Accelerator program
picks 11 companies
Eleven financial technology companies from across the globe have been selected to participate in the Little Rock Venture Center's fourth annual ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator program, which is scheduled to start Jan. 11.
The accelerator also is sponsored by the Independent Community Bankers of America in partnership with the State of Arkansas. ICBA promotes the program to provide key products and services to advance technology initiatives at community banks across the nation. The 11 participants in the 2022 accelerator include two Canadian firms and U.S. companies from coast to coast.
The program will again include an incubator phase and guidance from industry leaders along with an initial investment to help refine product offerings so they can be used in the banking industry.
"ICBA remains dedicated to fostering community bank-fintech collaborations to help source and cultivate promising fintechs and accelerate their growth as we support our community bank members' efforts to remain responsive to the evolving needs of their customers," ICBA Senior Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer Charles Potts said in announcing the program Tuesday.
-- Andrew Moreau
New medical offices
underway in Rogers
A new medical office building is under construction in the Pinnacle Hills area in Rogers.
The nearly 46,000-square-foot, three-story building at 3720 S. Champion Drive will house Advanced Orthopaedic Specialists and the North Arkansas Center for Plastic Surgery & Skin Care. Additional office space will be available for lease, according to a Tuesday news release.
Steel beam work is in place, and the building is expected to be completed in about a year.
The first floor will include a surgical center while the second floor will be shared by Advanced Orthopaedic Specialists and The Northwest Arkansas Center for Plastic Surgery. The third floor will feature leaseable Class A medical office space.
The project is being developed by Cushman & Wakefield Sage Partners.
-- John Magsam
Index closes day at
755.42, down 53.36
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Tuesday at 755.42, down 53.36.
"Wall Street's main indexes suffered another sell-off on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled that the U.S. central bank would consider speeding up its withdrawal of bond purchases as inflation risks increase, piling pressure onto a market already nervous about the latest covid-19 variant," said Chris Harkins, managing director at Raymond James & Associates.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.