deals in the collegiate realm with the NCAA and other licensing groups.

“We’ve come a long way from the days since my only outlet was selling these headbands out of the back of my Landcruiser,” said founder and CEO Kourtney Barrett. 

This year she expects her burgeoning company will produce and sell between 300,000 and 500,000 custom headbands with the help of the 40 full-time employees she’s added since the summer of 2012. The headbands retail between $16 and $22, a price point that includes enough margin for Junk to continue its growth. 

JUNKING IT
Some seven months pregnant with child No. 3 in the fall of 2011, Barrett said she and Beau were driving through a Starbucks for coffee when the barista complemented the headband she was wearing. The couple had just sold their real estate business with Grubb & Ellis and were looking for other opportunities.

“Beau looked at me at that drive thru window and said, ‘Headbands are going to be your next business and I am going to give you one year of my time to get it off the ground,’” Barrett said. “We have never looked back.”

The baby was born in February 2012. By that summer she recruited a seamstress via Craigslist because Kourtney did not sew. She had merely been folding the fabric for her own use, but said in order to sell a finished product she had to find some help with the sewing. 

At that time, Barrett was ironing on the Junk logo. The Junk name came about because she was looking for something that was counter culture, but also cool and simple.

“In those early days I was hiring the sewing out and then ironing on the logos in my kitchen. When the baby was just a few months old, we loaded up the RV and trekked across the country setting up as a vendor at Crossfit competitions. Selling direct to consumer was best way for us to market our new brand and it’s something we still do today,” Barrett said.

GROWING PAINS
Early on Barrett said customers began to contact her saying the Junk logo had cracked and was peeling off after several washes. 

“They didn’t want to return the headband. They just asked us to re-affix the label because they thought it was cool. This got Beau and I to thinking that there must be a better way. It literally kept us both up at nights,” she said.

Junk Brands by that point was up to 12 employees all working out of the couple’s garage at home. She said luckily her neighbors were great about the disruption and three large Junk Brands vans being parked in the drive.

During this period the couple experimented with the distributive work model, supplying sewers the equipment and allowing them to cut and sew the headbands in their own homes. 

“That really didn’t work. We were getting the products back with coffee stains, smokey, covered in pet hair, and there was no way for us to control the quality of the product. We knew if our product was going to be made in the USA the quality had to be excellent. That’s why Junk Brands also became a manufacturer,” Kourtney Barrett said.

Junk Brands imports its raw fabric which is a polyester blend, not weaved in the U.S. The large fabric rolls are white or gray typically because the colorful designs on the headbands are created in-house by a team of five designers who are graphic artists. The colorful and proprietary designs are first printed on a special type of paper and run through a machine that infuses the image that includes the Junk logo into the fabric. 

Barrett said it’s not like screen printing, but rather the ink is vaporized and burned into the fabric weave, so that it becomes one with the fabric and there is nothing to crack and peel over time.  

“This process encompasses at least 17 variables for perfect execution. It was very expensive equipment and it took lots of trial and error, but we have perfected the process which allow us to customize as few as 10 headbands with the quality that is unheard of in this category,” Barrett said.

She said this process was exactly what they needed to disrupt the market in this category because most fitness quality headbands are made by major sports apparel companies who just use a solid color fabric, given that it’s such a small part of their overall sales.

Junk Brands headbands feature brilliant colors and designs that the company says hold up over time, which means a lot to the Barretts given they are made in Bentonville, Ark.

WHAT’S NEXT?
Junk Brands has already found a following in several sporting areas such as crossfit, lacrosse, field hockey, tennis, running, biking and yoga. The headbands are sold nationwide in dozens of small specialty stores and boutiques and locally in Lewis & Clark and Rush Running. Junk has a large e-commerce business and also sells on Amazon.com.

Barrett said Junk has just signed national deals to get their product in Dick’s Sporting Goods and Hibbett Sports stores. It recently got on the shelf in Lid’s, and Lid’s Team, Reebok and Fithub stores as well as Shields Sporting Goods. 

“We worked hard to get into the national retailers and will continue to expand on these wholesale relationships this year and next. I have four sales people working this area daily. We also have a higher margin retail business and our growing customer business returns good margins too. Our events segment is also a revenue producing element of this business, which is ridiculous given that it’s also our marketing spend,” Barrett said.

Junk Brands has managed to grow its annual sales between 275% and 330% year-over-year since 2012,” Barrett said.

All of the money outside of payroll is being invested back into the business. She declined to provide investment startup details saying only that the couple has bootstrapped most of the expense cashing in equity from real estate owned and also buying, remodeling and selling 13 real estate properties in recent years.

“We are always buying and selling it’s just what we do. Beau also works full-time for Citrix which is what supports our family. We are not pulling any income from Junk Brands at this time, choosing to reinvest back into growing this company,” she said.

In January of this year Barrett said the couple took on an angel investor.

“We just had to do it. There were some big investments in equipment and infrastructure that had to be made if we were going to grow,” she added.

The couple in early 2014 purchased the Cox Communications building at 1006 N.W. 11th St. in North Bentonville. The 3,000 square-foot facility is at full capacity with 40 employees, packing, designing, printing, manufacturing, sales and back-office staff. The Barretts purchased the building next door (1004 N.W. 11th St., just of North Walton Boulevard) for $650,000 in November and have renovated 9,000 of the 15,000 square feet.

“We are planning to move into the 9,000 square foot space within the next week. They are finishing up the painting and cleaning at this point. The other 6,000 square feet of space is presently leased and we will have access to that space later this year as we work out a deal with those tenants,” Barrett said.

BRAND EXPANSION
The Barretts said Junk is their brand and all of their efforts have been building equity there, but that doesn’t mean there are can’t be sub-brands at lower price points in the future that could appeal to mass retailers like Wal-Mart or Target, perhaps more as a fashion item than fitness apparel.

“I don’t think you can walk into a big retailer off the street. We are a manufacturer and it has taken some time to get that process down. I feel like there is a place for a sub-brand of Junk on those shelves in due time. Junk is a woman-owned business and we are made in the U.S.A. which resonates well with several large retailers this day and time,” she said.

She told The City Wire that she comes from a long line of entrepreneurs and she and Beau always knew they wanted to make something. Today, that’s custom headbands, but who knows what products Junk Brands may produce from their Bentonville factory.

