Marc Fusaro.
Eight Arkansas cities completed the third quarter with an Arkansas Tech Business Index rating above 100, and they are the same eight cities that held that distinction at the close of second quarter.
Bentonville (No. 1, 107.56) and Rogers (No. 2, 106.06) set the pace.
The ATBI is a project created by the Arkansas Tech University College of Business and sponsored by Arvest Bank. It provides a snapshot of economic activity around the state. It encompasses a labor index, housing market index, construction index and retail sales index. A city rating above 100 indicates that the city is currently doing better than the state average from 2009 to the present.
Marc Fusaro, associate professor of economics at Arkansas Tech and developer of the ATBI, attributed the strong performance of those two cities to home sales.
“The greatest strength for Bentonville and Rogers in the third quarter is the housing market with index values above 110,” Fusaro said in a news release. “This is due primarily to strong housing sales in Benton County, totaling 1,548 for the quarter. In addition, retail was a strong sector for Rogers in the third quarter and for Bentonville in September. Bentonville also continues to see strength in residential construction permits with $41 million during the quarter.”
Two more northwest Arkansas cities followed: Springdale (No. 3, 105.57) and Fayetteville (No. 4, 105.45), giving the northwest corner of the state the top four positions.
“The index results only confirm what we have been seeing in action here in Benton County,” said Roger Holroyd, Arvest Bank president in Siloam Springs. “Growing businesses need workers and workers need houses to live in, so the strong surge in housing construction and mortgage demand fits in with the continued strength of business in Northwest Arkansas.”
The remaining cities were ranked as follows for the quarter:
- Conway, 101.47
- Fort Smith, 101.38
- Mountain Home, 100.68
- Hot Springs, 100.58
- Van Buren, 99.61
- Russellville, 99.00
- Searcy, 98.11
- El Dorado, 97.22
- Jonesboro, 97.15
- North Little Rock, 96.66
- Texarkana, 96.42
- West Memphis, 96.27
- Pine Bluff, 93.47
- Little Rock, 92.80
In the monthly ratings, Bentonville led in September with an index value of 109.01. It marks the fourth time in the last five rankings and the sixth time in the 21-month history of the ATBI that Bentonville has held the No. 1 position.
Rogers (+2.15 points), Texarkana (+1.62 points), Conway (+1.41 points), West Memphis (+1.13 points), Little Rock (+0.85 points) and Russellville (+0.85 points) were also among the municipalities that fared well in September.
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