News

The last several years of corporate site selection have been influenced by many trends. Among these are corporate tax cuts, a red-hot industrial real estate market, the explosion of e-commerce, increasing trade protectionism, record economic growth and, in a stunning reversal, a global health pandemic and recession. It seems th...Continue Reading

Newly dispersed work teams are facing new challenges. During the early months of the global pandemic, more than three-quarters of organizations reported 80 percent or more of their employees were working from home, according to a global survey on workplace re-entry. While workplace mobility isn’t new, the scale of remote work has accelerate...Continue Reading

While APP involves a modest amount of additional upfront time for planning, the investment pays significant dividends throughout the project — and at the most critical times. Detailed planning is executed in advance, enabling the project team and stakeholders to discuss project objectives, prioritize needs, and examine costs from th...Continue Reading

Indemnification provisions are an important part of the fine print of many contracts. These clauses generally operate to protect one party against the other party’s actions or failures to act that lead to a loss claimed by a third party (not a party to the contract). A common example i...Continue Reading

As corporate decision-makers develop their business strategies for the future, the markets they consider are rapidly changing. This dynamic trend was already in place before the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic as businesses sought to alleviate concentration risk. With the unprecedented impacts on the global economy of the curren...Continue Reading

The global pandemic has upended the labor market and dramatically and suddenly reversed U.S. economic expansion. COVID-19, especially, has caused U.S. manufactures to face unprecedented labor challenges. With COVID-19 and the need for social distancing, these shortages are escalating. Many factories have shuttered to protect workers and prevent COVID-19’s spread. Eve...Continue Reading

The electric cooperatives of Arkansas have supported local families, businesses and economic growth for decades. First by bringing electricity to rural Arkansas and then by bringing broadband to people throughout the state. The cooperatives have played a critical role in the economic development of Arkansas - transforming lives along th...Continue Reading

AD: Will more companies be re-shoring or near-shoring as a result of the global pandemic? Jensen: For certain, most companies are closely examining the options available to them to avoid future supply chain interruptions. Part of the challenge of making a decision on a future sourcing direction is that this story isn’t over...Continue Reading

In times of economic struggle — such as the recession that abruptly arrived with the COVID-19 pandemic — analysts and advocates promote an array of options as effective tools for stimulating the economy. One of the most frequently suggested options is infrastructure spending. Proponents of infrastructure spending during dire economi...Continue Reading

Arkansas is ideally situated for manufacturing and distribution companies. With its robust highway system, rail network, air and water ports, the state is the right choice for mega companies like Walmart and smaller manufacturing companies as well. Continued investments in infrastructure ensure that Arkansas will remain a top choice fo...Continue Reading

As the coronavirus pandemic disrupted global supply chains, a new report released in April by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) urged the U.S. government to develop a national industrial strategy to strengthen the competitive position of advanced, traded-sector industries that are “too critical to fail.” “Even before this pandemic...Continue Reading

Few implications of the COVID-19 pandemic are as consequential to global manufacturers as disruptions to their supply chains. For many, this is the most consequential by far. Supply chains are always a work in progress as such market variables as transportation costs, tariffs and trade agreements force logistics managers t...Continue Reading

When veteran-owned Arcturus Aerospace announced recently that it would relocate its manufacturing business and nine high-wage jobs from California to Little Rock, it was a reminder that not all corporate site selection was shut down during the pandemic. “We are thrilled to relocate to Little Rock and join the momentum o...Continue Reading

Effective hiring and retention practices are key to effective leadership. The reality is that managers that hire well and that are able to keep talented employees produce better results. Replacing employees is time-consuming, expensive, and disruptive. Plus, when an employee leaves, it can impact the entire team and cause a rippl...Continue Reading

With 700 million users, LinkedIn provides a massive opportunity for businesses to increase sales leads and revenue. In this video, the creator and host of “The Startup Story” shares tips for leveraging LinkedIn to start conversations with cold contacts, namely: Research, learning more about the contact you’re reaching out to from their profile as well as other socia...Continue Reading

Your dollar goes further in Arkansas than anywhere else in the country. According to the Tax Foundation, Arkansas has the highest relative value of $100 at $117.23. This means that the same amount of money can buy comparatively more in Arkansas than other states. The map below demonstrates purchasing power based o...Continue Reading

Fayetteville is experiencing remarkable growth, along with the rest of the Northwest Arkansas region. Nestled in the Ozarks, Fayetteville has earned a reputation as a hot spot for business, education, and entertainment. U.S. News and World Report ranked Fayetteville as one of the top five places to live in the United State...Continue Reading

Several electric cooperatives in Arkansas have spearheaded the expansion of broadband throughout the state, creating business opportunities in the process. “Arkansas is an excellent place to do business because of our infrastructure and market access, low-cost available commercial property, tax structure and workforce. By expanding broadband electric cooperatives are makin...Continue Reading

Beset by the COVID-19 pandemic and its recessionary shocks, companies across the globe are paring workforces at alarming rates. In the United States alone, some 40 million workers had filed jobless claims by the end of May, with the biggest losses occurring in the leisure and hospitality, professional business services...Continue Reading

The Brookings Institution hosted a webinar on June 10 titled “Mitigating the Economic Impacts of COVID-19 in Rural Areas.” Moderator Tracy Hadden Loh, a Brookings Institution Fellow, engaged three experts on rural economies in looking back at the pandemic’s effect on two small towns and across rural America, and ho...Continue Reading

Somewhere between your umpteenth Zoom meeting of the month and the latest webinar on the economic impacts of COVID-19, this thought probably crossed your mind: “How long will I be working from home?” While an exact answer to that question still eludes most companies, the effects of remote working are startin...Continue Reading

Arkansas has offered residents several advantages during COVID-19 as compared with states that have densely populated metro areas. COVID-19 has impacted the entire country, including Arkansas. Still, we have a lot to be thankful for – including how much easier it is to live throughout the state, especially when compare...Continue Reading

In the wake of COVID-19 many companies are looking to rural areas for their recovery. With urban areas hardest hit by COVID-19, many companies are considering less populated states as a way to help mitigate any future losses associated with operational shutdowns and delays caused by future pandemics and quarantines...Continue Reading

Arkansas’ farmers and ranchers keep grocery stores stocked across the nation and around the world, but many of those producers are facing a bare cupboard when it comes to workers. An already-tight labor market and COVID-19 related travel restrictions have sounded alarms from Wabbaseka to Washington D.C. “So many farmers ha...Continue Reading