“Our customer base will let us know when they are ready for something else. I know hard work pays off and we have a creative team eager to tackle new challenges. There is not better place to start and run a business than Northwest Arkansas,” Barrett said.

Matt Fifer, CEO of Selling to the Masses, said what the Barretts have been able to do with Junk Brands is astounding. Despite being based just 1.5 miles from Wal-Mart’s headquarters, Junk Brands has focused elsewhere but found plenty of helpful resources  for retail in channels that fit their pricing model and niche marketing area.

He likened them to Fran Free founder of Oh Baby Foods in Fayetteville who has managed to grow an organic baby food business into a national name without ever gracing the shelves at Wal-Mart.

As thousands of college seniors prepare to receive their degrees next month and then head out into the job market, a group of students from the University of Arkansas, University of Arkansas at Fort Smith and other regional institutions received a head start Thursday with a portfolio review.

CJRW, a marketing agency in Springdale and Little Rock, brought professionals from Northwest Arkansas agencies together with 35 soon-to-be graduates, majoring in different areas of design and marketing, from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, John Brown University, NorthWest Arkansas Community College, The Design School, and Oklahoma State Institute of Technology in Okmulgee.

Students were assigned seats through the CJRW office suite and waited for any of the 13 professionals to make their way to them to review, critique and provide feedback on examples of their work in a portfolio. The professionals represented interactive, shopper marketing and traditional advertising. The portfolio event was intended to bring agencies and students together, said Tom Cooper, creative director at CJRW. It was the first time for such an event in Northwest Arkansas.

The portfolio is a collection of work examples from each student. Much like a journalism graduate would provide writing samples to prospective employers, the design student shows a portfolio in the job market.

It was also an opportunity for students to develop or sharpen networking skills, said Colin McLain, an assistant professor in art and graphic design at UAFS.

“The students want to get their work in front of professionals and ultimately get placed in jobs,” said Bryan Alexis, also an assistant professor in graphic design at UAFS.

Alexis said students at UAFS will have a portfolio review on the Fort Smith campus next Thursday.

Jarrod Ramsey, 22, of Lavaca was one of 13 students from the Fort Smith campus to attend the review. It was the first portfolio review he had attended and was anxious for some professional critique. He hopes to get a job in Fayetteville in the creative side of an agency after graduation.

Sarandy Westfall, 21, from Springdale, hopes to find work in Fort Smith or Northwest Arkansas. Westfall developed an interest in graphic design while working on the yearbook at Har-Ber High School.

Some students had hard copies of their work to show off while others used tablets or laptops to share their work.

Blake Reynolds, 22, of Dallas, will graduate in a few weeks from the University of Arkansas and hopes to get a job in a small agency where she can expand her skills in web design, photography and social media. Amy McLarty 22, of Rogers, said the feedback she received early in the event was positive. McLarty said she hopes to get a job in Northwest Arkansas.

“She admired my work,” McLarty said, noting the feedback came from a CJRW professional who mentioned the company would be hiring an intern.

“I have received a lot of good feedback. It’s motivation to go back and work really hard to make the portfolio more communicative. Fine tuning it,” said Hope Johnstone, 30, of Siloam Springs.

She was the office manager of a small construction company before going back to school at the University of Arkansas to major in visual design and sculpture.

“It’s really fun to meet people one on one who can give quality advice,” Johnstone said.

Alejandro Sanchez, 20, a graphic design student at NWACC and The Design School, said the feedback was that his work was visually appealing but he needed to consider his audience and to work more with color.

“It was very constructive and really good,” Sanchez said. “It’s a good process, very helpful.”

University of Arkansas Chancellor David Gearhart and his wife Jane, announced plans to make a $1 million donation to the college’s upcoming campaign efforts.

The campaign, known as Campaign Arkansas, is still in the organizational phase and will become public at a later date.

“David Gearhart is a fundraising pioneer, and he and Jane have always believed in the importance of private gift support,” said Chris Wyrick, vice chancellor for university advancement.

Ealier this year Gearhart announced his decision to step down as Chancellor as of July 31, but said he would remain a professor at the University after taking a brief time off.

“Jane and I wanted to make this gift to show our support for the University of Arkansas and our belief in higher education,” said Gearhart. “It is our hope that, through leading by example, others will follow suit and step up to support the flagship campus of Arkansas.

“This university has been a major part of our lives, and this gift pays tribute to what it has meant to us. We are honored that it is a part of our past and look forward to seeing what it achieves in the future.”

The gift is being made with cash and a deferred commitment, and its purpose will be determined at a later date

Matthew Waller was named interim dean of the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas and will assume the duties of dean Eli Jones who is leaving the UA to return to his alma mater — Texas A&M.

Waller was appointed by Provost Sharon Gaber. He serves as the college’s first associate dean for executive education and as the chair of the college’s Department of Supply Chain Management. He also holds the Garrison Endowed Chair in Supply Chain Management.

“I am excited about serving the Walton College,” Waller said. “I think Dean Jones has done a fabulous job. I like the strategic direction of the college, and I intend to continue in this direction. We are going to keep going forward.”

Gaber said Waller’s appointment was for one year but could be extended as the college searches for a new dean. A timeline for the search has not been established. The next provost, Ashok Saxena, in conjunction with interim Chancellor Dan Ferritor, will decide on the timeline, but Gaber indicated that a nationwide search is expected to begin this year.

“I am very excited and comfortable with Matt’s selection and pleased that he agreed to serve in this interim position,” Gaber said. “I want to thank Dean Jones for his service to the Walton College,” she said. “ He has worked hard for the college and put a plan in place for continued growth and excellence.”

Waller said his tenure as interim dean would come with the assistance of Walton’s other associate deans, Anne O’Leary-Kelly and Javier Reyes.

“We are going to be leading as a team,” Waller said. “We have really good chemistry. I would not be taking this interim position if not for them.”

Whirlpool officials said Friday (April 17) they have paid more than $3 million to property owners harmed by pollution around the company’s former manufacturing plant in Fort Smith, and have settled claims with all but two property owners near the plant.

The company closed the refrigerator manufacturing plant in June 2012, and later that year it was made public that trichloroethyclene – a cancer-causing chemical – was found in and around the plant. Whirlpool has been working to monitor and remove the chemicals, with oversight of the work handled by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. ADEQ issued its first remedial action plan December 2013.

