H. Dennis Smiley Jr. backed away from his lawyer's attempt to blame his victims before he was sentenced Thursday to 97 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release. 

U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III also ordered the former president of Arvest Bank’s Benton County market, who pleaded guilty last year to bank fraud, to pay restitution of $4.91 million. 

Smiley has until March 14 to report to prison.

Holmes also said he was capping interest on the restitution amount and was not going to levy a fine against Smiley. 

"It’s more important that restitution be paid," the judge said.

Smiley took the stand to testify before being sentenced in hopes for leniency. Under questioning by his attorney, W.H. Taylor of Fayetteville, 52-year-old Smiley said he ran into financial problems shortly after he got married while in college and kept hoping his next promotion and salary increase would save him.

"It continued to snowball," Smiley said. "I look back and cannot understand the trouble I got in. I was doing things I never thought I’d do."

When Taylor asked him why he kept with the scheme when it wasn’t working, Smiley said it was bad for a banker to have trouble with his personal finances.

"I couldn’t face it; I should have faced it," Smiley said. "If I had faced it, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here."

Smiley pleaded guilty in August to a single count of bank fraud after defrauding 23 Arkansas banks out of $5.3 million through a combination of forged signatures and fraudulent collateral. Smiley's Arvest retirement account, which he had repeatedly used as collateral, was used to pay down some of the debt.

In a sentencing memorandum, Taylor asked for a shorter prison sentence, two years, rather than the longer sentence contemplated by federal sentencing guidelines. One of the arguments made in the sentencing memo was that the banks should have been more vigilant in preventing Smiley’s scheme from working for as long as it did.

On the stand, Smiley backtracked from that view, saying the responsibility for the fraud was his and that he had taken advantage of colleagues who had trusted him. Smiley also absolved three Arvest employees who unwittingly helped the scheme by crafting fraudulent documents on Smiley’s orders.

"The harm I have caused to people is what is unforgivable," said Smiley, whose voice momentarily broke. "I take full responsibility for what I asked them to do. They did it because they trusted me."

Acting U.S. Attorney Kenneth Elser of Fort Smith asked Smiley point-blank if he placed any blame on the banks, and Smiley quickly responded, "No, sir." Holmes was unmoved by the memo’s argument and when he mentioned it during sentencing — calling it a "somewhat incredulous argument" — took note that Smiley had not continued that line of reasoning in his court testimony, Smiley vigorously shook his head.

Holmes called it a "significant case" unlike many other white-collar crimes he had dealt with over the years. He said it was because it was a long-term fraud that involved so much money and so many different victims.

Holmes said 55 fraudulent loans amounted to $6.3 million with a loss of $5 million to the banks. He said each fraudulent loan basically amounted to three individual felonies.

"I don’t know how he got up and went to work at Arvest Bank," Holmes said.

Taylor, in a last plea for leniency, told the court that Smiley’s actions were uncharacteristic and there would be little value gained by locking him in prison for a long term.

"I’ll say the obvious: Sometimes really good people do really bad things," Taylor said. "He’s ready to shoulder that burden and he rightfully should. I don’t think he’ll ever be in trouble again."

As Arkansas Business was the first to report in April 2014, Smiley amassed millions in debt spread across virtually every bank operating in northwest Arkansas by repeatedly pledging the $500,000 worth of phantom stock contained in his Arvest retirement account, assets that couldn’t legally be pledged at all.

Smiley had suddenly resigned from Arvest a couple of weeks earlier, after a check for payment on one of the many loans bounced, triggering a collapse of his scheme.

Holmes gave the defense and prosecution one last chance to speak about sentencing and he inadvertently skipped over Smiley. When Taylor pointed out Smiley wanted to speak, Holmes apologized, "That’s probably the most important allocution there is."

Standing in front of Holmes with eight family members in the front row of the court, Smiley said he was sorry.

"I let so many people down," Smiley said. "I only hope I have a chance to get through this quickly and have a chance to make things right. I hope for your good judgment and your mercy."

The Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled in December that a woman who was fired for posting “arguably” critical comments about her employer on Facebook could receive unemployment benefits. It’s the latest decision in an escalating legal war between employment and social media.

“Given the rapid proliferation of social media, navigating through social media-related employment issues can be uncharted territory for employers,” Jane Kim, a partner at the law firm of Wright Lindsey & Jennings LLP in Little Rock, said in an email in response to questions from Arkansas Business.

David L. Hudson Jr., a law professor who teaches First Amendment and employment law at Vanderbilt Law School and the Nashville School of Law, said he’s seeing a rise in the number of lawsuits involving employers and what their employees post on social media.

“It’s one of the most burgeoning issues in First Amendment law,” he said. “I think there are some clear lines, but it’s still a developing area of law.”

In the Court of Appeals case, Arkansas Department of Workforce Services denied unemployment benefits to Ana Martinez because she was fired for misconduct last March from Yours Truly Consignment Shoppe in Conway. Martinez appealed the denial of benefits, and the case eventually made it to the Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeals, in a decision written by Judge Brandon J. Harrison, found that Martinez didn’t “engage in misconduct” when she liked a Facebook status of a former co-worker who posted: “Just got fired with no explanation. : ) but I’ve hated working at yourstruly (sic) for a long time now.” The employee said she would miss a couple of co-workers, including Martinez.

Martinez, while she was on her lunch break, also commented on the post: “She did both of y’all wrong,” referring to a second fired employee.

Cinda Montgomery, the store’s owner and general manager, saw the post and fired Martinez the next day. Martinez represented herself in the court proceedings. The Court of Appeals agreed that Martinez could be fired for off-duty conduct involving the posts but found that the posts didn’t rise to the level of misconduct that would cause her to lose her unemployment benefits.

Hudson, the Tennessee law professor, was pleased with the ruling when he learned of it from Arkansas Business.

“Employees want to have off-duty rights of expression,” he said. “We don’t want government reading through all our Facebook messages all the time.”

Employee Facebook Conduct

Before an employer decides to fire an employee for something posted on social media, the company should have policies in place regarding such posts, said David Urban, an attorney at Liebert Cassidy Whitmore of Los Angeles, which handles labor and employment law. And those policies have to comply with the National Labor Relations Act, if the employee works for a private company, and with First Amendment standards, if the employee works for the government.

