VAN BUREN - Arkansas-based Simmons Prepared Foods says it's recalling 5,850 pounds of frozen chicken products that may have been breaded with flour contaminated with E. coli bacteria.

Simmons says the frozen, uncooked chicken tenderloins were produced on Jan. 25 and sold in bags labeled "Simmons Uncooked Chicken Tenderloin Fritters" and "Uncooked Chicken Breast Tenderloin Fritters." The products were distributed in Arkansas for institutional use.

A recall notice from the U.S. Department of Agriculture says Simmons received notice last week that flour sold to the company had been recalled by General Mills because of the E. coli concern. The flour had been used to bread the chicken fritters sold by Simmons.

Simmons says there have been no illnesses or adverse reactions so far linked to its products.

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

You may have heard that Chip’s Barbeque of Little Rock recently closed and filed for bankruptcy protection.

But did you know that the restaurant, which was founded in 1961, listed $400,000 in debts?

The assets of the company, however, were only $15,000. The value of the patents, copyrights and barbecue sauce recipe were listed as unknown.

Chip’s, which has a legal name of Honest Integrity LLC, showed that sales were on the rise.

In 2015, gross revenue was $463,984, up 4.1 percent from the previous year. And from Jan. 1 through July 6, it was $266,560.

Chip’s owes nearly $300,000 to Markham Square Holdings LLC of Little Rock for the lease of the west Little Rock building space until 2023, according to the filing.

Chip’s owner, Christopher Harcrow, also filed his own Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation the same day that the restaurant did.

He listed $100,178 in assets and nearly $500,000 in debts. Some of the debts listed in Harcrow’s filing were also in Chip’s. Harcrow became the owner of Chip’s in July 2013, according to his bankruptcy filing.

Harcrow was unemployed when he made the filing.

In 2015, his total income from operating Chip’s was $8,665. The previous year it had been $31,300.

The phone number for Chip’s wasn’t operating on Thursday. Harcrow couldn’t be reached for comment.

Attorney Kyle Havner of the Havner Law Firm in White Hall is representing Harcrow and Chip’s. Havner declined to comment.

CHEROKEE, Iowa — Tyson Foods is offering to pay $400,000 to buy out its remaining lease on a plant it closed in 2014 in the northwest Iowa town of Cherokee.

Tyson's Wes Morris said Thursday the Springdale, Arkansas, company is offering to pay all of its remaining rent for the next four years to end its interest in the vacant building.

Morris says that would give the building owner and local officials more control over marketing the plant.

It wasn't immediately clear Thursday afternoon whether the building's owner will accept Tyson's offer. New York real estate investor Mark Langfan's family owns the building.

Previously, local leaders in Cherokee had criticized Tyson's handling of the building.

Tyson says several food companies expressed interest in the plant but decided it wouldn't work for their needs.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Westrock Coffee Co. of North Little Rock and the P. Allen Smith Cos. of Little Rock announced Monday a partnership to promote their farm-focused brands.

In a news release, the companies said they will promote the people behind crops at Smith's Moss Mountain Farm in Roland and in the countries where Westrock Coffee is grown such as Rwanda and Tanzania.

The goal of the partnership is for the brands to encourage a movement toward sustainably and organically raised products, the companies said.

"P. Allen Smith's whole focus is on community and quality and that's something we think is really important," said Tori Gay, marketing manager for Westrock Coffee. "P. Allen Smith will include us on some of his shows and he'll be pretty much acting as an advocate [for Westrock]."

Smith's company produces three television shows, has a website featuring cooking, garden and lifestyle articles, and runs an online store. According to Mike Mueller, chief marketing officer for Hortus Ltd./P. Allen Smith Cos., some of Westrock's products will soon be for sale in that store.

Mueller said he believes there has been a large movement toward organic and locally-sourced products, led by the millennial age group.

"I think the younger generation in particular, millennials, are very much about local products, organic products and things that are sustainably sourced," Mueller said. "That’s something we’ve noticed on our end so we’re all hoping to really tap into that market." 

Westrock Coffee is owned by Joe Ford and Scott Ford, the father-and-son team that built Alltel Corp. of Little Rock. The coffee roasting and packaging company aims to improve the lives of the farmers they partner with by paying them a fair price for their coffee and offering training and support to increase yields.

"Our partnership with Westrock Coffee will raise the awareness of the high quality coffee they produce, as well their important social mission," Smith said in a news release. "Every day Westrock is changing lives in meaningful ways for people in coffee-producing regions. They're improving the living conditions for farmers and workers and bringing their exceptional coffee standards to local communities, allowing us to enjoy a great cup of coffee and help others at the same time."

Gay said the partnership has been in the works since February. The brands previously worked together at some of Smith's events and Mueller said there is a "synergy" between the two companies.

"When it comes to our partnership with P. Allen Smith, we've been so excited because we love is how he interacts and speaks with his fans," Gay said. "The authenticity of his brand and team matches with ours. We’re focused on being transparent and having an authentic mission about why we do what we do."

