Beverly Enterprises Is Moving to Arkansas

Beverly Enterprises, the Pasadena-based nursing home company, is moving its headquarters to Ft. Smith, Ark., a company spokesman said.

Spokesman William Ihle said that Beverly’s board approved the move to Ft. Smith last week. The company reportedly is moving other major corporate offices to Ft. Smith from Atlanta and Virginia Beach, Va.

Although several details remain to be worked out, including the financial feasibility of the move, “Ft. Smith is the direction we want to move in,” Ihle said.

David Banks, Beverly chairman, was quoted in a Ft. Smith newspaper Wednesday as saying it would be “a phased move to Arkansas, possibly beginning in the summer.”

Such a move ultimately could mean creation or relocation or both of “well over 500 executive, financial, computer-related and white-collar jobs” with an annual payroll estimated at “between $15 million and $20 million,” unidentified sources told the newspaper, the Southwest Times-Record.

“It would be premature to go into dollar amounts concerning payrolls, specific numbers of employees, plans for buildings or other detailed information,” Banks was quoted as saying.

Beverly Enterprises closed up 50 cents at $5 in New York Stock Exchange trading.

The Ft. Smith Chamber of Commerce was invited to compete against Little Rock and Virginia Beach for the Beverly headquarters by company officials last year.

“The city made an outstanding case for itself and its people,” Banks said. “I think it’s obvious we were impressed with what Ft. Smith offers. In addition to a central location and the kind of skilled people our company requires, the quality of life in Ft. Smith would attract any corporation.

“We simply looked at all three cities and picked the one that will best help Beverly move into the next century as the leader in our industry,” Banks said.