“And actually that’s just the beginning,” Urban said. “It gets complicated because there are state laws that protect free expression in many states as well.”

Kim, of Wright Lindsey, said that in general, an employer can prohibit employees from social media activity “that could be characterized as unlawfully harassing or discriminatory, threatening, coercing, or intimidating.” Employers also could prevent employees from posting confidential information or information that violates intellectual property laws.

Hudson said employees who have morality clauses in their contracts have to be “extra careful on what you post online.” A government worker who works frequently with the public “can’t be making comments denigrating part of the population or something,” he said.

Employees on social media have protections from their employers.

In Arkansas, employers can’t require an applicant or employee to disclose usernames and passwords, add co-workers as contacts or change an account’s privacy settings, Kim said.

Applicants and employees have rights to privacy and autonomy outside of work, she said. Employers who violate those rights could face liability. “Ultimately, employers should generally avoid any involvement in the social media lives of prospective and current employees due to the inherent risk of learning personal information (disability, religion, etc.) that employers simply do not need to know about their employees,” Kim said.

The Washington Post last week served up a treat for us geeks who care how the plea bargain sausage is made: “How David Petraeus avoided felony charges and possible prison time.”

Without identifying sources — presumably federal prosecutors and FBI agents described as “angry” with the outcome — the story describes the factors that allowed the four-star general and former CIA director to plead guilty to a mere misdemeanor (mishandling classified material) despite providing his mistress/biographer with hundreds of pages of highly sensitive material.

Long story short: One’s negotiating position is enhanced if the government really, really doesn’t want to present the evidence at a public trial. It also helps if your mistress is a kinda-sorta member of the media, since the Department of Justice doesn’t like to prosecute members of the media for doing their jobs.

The sausage we report on in Arkansas Business is rarely that sexy, and we generally only see the finished product, not the process. They are mostly plea deals for perpetrators of wire fraud or mail fraud, or conspiracy to commit one or the other. Occasionally we see a straight-up case of bank fraud, which is what Dennis Smiley Jr., former president of Arvest Bank’s Benton County market, pleaded guilty to.

Smiley was sentenced Thursday to eight years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III in the Western District of Arkansas.

While the sentence was up to Judge Holmes, defense lawyer W.H. Taylor of Fayetteville negotiated a deal in which Smiley pleaded guilty to only a single count of bank fraud — but he had to accept responsibility and restitution for more than 20 bank victims and their combined losses of nearly $5 million.

Meanwhile, here in the Eastern District, I’ve been studying the plea agreements reached in the related cases of Gary Rickenbach, former senior EVP of One Bank & Trust in Little Rock, and Albert Solaroli, the Florida businessman who promptly defaulted on a $1.5 million loan that Rickenbach lined up for him.

Solaroli, who falsely claimed net worth of $169 million when he applied for the loan, was originally charged with bank fraud. But he and his Little Rock lawyer, Omar Greene, negotiated that down to money laundering. What’s more, he only pleaded guilty to laundering $120,000, which greatly reduced the guideline sentence for a guy who got 12.5 times that much.

Rickenbach, who had invested in Solaroli’s company before making the loan, was charged with seven counts, including bank fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. When he was first indicted in April 2014, the case was touted as TARP fraud because Rickenbach allegedly helped hide Solaroli’s default so that One Bank could get an infusion of capital from the federal government.

By November 2015, defense lawyer Bill James of Little Rock had made a deal that would transform Rickenbach from active conspirator to passive bystander. Rickenbach has offered to plead guilty to a single count of misprision of a felony — essentially failing to report that his boss, the late Scooter Stuart, falsified the bank’s call reports. Plus he will only plead guilty if U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker agrees to sentence him to no more than two years of probation.

Baker hasn’t decided whether to go along with the deal, but the expectation that she will turned up in Solaroli’s argument to his federal judge, Brian Miller.

“It took two to tango,” Greene wrote in a memorandum to Miller. “… Rickenbach is virtually certain to receive a sentence of two years of probation. Mr. Solaroli cooperated with the government and was ready to testify if the government needed his testimony. A non-prison sentence would permit Mr. Solaroli to rebuild his financial life and pay restitution and would be appropriate in light of the sentence that Rickenbach has received.”

These two guys tangoed their way to a $1.5 million loss for One Bank, which was then covered up in order to get a taxpayer bailout — and it’s possible that neither one will go to prison? That doesn’t seem right to me, especially when Little Rock developer Steve Clary drew 30 months and the full $1.6 million in restitution for misusing the proceeds from a bank loan.

Maybe Judge Miller shares my sense of fair play. As reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Miller granted Solaroli’s request for more time to repay the $120,000 before being sentenced, now scheduled for Feb. 26. But he told Solaroli and Greene at the Jan. 21 hearing that he was offended by the idea of avoiding prison by returning stolen money after being caught.

And maybe Miller was sending a message to his colleague on the bench when he said that, as a former bank director, he knew One Bank’s board would be “mad as hell” if Judge Baker accepts Rickenbach’s no-prison deal.

As with Petraeus, maybe there are secret ingredients in the sausage.

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

Southern Bancorp Community Partners, a 501(c)(3) financial development and lending partner of Southern Bancorp, announced Monday the hiring of Jennifer Johnson as the organization’s new director of public policy.

Johnson will lead Southern’s efforts to create economic opportunities in underserved communities by advocating for policies that encourage low-income families to build net worth and develop strong financial foundations.

"On behalf of the entire Southern Bancorp organization, it is my pleasure to welcome Jennifer Johnson to the team," said Darrin Williams, CEO of Southern Bancorp. "Her extensive legal and policy experience at the state and federal level makes her an excellent choice for leading Southern’s policy efforts both in the Mid-South and nationally."

As a practicing attorney, Johnson spent many years managing complex criminal litigation on behalf of the state in the South Carolina Office of the Solicitor. She later joined the Center for Responsible Lending in North Carolina and Washington, D.C. as the organization's senior legislative counsel, where she advanced policies related to consumer banking, mortgage reform and consumer finance issues.