Jeff Noel, Whirlpool’s corporate vice president of communications and public affairs, and Mike Ellis, an engineer with Environ, told the Fort Smith Board of Directors in January that TCE levels have decreased around Whirlpool’s plant in Fort Smith. Environ is consulting Whirlpool in the clean up effort. According to Whirlpool’s annual report to the Board, the company has installed 202 “membrane interface probes,” 62 soil probes, 86 monitoring wells, and five temporary boundary wells.

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) continues to monitor Whirlpool’s mitigation and removal efforts. Whirlpool initially sought a groundwater well ban in response to the discovery of TCE, but public outcry and ADEQ involvement resulted in more extensive and expensive work by Whirlpool to address the issue.

Friday’s announcement by Whirlpool followed Thursday’s dismissal by U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III, of litigation between Whirlpool and some of the property owners. Both sides requested the the dismissal after “extensive arms length negotiations” resulted in a mutually acceptable agreement.

"The settlements concluded during the past two months include paying affected owners the amount by which each property was devalued by the Tax Assessor, plus 33% of that amount,” Noel said in Friday’s statement from Whirlpool. “In exchange for the payments, property owners agreed to release all claims and dismiss pending litigation, to file deed restrictions prohibiting drilling of wells on the properties, and to allow access for testing and remediation activities being undertaken by Whirlpool and its consultants."

Whirlpool said 54 property owners “have entered into, or are in the process of finalizing, settlement agreements on the same terms.” The company described as “unreasonable” the two claims not being settled.

“The claims that are continuing in litigation are outliers with demands that are simply unreasonable. We have been more than generous in determining the compensation we will pay to owners, but any settlement must be fair to everyone involved,” Noel said in the statement.

Through Noel, the company also noted: “Whirlpool remained steadfast in its promise to be fair to the community by treating all property owners the same and by compensating even property owners who had not brought claims against us. To achieve this, we literally went door-to-door in the community seeking out people who had chosen not to sue the company to ensure that they were compensated the same as those plaintiffs in the litigation. We will also continue to work closely with environmental regulators and the City of Ft. Smith to remediate the contamination pursuant to the Consent Letter and RADD. We are also actively working to sell the remainder of the closed facility for redevelopment, which we hope will only further help nearby property owners.”

As spring rolls into the Ozarks, farmers markets are opening across Benton and Washington counties as if to announce the arrival of a new season. Locally grown fruits, vegetables and meat as well as arts and crafts, flowers and jams and jellies will be up for sale in Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale and, the granddaddy of them all, Fayetteville.

Bentonville and Rogers Markets open Saturday (April 25) Springdale, the following Saturday (May 2) and Fayetteville opened the first weekend in April. The Fayetteville market closes at 2 p.m.; the others at 1 p.m.

Fingers are crossed for a sunny and warm opening day, unlike two years ago when Paula Boles, manager and vendor at the Springdale market, remembers opening day, sitting in 20 degrees with rain and sleet for opening market day there. 

“We have some of the most loyal customers,” Boles said.

Many vendors come back week after week to sell their wares and have been doing so for years. Sara Pollard has sold herbs and plants at the Fayetteville market for 31 years including 10 as a manager of that market.

“I love this,” Pollard said. “This is always wanted to do.”

She came to Arkansas from Kansas to pursue a master’s degree in agronomy at the University of Arkansas but growing plants and selling to the public has been a lifelong passion. She owns Mountain Greenery.

Others may bring products to market only when their products are in season, such as blueberry or peach growers.

The markets all offer different special events during their operations. Some vendors are there throughout the growing season with different products and other vendors, who specialize in one or two products, are there only during that product’s season.

Bentonville is the only market which keeps track of sales, reporting $598,000 in sales in 2013 and $667,000 in 2014. Another banner year is expected in Bentonville because of growth in the region, said Nicki Allison, market manager.

Kimberly Scott, manager of the Rogers market, said patrons spend on average between $20 and $40 a week on the fresh, local products. Allison said the average in Bentonville in 2012 was $20 per patron, the last year a study was done, adding, she thinks it would be closer to $30 per patron visit now. 

In the other markets, the vendors keep track of their own sales and aren’t required to report those numbers to markets, the managers said.

BENTONVILLE
The Bentonville Farmers Market opens at 7:30 a.m. April 25 on the Bentonville Square. The market operates every Saturday until 1 p.m.

The market, in partnership with Bentonville Parks and Recreation will open a midweek market in the new Bentonville Community Center at 1101 S.W. Citizens Circle, from 2:30 to 7 p.m., starting May 6. The Wednesday market will have produce, prepared foods and crafts and patrons can expect to see familiar vendors as well as new ones. 

The Wednesday market is a result of customer demand and vendors request another outlet for sales, said Dallison. The market draws between 3,000 and 5,000 patrons weekly 

The Saturday Market will continue until Oct. 31 and has been in operation for 39 years. Operated by Downtown Bentonville Inc, the market is sponsored by Arvest Bank and Tusk and Trotter restaurant.

FAYETTEVILLE
The Fayetteville Farmers Market is often referred to as the “Crown Jewel of Fayetteville.” It opens at 7 a.m. every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings on the Fayetteville Square and on Sundays at the Jefferson Center parking lot, 600 S. College Ave.

The Saturday market continues into November while the weekday markets close in October and the Sunday market in September.

The market is the oldest in Northwest Arkansas, in existence since 1973, said Teresa Maurer, market manager. There are 70 vendors on the square on Saturdays. All are members of the Rural Mountain Producers Exchange.

Like other markets, the Fayetteville market offers locally produced vegetables, fruits, flowers, plants, meats, baked goods, honey, eggs, jams, cheese, crafts and fine art from Washington, Benton, Carroll and Madison counties. The first meat vendor became a market member in 2000 and fresh lamb has been offered for the last four seasons.

Maurer said two years ago the City of Fayetteville allowed the market to expand by closing three streets allowing vendors to set up on both sides of Block, Mountain and East streets. Throughout the season, nonprofit organizations are allowed to set up to offer information and the Fayetteville Animal Shelter and the Humane Society greet patrons with animals, usually dogs, who are looking for a forever home.

Peak hours are between 9 and 11 a.m., Maurer said. Attendance can be as high as 7,000 to 8,000 patrons during special events.

ROGERS
The Rogers Farmers' Market also opens Saturday, starting at 7 a.m. with about 30 of the 55 registered vendors, said Kimberly Scott, market manager. The market operates every Saturday and Wednesday at First and Walnut streets in downtown. The market started about 30 year ago.