Also Monday, Westrock Coffee announced a deal to become the official coffee of the Arkansas Razorbacks beginning with the 2016 football season.

As part of the deal, Westrock Coffee will be promoted during games and events for all Razorbacks sports. The promotion includes stadium signage, advertising, sampling and digital marketing.

"The Arkansas Razorbacks are proud to have Westrock Coffee as the official coffee of the Razorbacks," said Chris Freet, the UA's senior associate athletic director. "We felt the company's mission would resonate with our fans, and we appreciate that Westrock as a strong Arkansas-based company."

The USA Rice board of directors said Thursday that it elected Brian King of Erwin Keith Inc. as its new chairman.

The board voted for King during its annual meeting last week. Erwin Keith Inc. has two locations, in McCrory and Wynne.

King, a rice merchant with more than 23 years of rice and grain marketing experience, will assume the two-year post on Aug. 1, according to a news release. He is replacing Dow Brantley, an Arkansas rice farmer who had been chairman of the group since 2014.

In the news release, Brantley said King will make a great chairman because he is "well versed in U.S. rice industry issues," having served on the board of the USA Rice Merchants' Association and as current chair of the USA Rice Western Hemisphere Subcommittee.

King has been a member of the USA Rice Merchants' Association since 2005 and is a graduate of the Rice Leadership Development Program. He also served on the organization's Sustainability and World Market Price committees as well as its Biotechnology Task Force.

King told Arkansas Business that he would continue to advocate for the lifting of the trade embargo on Cuba. He's traveled there three times and said they want rice from here but hand have been tied by the U.S. government. King also said he would like to see the rice industry become more unified. 

"This is an exciting time for the American rice industry with many challenges and opportunities ahead," USA Rice President and CEO Betsy Ward said in the release. "I look forward to working with Chairman-elect King as we tackle these issues on behalf of the entire U.S. industry."

Brantley will continue with USA Rice on its Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee.

Unless you’ve been vacationing somewhere far off the grid for the last week, you’ve undoubtedly heard about “Pokemon Go,” the latest craze bringing magical animated creatures to life in the real world, or at least on the screens of our phones. The mobile game was downloaded more than 20 million times in its first week on the Apple App Store and Google Play. The average user is spending 33 minutes a day playing the game, compared with 22 minutes on Facebook or 18 minutes on Snapchat. Thousands of players are meeting up in public places, and dogs are worn out from going on long walks to look for Pikachu.

So what does it all mean? Is this just another silly kids’ game, even one being co-opted by adults? Is it just another reason for us to walk around staring at our phones, which we do too much already? Or is it the first mass popular adoption of augmented reality, the technology that has promised to deliver so much but hadn’t yet truly found its use until now?

The internet has always been about making connections. Social media connected people even more — locally, regionally and around the world. The biggest problem about these networked connections was they were virtual — so you could stay comfortably nestled at home and shop on Amazon, chat with friends over Facebook, tweet your thoughts to thousands of followers or play “Star Wars Battlefront” with legions of fans online around the globe. The connections are real, but they lead to less engagement with the real world. And many times local businesses suffer, because consumer activity has moved online, leading to lower foot traffic.

Facebook has become as reliable a mass media delivery platform as broadcast television was in its heyday. Twitter drives the global conversation around many subjects, including sports and politics. Soon they will be streaming live video of the political conventions and NFL games. Snapchat has captured millennials with disappearing pictures, flower crowns and puppy dog filters. Our lives are mediated by mobile phones, for better and for worse. We carry around in our pockets and purses more computing power than what it took to put men on the moon. For all intents and purposes, we are cyborgs — part human, part machine.

The beauty of “Pokemon Go” (and all of the augmented reality games and apps that are sure to follow) is it will put you on your feet and out hunting Charmander, Squirtles and Poliwags in your neighborhood. Social savvy restaurateurs and tourism destinations have begun to lure “Pokemon” players with special offers. Just check the Instagram feeds of Crystal Bridges Museum, South on Main, the Arkansas Arts Center and even Rock Town Distillery. The hardest part of the consumer funnel has often been that last step along the way getting customers to your door. This is why Wal-Mart has door-buster specials to get bargain-crazed shoppers swarming the aisles. It’s why casinos host concerts of bands popular with their gaming demographic. It’s why Nintendo will soon be selling sponsored PokeStops and PokeGyms to businesses seeking extra traffic, just as you can buy a sponsored geofilter on Snapchat.

Digging deeper into “Pokemon Go,” it’s also a gold mine for data. In fact, more conspiracy-minded friends have pointed out the unusually broad privacy waiver, and the level of access you give when signing in with your Google account. But I’m a technological optimist, and believe that the data will be used for good — it’s how we target our advertising so you see just what you might be interested in rather than a lot of clutter. Others have pointed out that the founder of Niantic Labs, which powers “Pokemon Go,” previously founded the internet mapping company Keyhole, which was bought by Google to start Google Earth. By accessing the cameras of millions of phones, could it be stitching together a picture one level deeper than that created by satellite photos and Google mapping cars?

