December 3-7, 2007
§
Ads Being Sold for 2008 Membership
Directory and Buyers’ Guide
DFA Schedules Public Hearing
on Reduced Sales Tax Rate for Natural Gas/Electricity Used
in Manufacturing Process – State Chamber/AIA Tax Committee
to Meet
The Arkansas
Department of Finance and Administration recently issued
proposed permanent rules for Act 185 and scheduled a public
hearing on Tuesday, Dec. 18, at 10 a.m.
The State
Chamber/AIA Tax Committee will meet at 10 a.m. on Wednesday,
Dec. 12, to formulate comments on the proposed rules. Anyone
interested is welcome to attend this important committee
meeting, which will be held in the State Chamber/AIA Bob
Lamb Conference Room at
1200 West Capitol Ave.
in downtown
Little Rock
.
The State
Chamber/AIA was instrumental in getting Act 185 passed and
signed into law during the 86th General Assembly.
Act 185 established a sales tax reduction for manufacturers’ electricity
and natural gas costs. It reduced the sales tax paid in the
manufacturing process by manufacturers, which are classified
in NAICS codes 31-33 from 6 percent to 4.5 percent on July
1, 2007. The tax rate will be reduced an additional ½ percent
to 4 percent effective July 1, 2008.
You may
submit written comments regarding the regulation to:
Tom Atchley,
Administrator, Office of Excise Tax Administration,
P.O. Box
1272
, Room 2420,
Ledbetter
Building
,
Little Rock
,
AR
72203-1272
The purpose
of the hearing is to discuss Rule – 2007-5: Reduced
Sales Tax Rate for Natural Gas or Electricity Used Directly
in the Manufacturing Process. DFA invites all interested
parties to attend and make comments on this rule, but attendance
is not required.
If you
wish to attend the public hearing, it will be held in Conference
Room 2330 on the second floor of the
Joel
Y.
Ledbetter
Building
located on
1800 W. Seventh St.
in
Little Rock
.
If you
have any questions regarding this regulation prior to the
public hearing, you may contact Tom Atchley by e-mail at tom.atchley@rev.state.ar.us, by
phone at (501) 682-7200 or by fax at (501) 682-7900.
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Leadership
Arkansas
II Holds Tourism Session in Eureka Springs
The Leadership
Arkansas II Class held its Tourism Session on Nov. 29-30
in Eureka Springs at the
Inn
of the Ozarks and the Crescent Hotel.
The Tourism Session began with
class members networking with each other on
Arkansas
tourism facts. Richard Davies, executive director of the
Department of Arkansas Parks and Tourism Department, gave the class
an overview of his department and its successes since his tenure. Wayne
Woods of CJRW gave the class a sneak peak of the 2008 Tourism Marketing
campaign.
The first day ended with Wildman Steve Wilson of the Arkansas Game
and Fish Commission hosting his Corner Café Show with Greg
Butts, director of State Parks, as his guest.
Later during a reception and
dinner, class members had the opportunity to network with officials
from the host city, Eureka Springs, and hear from motivational
speaker, Paul Vitale of Vital Communications.
The class members received
a treat on Friday morning with five student chefs from
Springdale
High School
onsite to personally prepare breakfast and their morning snack. Montine
McNulty started the day with an overview of the Arkansas Hospitality
Association followed by Dr. Robert Harrington of the
University
of
Arkansas
explaining the culinary experience in tourism. Jordan Johnson
gave a brief overview of how the Clinton Presidential Center has
impacted tourism around the state.
The session concluded with
Walt Coleman of Coleman Dairy, who is an NFL Referee explaining
to the class how they can “Be the Best You Can Be.”
Thanks goes to the Holiday
Inn Express, Tyson Foods, CJRW, the
Inn
of the Ozarks and the Crescent Hotel for sponsoring the Tourism
session.
Next Leadership
Arkansas
II Session Scheduled for
Pine Bluff
The next Leadership Arkansas
II session will be held on January 31 and February 1 in
Pine Bluff
and will cover agriculture and the
South Arkansas
economy.