In addition to local growers, the market features bakery items, craftsmen, jams, honey as well as protein producers of beef, pork and chicken, Scott said. The list of vendors include 12 new ones this year, two flower growers, a glass artist, a woodworking artist and new bakers, she said
  
Average attendance is usually 300 to 500 patrons a week but will swell up to 2,000 on Saturdays during the height of the growing season in the summer.

Bill Atkins, a guitar player in Rogers, will be the featured music provider during the opening day.

SPRINGDALE
The Springdale market opens at 7 a.m., May 2, at its usual location at the Jones Center at 922 E. Emma Ave. The market is open in the parking lot at the Jones Center on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday during the spring, summer and fall months, said Paula Boles, market manager.

In existence for 18 years, the Springdale market is the baby of the group. New this year is the addition of pastured goat, beef, chicken and pork fresh meat from local growers as well as crafts and flowers. The market also offers farm fresh eggs, baked goods, jams, jellies, honey, handmade soaps and crafts to mention a few items.

The market offers products from about 40 vendors during the growing season although not all vendors are there every week. Boles said participation depends on what’s in season.

Like other markets, Springdale offers assistance to seniors and families through SNAP and WIC and other programs. Seniors can register for $50 worth of coupons at the Springdale Senior Center on May 20 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Springdale and the other markets also provide education programs on agriculture in Northwest Arkansas. Springdale takes it a step further with a cookbook to help patrons learn how to cook foods available at the market that they may not know about. The book sells for $3.

“There are recipes for just about everything sold from market,” she said.

Hospitality tax collections are off to a mixed start in the Fort Smith region, but revenue from Arkansas’ 2% tourism tax is off to a record start following a record finish in 2014. The region also saw a dip in tourism industry employment to begin 2015.

Tax revenue from hotel and restaurant activity in Van Buren for the first two months of the year total $64,409, down from the $66,111 during the same period in 2014. The city collects a 1% tax on lodging and a 1% prepared food tax.

Fewer people eating in Van Buren restaurants pushed the numbers lower. Revenue from the prepared food tax in January and February was $56,381, down 3.36% compared to the same period in 2014. Lodging tax revenue was $8,027 in the first two months, up 3.31% compared to the same period in 2014.

Hospitality tax collections in Van Buren during 2014 totaled $430,278, up 1.4% compared to the same period in 2013.

Maryl Koeth, executive director of the Van Buren Advertising & Promotion Commission, said the numbers are still on target with what was budgeted.

“Our 2015 tax revenue is about where we projected it would be. January numbers were down slightly, but there were several accounts that were slow to pay in January and those have corrected in February and so far for March,” Koeth said.

She also said the loss of Motel 6 may initially lower collections, but expects Spring events to make up the difference.

“We will see a slight dip in lodging numbers with the loss of the Motel 6. I anticipate that drop to be very slight. Factoring in the winter weather in late January and February restaurant numbers will still show an increase over last year. Helping boost the numbers for this spring are special events in April and May. All in all we are on target so far for 2015,” Koeth told The City Wire.

Hospitality tax collections in Fort Smith for the first two months of the year total $114,836, up 4.07% compared to the same period in 2014. The Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau collected $761,826 in 2014, up 4.2% compared to 2013. The city collects a 3% tax on lodging.

Claude Legris, executive director of the Fort Smith Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the tax revenue gain is a product of higher hotel occupancy rather than higher hotel rates.

“Citywide occupancy was up 7.5% in January and 8.5% in February but Average Daily Rate was flat in January (+0.6%) and actually down (-0.5%) in February so increases were really a result of the increase in occupancy,” Legris said. “Preliminary reports for March indicate that overall the first quarter will be better than that period in 2014.”

Employment in the region’s tourism industry was 8,700 during March, unchanged compared to February and below the 9,000 in March 2014. The sector reached 2014 employment highs of 9,300 in May, June and August. The numbers were recently revised by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That revision lowered the top monthly 2014 employment in the sector from 9,900 to 9,300. The peak employment for the sector is 9,400 which was first reached in June 2007.

Collections of Arkansas’ 2% tourism tax in January totaled $833,448, up 5.89% compared to January 2014 and a new record for January collections. Collections of the tax in 2014 totaled $13.677 million, up 7.48% compared to the $12.716 million collected in 2013. The 2014 tally set a new record for the tax. Following are the past five years of 2% tax collections.
2014: $13.677 million
2013: $12.716 million
2012: $12.404 million
2011: $12.025 million
2010: $11.492 million

FORT SMITH HOSPITALITY TAX COLLECTIONS
2014: $761,826
2013: $731,057
2012: $746,182
2011: $708,141
2010: $678,934

VAN BUREN HOSPITALITY TAX COLLECTIONS
2014: $430,278
2013: $423,221
2012: $425,554
2011: $429,561
2010: $395,195

“Think big, looking forward” was the agenda at J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. annual shareholder meeting Thursday (April 23), and has been the focus of this logistics giant since it’s earliest origin in 1961.

Shareholders had plenty to celebrate given the stock price is up 21% over the past year breaking through the $90 barrier on the heels of strong first quarter results in 2015. A new 52-week high price of $93.50 was reached in recent days amid upgrades from Bank of America and a new target price of $100 set by Stephens Inc. analyst Brad Delco after the solid earnings from the first quarter.

Co-founder Johnelle Hunt, also the largest shareholder, was on hand for the brief meeting which convened promptly at 10 a.m. called to order by Board Chairman Kirk Thompson. In regular board business shareholders elected a slate of 11 directors with at least 90% of the majority vote:
• Doug Duncan
• Fran Edwardson
• Wayne Garrison
• Sharilyn Gassaway
• Gary George
• Bryan Hunt
• Coleman Peterson
• John Roberts
• James Robo
• Kirk Thompson
• John White

Chief Financial Officer David Mee presided over the business portion of the meeting announcing each of the directors by name and joking that a few of them were there to watch him given he made a “C” in intermediate accounting. Shareholders also ratified the appointment of Ernst & Young as its independent public accountant for 2015 with 99% of the voting majority. 

Hunt’s first ever shareholder initiated proposal which sought to require the company to adopt quantitative goals toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions failed with just 17% of shareholders supporting this proposal. The board of directors did not support the proposal stating that the company already has in place adequate goals involving environmental sustainability.

