"It is nowhere near where it was at the peak of the boom, but it is rising from what we can consider the bottom of the market," Kathy Deck, director of Walton College’s Center for Business and Economic Research, said in the report.
Arvest Bank of Fayetteville said Thursday that it has commissioned a consumer sentiment survey to measure and report the economic expectations and outlook of Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma consumers.
Arvest said the survey will measure respondents’ opinions on their state’s economy for a comparison to the national Surveys of Consumers conducted by the University of Michigan for Thomson/Reuters. Arvest plans to survey twice a year.
Arvest plans to release the results of its first survey, to be conducted in February, in the spring. The next survey results will be released at the end of the third quarter, the company said.
In Arkansas, Arvest will work with the University of Arkansas to conduct the survey. The Center for Business and Economic Research at the UA’s Sam M. Walton School of Business is leading the research team.
Arvest already works with the center to produce its regular Skyline Report, which examines commerical and residential real estate conditions in northwest Arkansas. As with the Skyline Report, CBER Director Kathy Deck will be the lead researcher for the survey.
“Arvest Bank has always been attuned to our customers and the markets we serve,” Jason Kincy, marketing director for Arvest Bank, said in a news release. “To be consumer- and community-focused, we need to know our customers’ views on the economic climate as it applies to Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. This type of survey has long been needed on the state level and will help us better understand the economic mood of our friends and neighbors while providing factual guidance for our small business customers as to the economic mood in their markets.”
The survey will have a sample size of 1,200, with 400 respondents from each state and a margin of error of 4.2 percent at the state level. It will measure consumer sentiment, consumer expectations and current conditions.
With assets exceeding $11 billion, Arvest is the largest bank in Arkansas. Owned by Wal-Mart founders the Walton family, it has more than 240 locations that are part of 16 locally managed banks in in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas.
Earlier this year, Arvest closed on its purchase of 29 bank branches in four states, including Arkansas, from Bank of America Corp. It also purchased National Bank of Arkansas of North Little Rock.
Sign up for Daily E-news
