Walmart filing tied to financial startup
Walmart Inc. has filed for a trademark on the name of the financial technology startup it created earlier this year to move further into the banking services arena.
The proposed name is Hazel by Walmart, according to an application filed March 29 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The filing lists a slew of goods and services the new company will provide, most of which involve processing credit and debit card transactions and electronic fund transfers; issuing credit cards; and bill-paying services.
Other financial services listed include providing loans; financial consulting; credit repair; and portfolio analysis. Hazel by Walmart will not offer tax preparation or insurance services.
The Bentonville retailer said in January that it was working with global investment firm Ribbit Capital to offer "next-generation digital financial products" for employees and customers.
However, the company revealed little about the venture. A Walmart spokeswoman said at the time that exact projects and a timeline still were being developed, and Walmart had no additional details to share.
-- Serenah McKay
Hospitality workers target of LR job fair
The Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau will host a job fair on May 4 targeting workers in the hospitality and tourism industry, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Big on Little Rock Hospitality Industry Job Fair will be held 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Statehouse Convention Center.
Representatives from restaurants, hotels, attractions, event venues will be accepting applications for jobs for accountants, administrators, managers, salesmen, security, housekeepers, bartenders, cooks and more, according to a news release.
The job fair will start with a news conference to mark National Travel and Tourism Week and a celebration of the bureau's 50th anniversary.
The fair "represents the best opportunity yet for workers who lost their jobs in 2020 as well those Arkansans looking to enter the hospitality workforce," Gretchen Hall, the bureau's president and chief executive officer, said in the release.
-- Noel Oman
Arkansas Index falls 1.25, ends at 598.33
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Thursday at 598.33, down 1.25.
"Volume remains muted but equities closed near session highs as investors awaiting a pullback in prices continue to be drawn into the market as stocks grind higher ahead of first quarter earnings reports and continued accommodative monetary and fiscal policy," said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.