CEO John Roberts restated some of the company’s accomplishments over the past year. 
• It was the fifth consecutive year for earnings growth.
• The intemodal segment shipped 1.7 million loads.
• The Dedicated Contract Services (DCS) segment hauled 2.1 million loads.
• Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS) segment revenue grew 33.8% to $718 million.
• The Truckload segment got back on its feet operating income rose 560% from 2013.

He said the ICS segment opened three new operations centers in 2014 in Fort Worth, Texas, Kansas City, Mo., and San Bernardino, Calif., which is near the large port operations at Long Beach. The company also recently opened at redundant IT data center in Bolder. Colo. 

“Our biggest segments are growing and the smaller segments are now adding meaningful contributions to the overall company result in revenue and more particularly in new customers,” Roberts said.

Aside from the numbers, Roberts said there is a lot of good work that takes place daily among the workforce at Hunt. He said the company’s 360 launch in 2014 has been a huge benefit that gives customers their own portal into Hunt’s operations and eliminated the need for phone calls or faxes. 

“I doubt many of the younger folks even know what a fax is these days,” Roberts said.

The company also recently launched its new human resource software “Workday” which focuses on talent management and development which is key to the company’s future, he added.

Roberts concluded by showing a short video of highlights that reflected the overall J.B. Hunt experience beyond the deliveries and spreadsheets. Images of volunteers for Habitat for Humanity, hiring veterans and rewarding drivers for 1 million safe miles were part of the brief video.

Thompson concluded the meeting, joking to Mee that had made an “A” in  intermediate accounting and he would be watching.

Following the 20-minute meeting the board of directors declared a 21-cent per share cash dividend payable to shareholders of record on May 8. The cash dividend is payable May 22. Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport (NASDAQ: JBHT) were trading at $92 on Thursday morning, up 22 cents on the day.

The four largest cities in Northwest Arkansas reported $4.388 million in sales tax revenue last month, inching up just 1.82% from the year ago results.

Sales taxes received in April reflects sales tax collected in February. The cities of Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale and Fayetteville each collect a 2% sales tax on goods and services. Half of that is used to retire debt and 1% is funneled into cities’ budgets. This report reflects the latter.

In April, Bentonville reported $843,828 in sales tax revenue, up 4.23% from a year ago. While the results pleased city officials, they were not near the 20% increase recorded from April of last year. 

Denise Land, city finance director, has said that Bentonville routinely sees wide swings in its sales tax revenue month-to-month, but that is not a concern. The first four months of revenue this year have been up and down compared the prior year period:
• 24.33% in January
• -5.83% in February
• 12.04% in March
• 4.23% in April

Mayor Bob McCaslin said conservative budgeting each year has meant the city is in strong fiscal shape despite the ebb and flows in sales tax revenue swings. 

Rogers reported sales tax revenue of $1.171 million, a gain of 2.03% from a year ago. So far this year the city’s total tax revenue is up 6.74% over the same period in 2014.
City officials expect a strong spring and summer season noting that collections are running well ahead of budget so far this year.

By way of comparison, it has been about one year since businesses in Benton County began selling liquor which was believed to have been part of the reason the 2014 numbers were stronger. More than 24 liquor stores have opened in Benton County over the past 18 to 24 months.

In Fayetteville sales tax revenue rose 0.19% in April to $1.459 million. April marked the first sluggish month for sales tax revenue across the city, which Mayor Lioneld Jordan said has been strong behind improved consumer confidence and low unemployment.

Fayettteville’s sales tax revenue was up 6.65% in January, 9.28% in February and 11.89% in March over the prior-year periods, so city officials were not concerned about the nearly flat results in April. 

The city of Springdale also saw modest sales tax growth in April, compared to what its recorded in the prior three months.

“We can’t complain, our sales tax continues to improve as more businesses are opening across the city and the local economy’s growth appears strong,” Mayor Doug Sprouse recently told The City Wire.

Springdale had sales tax revenue of $914,548 in April, up 2% from the year-ago period. So far this year the city’s sales tax is up 14.3% over the same period last year and running well ahead of budget.

Consumer confidence is closely tied to sales tax and University of Michigan sentiment index fell to 95.4, the first decrease in seven months during February, the month comparable to the time the April sales tax was generated. One other metric that occurred in February was an uptick in fuel costs, which has been trending lower since the end of 2014. Prices at the pump climbed 31 cents a gallon in February on a refinery issues, which should be factored into consumer attitudes at that time.

“Ultimately, the strong job environment and strong U.S. economy are playing a big role in supporting consumer confidence overall,” said Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

Fresh is an important word at Wal-Mart Stores these days as the retail giant’s U.S. CEO Greg Foran believes the retailer can and will do a better job in this segment of the grocery space.

Foran recently said “fresh” is not all he’s focused on but it’s definitely being addressed. And there’s a good reason, as grocery comprises about 56% of annual sales and too many times Foran said he’s seen customers rush past the produce and head for the packaged foods.

He told analysts earlier this month that doing “fresh” right is a challenging part of any business because there are multiple things that must be right up and down the supply chain for products to appear fresh once in a consumer’s home. Specifically Foran said Wal-Mart is concentrating more upstream, closer to the fields where the fresh produce is sourced. Earlier this month Wal-Mart quietly opened a sorting and culling operation in Los Angeles to hasten the procurement process.

Insiders at Wal-Mart said the new center in California is similar to an operation in McAllen, Texas, that allows Wal-Mart more flexibility in buying product. For instance if product can be purchased green and stored there for ripening. Or, if there is product that certain stores want by customer request such as smaller than specified Roma tomatoes then Wal-Mart could buy the whole field. Then they would cull, sort and bag those non-spec items that their customers want. Before, the retailer said it would not have purchased non-spec items. 

Aside from having more flexibility in the procurement process, Foran said the company is doing more consolidation of product in these centers and moving the product quicker through its distribution network. Produce is being sent through the regional distribution centers, not holding a slot, but merely passing through so that it can get out to the store quicker.

“It means that by the time the product gets to the store, it has been out of the field for less (time). If we then run less inventory in the store, the customer benefits because when they buy that product, they get it home and it lasts for five or six days,” Foran told analysts during the April 1 update.

“As I get around and I talk to customers, I will often hear customers say to me the product looked good yesterday, but the day after, I opened up the fridge and I can tell you that apple or that strawberry or that mango was not good enough to eat,” he said. 