Sponsorships are available for the
Pine Bluff
session. Partner sponsorships at $1,000 include an invitation
to a reception and dinner with class members, signage at the event
and inclusion in the promotional and printed materials for the
session. Presenting sponsorships at $2,500 include all of the above
plus an opportunity to present during the session and an opportunity
to place a company brochure or message in the participants’
notebooks.
Leadership
Arkansas
is a program designed to take a statewide view of the economic
and political challenges that face
Arkansas
. The program offers leadership opportunities that expand the impact
of community leaders across the state. Created by the State Chamber/AIA,
Leadership Arkansas builds a sense of statewide community by identifying
and training individuals with the passion and commitment to become
personally engaged in issues, programs and activities aimed at
building a better
Arkansas
.
Upcoming
sessions for 2008 following
Pine Bluff
include:
·
Economic
Development and Manufacturing – March 20 and 21,
Fort Smith
;
·
Education
/
Northeast Arkansas
Economy – May 22 and 23, Jonesboro/Paragould;
·
Northwest
Arkansas
Economy/Infrastructure
Challenges – June 26 and 27, Fayetteville/Springdale
Leadership
Class II Graduation will be sponsored by Harps Food Stores
Inc. and will be held on June 27, 2008, at the Holiday Inn
Springdale. All sessions will be held in conjunction with
State Chamber/AIA regional board and membership meetings.
Leadership
Arkansas Class II is sponsored by
Southern Bancorp
of Arkadelphia.
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Ads Being Sold for 2008 Membership
Directory and Buyers’
Guide
The 2008
State Chamber/AIA Membership
Directory and Buyers’ Guide will be an excellent
resource guide for the
Arkansas
business community. The publication will feature a full-color
section with important resource information about businesses in
Arkansas
, governmental affairs, economic development, leadership and State
Chamber partnerships, as well as services and benefits to membership.
Each member
will be listed along with the type of business and contact
information. This is your opportunity to promote and market
your business to more than 1,000 businesses and organizations
throughout
Arkansas
, and it will be a prime method for members to utilize referrals.
Don’t
miss your chance to participate. The 2008 Membership Directory & Buyers’
Guide will be published in early February 2008. The
deadline to reserve an ad is January 15.
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Congratulations to Debbie Thomas
and Celia McQuiston for ‘Reaching the Top’
Debbie
Thomas of Harps Food Stores and Celia McQuiston of
Albemarle
have
“Reached the Top” in the State Chamber/AIA’s
Total Resource Campaign with over $10,000 in sales each. They both
are members of Leadership Arkansas Class II.
Thomas
sold the $10,000 Leadership Arkansas Class II graduation
sponsorship to Harps, and McQuiston sold a combination of
memberships, upgrades and sponsorships.
We’re
also happy to report that more than $22,000 in advertising
has been sold for the 2008 State Chamber/AIA Membership Directory
and Buyers’ Guide, which will be an excellent resource
guide about the business community in
Arkansas
.
Nearly
$20,000 in membership upgrades have been sold to date. The
board established a membership formula a couple of years
ago. During this campaign, volunteers will be contacting
our members about upgrading their membership investment based
on the new formula.
“Reach
the Top,” the State Chamber/AIA’s Total Resource
Campaign, is scheduled to run until March 21, 2008.
Among
our goals for 2008 are to strengthen our governmental affairs
staff and increase an emphasis on manufacturing.
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Save the Date for 2008
Washington
Fly-In and Congressional Dinner
Mark your
calendar for the State Chamber/AIA 2008 Annual Washington
Fly-In and Congressional Dinner. Next year’s event
will be held April 26-29 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott
in
Arlington
,
Virginia
, the site of this year’s event.
For further
information, contact Deb Mathis at (501) 372-2222 or dmathis@arkansasstatechamber.com.
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State Chamber/AIA Board Meetings
Scheduled for 2008
The State
Chamber/AIA has scheduled the dates for board meetings in
2008. All board meetings will be held in the State Chamber/AIA
Bob Lamb Conference Room unless otherwise indicated. Those
held in the Conference Room will be followed by a short networking
reception.