More recently, Johnson returned home to Mississippi where she founded the government relations firm Bridgetown Strategies LLC, which has been politically active in statewide education initiatives.

"Southern Bancorp is a true community development financial institution in every sense of the word," said Johnson. "Their commitment to providing sustainable housing opportunities, access to capital for small businesses and financial development solutions in economically distressed communities is what I admire most about the organization as these are the things that help communities thrive." 

As Southern’' policy director, Johnson will work closely with both national lawmakers and those in Arkansas and Mississippi to advance policies that promote economic well-being in America’s distressed communities.

Issues on the horizon include promoting individual development account legislation in Mississippi, asset limit reform in Arkansas and national laws and regulatory policies that increase financial access and reduce community reliance on alternative financial services such as payday lenders.

LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas will have more money available for its budget in the coming fiscal year, state finance officials predicted Tuesday as they forecast a $106.8 million increase in revenue.

The state Department of Finance and Administration predicted the state will have $5.3 billion in net available revenue in the fiscal year that begins July. That represents a 2 percent increase over the $5.2 billion net available revenue the state is expected to have this fiscal year. The department predicted the state will fully fund its current budget and end with a $35.9 million surplus for the year.

"Arkansas seems to be doing well, but the national and the world economies are somewhat volatile these days," department director Larry Walther told reporters. "So we're trying to internalize that into our forecast and be conservative with our approach for '17."

The forecast comes as Gov. Asa Hutchinson and lawmakers are preparing for the April legislative session, which will focus primarily on the state's budget. Hutchinson is expected to release his balanced budget proposal next month.

"The forecast released today will allow us to meet the needs of the state in terms of education, health care, prisons and other essential services," Hutchinson said in a statement. "The forecast is an example of our faith in the strength of the state's economy, our positive outlook for the coming years, and our commitment to conservative, balanced budgets as a hallmark of good government."

Hutchinson has said he's preparing two budget proposals - one with the state's hybrid Medicaid expansion and one without. The Republican has proposed keeping the expansion, but adding new limits on its coverage and benefits.

He is expected to call a special session later this year to take up the expansion's future. Hutchinson has warned that not keeping the expanded coverage would mean a tighter budget.

The department also reported January revenue totaled $551.9 million, which was $30.6 million above the same month last year and $31 million above forecast. Officials said tax collections came in higher than expected and the state paid out less in tax refunds than forecast last month.

The state's net available revenue for the fiscal year so far totals $3.1 billion, which is $97.8 million above forecast.

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

The Little Rock Tech Park plans to close Friday on the purchase of downtown properties for the $100 million park's first phase, Director Brent Birch said during a meeting Wednesday.

In a conference call board meeting, Birch said that "we should be able to close on Friday without any problem." The park had originally planned to close on Monday.

"We were supposed to close Monday, but all the documentation that was required for this deal wasn't quite ready — some things needed to be all lined up and ready to go," Birch said. "So we decided to push it back to Friday."

Birch said "there's lots of collaboration" with the property owners to make the deal happen.

Phase 1 includes properties at 415-421 Main St. and 114 E. Capitol Ave.

The park's official first tenants, once the property closes, will be the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, which occupies the building at 421 Main, and five attorneys who leased space from Little Rock lawyer Richard Mays, who is selling the 415 Main property to the park.

Birch has said the park will honor the leases of the Mays tenants, who are being offered the choice to stay until their leases are up or terminate the leases early without penalty. Renovation of the property will begin early this year and work around the existing tenants.

During the conference call, the board also selected a property insurance firm. The board voted to accept a bid from Stephens Property Insurance, which proposed a premium of $15,460 and liability  of $2,776.

The board also approved a resolution to lower the loan it's getting from Centennial Bank, from $17.5 million to $17.1 million.

LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas Treasurer Dennis Milligan signed a settlement letter with the Arkansas Ethics Commission on Wednesday, agreeing to four findings of probable campaign reporting violations.

In return, the Republican will be issued a letter of warning and a $400 fine for improperly reported expenditures or campaign assets that were disposed of and not reported.

The commission found no probable cause in the other dozens of allegations in the ethics complaint filed by liberal blogger and Little Rock attorney Matt Campbell last year.

Milligan called the four findings "technical errors that I wish my former campaign volunteers would have reported correctly the first time," in a written statement. "However, ultimately, I take responsibility for these reports and accounting errors. In hindsight, I should have hired a professional accountant to handle my campaign reports."

Milligan attorney Byron Freeland said he felt the treasurer could have argued there was no violation in at least three of the findings, but it would cost substantially more time and money to fight the issue than to pay the fine. Freeland called the reporting system "broken" because it required a candidate to know and be responsible for what every volunteer on his campaign staff was doing.

Under new ethics rules, Milligan was allowed to file amended reports to address any "unintentional" reporting errors contained in the original ethics complaint, according to the 10-page letter issued last week by the commission said, and several amended reports had addressed some of those errors.

Campbell said the 30-day correction period allowed under the new rules, likely saved Milligan several findings of violation.

"I think it's the height of ego to admit that the Ethics Commission found four violations but then to turn around and say that the entire investigation was a waste of the ethics commission's time," he said. "If it was a witch hunt, then the Ethics Commission found a witch because they found four violations of campaign finance reporting."

The commission found probable cause that Milligan had not properly reported donated graphic design work his son-in-law had performed; that donated video editing work by one of Milligan's staff members in the Saline County Circuit Clerk's office had not been reported correctly; that payments of reimbursement to Jason Brady - Milligan's volunteer campaign manager - were reported incorrectly; and that the disposal of at least three pieces of campaign equipment, including a guitar signed by former Gov. Mike Huckabee, were not reported.

The ethics commission fined Milligan $1,000 in March for hiring a cousin to work in the treasurer's office, which was against state employment policies.

The state's previous treasurer, Martha Shoffner, resigned and was later convicted of steering state investments to a broker who bribed her with cash.

When asked if he should resign over the violations, Milligan said Wednesday, "absolutely not ... I feel that ultimately to ask for my resignation after it's been proven that the charges against me were minor, though they were violations, that resigning is a little bit almost borders on ridiculous."