So what’s next? Is “Pokemon Go” just a fad? Most likely, but it’s a harbinger of the future where digital space co-exists with physical space, where interactivity leads to real activity. Most of the recent tech world buzz has been around virtual reality and Oculus Rift, where the digital replica replaces the actual world. Augmented reality blends both worlds together. And gets you outside to take a walk around the block. Maybe not exactly what Henry David Thoreau had in mind at Walden Pond, but it’s still a connection to nature.

Ross Cranford is a partner and social media strategist at Little Rock advertising agency Cranford Co. Email him at Ross@CranfordCo.com.

Rockline Industries of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, a wet-wipe manufacturer, paid $2.25 million for a 50,000-SF warehouse close to its manufacturing facilities in Springdale.

Rockline, through its R Brothers LLC, bought the property from RPH LLC, led by Andrew Henson and William Henson III. The warehouse is at 1334 E. Mountain Road, and Rockline’s manufacturing facility is at 1583 E. Mountain Road.

Rockline announced in October it would invest $15 million in its Springdale plant to open a new facial wipe line for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville. The wipes were previously manufactured in Europe, and Rockline said it expected to add 50 jobs.

R Brothers LLC is led by Randy Rudolph, the president of Rockline Industries. Wells Fargo Bank assisted the purchase with a loan of $1.65 million.

Rockline also paid $3.07 million for two warehouses on Gray Drive, adjacent to its complex, from RCR Holdings LP, which is led by Renee Rudolph. The warehouses have 140,000 SF and cover a little more than 9 acres.

Baking in Springdale

South Coast Baking Co. of Irvine, California, paid $3.6 million for its manufacturing facility at 800 S. 40th St. in Springdale.

South Coast bought the 104,000-SF property from Rescue Heroes II LLC through a subsidiary, MCB Associates LLC. Rescue Heroes II is led by Ivan Crossland Jr. through Crossland Holding Co. of Columbus, Kansas.

South Coast, which makes frozen bakery products, started operations in Springdale in 2014. It supplies companies such as Sam’s Club, Panera Bread and Mrs. Fields.

Springdale Arbors Apartments

The Arbors Apartments in Springdale sold for $2.4 million to a Rogers investor.

Zheng Lin LLC, led by Jian Fei Lin, purchased the 72-unit, 40,170-SF complex at 604 Oak Ave. from Casa Americana LLC of Fayetteville. Casa Americana is led by President Linda Parnell, and it purchased the property for a little more than $1.5 million in 1999.

Arvest Bank of Rogers assisted the acquisition with a loan of $1.9 million.

Dentist Buys Office

A Fayetteville dentist paid $625,000 for his office at 2827 Millennium Drive.

Michael Nelson, along with his wife, Jenny, bought Millennium Dental, where Nelson is a practicing dentist, from Bill Dill III. Dill, who is also a dentist, purchased the property in 2002 for $220,000. Nelson and Dill signed an escrow agreement in 2003 for Nelson to purchase the property from Dill.

The Bank of Fayetteville assisted the purchase with a loan of $375,000.

(More from Fayetteville: College Marketplace in Fayetteville Sells For $23M.)

Glass Warehouse

Mel Collier, who owns Collier Drug in Fayetteville, sold a Fayetteville property he purchased a year ago.

Hendrix REH LLC paid $575,000 for a 1.09-acre, 12,000-SF property at 1766 N. College Ave. The property once housed Binswanger Glass, an auto-glass repair company that was operated by Binswanger Enterprises LLC of Memphis.

Collier bought the property for $550,000 in August 2015.

Hendrix REH is led by Joe Hendrix of Fayetteville. Centennial Bank of Conway assisted the purchase with a loan of $548,225.

You can add another likely entrant to the craft brewery lineup in Little Rock: Nolen Buffalo’s Buffalo Brewing Co.

Buffalo is the founder and owner of the Water Buffalo, a retailer of supplies for hobby beer and winemakers, cheese makers and specialty gardeners (think hydroponic) at 106 S. Rodney Parham Road.

The Water Buffalo opened Nov. 1, 2014, and Buffalo Brewing is an outgrowth of the store.

“We sell to hobby beer and winemakers all over the area, and we also help the breweries fill in the gaps whenever they are a little short on an ingredient or a supply of some sort,” Buffalo said. “And because we already had all these relationships, and because we already had all the materials, we decided to take advantage of some of our square footage.”

He’s added a building behind the store that will serve as the brewery, and he’s developing a taproom inside the store.

The store/brewery will offer about 20 beers on tap. “Some will be ours and the rest will be from all the local brewers in the area.”