That prompted Wal-Mart to back themselves upstream and look at the procurement  and transportation elements and expand the work in the Texas and new California produce operational centers. Looking further downstream, Foran said there has also been more focus on training, starting with 4,500 store managers undergoing the training at the retailer’s Year Beginning Meeting February. 

“I can tell you that over the last 4 to 6 weeks, I'm seeing a little bit of momentum in this area. I am seeing improvements in what we are offering our customers, but we've got a lot more to do in this area yet,” Foran said.

Supply chain expert Annibal Sodero, a professor at the University of Arkansas, said the notion of upstreaming is not new, and Amazon and other retailers have long used the process. Wal-Mart also also previously used upstreaming in other applications such as holiday layaway or toys. He applauds the retailer’s recent broader application of upstreaming to fresh foods.

“Food retailers lose a lot money annually because of spoilage, particularly when the safety stocks (inventory) are aggregated near the customer. Storing product further up the supply chain can offer efficiencies because there would likely be less spoilage, providing you have the transportation network to get the product down the chain to consumers in a timely manner. Wal-Mart does have a huge infrastructure to leverage there,” Sodero said.

He said ideally, drop shipping direct to the consumer from the supplier is the fastest and most optimal method, a process used by online retailers like Amazon for its Fresh business.

“Today 30% of items bought online are delivered through drop shipping,” Sodero added. 

He said that if you are Wal-Mart with thousands of suppliers coordinating that service with vendors would be very cumbersome. Sodero said Wal-Mart’s infrastructure, which is conducive for crates and pallets, shipped from supplier to distribution centers out to stores is a very different model.

He is not surprised to see Wal-Mart using more upstreaming and consolidation of loads to help squeeze costs out of the supply chain. He said the final mile is the most expensive leg of the supply chain and home delivery is the bar being set by Amazon, and now emerging delivery services like Uber.

Wal-Mart has said customers are happy with click and collect grocery model that is being tested in five markets across the U.S. Sodero adds that it’s to Wal-Mart’s advantage that consumers like and use that click and collect, versus home delivery. 

“The click and collect model for grocery buying can utilize the infrastructure in place at Wal-Mart’s Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets. That is not the same as ordering your groceries with Amazon Fresh, having it bundled with Amazon Dash auto shipments  and delivered free to your home if you can wait 2 hours. It’s $7.99 if you want it sooner,” Sodero said.

Just like Wal-Mart is testing its grocery pickup in five cites, Amazon is testing Prime Now for Fresh and Dash orders in Manhattan and coming to other cities in the future. Amazon does require annual membership fees for these expedited services. There is no added charges for the Wal-Mart’s grocery pickup option.

Sodero said if Wal-Mart wants to transform into an omni retailer with home delivery on par with Amazon it will take much more collaboration between retailer and suppliers. 

“It’s not just about leaning on suppliers for their best price, it should be about working together to provide multichannel solutions that customers will want in the days ahead,” Sodero added.

The Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Giving Recognition in Tourism (GRIT) Award recipients were announced Thursday (April 23), with the Robert Westphal Family capturing the Polly Crews Hospitality Person of the Year.

The 4th Annual GRIT Awards were presented at the MovieLounge, and the event serves to showcase the accomplishments of finalists who demonstrated GRIT – within the area’s growing hospitality and tourism profession – through the dedication of their time, energy and expertise.

During the awards ceremony, the Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau also honored the past year’s Hometown Hospitality Heroes, who had all been highlighted in City of Fort Smith’s Fast Focus e-newsletter for supporting area tourism through efforts related to hosting or bringing conventions to the city in 2014 and early 2015. The Hometown Hospitality Honorees were:
• Kermit Walsh & Jackie Hoffarth for their efforts in the development of Fort Smith Western Heritage Month and related events;

• Bill Ladd & Larry Rhodes for their efforts in bringing the Arkansas Realtors Association convention to Fort Smith;

• Daniel Shue for his efforts in bringing the Arkansas Prosecuting Attorneys Association conventions to Fort Smith;

• Patrick Pendleton for his efforts and leadership in the development of the very first Fort Smith Marathon; and

• Alie Bahsoon for his efforts in bringing the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing convention to Fort Smith.

This year’s GRIT Award winners were:
• Restaurant Partner of the Year: Bricktown Brewery
• Lodging Partner of the Year: Comfort Inn & Suites
• Attraction Partner of the Year: Chaffee Crossing (Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority)
• Business Partner of the Year: Mercy Fort Smith
• Polly Crews Hospitality Person of the Year: Robert Westphal Family

Traci Sowersby has been named vice president-controller and chief accounting officer for Fort Smith-based ArcBest Corporation, with her first day set for April 27.

Sowersby, a certified public accountant, most recently served as executive director with Ernst & Young in their Phoenix office. She has worked at EY for the previous 17 years in various locations and had also served in the U.S. Army Reserves. She earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Indiana University at Fort Wayne.

“We are very pleased to have Traci join ArcBest in this important role as she brings a great deal of technical expertise and management experience,” said ArcBest President and CEO Judy McReynolds said in a statement. “As we continue to better serve our customers across the supply chain, Traci will be instrumental in ensuring our financial reporting continues to live up to the same high expectations that we have for all of our companies and employees, who are known for going above and beyond for customers every day.”

Sowersby will report to Chief Financial Officer David Cobb.

“I’m delighted that Traci will be relocating to Fort Smith bringing knowledge and depth to our financial area as a result of her previous experience with public companies and their financial reporting and internal control requirements,” said Cobb.

The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS) has named Little Rock-based CJRW a Webby Award Honoree for the development and design of Riceland Foods’ new website. The Webby Awards are the leading international awards honoring excellence on the Internet.

The Riceland site was among nearly 13,000 entries in the Academy’s competition received from all 50 U.S. states and 60 countries. Only 20% of entries receive honors from the Webby Awards. Riceland’s site won in the “Interactive Advertising & Media: Consumer Packaged Goods” category. Packaged consumer goods and shopper marketing are among CJRW’s specialties.

In addition to Riceland, other brands honored in the “Interactive Advertising: Consumer Packaged Goods” category included Gillette, Keurig and Pantene. Riceland Foods, headquartered in Stuttgart, is an iconic Arkansas brand with markets worldwide.