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

Bill Jeffs has joined Arvest Bank in central Arkansas as a wealth management and regional investment officer. Jeffs has more than 40 years of experience, including executive management positions in several large, multinational financial service firms.

Wade Henson and Melania Powell have been promoted to new positions at the Fayetteville office of HoganTaylor LLP. Henson has been promoted to senior manager of the assurance department after joining the public accounting firm in 2013. Powell, who has been with the firm since 2008, has been promoted to senior manager of the tax department, where she specializes in partnerships, construction, oil and gas.

Samantha Akers, Hunter Coles and Mollie Long have been promoted to senior associates at BKD LLP. Akers and Coles work at the accounting firm’s Little Rock office, and Long works in the Rogers office.

See more of this week's Movers & Shakers, and submit your own announcement at ArkansasBusiness.com/Movers.

Remember last month when Arkansas Business reported on the trend of national banks converting to state bank charters? (See National Charter Conversions to State a One-Way Street.)

That story was timelier than we knew. Even as the paper was being printed and mailed, Simmons First National Bank of Pine Bluff, the largest national bank chartered in Arkansas, filed a conversion application with the Arkansas State Bank Department.

The application is still pending, but Bank Commissioner Candace Franks told us that she couldn’t remember a conversion being turned down in the 36 years she’s worked for ASBD.

When it is approved, Simmons First National Bank will become Simmons Bank. Cleverly, that’s the streamlined brand name that Simmons has been using for a while.

Meanwhile, the national-to-state charter conversion that was pending when our story appeared was approved Jan. 21. First National Bank of McGehee is now First NaturalState Bank.

The sale of a 30,565-SF clinic in Little Rock weighed in at $3.2 million.

WSCamp LLC, led by Christopher Schultz and Cynthia Knoerr, purchased the Dennis Developmental Center at 1301 Wolfe St. The seller is The ARC Arkansas, led by R.H. Blair.

The deal is financed with a $3.5 million loan from First Security Bank of Searcy.

The 0.37-acre development previously was linked with an October 2003 mortgage of $3.9 million held by the Pulaski County Public Facilities Board.

The Arc Arkansas acquired the property in July 2002 as part of a $255,000 deal with the Central Little Rock Community Development Corp.

Hillcrest Apartments I

A string of apartments in the Hillcrest area of Little Rock changed hands in a $1.1 million deal.

Midtowne B Street LLC, led by Jonathan Shively, bought 20 units at 5522-5622 B St. from the Jett & Georganne Ricks Family Corp. and Ricks Properties LLC.

The deal is backed with a five-year loan of $1.15 million from Arvest Bank of Fayetteville.

The properties, covering nearly 1.1 acres, were assembled in five transactions totaling $382,100. The sellers were Standard Securities Co., led by J. Wythe Walker, $6,900 in November 1967; Ruth Campbell, $17,200 in November 1976; Margaret Thaxton, $8,000 in October 1977; McClelland Family Ltd., led by James McClelland Jr. and his wife, Patricia, $140,000 in July 2000; and Bobby Jones and Craig Jones, $210,000 in November 2013.

Budget Transaction

An 82-room motel in southwest Little Rock tipped the scales at $1.05 million.

OMAARAV Inc., led by Jagrutiben and Himanshu Patel, acquired the Budget Host Inn at 2600 W. 65th St. The seller is DSPD LLC, led by Pramodkumer Patel.

DSPD carried $975,000 of the purchase price in the form of a 20-year mortgage.

The 2.51-acre development was bought for $1.1 million in May 2010 from Krishna Corp., led by Sudhir Brahmbhatt.

Promenade Project

Construction of a 7,400-SF retail project in west Little Rock is in motion after a $925,000 land deal.

Promenade at Chenal Lot 3 LLC, an affiliate of Thompson Thrift Development Inc. of Terre Haute, Indiana, purchased the 1.47-acre site at the Promenade at Chenal between Del Frisco’s Grille and McDonald’s. The seller is Red Little Rock Land LLC of Overland Park, Kansas.

The deal is funded with a three-year loan of $2.36 million from Old National Bank of Evansville, Indiana.

The land is part of the original 37.8-acre Promenade site acquired for $10.25 million in September 2006 from Deltic Timber Corp. of El Dorado.

Genuine Warehouse

A 44,776-SF warehouse in south Little Rock changed hands in a $900,000 sale.

Looney Family Revocable Living Trust, led by Jim and Billie Jean Looney, bought the 6601 Forbing Road project from Genuine Parts Co. of Atlanta.

The deal is financed with a 10-year loan of $912,000 from Simmons First National Bank of Pine Bluff.

The 4.15-acre development was assembled in two transactions totaling $86,500.

The sellers were Bransco Inc., led by W.H. Bransford Jr., $17,000 in October 1973; and Birch-Brook Inc., an affiliate of Little Rock’s Rector Phillips Morse, $69,500 in February 1966.

Hillcrest Apartments II

An eight-unit apartment project in the Hillcrest neighborhood of Little Rock is under new ownership after a $421,800 transaction.

Stonekey Properties LLC, led by Laura Cabrera, acquired Hepplewhite Apartments at 1910 Kavanaugh Blvd. The seller is Hepplewhite Apartments LLC, led by Tom Ferstl.

The deal is backed with a five-year loan of $362,000 from Arvest Bank.

The property was bought for $185,000 in January 1984 from Bek and Nancy Kaiser, Willis and Martha Smith, Wayne and Mary Carlson and Michael and Lauren Loveless.

Mini-Acquisition

A 116-unit mini-storage project in Jacksonville rang up a $275,000 sale.

Capital Holdings of Arkansas LLC of Winter Garden, Florida, purchased the 140 Municipal Drive property from Peacock Ltd., led by James Peacock.

The limited partnership funded $265,000 of the transaction.

The 1.57-acre development was acquired for $255,000 in July 2005 from Goodsell Family Ltd., led by Odes Goodsell.

Office-Warehouse I

An 11,000-SF office-warehouse in North Little Rock drew a $217,500 deal.

Elisei Cojocaru bought the 3800 E. Broadway project from GWJ Enterprises LLC of Germantown, Tennessee, successor to Grady W. Jones of Little Rock Inc.