In addition, Buffalo Brewing will make its facility available to “some of these more accomplished home brewers,” Buffalo said, allowing them “to come into our brewery and guest brew so that we can put their beer on tap. It’s not the brewer that’s certified; it’s the brewery. And as long as we’re overseeing and we’re doing everything in accordance with the law and Health Department standards, then we can have a guest brewer come in and make a beer.”

If he gets approval from the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Division, Buffalo hopes to have the brewery up and running around Labor Day.

“I got into making beer and wine about 20 years ago,” said Buffalo, who grew up in Little Rock and is a Catholic High grad. “I got into indoor gardening and hydroponic gardening at about the same time. My hobbies just kind of got out of control, and so this is what I wound up with.”

And because this is our Banking & Finance issue, Whispers will note that Buffalo gratefully credits Bank of the Ozarks for providing the majority of the funding to open the Water Buffalo. Savings and family help provided the rest. Said Buffalo: “I’m a very satisfied Bank of the Ozarks customer.”

It looks like Aug. 3 or thereabouts is the opening day for Soul Fish Café, which features fried catfish and other Southern favorites, at 306 Main St. in downtown Little Rock next door to the also eagerly awaited Bruno’s Deli.

This will be the restaurant chain’s fourth location and the first outside Memphis, where it has three locations.

Raymond Williams, one of the owners of Soul Fish, said Little Rock was chosen because of its proximity to Memphis and similarity to Memphis in that the city is also on a river. He and his partner, Tiger Bryant, visited Oxford, Mississippi; Nashville, Tennessee; Little Rock; and Birmingham, Alabama, looking for cities that were close, and “Little Rock just stuck out,” Williams said. “The restaurant scene is really growing. Downtown, it seems like, is really growing. It just seemed like the right place to be.”

Although he’d like to grow the restaurant, he and Bryant have to see how well it does outside of Memphis, Williams said.

In addition to catfish, Soul Food offers pork chops, chicken, po’boy sandwiches and many Southern sides, like hush puppies, black-eyed peas and collard greens.

Williams and Bryant, who became friends in college, opened the first Soul Fish in 2006. Williams, who’s been in the restaurant business since he was 16, said Soul Fish had net sales of a little over $7 million in 2015.

Williams credits the restaurant’s good food and quick turnaround for its success. “We turn tables very fast.”

I know I risk sounding like a shill here, but if you weren’t one of the 500 or so who attended the Arkansas Business 40 Under 40 luncheon a few weeks ago, you missed the kind of feel-good moments that can help balance out some of those feel-bad moments.

I was out of state during the 2015 event, so I had not previously watched the dozens of honorees each step to the lectern and answer one of four revealing questions. What a treat (and, miraculously, not overlong).

My favorite of the questions, although I might have worded it a bit differently, was “What do you wish you had known when you were 20 years young?” I think it’s an even better question for those of us who are (well) over 40, and I’ve found myself thinking about it from time to time since the luncheon in June.

I was still 20 when, on May 17, 1982, I took the journalism degree I had received from Harding University eight days earlier and started my first reporting job at the Pine Bluff Commercial. What I didn’t know then could fill a library.

For one thing, I didn’t know how to use a computer, which was not a big problem since it would be several more months before I had to learn. Reporters at the Commercial were still writing stories on special paper using IBM Selectric typewriters and scanning the text into the rudimentary computer system using a scanner roughly the size of a golf cart. (That may be a slight exaggeration.)

I was assigned to the education beat. At that time, Jefferson County was divided up among nine school districts, so I quickly learned a lot about school board meetings. But even though my father had been an administrator in the North Little Rock School District, I knew approximately nothing when I started. I remember distinctly that the first meeting I covered started with the declaration of a quorum, and a little thrill shot through me. I had no idea what a quorum was — wasn’t even sure how to spell it — but the school board had declared something and surely that was newsworthy! (My next beat was county government. By then I knew what a quorum was; I’m still not sure why a county’s governing body is called a quorum court.)

That first year was miserable for all the usual reasons that transition to the full-time workforce is hard, but after I got the hang of it, I realized that I was being paid to learn all kinds of things. And that was a blast.

So when I ask myself what I wish I had known when I was 20, I don’t wish I had known any specific fact. If I had known what a quorum was, I would have missed out on that little thrill and on the laugh I got when I looked it up in the dictionary when I got back to the newsroom. I would have missed out on one of my favorite memories of being so green that my first city editor, the late, great Joe Farmer, nicknamed me Sheena Innocence.

But here’s what I do wish I had known and what I would want every young adult to know: You need to play your own game. Don’t let the decisions others are making be more than data points in the mix when making your own decisions, because they aren’t working with the exact same factors.

This is such great advice in every part of life. Obviously, our personal decisions — marrying, starting a family, personal finance — shouldn’t be determined by what others are doing. (I say obviously, but for a lot of people it’s not obvious at all.) It’s also true in career decisions. Other people’s paths are just that — their paths.

You hear political candidates talking about running their own races. Has anyone ever run a less typical campaign than Donald Trump? (I’m not a fan, you understand, but I have to hand it to him for originality if not consistency.)

