Daddy Warbucks

Well, gentle readers, the Bank of Fayetteville, long rumored to be selling to First National Bank of Fort Smith, may, and I repeat may not be selling.

Insiders tell Daddy something went awry with regulators when all the debts of First National Bank of Rogers got thrown in the mix. (Being in the day-to-day banking business is one cut-throat and on-edge business these days.) So what is in it for the faithful BOF employees? Well, stay turned, readers. This is about to get really interesting.

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Crystal Bridges opens on Friday. Traffic and all things that power the service economy here in Northwest Arkansas are set for “go.”
This will not only be good for hotel, restaurant and other businesses of the service industry. Already this project has put valuable jobs and resources in the area. And many of these jobs and resources are here to stay.
While Daddy W. may not be among the Top Tier of members — he, too, will get to see many of these works again, and many others, for the first time.

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McKee Baking Co. in Gentry is having some big environmental events on Nov. 16. Big wigs with the State ADEQ and others are there promoting their “Green” programs.
Look for Little Debbie to still be doing things the right way in central Benton County. Some sources say Gov. Mike Beebe may be on hand. Let’s see.

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Did the ground shake?
Sure it did.
Daddy was all posed to write a snippet about the recent earth tremor in jolly old England — near the Blackpool area. The shake was caused, the Brits write, due to “fracking.”
That is the same chemical process being used all over the state — especially in Central Arkansas on that Fayetteville Shale venture.
Seems like fracking was also used over in the Sooner State. Yikes.

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The Fayetteville (Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville) jobless rate is still the best in the state.
While at a high 6.3 percent in September that rate is far below the other areas of the state. Hot Springs is at 7.7 percent jobless, Jonesboro at 7.3 percent; Texarkana at 7.8 percent, and Pine Bluff at 10.1 percent. The state average is 8.3 percent.

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Oil by the barrel is up to $92.51 over the weekend.
That equates into $109.34 a barrel in London on the International Market.
Retail diesel here at home is 80.1 cents higher per gallon than a year ago.
Gasoline is 63 cents higher per gallon than a year ago.
And we all think fuel prices (for the moment) are cheaper today.

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So long, LEI (Lighting Electrical Inc. of Fayetteville). Once a major player in all things being built, the company has closed, taking Chapter 7 bankruptcy. They listed $1.66 million in assets and unfortunately $11.5 million in debt.

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More on the BOF non-deal: Deposit records for Northwest Arkansas show the Bank of Fayetteville is 3rd in deposits with $327 million dollars of 3.8 percent share. ArVest, of course, is No. 1 with $1.2 billion (that’s billion, with a ‘B’) or 35 percent of all the deposits, or one-out-of-every-three dollars. Second is First Security with $483 million or 13.2 percent.

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Shares , which can be bought on the public stock exchange for the Bank of Fayetteville are at low levels. Who owns the most shares? Well, that would be Board Chair, David McClinton with a 14.3 percent of all shares. Next comes Lee Bodenhammer with 7.8 percent stake, then Jim Lindsey with 4.8 percent of the pie. Curtis Shipley has a 3.2 percent stake while CEO Mary Beth Brooks sits at 2.6 percent of all bank shares.

Categories: Commentary