The 0.52-acre property was purchased for $21,500 in July 1956 from Jake and Maggie Henson.

Office-Warehouse II

A 7,500-SF office-warehouse in North Little Rock sold for $200,000.

Rogers River Holdings LLC, led by Jonathan Rogers, acquired the 2024 W. 38th St. project. The seller is W.W. Arnold Family Ltd., led by W.W. Arnold Jr. and Sharon Arnold.

The 0.47-acre development was purchased for $273,000 in July 2002 from Madison Bank & Trust of Kingston.

Office-Warehouse III

A 24,480-SF office-warehouse in east Little Rock changed hands in a $175,000 deal.

New Horizon Properties LLC, led by Shane Mathews, bought the 922 Shall Ave. project. The seller is Dooley Properties of Arkansas LLC, led by William and Dana Steward.

The deal is financed with a $195,500 loan from Gateway Bank of Rison (Cleveland County).

Dooley Properties acquired the 1.16-acre development for $223,200 in November 2005 from the Randall Steward Trust.

Sologne Manor

A 5,468-SF home in the Sologne Circle neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development is under new ownership after a $911,000 transaction.

Bobby Rowlett purchased the house from Brad and Amy Baltz. The deal is backed with a $700,000 loan from the Bank of Fayette County in Piperton, Tennessee.

The residence previously was tied to a June 2012 mortgage of $1.1 million held by Arvest Bank.

The Baltz family bought the property for $1.2 million in March 2007 from George and Kathy Wheatley.

St. John’s Residence

A 2,506-SF home in Little Rock’s St. John’s neighborhood rang up a $799,000 sale.

Patricia Bailey acquired the house from Philip and Paula Bennett Schmidt. The deal is funded with a 30-year loan of $639,000 from Centennial Bank of Conway.

The residence previously was linked with a November 2010 mortgage of $298,400 held by Arvest Mortgage Co. of Lowell.

Sole ownership of the property was purchased for $182,000 in February 2010 from Suzanne Bennett.

Courts House

A 5,086-SF home in The Courts neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development drew a $665,000 deal.

Lloyd and Christine Castillo bought the house from the Grace Hoffman Trust.

The deal is financed with a 30-year loan of $265,000 from Simmons First National Bank.

The residence was acquired for $663,000 in 2008 from Coburn Construction LLC, led by Roger Coburn.

Miramar Abode

A 3,602-SF home in the Miramar Place neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development sold for $550,600.

Christie and Deno Grumbos purchased the house from E. Ward Construction Inc., led by Eric Ward.

The deal is backed with a 30-year loan of $350,600 from Arvest Bank.

The location was bought for $87,000 in December 2014 from Deltic Timber Corp.

The eight metropolitan areas of Arkansas reported increases in local area personal income in 2014, with growth ranging from 1.6 percent in Pine Bluff to 4.1 percent in Fort Smith.

Michael Pakko, an economist at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, noted the changes on his blog, ArkansasEconomist.com. The information was based on new data released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis late last year.

“As measured by the price index for personal consumption expenditures, the general level of prices rose by 1.4 percent in 2014, so all eight metro areas saw positive growth even after adjusting for inflation,” Pakko said.

Per Capita Personal Income in Arkansas Metro Areas

2014 Per Capita Personal Income

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, ArkansasEconomist.com

The value of mergers and acquisitions last year reached a record high worldwide and in the United States, but Arkansas was a different story.

The known value of big deals in the state — those worth $9 million or more — fell 53 percent in 2015 compared with 2014, to $8.8 billion compared with $16.6 billion. And the volume fell 13 percent, to 84 compared with 97.

The numbers, however, call for three caveats: Arkansas Business was unable to determine the value of almost half of the big deals, it’s unlikely that M&A researchers capture every transaction, and the way we have defined “big deals” has changed over the years as methodologies evolved.

Get the List: Click here to buy the complete list of Arkansas' biggest deals of 2015.

That aside, the trend is clear: Deal-making in Arkansas came nowhere close to the historic level of deal-making seen worldwide and in the United States as a whole. Worldwide, M&A activity last year totaled $4.7 trillion, 42 percent higher than 2014 and the highest since records began in 1980, according to business information company Thomson Reuters.

That growth was fueled by a soaring number of mega-deals, those valued at $10 billion or more, which accounted for 41 percent of the M&A value.

In the United States, mergers and acquisitions rose 64 percent in 2015 compared with 2014, to $2.3 trillion in value.

At the Top of the List

In Arkansas, the top deal was Windstream’s $3.4 billion spinoff of fiber, copper and other assets into a real estate investment trust, Communications Sales & Leasing Inc. At No. 4 — $575 million — was Windstream’s sale of its data center business to TierPoint LLC of St. Louis, a privately held data center services company. The actions aligned with Windstream’s stated goal of reducing debt.

The No. 2 deal in the state was one that was little noticed: meat processor JBS USA Pork’s purchase of Cargill Pork LLC of Russellville for $1.5 billion. That sale included two meat-processing plants, one in Ottumwa, Iowa, and the other in Beardstown, Illinois. It also included five feed mills — two in Missouri and one each in Arkansas, Iowa and Texas — and four hog farms — two in Arkansas and one each in Oklahoma and Texas.

And at No. 3 was Bank of the Ozarks’ purchase of Community & Southern Holdings of Atlanta, parent company of Community & Southern Bank, for almost $800 million. The deal was the single biggest acquisition by an Arkansas bank in terms of both purchase price and assets acquired. The BOZ-C&S deal was just one of a string of purchases by Arkansas lenders last year.

Merger Mania

What powered corporate merger mania worldwide last year is what powered M&A in 2014: lots of available capital, cheap financing courtesy of low interest rates and the desire to grow, said Marshall McKissack, who heads the mergers and acquisitions practice of Stephens Inc. of Little Rock.

Another factor helping drive M&A activity: tax “inversions,” in which companies based in the U.S. relocate to another country to reduce their tax burdens.

“That certainly was one of the big reasons that propelled the market to a record year,” McKissack said. “There were a lot of those transactions and they tended to be the bigger transactions in 2015.”