It’s great advice for businesses, too. The worst decisions I’ve seen businesses make are reactionary — either panicky responses or overly optimistic attempts at duplicating a competitor’s move.

The decision that is right for someone else is not necessarily right for you. What’s more, other people’s decisions may not even be right for them — or their families or their companies. Sometimes it’s hard to tell from the outside, so just keep playing your own game.

Tuesday of this week is my 17th anniversary as editor of Arkansas Business, and I’m still learning every single day. The 20-year-old me truly had no clue how young I was or how quickly time flies.

Gwen Moritz is editor of Arkansas Business. Email her at GMoritz@ABPG.com.

Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale said Monday that it has filled the newly-created role of vice president of e-commerce with Tim Madigan, the former global e-commerce director of SC Johnson & Son of Racine, Wisconsin.

In the new role, Madigan will lead the development and execution of the company's e-commerce strategy and the direct relationships with all pure-play, online retailers. 

"Given Tim's extensive experience, we believe he'll have an immediate impact on our ability to succeed in this critical channel, which we expect to deliver growth for many years to come," said Brett Van de Bovenkamp, Tyson Foods' senior vice president of customer growth capabilities. 

Madigan will report to Van de Bovenkamp and will be based in the company's Chicago office.

Madigan began at Procter & Gamble in 1997 as a sales account manager, overseeing clients including Walmart and Sam's Club. In 2009, he established the P&G e-commerce relationship with Walmart and earned three Supplier of the Year awards from Walmart, Tyson Foods said. 

In May 2014, he joined SC Johnson & Son as director of e-commerce in North America, and a year later expanded responsibility as the director of global e-commerce, responsible for developing e-commerce strategies, capabilities and infrastructure across the entire portfolio of SCJ products and markets.

James at the Mill's Ozark Plateau Cuisine is now available for delivery from 4:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday through Chef Shuttle, the restaurant announced Monday.

Customers in northwest Arkansas can place dinner orders here, according to a news release.

James at the Mill of Springdale joins a list of eateries in northwest Arkansas that have paired up with Chef Shuttle, which has offices in Little Rock, Rogers and Memphis, since the service announced its expansion into that region in August 2015.

"We're very excited about the partnership with Chef Shuttle," Miles James, owner and executive chef of the restaurant, said in the release. "It's going to bring an added level of convenience and great exposure to what we have to offer here...We want to expand our customer base, and we recognize that people are busy with their lives. This is a nice treat for our customers to be able to get our food at home."

The full menu of appetizers, entrees and desserts ranging from $8 to $59 will be available for delivery to residents with the following zip codes: 72762, 72764, 72701, 72703 and 72704. There is a standard delivery fee of $4.95 with a minimum required food order of $15.

James was trained at the New England Culinary Institutes; has worked with Chef David Burke and Chef Guy Savoy in Nantucket, New York City, Paris, London, Florence and Sante Fe; and is a James Beard Foundation semi-finalist for Best Chef in America.

LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas finance officials say the state's net available revenue for July fell 1.7 percent below expectations, but was 0.4 percent more than the same month a year ago.

The state Department of Finance and Administration said Tuesday that net revenue totaled $400.6 million - 7 percent below the official forecast but $1.4 million above July 2015.

Finance officials say individual income tax collections increased by $9.8 million to $210.6 million and is $5.8 million more than forecast, but are offset by drops in corporate income taxes and sales and use taxes.

Corporate income taxes were $6.9 million - down $13.5 million from a year ago and $14.4 million below forecast. Sales and use taxes were $193.1 million - about the same as last year but $8.9 million less than forecast.

Arkansas July 2016 General Revenue Report

Numbers given in millions of dollars ($)

* Miscellaneous includes severance, corporate franchise, real estate transfer, dyed diesel, and other miscellaneous taxes

Funds removed from total gross

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

WASHINGTON — Employers added a healthy 255,000 jobs last month, a sign of confidence amid sluggish growth that points to a resilient U.S. economy.

The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate remained a low 4.9 percent in July. More Americans launched job searches, and nearly all were hired. But the influx of job seekers meant that the number of unemployed fell only slightly.

More: See the complete report here.

The figures suggest that U.S. employers shook off concerns about Britain's late-June vote to quit the European Union. Nor were they apparently discouraged by tepid growth in the first half of the year of just 1 percent at an annual rate.

Average hourly pay picked up and is 2.6 percent higher than it was a year ago, matching the fastest pace since the recession.

July's robust job gain may be enough to reassure investors — and perhaps Federal Reserve policymakers — that the economy will keep growing at a slow but steady pace. The economy slumped in the first half of this year, with an annualized growth rate of just 1 percent. Growth has been driven by consumers, who ramped up spending in the April-June quarter at the second-fastest pace since the recession.

