Business is looking better these days for Tyson Foods, Inc. The meat giant's share price has risen more than 35-percent in the past three weeks, and its stock has rebounded more than 200-percent since last November. Industry-wide production cuts and a reduction in frozen inventory are being credited for the surge, along with a shift in consumer demand to at-home eating. Chicken and beef make up three-fourths of Tyson's total sales, with pork and prepared foods making up the rest.

May 22, 2009

Even as we work at the local level to bring jobs to Arkansas, we also recognize the power the Internet can have on the wider state level in matching career opportunities to the Arkansans who need them. This week, we are launching a new online research tool to help Arkansans who are looking for a job, job training, or other additional education.

We're calling it the Arkansas Works Web Portal, and have designed it to be a singular destination for all areas of career development. Whether you're searching for information about college or career- and technical-training programs, hunting for your dream job, or thinking about taking the bold step of starting your own business, this Web site will connect you to the tools you need.

There are literally dozens of state government Web sites that offer information of employment, education, and job training. To simplify the process, we designed the Arkansas Works Web Portal to more easily connect you to these resources and ensure that you have access to all available opportunities. The Portal is streamlined, user-friendly, and matches you to the State services that will lead you to the career you want. You log on, answer a few simple questions, and the resources that will best serve you are delivered to you at the push of a button.

Creating a workforce in Arkansas capable of competing in the 21st-century economy and attracting knowledge-based industries to the State require different strategies than we've used in the past. One of my first acts as Governor was to create the Workforce Cabinet to ensure that the state agencies tasked with education, job creation, and workforce training communicate and collaborate efficiently and effectively. And last October I convened the Arkansas Works Summit in Little Rock, bringing together more than 1,400 leaders from all 75 counties in Arkansas.