Among them was the $191.5 billion merger of Pfizer, based in the U.S., with the Irish company Allergan. Announced in November, it was the largest merger by value last year and the largest ever in the health care sector.

Globally, mergers and acquisitions broke records last year in five categories: health care, technology, consumer products, industrials and retail.

In the technology sector in Arkansas, Acxiom joined Windstream on the biggest deals list with the $190 million sale of Acxiom’s IT infrastructure management business to Charlesbank Capital Partners.

The sale highlights Acxiom’s shift away from information technology services, Acxiom CEO Scott Howe said last May.

“In the last three years, we have taken a number of steps to tighten our strategic direction,” Howe said. “This transaction represents the next phase in our journey to focus Acxiom on growing its core marketing and data services business, and extending its leadership in onboarding and connectivity.”

Because Stephens Inc. has worked with Windstream and Acxiom over the years, McKissack said, he couldn’t comment on their actions. Generally, however, companies are “very focused on their core strengths and continuing to build capability and their core strategies, which I think you could say of both Windstream and Acxiom,” he said.

“But if it doesn’t fit or if there’s a better use for the capital, I think you see them divest, and that’s certainly been a trend broadly over the last couple of years.”

Natural Resources

Among the bigger transactions last year was Canfor Corp.’s $93.5 million purchase of Anthony Forest Products Co. of El Dorado, one of a number of acquisitions by Canadian companies of sawmills and lumber manufacturers in Arkansas and other Southern states. Another was the $29 million acquisition by Interfor Corp. of Vancouver, British Columbia, of the Price Cos.’ sawmill in Monticello.

The purchase by Canadian forest products companies of assets in the American South has been driven by a mountain pine beetle epidemic that has killed millions of cubic yards of pine trees in British Columbia. Milder winters and warmer summers have meant higher survival rates for the pest.

And Murphy USA of El Dorado sold Hereford Renewable Energy, an ethanol production plant in Hereford, Texas, to Green Plains Inc. of Omaha, Nebraska, for $93.8 million.

Looking Ahead

McKissack expects 2016 to be another good year for M&A activity, but notes “a tremendous amount of uncertainty and volatility in the marketplace.”

“There are a lot of things on the horizon,” he said. “A potential rising rate environment in the U.S. has people concerned. All the noise out of China and currency, oil and commodities [issues] have certainly led to some volatility and fluctuation.”

Although the uncertainty “may cause valuations to subside a little bit, there’s still a tremendous need to grow,” McKissack said. Continued abundant liquidity, relatively cheap financing and the ever-present need to buy and sell “are still out there in ‘16, but it may have some ups and downs.”

“The energy sector where you have companies that are well capitalized and those that are not, I think you could see consolidation, especially if oil or other commodities stay on the low end of where they’ve been over the last couple of years,” he said. “I think that could continue to fuel mergers and acquisitions in those sectors.”

And, of course, 2016 is a presidential election year.

“It’s all going to center around policy regulation and taxes,” McKissack said, “and to the extent those things change upwards or downwards, that will certainly have a bearing on the M&A market.”

WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the U.S. economy faces a number of global threats that could hamper growth and compel the Fed to slow the pace of future interest rate hikes.

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

Arvest Wealth Management CEO Jim King said Tuesday that Donny Rogers has been selected to replace Diane Wells as Arvest Trust president following Wells' planned retirement earlier this year.                                                       

Rogers has been with the company since 2008, when he was manager for the company's Fort Smith location. In June 2014, he was promoted to director of sales, overseeing management of the company's business in the Fort Smith, Little Rock, north-central Arkansas, Joplin, Missouri, and Springfield, Missouri, markets. 

The company said Rogers will maintain those responsibilities for the immediate future, but his regional management duties eventually will be split between David Biliter and Brad Griffin. Rogers will continue to work in Fort Smith.

Wells retired after more than 30 years with the company. King said Wells had been an "important part of the growth" of the company's trust division.                               

Arvest Bank operates more than 270 bank branches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas. Arvest Wealth Management offers wealth management, trust services and insurance products.

Sinclair Broadcasting Group will need at least three years to move its Little Rock ABC affiliate, KATV-TV, Channel 7, from its building at Main and Fourth, Little Rock Technology Park Director Brent Birch told board members Wednesday.

The Sinclair property has been identified as part of the tech park's preferred footprint along Main in downtown Little Rock, and officials from both sides have negotiated a potential sale. Birch told the board that KATV officials said the station would need three years to determine if it wants to build a new building or convert an existing one for its needs, and then to make the move. 

KATV has been in its current building since the 1960s. Birch said both sides agreed that he and board member Dickson Flake will work up a timeline for Sinclair's move.

In other board business, board chair Mary Good announced her resignation effective March 15. Good, who represents the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on the board, told members that she had seen the project through its first phase, and she believed it was time for a new UALR representative as plans get underway for phase two.

The city of Little Rock is partnering with UALR and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in the planned $100 million project. 

"Since the planning will begin shortly for the second phase of the park, I believe it is appropriate to get a new UALR representative on the board to be available for the full development of this next phase and to develop the optimum collaboration between UALR and the park," Good wrote in her written resignation.

Good, 84, serves UALR as special advisor to the chancellor for economic development. She is a nationally renowned chemist and was the founding dean of the UALR George W. Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology. 

Good has held government positions in the administrations of presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, the latter for which she served as Under Secretary for Technology for the Technology Administration in the Department of Commerce. Last year, she was inducted into the Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame.

Good noted the process that led the board to select a downtown site for the park — the board had considered midtown locations — and told board members that "now the move across the country is to put these downtown."

"The end result is going to work out to be quite significant for the city," she said.

Good said she would stay on as chair past March 15 for a "bridge period" if the new UALR appointee couldn't start by that date.

In other board business:

• City of Little Rock appointee C.J. Duvall was reappointed by Mayor Mark Stodola to a four-year term.
• Birch said the property acquisitions for phase one of the project are final — all the paperwork is in. The board is officially a downtown property owner, he said. Renovation of the property at 417 Main is expected to begin in April after general contractor East Harding sends out bid packages. 
• The consortium of local banks that provided the board a $17.1 million loan for property acquisition wants to begin marketing the fact that the tech park is beginning to take shape and place signs branding the park around the renovation work set to begin in April. In addition, the board will to take out an ad in the upcoming Feb. 22 technology-focused issue of Arkansas Business to tout the park's progress. The cost of the ad, as yet undetermined, will be split among tech park partners.
• Birch has been asked to serve on the board of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership.

LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock attorney Matt Campbell has filed a circuit court petition challenging the Arkansas Ethics Commission's recent decision on a complaint he filed against Arkansas Treasurer Dennis Milligan.

Milligan signed a settlement letter with the commission last week that issued a letter of warning and a $400 fine for four reporting issues on his campaign finance reports.

The commission found no probable cause among dozens of other allegations in the complaint filed by Campbell. Under new ethics rules, Milligan was allowed to correct some of the reporting errors rather than receive sanctions.

Campbell argues that the rules went into effect in 2015, so Milligan should not have been allowed to correct his 2014 reports. Milligan's attorney says the allegations were baseless regardless of the new rules.

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

Since 1988, Arkansas Business has honored the state's top executives, small businesses and nonprofits with the annual Arkansas Business of the Year Awards. Readers make nominations and an independent panel of judges selects the winners.

The winners will be announced at a special banquet Feb. 25 at the Statehouse Convention Center inside the Wally Allen Ballroom. The reception begins at 6 p.m. with dinner starting at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by calling Leslie Gordy at (501) 372-1443, ext. 336; clicking here for the online form or by contacting Events@ABPG.com.

Click on the links below to read profiles of each of this year's finalists, or go here to see the special section and find past finalists and winners.

Business of the Year – Category I

• Goss Management Co. LLC
• Haag Brown Commercial Real Estate & Development
• Ouachita Outdoor Outfitters
• Rogers Paint Co. Inc.
• Shirley’s Flowers Inc.

Business of the Year – Category II

• C.R. Crawford Construction LLC
• Mountain Harbor Resort & Spa
• Team SI

Business of the Year – Category III

• DataPath Inc.
• Kimbel Mechanical Systems Inc.
• Pinnacle Hotel Group
• Rainwater Holt & Sexton PA
• Travel Nurse Across America

Nonprofit Organization of the Year

• Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance
• AR Kids Read
• Habitat for Humanity of Central Arkansas
• Junior League of Little Rock
• Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas

Nonprofit Executive of the Year

• Kelley Bass, Museum of Discovery
• Edward Clifford, Jones Trust
• Bill Plunkett, Habitat for Humanity of Central Arkansas
• Keith Vire, Arkansas Support Network Inc.
• Kathy Webb, Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance

Business Executive of the Year

• Joshua Brown, Haag Brown Commercial Real Estate & Development
• Dick Cisne, Hudson Cisne & Co. LLP
• Leslie Davis, Harbor Environmental & Safety
• Brad Smith, Kimbel Mechanical Systems Inc.
• Dhu Thompson, Delta Plastics/Revolution Bag

A 228-unit apartment project in the Hillcrest area of Little Rock tipped the scales at $9.07 million.

SRC Kavanaugh Investments LLC, an affiliate of StoneRiver Co. of Birmingham, Alabama, purchased Crestwood Manor Apartments at 3802 Kavanaugh Blvd.

The seller is Crestwood Manor Property Investors LLC of Santa Cruz, California. SRC Kavanaugh assumed an April 2012 mortgage of $5.95 million held as part of the Banc of America Merrill Lynch Commercial Mortgages Inc. Multifamily Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates.

CMPI acquired the 9.7-acre development for $7.1 million in October 2009 from Crestwood Manor Acquisition LLC, an affiliate of Maxus Properties of North Kansas City, Missouri.

Red Roof Buy

A 49-room motel in southwest Little Rock weighed in at $1.8 million

HSN Hospitality LLC, led by Davish and Nimesh Sitaram, bought the Red Roof Inn at 8115 Frenchmans Lane. The seller is Sai Lodging Inc., led by Ishver Govind.

The deal is financed with three-year loans of $1.5 million and $98,000 from First National Bank of Arcadia, Louisiana.

The 1.26-acre development previously was tied to an October 2007 mortgage of $1.8 million held by Arvest Bank of Fayetteville.

Sai Lodging purchased the project for $1.65 million more than eight years ago from LK Investments of Little Rock LLC, led by Vijay Patel.

Retail Purchase I

A 7,200-SF piece of west Little Rock’s Cantrell Falls Plaza sold for $1.4 million.

Wylie Family Enterprises LLC, led by Phillip and Sara Wylie, acquired the All About Tire & Brake space at 14908 Cantrell Road. The seller is 14910 Cantrell LLC, led by Steve Hockersmith.

The property previously helped secure a June 2014 mortgage of $2.2 million held by Malvern National Bank.

The location was bought for $1.9 million as part of a 4.3-acre deal with PJM Revocable Trust, led by Phyllis McGrew.

Canine Cookie Plant

A 32,770-SF gourmet dog cookie facility in Maumelle changed hands in a $1.37 million deal.

Boudreaux Properties LLC, led by Marvin Itzkowitz, purchased Claudia’s Canine Cuisine at 100 Four Paws Lane. The seller is Going to the Dogs LLC, led by Deborah Kay Bohlken.

The deal is backed with a five-year loan of $2.13 million from First Security Bank of Searcy.

The 2.8-acre development previously was linked with a December 2007 mortgage of $1.6 million and an August 2008 mortgage of $1.5 million held by Eagle Bank & Trust of Little rock.

The location was acquired for $165,000 in April 2006 from E-Z Spuds, led by Kelly and Tani Joiner.

Office Transaction I

A 25 percent piece of a 12,616-SF office project in west Little Rock rang up a $1 million transaction. Synergy Holdings LLC, led by Scott Proctor, sold its stake in the 11700 Cantrell Road building. The buyers are JSJ Properties LLC, led by Joe Courtright, 16 percent; and K&D Huchingson LLLP, led by Kevin Huchingson, 9 percent.

The 7.1-acre development is tied to a February 2007 mortgage of $938,309 held by Delta Trust & Bank of Little Rock.

The site was purchased for $262,000 in December 2000 from Winrock Enterprises Inc., led by Russ McDonough III.