That figure underscored the importance of strong hiring, which puts more paychecks into more pockets and supports greater spending. Many analysts expect the economy to rebound in the second half of the year, with one of the most optimistic estimates coming from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta: It predicts that annualized growth will reach 3.7 percent in the current July-September quarter.

Public perceptions of the economy have been largely negative during this election season despite low unemployment. A top adviser to Donald Trump said last week that the annual economic growth rate of just 1.2 percent in the April-June quarter was "catastrophic."

Hillary Clinton has tended to credit the Obama administration for rescuing the economy from the Great Recession but has also said "none of us can be satisfied with the status quo."

Overall, most recent economic data have been mixed. Americans are confident enough to step up home purchases, aided by near-record-low mortgage rates. Sales of existing homes reached a nine-year high in June, and sales of new homes accelerated to an eight-year high.

Services companies, which range from retailers to banks to shipping firms, expanded at a healthy pace in July, according to a survey by the Institute for Supply Management, a trade group. Their expansion slowed a bit from the previous month. But new orders picked up, a sign that growth could remain healthy.

But manufacturing continues to struggle and is weighing on hiring. Factories received fewer orders in June for a third straight month. Weak growth overseas and a stronger dollar have cut into many companies' overseas businesses. And auto sales have leveled off, according to data released this week.

The slowdown in manufacturing has cost jobs: Factory employment has fallen about 30,000 in the past year, depriving the economy of key middle-income positions.

Job growth has been stronger in higher-income occupations, such as managers, engineers and accountants. Lower-wage jobs at hotels, restaurants and retail stores have also grown at a healthy pace. Both trends add to a long-running dynamic that has caused hiring for middle-income jobs to lag behind hiring for high- and low-paying positions.

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The sale of a 311,684-SF FedEx Ground facility in southwest Little Rock weighed in at $31.7 million.

Wilark LLC, an affiliate of Realtech Construction Co. of Los Angeles, bought the 8 Industrial Parkway project. The seller is SDC 26 Little Rock AR LLC, an affiliate of Saad Development Corp. of Mobile, Alabama.

The deal is financed with a seven-year loan of $18 million and an $18 million line of credit from Bank of America in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The 44.38-acre development previously was linked with a November 2014 mortgage of $24.9 million held by Centennial Bank of Conway.

SDC 26 acquired the site for $3.38 million 21 months ago from R&D Holding LLLP, led by Don Thompson.

Legacy Project

A 32-unit apartment complex in downtown Little Rock tipped the scales at $1.64 million.

SN Management LLC, led by Naoman Qureshi, purchased the Legacy Apartments at 1310-1312 Louisiana St. The seller is Legacy Apartments Management LLC, led by Jason Bolden.

The deal is funded with a seven-year loan of $1.39 million from Central Bank of Little Rock. The 0.56-acre development previously was tied to an August 2014 mortgage of $1.1 million held by the bank.

The project was bought for $1.5 million in March 2008 from Legacy Apartments LLC, led by Robert Nicorici.

Church Transaction

A church in southwest Little Rock changed hands in a $650,000 transaction.

Waters Temple Church of God in Christ acquired the former Southwest Community Assembly of God Church at 7400 Lancaster Road from One Life Church.

The deal is backed with a three-year loan of $450,000 from Arvest Bank of Fayetteville.

The 4.68-acre property was purchased for $20,000 in March 1965 from Gann and Louise Nalley.

Office Sale I

A 5,670-SF office building in downtown Little Rock rang up a $510,000 sale.

Lex Properties LLC, led by Allen Carney, Hank Bates and Randall Pulliam, bought the 519 W. Seventh St. project from Angela Rogers Group LLC.

The deal is financed with a 20-year loan of $562,000 from One Bank & Trust of Little Rock.

The 0.24-acre development previously was linked with a January 2015 mortgage of $234,000 and an October 2015 mortgage of $20,000 held by Centennial Bank.

Angela Rogers Group acquired the property for $175,000 in November 2012 from IberiaBank of Lafayette, Louisiana.

Office Sale II

A 7,189-SF office building in North Little Rock is under new ownership after a $400,000 deal.

Leigh Carriers LLC, led by Victoria Leigh, purchased the Port City Building at 2800 Percy Machin Drive. The seller is Whitwell Inc., led by Stephen Whitwell.

The deal is funded with a five-year loan of $416,000 from Little Rock’s Bank of the Ozarks.

The 0.68-acre development previously was tied to a June 2007 mortgage of $318,000 held by North Little Rock’s National Bank of Arkansas.

Whitwell acquired the property for $340,000 in April 1997 from Mortgage Services Inc., led by Debra Buckner.

Old-Fashioned Deal

A Wendy’s in North Little Rock served up a $355,000 transaction.

Arkansas Real Estate Holdings LLC, led by Michael Fritz, bought the 4600 Camp Robinson Road project from ARC CafeHLD001 LLC of Phoenix.

The deal is backed with a 10-year loan of $245,000 from Regions Bank of Birmingham, Alabama.

