News in brief

Walmart board looks at McDonald's CEO

Walmart Inc. has nominated McDonald's Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steve Easterbrook for an independent director position in a move to add global business experience to its board.

Easterbrook, 50, has been nominated to replace Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom, 34, who is stepping down from an independent director role after serving on Walmart's board since 2014.

Easterbrook became the CEO of McDonald's in March 2015 and has spent about 25 years in the restaurant industry. His tenure at McDonald's has included stints as global chief brand officer and president of McDonald's Europe. Easterbrook also was CEO of Wagamama Limited and PizzaExpress Limited, two United Kingdom-based restaurant chains.

Greg Penner, Walmart's board chairman, said in a statement that Easterbrook's experience in strategic planning, global business operations and brand management "will make him a valuable addition."

James Cash, 70, who has been a member of the Walmart board for 12 years, also is retiring from his position as lead independent director.

-- Robbie Neiswanger

Farm-loan rankings include Arvest Bank

Arvest Bank is ranked 29th nationally for agriculture loans, according to a list compiled by the American Bankers Association.

Utah-based Wells Fargo Bank was ranked No. 1 with total farm loans of nearly $7.8 billion. The rankings are based on fourth-quarter 2017 data gathered from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Fayetteville-based Arvest's farmland loans stood at $491 million, and the bank has more than $129 million in farm loans, according to a Monday release. Arvest's total farm-loan volume stood at more than $620 million and is the highest in the state. Arvest ranked 29th for the same quarter a year ago.

Paragould-based First National Bank was ranked 88th on the list with $152 million in farmland loans, $115 million in farm loans and total farm loans at $267 million. First National Bank ranked 82nd for the same quarter in 2016.

-- John Magsam

State index ticks up as Dow Jones falls

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 1.31 to 403.26 Monday.

"Technology shares declined and interest rates moved higher as the Dow Jones industrial average closed down for a fourth consecutive day," said Chris Harkins, managing director with Raymond James & Associates in Little Rock.

Total volume for the index was 18.1 million shares.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

Business on 04/24/2018

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