Retail Purchase II

A 51,646-SF former Harvest Foods in southwest Little Rock is under new ownership after a $600,000 sale.

Amerco Real Estate Co. of Phoenix acquired the 8900 Geyer Springs Road property from JV Holding Co., led by John Vice II.

The 4-acre grocery store development previously was linked with a December 2012 mortgage of $809,974 held by Regions Bank of Birmingham, Alabama.

The property was bought for $500,000 in May 2010 from Baseline Partners LLC, led by Robert Friesen.

Office Transaction II

A 4,377-SF piece of the Financial Park Place project in west Little Rock drew a $365,000 transaction.

Acadia Properties LLC, led by Ali Raja, purchased the space at 11219 Financial Centre Parkway. The seller is LW Associates LLC, led by Dr. Robert Lehmberg and Dr. Raymond Wende.

The deal is funded with a five-year loan of $310,250 from Stone Bank of Mountain View.

The space was acquired for $301,000 in March 1983 from Hermitage Development Corp., led by Robert Vogel.

Welding Property

A 7,980-SF industrial facility in Jacksonville sold for $358,000.

Arkansas Welding Academy Inc., led by Alice Obenshain, bought the 1920 N. Redmond Road project. The seller is Pulaski Properties LLC, led by Eddie, Jason and Jacob Springer.

The deal is financed with a three-year loan of $276,000 from Simmons First National Bank of Pine Bluff.

The 5.04-acre development previously was tied to a September 2012 mortgage of $161,600 and an October 2012 mortgage of $35,000 held by Centennial Bank of Conway.

The property was purchased for $202,000 in September 2012 from Centennial Bank.

Office Transaction III

A 1,392-SF office building in midtown Little Rock changed hands in a $265,000 deal.

Dunhelin Properties LLC, led by Kenneth Martin, acquired the 5316 W. Markham St. project. The seller is WJS LLC, led by Jack and Sandra West.

The 0.15-acre development was bought for $150,000 in September 2007 from Serena and Herman Eary.

Multifamily Acquisition

A seven-unit apartment project in midtown Little Rock rang up a $180,932 sale.

Native Rock Apartments LLC, led by Zach and Ethen Schultz, Dakotah Provence and Garrett Edwards, purchased the 5719 B St. project. The seller is Holland Eberle Properties LLC, led by Keith Holland.

The deal is backed with loans of $316,000 and $1.5 million from Centennial Bank.

The 0.2-acre development previously was linked with a November 2012 mortgage of $333,750 held by Little Rock’s Bank of the Ozarks.

HEP acquired the project for $360,000 in May 2008 from Tisdale Properties & Development LLC, led by Tracy Tisdale.

Osage Terrace Abode

A 5,372-SF home in Maumelle’s Osage Terrace neighborhood is under new ownership after a $780,000 deal.

Michael and Pamela Speraw bought the house from Scott and Andrea Tharnish. The deal is funded with a 30-year loan of $330,000 from Eagle Bank & Trust.

The residence previously was tied to a January 2015 mortgage of $571,000 held by Bank of the Ozarks.

The location was purchased for $75,000 in November 2013 from West Maumelle Ltd., led by David Paes.

Country Club House

A 2,745-SF home near the Country Club of Little Rock drew a $585,000 transaction.

Gregg and Paige Day acquired the house from David and Shay Matthews.

The residence previously was linked with a July 2013 mortgage of $375,900 held by Bank of the Ozarks.

The property was bought for $537,000 more than two years ago from Ruth McDonough.

Miramar Residence

A 3,533-SF home in the Miramar Place neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development sold for $502,514.

Daniel and Paula Deem purchased the house from Billy Hartness Construction Co.

The deal is funded with a 15-year loan of $302,514 from Wells Fargo Bank of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The residence previously was tied to a March 2015 mortgage of $390,000 from Centennial Bank.

The site was acquired for $76,000 in December 2014 from Deltic Timber Corp. of El Dorado.

Unemployment in Arkansas’ metropolitan areas has fallen significantly in the last year, notes Michael Pakko, an economist at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

From December 2014 to December 2015, the change ranged from a decline of four-tenths of a percentage point in Fort Smith to 1 full point in Hot Springs and Jonesboro.

Unemployment rates were at or below 5 percent in five of the eight metro areas at the end of 2015, Pakko said on his blog, ArkansasEconomist.com.

But, he said, nonfarm payroll employment in Arkansas has been a mixed bag, particularly when compared with 2007, before the start of the recession.

“Compared to a year ago, payroll employment was up in six metro areas, having fallen in Fort Smith and Pine Bluff,” Pakko said. “Growth over the past 12 months has been particularly strong in Fayetteville and Jonesboro.”

The growth in those two cities “continues a trend that has characterized the entire economic expansion, with the two northern corners of the state experiencing far more rapid growth than the rest of the region,” he said. “At the other extreme, employment in Pine Bluff has continued to decline. At the end of 2015, Pine Bluff payrolls were down 17.5 percent from prerecession levels.”

The location of Allied Bank’s last operational branch in Little Rock recently was forfeited in lieu of foreclosure.

Heartland Bank of Bryant took ownership of the 7,340-SF building at 5701 Kavanaugh Blvd. from Ellen Golden, Direct Importer of French Antiques LLC.

Allied pays monthly rent of $5,000 for a 700-SF piece of the building, which also bears a 1916 N. Fillmore St. address and housed Ellen Golden French Antiques.

Ellen Golden is the wife of Lex Golden, whose family controls the $79.3 million-asset bank and its parent company, Acme Holding Co.

The property secured a July 2012 loan of $1.3 million from Heartland. (For more about asset problems at Heartland, see Heartland Bank Braces For 2016.) The building still secures a June 2015 loan of $100,000 from Anstaff Bank of Green Forrest (Carroll County).

We’re told that Allied bank remains a tenant and the antique shop is a short-term tenant in the process of selling/moving its wares.

Acme Holding is in the final months of Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.

Acme’s prime asset, Allied Bank, recorded a $2.2 million loss for 2015, marking the fifth consecutive year of fiscal red ink. The bank has lost more than $13 million since 2011.