The 0.79-acre development was purchased for $971,000 in June 2013 from CNL APFD Partners Ltd. of Orlando, Florida.

Retail Purchase

A 3,780-SF retail property in southwest Little Rock drew a $170,000 deal.

Ryan Ahmed LLC, led by Faysal Ahmed, acquired the 9021-27 Geyer Springs Road project from One Bank & Trust. The deal is financed with a five-year loan of $102,700 from IberiaBank.

Marabelle Properties LLC, led by John Childers Jr., forfeited the 0.36-acre development in October 2015 to One Bank in lieu of foreclosure on an April 2004 mortgage of $350,000.

Sologne Manor

A 10,810-SF manor in the Sologne Circle neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development weighed in at $1.57 million.

Rodney and Michelle Damon purchased the home from the CNC Family Trust, led by Christopher and Claire Pittman.

The deal is funded with a 25-year loan of $1.26 million from BancorpSouth Bank of Tupelo, Mississippi.

The residence previously was linked with a May 2013 mortgage of $1.2 million held by U.S. Bank of Cincinnati.

The Pittmans acquired the property for $1.5 million in August 2012 from Capital Bank of Little Rock.

PV Residence

A 4,659-SF home in west Little Rock’s Pleasant Valley neighborhood sold for $825,500.

Kristopher Magnuson bought the house from Barton and Carol Corley.

The deal is backed with 30-year loans of $417,000 and $283,000 from Bank of Little Rock Mortgage Corp.

The residence previously was tied to an October 2009 mortgage of $147,500 held by IberiaBank Mortgage Co. of Little Rock.

The Corleys purchased the property for $715,000 in November 2008 from Thomas and Jennifer Burnett.

Roland Home

A 4,979-SF home in Roland changed hands in a $630,000 transaction.

Richard Hall II and his wife, Lydia, acquired the 5-acre spread from David Cash and Robbie Cash.

The deal is financed with a 30-year loan of $504,000 from JPMorgan Chase Bank of Columbus, Ohio.

The residence previously was linked with an April 2009 mortgage of $375,000 and a May 2009 mortgage of $417,000 held by One Bank.

The property was bought for $839,000 in December 2006 from Mark and Mara Malcolm.

Maisons Abode

A 4,429-SF home in the Maisons neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development rang up a $595,000 sale.

Ryan and Jacquelyn Hall purchased the house from Glenn and Amanda Proffitt. The deal is funded with a 25-year loan of $595,000 from Regions Bank.

The residence previously was tied to a June 2012 mortgage of $272,100 held by LoanDepot.com LLC of Foothill Ranch, California.

The Proffitts acquired the location for $77,000 in March 2004 from Deltic Timber Corp. of El Dorado.

Midland House

A 3,406-SF home in Little Rock’s Midland Hills neighborhood is under new ownership after a $505,000 deal.

Timothy Carr Jr. and his wife, Stacy, bought the house from Jon and Kricia Palmer.

The deal is backed with a 30-year loan of $403,700 from Arvest Bank. The residence previously was linked with a May 2012 mortgage of $417,000 held by Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. of Plano, Texas.

The Palmers purchased the property for $475,000 more than four years ago from Raymond McKinnon.

Multifamily Mortgage

The owner of a 228-unit apartment complex in Little Rock’s Riverdale area landed an $11.3 million funding agreement.

MIMG LXXI Vantage Point LLC of Frank-town, Colorado, received the 15-year loan from Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC of Ambler, Pennsylvania.

The 8.3-acre Vantage Point Apart-ments development at 2300 Rebsamen Park Road previously was tied to a February 2015 mortgage of $8.2 million held by KeyBank of Cleveland.

The project was acquired for $11 million 18 months ago from Freg Vantage Point Associates LLC, an affiliate of Versus Capital Group of Denver.

I don’t know how else to say this: If you don’t enjoy this issue, you really don’t have any business reading Arkansas Business. We’ve had some fun issues in the past — I’m especially proud of our 25th anniversary issue from 2009, when we rounded up 25 scoundrels and 25 mysteries and 23 other lists. But we’ve never done an issue quite like this one, with so many interviews and so much insight into 10 of the most iconic businesspeople living in Arkansas today.

The lists we do routinely — largest banks, largest accounting firms, the list of the state’s oldest companies in issue — are ranked by some objective measure. But we also do more subjective lists, like the annual 40 Under 40 project in which we introduce our readers to 40 deserving young leaders in business and government. Deciding which individuals to feature as “business icons” was a similarly subjective exercise, and the staff started to think of these stories as a way to acquaint younger readers with the personalities behind some of the most familiar names in our state’s business community.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the printing press: Those of us who thought we knew Bob Shell, Johnny Allison, Walter Hussman and the rest discovered new facts and gained new understanding of what makes them tick. I’m pretty sure you will too.

