A strong August has pushed Bentonville back to the top of the Arkansas Tech Business Index, with an index rating of 107.98, an increase of 2.41 points over July.
The ATBI is a project created by the Arkansas Tech University College of Business and sponsored by Arvest Bank.
This marks the third time in the last four rankings and the fifth time in the 20-month history of the ATBI that Bentonville has held the No. 1 position.
The index is a comprehensive measure that provides a snapshot of economic activity around the Arkansas. It encompasses a labor index, housing market index, construction index and retail sales index. The index is based around 100 and a city rating above 100 indicates that the city is currently doing better than the state average from 2009 to the present.
Bentonville stood out in construction and housing/retail, with 112.99 and 112.69 indexes respectively.
Pine Bluff suffered the biggest loss from July to August, with a -2.08 change in its index.
The complete ATBI rankings are:
- Springdale, 106.20
- Rogers, 105.76
- Fayetteville, 105.10
- Fort Smithm, 102.03
- Mountain Home, 100.68
- Hot Springs, 100.41
- Conway, 100.15
- Van Buren, 99.87
- Searcy, 98.58
- Russellville, 98.34
- El Dorado, 97.67
- Jonesboro, 97.41
- North Little Rock, 96.01
- West Memphis, 95.70
- Texarkana, 95.49
- Pine Bluff, 92.76
- Little Rock, 92.57
Marc Fusaro, associate professor of economics at Arkansas Tech, is the developer of the Arkansas Tech Business Index.