Northwest Arkansas Remains Strong on ATBI

Marc Fusaro.

Bentonville led the fourth-quarter 2015 rankings and Rogers surged to the top of the December rankings on the Arkansas Tech Business Index.

Bentonville had at ATBI rating of 106.93 for the final quarter of 2015, placing it just ahead of Fayetteville (106.37), Rogers (106.21) and Springdale (104.75). 

“It is reassuring to see that northwest Arkansas continues to perform highly on the index,” Craig Rivaldo, president and CEO of Arvest Bank in Benton County, said in a news release. “We certainly see the economic activity around us in the form of commercial and residential building, along with a strong small business market that is growing and evolving.”

The ATBI is a comprehensive measure that provides a snapshot of economic activity around the state. It was created by the Arkansas Tech University College of Business and is sponsored by Arvest Bank.

The ATBI encompasses a labor index, housing market index, construction index and retail sales index. The index is based around 100. A city rating above 100 indicates that the city is doing better than the state average from 2009 to the present.

Fort Smith (104.14), Conway (102.27), Hot Springs (100.41) and Mountain Home (100.28) also completed the fourth quarter above 100.

Van Buren (99.63), Russellville (98.79), Searcy (98.50), North Little Rock (97.84), Jonesboro (97.64), West Memphis (97.13), Texarkana (96.62), El Dorado (95.85), Little Rock (95.54) and Pine Bluff (93.37) rounded out the ATBI ratings for the final quarter of 2015.  

“We are encouraged by what we are seeing in both the residential and commercial real estate markets in Pulaski County, especially North Little Rock,” said John Womack, CEO of Arvest Central Arkansas. “Continued progressive growth in both Faulkner and Garland counties also echoes our findings during the last several quarters of the survey.”

Fourteen of the 18 cities on the index increased their ATBI rating from third quarter 2015 to fourth quarter 2015.

Rogers led the December ATBI with a monthly rating of 108.60, the first time that the city has finished a month with the highest rating.

“Their number embodies strength across the board,” said Marc Fusaro, associate professor of economics at Arkansas Tech and developer of the ATBI. “[Rogers’] retail sector showed strength at 116.84 on sales of $3.4 million. The housing market showed strength at 112.90 on 483 home unit sales. The labor market showed strength on an unemployment rate of 3.2 percent.”