• Johnny Allison
• Wallace Fowler
• George Gleason
• Johnelle Hunt
• Walter Hussman
• Jim Lindsey
• Reynie Rutledge
• Bob Shell
• Warren Stephens
• Alice Walton

For some reason, digital readers love lists, and one of the most interesting purveyors of lists is Thrillist, an online food, drink and travel publication.

An example: The Best Burger in Every State in America. In Arkansas, that was the Hooshburger from Pig Trail Bypass Country Café in Crosses. (“Crosses” is a new one on us, as is the Pig Trail café, but Crosses is an unincorporated community in Madison County, and TripAdvisor ranks Pig Trail Bypass Country Café a 4.5 out of five stars.)

One of the most recent features was one headlined “Truckers Name America’s Greatest Restaurants You’ve Never Heard Of.” The Arkansas entry? The South Fork Truck Stop & Restaurant in Gurdon.

Thrillist also publishes one of our guilty pleasures, the weekly feature “Off the Menu,” true stories from the restaurant world as told by restaurant employees. Warning: Don’t read if you’re easily offended.

Gio Bruno called last week to let us know that Bruno’s Deli at 308 Main St., next door to Bruno’s Little Italy in downtown Little Rock, should be open for business Monday, Aug. 8. Torrential rain earlier this year and various other problems had delayed its debut.

The deli will sell sandwiches with an Italian emphasis, salads and other deli foods along with Italian specialty items.

“Wouldn’t it be great to be able to have a beer and a pizza while watching movies at the theater,” or words to that effect, triggered the idea behind Movie Tavern, the dine-and-drink-in-your-seat theater chain.

With the tag “Great Food, the Latest Movies, and a Full Bar,” Movie Tavern, founded in 2001 in Dallas, now has 24 locations in 10 states, and soon it will open its first Arkansas location, at Little Rock’s Gateway Town Center.

Movie Tavern’s 45,649-SF Little Rock location will have 11 screens, each with full-service dining and reclining seats, a total of almost 1,100 of them. Danny DiGiacomo, Movie Tavern’s vice president of marketing, expects the $12 million project to open in the third or fourth quarter of 2017.

Movie Tavern’s menu varies slightly from location to location, but DiGiacomo said each location offers full-service casual dining. The menu in Baton Rouge, for example, features Garlic Fried Shrimp ($14.25), House Chicken Tender Basket ($11.25), Chicago Style Foot Long Dog ($9.95), Chicken Caesar salad ($11.95), a variety of burgers and as part of its “light and fresh” menu a Peach Vodka Spritzer ($9), plus beer, wine, margaritas and other cocktails.

The original concept, DiGiacomo said, featured counter service, where movie-goers would order at a counter and their food and drinks were then delivered to them in the theater.

At full capacity, Movie Tavern, which offers first-run movies, will employ 175-200 workers.

Each seat — reclining, remember — will have a swivel table and a call button, almost eliminating the need to ever leave. “You’re going to love it,” DiGiacomo said.

Movie Tavern, which is owned by VSS-Southern Theaters LLC, based in New Orleans, is in growth mode, DiGiacomo said, with plans to open three to five locations each year.

“There’s such great opportunity with the cinema eatery segment of our industry,” he said. “There are so many ways that people are able to consume movie media nowadays. We have iPads. We have smartphones. We have on-demand at home and so on and so forth. So providing still that movie-going communal experience out of home is our passion.”

Although Movie Tavern offers alcohol, DiGiacomo said the chain has few problems with drunkenness. That’s because, he said, “Our concept really appeals to families. Mom can have a glass of wine and Dad can have a beer, and the family can enjoy a nice meal and great service while watching a blockbuster movie. It gives a well-rounded, enjoyable experience for the whole family.”

The ground-breaking date hasn’t yet been determined, he said.

Nothing is easy and everything takes longer than you expect in this world, and that holds true for restaurant openings.

David “Alan” Bubbus, owner of the Little Rock mini-chain David’s Burgers, is hoping to open the David’s in the River Market in September or October. But first he has to finish converting an outdoor seating area into a common area for visitors to Ottenheimer Market Hall.

David’s will occupy the old Dickinson Hardware Co. building, the space formerly occupied by Boulevard Bread at the east end of Ottenheimer Hall. The seating area being converted for common use had previously served Boulevard Bread.

David’s Burgers is bearing the cost of the construction in exchange for a longer-than-usual lease with the city of Little Rock — up to 20 years, Bubbus said.

“We’re extremely excited about the location and the direction the River Market is moving,” Bubbus said. The River Market location will be David’s Burgers eighth.

He also emphasized that David’s Burgers, in working to staff the restaurant, will be seeking “team members” who want to be leaders.

“We really want to find people who really care about people,” Bubbus said. “We’re looking for leaders who are energized by working with people.”

2nd David’s in Conway

Bubbus had other news. He’s bought property at Lewis Crossing for a second David’s in Conway. He’ll be building the new restaurant from the ground up. “We’re trying to become more of a brand in the central Arkansas market. New construction allows us to have consistency in the model.”