2008 Board
Meetings:
3:30 p.m.,
Thursday, January 24
3:30 p.m.,
Thursday, March 27
In conjunction
with Washington Fly-In – April 28
In conjunction
with Leadership Arkansas in Northwest Arkansas, Holiday Inn
/ Northwest Arkansas Convention Center, Springdale, Thursday,
June 26
3:30 p.m.,
Thursday, September 25
In conjunction
with Annual Meeting – October 7 or 14
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Nabholz Construction Corp.
Newest Pinnacle Member
Thanks to all our Pinnacle Members
The State Chamber/AIA is pleased
to announce that Conway-based Nabholz Construction Corp., a
provider of complete construction and management services including
commercial, retail, healthcare, K-12 education and higher education,
has increased their investment with our organizations and is
now a Pinnacle member at the Crown level.
We wish to express special
thanks to all of our Pinnacle investors, the respected companies
that support the State Chamber/AIA at the highest annual investment
levels. We appreciate all that they do for us.
APEX
ALLTEL Corporation
Entergy
Arkansas, Inc.
Wal-Mart
Stores, Inc.
SUMMIT
Chesapeake
Energy, Inc.
Cox Communications
Cranford
Johnson
Robinson Woods
Tyson Foods,
Inc.
PEAK
ARVEST Bank
AT&T
Arkansas
CenterPoint
Energy Southern Gas
Electric
Cooperatives of
Arkansas
FedEx Freight
- East
Georgia-Pacific
Corp.
Kraft Foods
Oaklawn
Jockey Club
Pathfinder
Exploration, LLC
Petrohawk
Energy Corporation
SemGroup,
L.P.
Southern Bancorp, Inc.
Southland
Park
Southwestern
Energy Company
Weyerhaeuser
Company
Windstream
Corporation
XTO Energy,
Inc.
CROWN
Acxiom Corporation
AEP/Southwestern
Electric Power Co.
Albemarle
Corporation
Alta Resources,
LLC
American
Greetings Corporation
American
Insurance Association
Arkansas
Blue Cross
and Blue Shield
Arkansas
Employees
Federal Credit Union
Arkansas
Farm Bureau
Federation
Arkansas
Western Gas Co.
Bank of
the Ozarks, Incorporated
Clorox Company
Deltic Timber
Corp.
Dynegy
Entegra
Power Group LLC
Farm Bureau
Mutual Insurance Company of Arkansas, Inc.
Forest Oil
Corporation
Glad Manufacturing/a
Clorox Company
Golden Ventures
International
Paper Company
Kimberly-Clark
Corporation
Lion Oil
Metropolitan
National Bank
Murphy Oil
Corp.
Nabholz
Construction Corp.
Nucor-Yamato
Steel
OG+E
Pfizer Pharmaceuticals
Philander
Smith
College
Pinnacle
Foods
Potlatch
Forest Products Corp.
Rheem Air
Conditioning Division
Riceland
Foods Inc.
Signature
Bank of
Arkansas
State Farm
Insurance – Public Affairs
Stephens
Inc.
Storm Cat
Energy
Suez
Energy
North America
The Clorox
Company
The Trane
Company
US Bank
Wright Lindsey & Jennings
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Calendar of Events
January 24, 2008
State Chamber/AIA Board Meeting
State
Chamber
Building
Little Rock
Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2008
Leadership
Arkansas
Class II Session
Agriculture and
South Arkansas
Economy and Issues
Pine
Bluff
Feb. 4-5, 2008
ACCE Mini-Institute
Little Rock
March 20-21, 2008
Leadership
Arkansas
Class II Session
Economic Development and Manufacturing
Fort Smith
March 27, 2008
State Chamber/AIA Board Meeting
State
Chamber
Building
Little Rock
April 26-29, 2008
Annual
Washington
Fly-In and Congressional Dinner
Crystal Gateway Marriott
Arlington
,
Virginia
May 22-23, 2008
Leadership
Arkansas
Class II Session
Education and
Northeast Arkansas
Economy
Jonesboro/Paragould
June 3, 2008
Annual Small Business Awards Luncheon
Embassy Suites Hotel
Little Rock
June 26-27, 2008
Leadership
Arkansas
Class II Session
Northwest Arkansas
Economy/Infrastructure Challenges
Fayetteville/Springdale
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