“This is an exceptional honor for Riceland and for CJRW,” Zack Hill, CJRW vice president and director of digital services, said in a statement. “It puts our work alongside some of the most recognized developers and brands in the world. Being recognized on an international stage like this is a testament to the work we and our clients like Riceland are doing in the digital realm.”

CJRW’s work for Riceland included a revamping of the company’s website and a series of microsites for each of Riceland’s divisions. The site features a variety of products, recipes and other information, as well as videos featuring growers telling their stories and describing their passion for farming. Jones Film Video, a CJRW subsidiary, produced the video vignettes.
 
The Riceland site also includes videos of renowned chef Georgia Pelligrini preparing a variety of dishes using Riceland products.

“This award puts our digital team in very exclusive company,” said Darin Gray, CJRW president. “We are successfully competing not just on the local and state levels, but nationally and internationally as well. And people are taking notice.”

Established in 1996, during the Web’s infancy, The Webby Awards are presented by IADAS – a 1,000+ member judging body.

Main Street Siloam Springs said it will open its outdoor Siloam Springs Farmers Market on Tuesday, April 28 at 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. The market will also be open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. beginning May 2.  Tuesday.

On opening day the market will host LORE, a local band, from 5 to 7 p.m. and a mobile SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) Unit will be on site the entire evening to help register eligible families for SNAP/EBT services. Those who receive SNAP/EBT benefits may purchase tokens at the market to use to pay the farmers for eggs, meat, produce and baked goods all season. The market also participates in a Double Dollar program that provides funds to match SNAP/EBT purchases. The matching program usually begins in early summer.

The new hours for the Tuesday market are a result of survey responses from market customers in 2014.

“Of 169 responses, 94% of people indicated they would prefer evening hours,” said Main Street Siloam Springs executive director Meredith Bergstrom. “We’re excited to offer more convenient hours to our community during the work week. We hope that people enjoy shopping after work and can go home with fresh, local products to cook for dinner.”

This year market is also partnering with the Benton County Master Gardeners to host second Saturday Kids Days every month, as well as planning a full calendar of events with special programs every Saturday, said market manager Stacy Hester.

The market expects to feature live music, chef demonstrations, a bike day and special booths like knife sharpening once a month, according to the release.

Havenwood announced Debbie Martin as its new executive director. Having lived in Northwest Arkansas for more than 25 years, Martin brings business, nonprofit and organizational development experience to Havenwood.

She most recently served as pastor of discipleship and finance for the Bentonville Church of the Nazarene as well as board president for the Sunshine School and Development Center. Martin began her role as Havenwood’s executive director on April 1.

“Debbie brings a tremendous amount of local knowledge and community insight in addition to her formal education, prior experiences and proven leadership skills,” said board chairman Paul Wood.

Martin’s professional background includes experience in strategic planning, nonprofit management, case management, development, community outreach, and volunteer coordination.  She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas and a master’s degree from Arkansas Tech.

“It’s an honor to join Havenwood. The work of this organization is needed more now than ever,” Martin said. “Homelessness and food insecurity are real in our communities. Through teamwork and strong partnerships with other like agencies, together we can assist single parents by promoting awareness, strengthen vital support systems and working tirelessly to move families from crisis to self-sufficiency.

ABF Logistics, a subsidiary of Fort Smith-based ArcBest, was recently recognized for the first time by Transport Topics on the Top Brokerage Firms of 2015 list.

ABF Logistics provides third-party logistics services including truckload brokerage, intermodal and ocean transport, warehousing and household moving. The company provides complete supply chain solutions and an exceptional experience that customers seek through a single point of contact.

ABF Logistics was tied for the 30th spot on the list of 44 brokerage firms. Lowell-based J.B. Hunt Integrated Capacity Solutions was ranked 10th.

“Our customers have come to rely on ABF Logistics for flawless customer service,” ABF Logistics President Jim Ingram said in a statement. “Our growth and success are driven by keeping service commitments even when capacity is limited in various transportation modes.”

ArcBest President and CEO Judy McReynolds noted that going above and beyond to solve complex supply chain needs continues to resonate with customers who increasingly value superior service from ABF Logistics and the other ArcBest companies.

More than 35 tech professionals volunteered their expertise and talents to help 10 local nonprofits with website design and functionality at the third annual Northwest Arkansas GiveCamp. The event was held April 24-26 in Rogers at he corporate office of Collective Bias. 

Phyl Amerine, co-founder of Startup Junkie in Fayetteville, collaborated with Chris Whittle, director of information technology at Collective Bias, to coordinate this year’s event that was expanded to help three more charities than last year. Amerine said there is so much need from our nonprofit community in Benton and Washington counties and this event can make a big difference which is why she has spearheaded the program since 2013.

She said the corporate support for this weekend-long GiveCamp is essential for its success. The tech professionals this year are from Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods, Northwest Technical Institute, Collective Bias and include several entrepreneurs like Josh Moody, CEO of Overwatch.

Whittle was tasked to coordinate the charities who applied to the program with the tech teams who could best deliver the desired results. Aside from techies, a few wordsmiths are also volunteering their time to help craft content messages for the new or improved websites.

Jamie Smith, self-employed blogger, content provider and freelancer with The City Wire, is one of the wordsmiths volunteering at GiveCamp. Smith said it usually takes four to six weeks to build a website, depending on the scope, but these teams or getting it done in a weekend. 

“It’s been a bit of a juggling match. I have had tech volunteers pull out at the last minute but others have stepped up and it looks like we have just enough to get the jobs done,” Whittle said. 

As of Saturday morning, Whittle told The City Wire the tech teams were back it at after working past 11 p.m. on Friday evening. He said everything was moving smooth and there was still plenty of work to finish before GiveCamp concluded at 4 p.m. on Sunday (April 26). 

Angie Pratt, founder of Soldiers on Service Dogs, was teamed with Chaz Ross of Wal-Mart and Chad Kieffer and Sheila Czech, faculty members at NTI who also recruited the help of a few students to the project. Pratt said her nonprofit pairs free service dogs with military veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome or Traumatic Brain Injury. She said there are an estimated 840 veterans in Benton and Washington counties who could benefit for service dogs.

“We have a waiting list of 75 veterans,” Pratt said. “We have 30 dogs in service and 13 other puppies in training.”

Pratt said the charity has a website, but she is hoping the team of techies she’s been paired with can overhaul and ramp up the site so it’s more conducive for the multifunctional needs of the operation. The site needs to be able to accept applications on the procurement end from puppy donations and dog fostering as well as seeking donations.  

