Governor Sarah Sanders announced the following appointments on Monday (May 6): Post-Prison Transfer Board Willie Robinson, Little Rock, to the Parole Board. Term to expire January 14, 2030. Previously vacant position. Board of Trustees of Northeastern College Robin Houseworth, Blytheville, to the Board of Trustees of Northeastern College. Term to expire December 31, 2028. Replaces John Newcomb. Brad Harrison, Manila, to the Board of Trustees of Northeastern College. Term to expire December 31, 2028. Replaces Thomas Westbrook. Board of Trustees of Arkansas Tech University Cory Cox, Perryville ..read more

Tokyo-based Nippon Steel postponed its $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel, which has major operations in Northeast Arkansas. The move comes after federal regulators asked for more information related to the mega-merger that has also played into Presidential politics. The deal was first announced in December 2023 when Japan’s largest steelmaker said it would pay $55 per share in an all-cash transaction, a 40% premium, for U.S. Steel. Mississippi County in Northeast Arkansas is the largest steel-producing county in the U.S. It is home to the former Big River Steel project, owned by U.S. Ste ..read more

The Northwest Arkansas Business Journal is accepting nominations for just a few more days for its 10th annual Women in Business class, recognizing 10 women who have made significant contributions to their selected profession and community. The nomination deadline is Friday (May 10). Nominations can be made at this link and may include individuals from both Northwest Arkansas and the Fort Smith metro area. The ideal candidate will be an accomplished professional or entrepreneur committed to excellence and dedicated to their community. “Empowering women in business isn’t just about recogniz ..read more

Crawford County sales tax revenues restarted for the county and its municipalities in March, with collections down from last year. Van Buren Mayor Joe Hurst said March funds were down more than 8% from 2023 and April revenue was down 2% from April 2023. “Interesting, the first numbers that we got in March, they were down about 8% compared to March 2023. I was questioning, maybe that was because some of the businesses hadn’t updated their sales tax yet so they weren’t collecting as much as they should. The difference was still down 2% in April compared to 2023 in April. It was not as big a decr ..read more

Northwestern Mutual has relocated its Fayetteville office to the Pinnacle Hills area in Rogers amid continued growth. The new address is 1800 S. 52nd St., Suite 200. Joshua Montanez is the lead wealth management advisor of Montanez Financial, a financial planning group associated with Northwestern Mutual. The Montanez Financial team includes five staff. The team and other Northwestern Mutual staff relocated from the former office in Fayetteville. The new 10,000-square-foot office in Rogers has about 35 employees. The move was completed in March. Asked about the move, Montanez explained that th ..read more

Job numbers were down in four of Arkansas’ eight metro areas in March, with the Northwest Arkansas metro having the highest percentage year-over-year growth at 2.1%. All but one area posted a higher number of unemployed in March compared with the prior year. March jobless rates ranged from 2.5% in Northwest Arkansas to 4.3% in the Pine Bluff metro, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The March report is preliminary and subject to revisions. Arkansas’ four largest metro regions – areas with most of the workforce in the state – had a combined 14,636 year-over-year j ..read more

Second fiscal quarter net income for Tyson Foods was above estimates, with revenue falling below expectations. Earnings per share was 41 cents, above the consensus estimate of 39 cents. Adjusted earnings per share was 62 cents. Net income in the fiscal quarter ended March 30 was $145 million, better than the $97 million loss in the same period of 2023, the Springdale-based global meat production and distribution company reported Monday (May 6). Total sales were $13.072 billion, below the $13.133 billion in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year and below the consensus estimate of $13.14 ..read more

Erin Thomas led public communications for Ronald McDonald House’s (RMH) $3.5 million capital campaign to build an 11-bedroom house in Fort Smith and got it done in two years. Her efforts led to record media attention for a campaign for the nonprofit, with 11 news companies participating. During the campaign, she hosted three fundraisers and three donor events and planned and publicized the grand opening event, with more than 100 in attendance. “Getting to promote that and tell people why it mattered was fulfilling, as well as getting to see the support the people of Fort Smith gave us to fulfi ..read more

Fort Smith native Jackson Mendenhall is one of the rare people who know what they want to do before graduating college and where they will do it. He graduated from Subiaco Academy and earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing management from the University of Arkansas in 2020. He began his career as an intern with Fort Smith-based Nunnelee & Wright Commercial Properties in the summer of 2018 and obtained a real estate license before graduating college. Mendenhall took his last “virtual” college test in May 2020, and the next day was at work with Nunnelee & Wright. But the world then was ..read more

Michaela Day relocated from central Illinois to southwest Arkansas at the age of 8, where she spent her formative years on a bustling 70-acre hobby farm surrounded by diverse livestock. Joining 4H at a young age and later FFA in high school, her passion for agriculture and animals blossomed. Day pursued that interest by enrolling at the University of Arkansas. She was a member of the Razorback Marching Band Color Guard and eventually graduated with a bachelor’s degree in poultry science in 2019. “[Poultry science] is a very niche piece of knowledge, and I’m passionate about being unique and di ..read more