In Metro Little Rock, business is a big deal. A handful of national and international companies—some homegrown, some transplants—have their headquarters here. Due in part to the region’s low cost of living and abundance of natural resources, the area is an economic draw for everything from agribusiness and manufacturing to retail, health care and communications. Below, some of the businesses you’ll want to learn more about.

ECONOMIC HEADQUARTERS
Some of the businesses and organizations that are headquartered in Metro Little Rock.

ACXIOM: This publicly-traded company with offices in 12 countries is the developer of some of the largest and most sophisticated business intelligence and marketing databases in the world.

DILLARD’S: One of the nation’s largest fashion apparel, cosmetics and home furnishings retailers, Dillard’s has more than 300 retail locations in 29 states. The retailer is currently establishing an 850,000-square-foot Internet Fulfillment Center in Maumelle, expected to be fully operational by late 2012.

LM WIND POWER (North America): In 2007, this global wind energy company announced it would locate a major plant and its North American headquarters in the Little Rock Port Authority. Based in Denmark, LM is the world’s leading supplier of components and services to the wind industry.

STEPHENS INC.: One of the largest privately-held, independent financial services firms in the world, Stephens has 27 offices across the country and is focused on building value for companies, state and local governments, institutions and high-net-worth investors.

SOUTHWEST POWER POOL: A nonprofit regional transmission organization, SPP manages power grids that touch nine states. The company is building a 150,000-square-foot headquarters near the intersection of Kanis Road and Chenal Parkway in west Little Rock.

WINDSTREAM COMMUNICATIONS: One of the largest providers of telecommunications services in rural communities, Windstream has been ranked “Fourth Best Performing U.S. Company” by BusinessWeek. The company provides high-speed broadband Internet, phone services and digital TV packages to residential customers, as well as products and services for businesses and governmental agencies.

MORE NOTABLE DEVELOPMENTS

Arkansas Scholarship Lottery: In 2009, voters elected to have a state lottery with proceeds devoted to scholarships for Arkansas students attending Arkansas colleges and universities. In its first year, the lottery funded approximately $132 million in scholarships for about 30,000 students.

Caterpillar: Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar Inc. opened a 700,000-square-foot plant in North Little Rock in the latter half of 2010. The production facility manufactures motor graders and other heavy machinery. Fully staffed, the facility will employ 600.

HP: One of the world’s largest IT companies, HP recently opened a state-of-the-art customer service technical support center in Conway, which employs more than 1,200 people.

LITTLE ROCK NAMED A "BEST VALUE"

In its September 2011 issue, Kiplinger named Little Rock one of the country’s “best values,” based on cost of living, quality of life and strong economies. Taking into account such factors as population growth, unemployment rate, income growth and housing costs, Little Rock placed seventh on the list of 10. Little Rock has a cost of living index of 94, while the national average is 100. Also, Little Rock benefited from a 5.2 percent increase in household income from 2005 to 2009, according to the magazine. Kiplinger derived its data by using U.S. Census’ metropolitan statistical areas, which for Little Rock includes all of Pulaski, Faulkner, Saline, Lonoke, Perry and Grant counties.

No. 4 – The Brookings Institution MetroMonitor named Little Rock America’s fourth strongest economy.
Brookings Institution MetroMonitor (September 22, 2011)

No. 6 – The Wall Street Journal says Little Rock is the sixth best real estate market in the nation.
The Wall Street Journal (August 21, 2010), By  M.P. McQueen

No. 14 – Forbes recently designated Little Rock as No. 14 on its list of “Best Cities for Young Professionals.” The city had the 18th lowest unemployment rate of the 100 cities evaluated and a healthy job growth rate.

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS

If you earn $50,000 yearly in Little Rock, you will need to earn an annual salary of…
$59,958 in Fort Lauderdale
$60,580 in Chicago
$62,863 in Seattle
$70,643 in Los Angeles
$72,562 in Washington, D.C.
$112,240 in New York City
…to enjoy the same lifestyle.

Figures gathered from Money.CNN.com, which used data provided by researchers at C2ER. The data was generated from an average of the past four quarters ending March 2010.

STAY INFORMED

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