She hopes that participating in GiveCamp will not only bring more awareness to the charity but also help facilitate the day-to-day operations by having a more comprehensive website that reduces the paper applications and cumbersome back-office operations.

Whittle said most of the charities in this year’s GiveCamp either need a new website or major overhauls to their existing sites. For instance, Western Arkansas Ballet has a functioning website but it’s not mobile friendly. He said that team will tweak the nonprofit’s website design so users can access it with their mobile phones.

“This day and time websites have to mobile friendly, otherwise they are missing a major part of the market,” Whittle said.

For charities like the Yvonne Richardson Center in Fayetteville, GiveCamp will build a new website over the 30-hour period. This charity has not had their own site, which is hard to believe, but they were part of the Access Fayetteville site. The Yvonne Richardson Center works with area youth on recreational and educational needs, operating a gymnasium linked with city’s parks and recreation division.

Josh Moody, CEO of Overwatch, was on the team tasked with building the new site for the Yvonne Richardson Center. Moody said he built the original website for his company Overwatch and also has some design skills he hopes to lend to the team. 

“It feels good to give back to charities in this region that have been so supportive of my company in recent years,” he said.

While it’s hard to quantify the value that will come out of the 2015 NWA GIveCamp, Whittle said the quality IT services that these 10 charities are getting would cost upwards of $100 per hour. 

Extrapolating that assessment on a conservative basis the weekend GiveCamp value is more than $100,000 for just the tech labor. Whittle said the intangibles likely add thousands more because this added technology can allow charities to run more efficiently. 

“Many of them could never pay for the service they are getting here. If they could it would come at the expense of their ability to help others,” he added.

Whittle and Amerine like to think of it this way: Perhaps participating in GiveCamp could mean 500 more children and adults get the services they need because these 10 charities will have functioning tech capabilities that allow them to maximum their efforts on the ground.

The 10 nonprofits participating in this year’s NWA GiveCamp were:
• Rosco P. Coal Train's Community Outreach 
• Arkansas Coalition of Marshallese
• Yvonne Richardson Community Center 
• Camp Alliance Inc
• Marshallese Educational Initiative
• Western Arkansas Ballet
• Arkansas Counseling Association (ArCA)
• Soldier on Service Dogs
• The Cisneros Center for New Americans

Wal-Mart Stores has licenses to sell beer and wine at 546 locations across Texas, but the retail giant wants more and recently filed suit against the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission Liquor challenging Texas’ liquor law.

Present law forbids public companies from obtaining a “package store permit” that allows the sale of liquor. This law is protective toward family businesses, giving them an unfair advantage, the critics argue. Wal-Mart Stores is seeking to remove the public company block with injunctions against the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission in hopes of overturning what it deems “unconstitutional.”

“This is counter to Texas’ belief in free enterprise and fair competition, limits our customer’s choice and keeps the price of spirits artificially high, all of which harm Texas consumers,” Wal-Mart spokesman Lorenzo Lopez told the media.

The Bentonville-based retailer has also joined Kroger Co., and Costco Wholesale Corp. lobbying for legislation that would override the law. No other state prohibits liquor store ownership by publicly owned companies, which is at the heart of the Wal-Mart injunction. Another part of the law would require Wal-Mart to abandon its 534 beer and wine permits before it could apply for liquor store permits in Texas.

According to the lawsuit filed in February, Wal-Mart sells wine, beer or both in 546 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in Texas. Wal-Mart has licenses to sell distilled spirits in 25 other states, the company said in the lawsuit. 

It became illegal for public companies to sell hard alcohol in Texas in 1995. At the time, it was seen as an alternative to a prior law that banned out-of-state residents from owning liquor stores, the company stated in the lawsuit. The bills supported by Wal-Mart and other large retailers would change the law that bans public companies from selling spirits and those that make it illegal to buy more than five liquor-store permits.

Moving in Wal-Mart’s favor a new bill recently passed the Texas Senate that aims to end the five-permit law. The bill is moving to the Texas House in this session which is slated to end June 1. Like Arkansas, the Texas Legislature convenes every two years.

Critics of the Texas law said the state uses a wide net to define “public companies.” For instance the law pertains to any company that has more than 35 shareholders such as Tyler, Texas-based Brookshires Grocery Company. This east Texas chain sells beer and wine in wet counties of its 100 stores, but is not allowed to sell liquor because it has more than 35 shareholders, although it’s privately held. 

Brookshires spokesman Jason Cooper told The Dallas Morning News that “Texas shouldn’t be the only one in the business of picking winners and losers,” he said. “The current law restricts consumers and choices that they deserve.”

Liquor is big business for Wal-Mart and Sam’s Clubs in states that it operates package stores and that is money the retailer doesn’t want to leave on the table, given its large store presence across Texas. Analyst Matt Tullman, of Merchant Mechants said alcohol is also something shoppers will splurge on and retailers looking to grow top line sales can boost performance with alcohol sales.

Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon said growing top line sales head a short laundry list of key agendas on which his management team is focused. Analysts recently told The City Wire they expect a lackluster 2% rise in overall sales this year, which would be an improvement over the anemic pace of 0.5% last year. 

Wal-Mart also knows that alcohol sales track particularly well with the Millennial generation, an important demographic it’s been wooing. The Wal-Mart founding family has been somewhat mixed on alcohol sales over the years. The Wall Street Journal reports that Wal-Mart didn’t begin advertising alcohol in its circulars until 2008 in part because founder Sam Walton didn’t approve of drinking to the excess.

That said, Walton’s grandsons were instrumental in bringing liquor sales to the retailer’s home county in the 2012 when they backed a signature resolution to bring the decision to county voters in the state’s general election. With broad voter approval, Benton County became “wet” in 2013 and the first liquor stores opened around nine months later.

Wal-Mart could not apply for a liquor store permit in its home state because it already owns and operates a liquor store in its Fayetteville Sam’s Club. Arkansas State law only allows one permit per business across the entire state. Rather than fight Arkansas law, Wal-Mart has focused on bigger fish expanding in markets where there are less barriers such as Florida. 

Lopez said Wal-Mart has redesigned some of its stores to make more room for beer, wine and spirits. It built six stand-alone liquor stores last year in Florida and plans to add around 15 more in the state. The company hopes to significantly increase U.S. alcohol sales by 2016, he said.