El Dorado businessman Richard Mason made the High Profile cover inside Sunday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
The story traced Mason’s roots from a boy in Norphlet to one of Union County’s most successful businessmen.
Along the way, Mason and his wife, Vertis, have restored dozens of El Dorado buildings, helping to revitalize a once-struggling downtown.
The South Arkansas Chapter of the American Red Cross last night began receiving nearly 200 evacuees from Louisiana. Two shelters within the city — at College Avenue Church of Christ and St. John Missionary Baptist Church — are already filling up, according to Shannon Robinson, director of volunteer services and public affairs for the SACARC.
That’s not counting the number of evacuees in the city’s hotels.
“It’s been very hectic,” said Robinson, who spoke to Between Editions via telephone today. “We have served lunch, and most people are trying to sleep now because they’ve been driving all night.”
Robinson said that Barkingham Acres has agreed to board pets.
Volunteers, please call (870) 918-2188 for more information.
Murphy Oil says it will evacuate its non-essential personnel in the path of potential hurricane Gustav in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the business blog Talk Business out of Little Rock.
No mention of the number of employees to be evacuated was made.
Murphy says that the evacuation should have no impact on output. The El Dorado-based oil and gas company has major exploraton and drilling infrastructure in the Gulf.
We are reporting this story now and will have more details in Wednesday’s News-Times. The long and short of it: the company is consolidating the tray-pack business from its El Dorado plant into six other case-ready facilities in order to improve efficiency. Approximately 600 of the 1,215 positions at the El Dorado plant will be cut.
If you know someone who will be affected by these layoffs please have them call 862-6611 ext. 121.
What’s more American than grabbing a Budweiser or Bud Light? Well, it’s not American anymore.
Click here for more.
**UPDATE** Washington – U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) yesterday pledged her support to the workers of Anheuser-Busch’s rice mill in Jonesboro after the announcement that the nation’s largest brewer will be sold to Belgium’s InBev.
“My primary concern is how this deal will affect Arkansas’s workers,” Lincoln said. “While changes are sure to occur at the corporate level, I will work to ensure that employees and their families do not face harmful effects from this sale. For America to remain strong, it will be critical for our corporate citizens to follow through on their commitments to their workers.
“In addition, as a major buyer of Arkansas rice, Anheuser-Busch has played a critical role in our state’s economy. I will do my part to ensure that stability continues.”
There’s a clothing store called Steve & Barry’s that sells cool, fashionable threads for under $10. Yeah, don’t feel bad, I didn’t know anything about them either. The New York Times today has an interesting piece about how the new fashion chic is “cheap.”
Suits me. Click here for more. FYI, Steve & Barry’s has a store in the Hot Springs Mall.
The El Dorado-based oil firm announced today that its income in the first quarter of 2008 totaled $409 million, thanks in no small part to crude oil prices. That’s more than triple the amount of last year’s first quarter numbers.
Click here for more.
Meanwhile…Murphy USA continues to offer the lowest gas prices in the state. Just not in El Dorado, where they’re headquartered. Did I mention that El Dorado is Murphy’s hometown?
Gas prices in our city are nearly 20 cents higher.
Gas prices are creeping forward to $4 for a gallon of regular. For once, though, South Arkansas isn’t on the list of the highest prices in the state. Just wait, I’m sure we’ll catch up soon. Here’s a rundown of the highest and lowest prices in the state as of today, courtesy of Arkansasgasprices.com.
The Associated Press reports:
“Many see retail prices peaking around $3.65 a gallon next month (May). The Energy Department, in a recent forecast, said prices could average as high as $3.60 a gallon this summer on a monthly basis, but could spike to $4 on a national average basis at times.”
Click here for more.
Meanwhile, we are STILL paying some of the highest gas prices in the state right here in South Arkansas. I guess if gas is $3.65 nationally in May we will be paying 20 cents beyond that here.
And just a short drive from El Dorado…
Things don’t look good for the future of Pilgrim’s Pride here in Union County. Speaking to company spokesman Ray Atkinson yesterday, I could definitely feel the sense of immediacy in his voice.
He didn’t mince words when he told me that things are going to have to change immediately at the plant before officials decide to keep it open.
Quality control issues are a concern, and worker productivity is very low. Basically, it boils down to 1,600 people who need to step up or they’ll be shipped out, and Union County will be dealt a blow that it may never recover from.
I don’t know the ins and outs of the plant, but I do know that workers there are going to have to prove themselves very quickly, for their sake and for our local economy’s.
You have to wonder where the 1,600 people will go and what they’ll do if handed pink slips. There are no other jobs available in Union County, and Lord knows they won’t be able to afford to commute elsewhere for a job.
Meanwhile, the national and world economies continue to sputter, and there have even been reports of food riots in parts of the world. The United Nations is reporting today that we are currently in a “world food crisis.”
Times are tougher than many of us realize, and looking around the world, it’s easy to see just how bad things are getting.
Click here for more on this topic.
One has to wonder how much worse our own economy will get.
“There is absolutely no truth to it, we will remain proudly Applebee’s,” the owner said.
Hurrah!
By John Worthen
For Between Editions
We’ve been hearing through the thick, unpreened grapevine that Applebee’s may be moving out of El Dorado and that an IHOP may be moving in. We’re trying to confirm or deny this information. What a shame it would be to replace one restaurant with another. I think El Dorado could use an additional restaurant. Heaven knows we don’t need another one to close.
Anyone else heard anything about this?
Roby Brock’s “Talk Business” blog out of Little Rock mentions El Dorado’s housing market and how it’s bucking state-wide trends, which show tanking real estate numbers. El Dorado’s are growing, albeit modestly. Most folks credit, of course, the El Dorado Promise.
The News-Times confirmed this information late last month when we covered Rob Robinson of Coldwell Banker at the El Dorado Rotary Club’s noon meeting.
Click here for more from “Talk Business.”
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