Kyle Massey

Little Rock

Assistant Editor at Arkansas Business

Assistant Editor, Arkansas Business. Cover energy and media/marketing. @nytimes alum. Proud husband to @kaprichard and dad to @kalib_tweli

Articles

$1 Billion Data Center Projects Signal New Tech Era for Arkansas

6 days ago | arkansasbusiness.com | Kyle Massey

It has been Arkansas’ springtime for data centers since the state made luring tech hubs a priority in the recent legislative session. Huge data center projects have been announced since April in West Memphis, Conway and Little Rock. All are hailed as the biggest capital investments ever in their cities. And they have reaped major incentives while promising a construction boom and up to 50 high-value permanent jobs at each site.
State Approves Standard Lithium's 2.5% Royalty Rate Proposal

1 week ago | arkansasbusiness.com | Kyle Massey

The push to produce commercial lithium from Arkansas’ underground brines took a big step forward Wednesday when regulators set a royalty rate for landowners. The Arkansas Oil & Gas Commission unanimously set a 2.5% royalty for mineral rights holders, disappointing many who had hoped for a bigger percentage. The ruling, which came during a four-hour hearing at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, favored Standard Lithium.
SPP Proposes Fast-Track Plan to Address Looming Power Generation Shortfall

1 week ago | arkansasbusiness.com | Kyle Massey

Southwest Power Pool, the Little Rock nonprofit that oversees the electrical grid in 14 states, has the tough mission of ensuring adequate wholesale electricity and transmission infrastructure. That job is getting harder by the day as a projected generation gap threatens to overwhelm the Midwest and, indeed, most of the United States.
Springdale's Cargill Closure Marks Largest Layoff in City History

1 week ago | arkansasbusiness.com | Kyle Massey

Decision-makers at Cargill Inc. hit the Springdale workforce with a body blow this year, but they managed to telegraph the punch. Cargill, the nation’s largest privately held company, announced in late January that it would shut down its turkey production plant in Springdale on Aug. 1. This closing will throw about 1,000 plant employees out of work and loom over the livelihoods of 108 turkey farmers contracted to supply birds to the operation.
APR Spells Excellence In Communications Work

2 weeks ago | arkansasbusiness.com | Kyle Massey

April was National APR Month, celebrated by the Public Relations Society of America, and its Arkansas chapter was front and center. APR signals Accreditation in Public Relations, the society’s “gold standard” for communications professionals. Of PRSA’s 112 chapters nationwide, the Arkansas chapter has the highest percentage of members with the APR distinction, roughly 48%.
Walmart Connect Powers Advertising Growth With AI, Data & Streaming

2 weeks ago | arkansasbusiness.com | Kyle Massey

Walmart has 10,500 stores worldwide and has recently challenged Amazon’s dominance in online sales. But the world’s largest business, based in Bentonville, has also steadily but quietly become a big money-maker in advertising. Last fiscal year, the retail giant reported global ad revenue of $4.4 billion, up 27% from 2023. Its dedicated U.S. omnichannel ad platform, Walmart Connect, reported a 24% revenue jump in the fourth quarter.
Alyson Hoge Retiring After 46 Years at Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

3 weeks ago | arkansasbusiness.com | Kyle Massey

Alyson Hoge is retiring in July after more than three years as managing editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. And that was just a small fraction of the 46 years she spent in a rare one-stop career in daily journalism. Hoge, 66, announced her plans on Tuesday, the anniversary of her hiring in 1979. When she started as a clerk at the newsroom at Capitol and Scott Streets, Jimmy Carter was president, Iran held 52 American hostages and “Reunited” by Peaches and Herb was Billboard’s No. 1 hit song.
Crypto Mining Lawsuit Sparks Debate Over Regulation & Ownership

3 weeks ago | arkansasbusiness.com | Kyle Massey

President Donald Trump has promised to make the U.S. the world champion of cryptocurrency, and his family is poised to make billions off the industry. Meanwhile, his former press secretary, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is leading a fight to regulate bitcoin mines in Arkansas. So far it has been tough going. For one thing, Arkansas appears determined to wall off crypto mine ownership from Chinese-born Americans.
Hugh McDonald Touts Arkansas Reforms for Job Growth & Capital Investment

1 month ago | arkansasbusiness.com | Kyle Massey

Hugh McDonald spent a career in the utility industry before becoming Arkansas’ secretary of commerce. The recent legislative session tapped his expertise in both energy and economic development as he championed laws he believes will boost business in Arkansas. Some are already bearing fruit. McDonald was CEO of the state’s largest electric company, Entergy Arkansas, from 2000 to 2016. He joined Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ cabinet in 2023.
New $1B I-55 Bridge to Transform Memphis Traffic & Freight Flow

1 month ago | arkansasbusiness.com | Kyle Massey

Three funding paths converged recently to free up nearly a billion dollars for a new bridge over the Mississippi at Memphis. Construction could start late next year. Plans for a wider, modern bridge at one of the nation’s busiest multimodal transport hubs have circulated for decades. But new federal and state funding sources accelerated the effort to replace the oldest bridge in the nation’s interstate system: the 75-year-old Memphis & Arkansas Bridge, opened in December 1949.