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Arkansas manufacturers find silver lining in difficult year

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Education Pays

Education Pays

Information courtesy of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission

Although 2020 brought many hardships and tragedy upon most of the world, Arkansas was still able to find success via the expansion and opening by many companies, many particularly focused on manufacturing. In fact, according to the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, the companies listed below accounted to create a projected 3,405 jobs with the average wage of those occupations being $20.87 per hour. The AEDC projected the investment of these companies to be $962,763,859 for the year with a total projected payroll of $1,333,835,603 created in 2020 alone.

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Gerber Products Company, a subsidiary of Nestle S.A., is adding a product line at its manufacturing facility in Fort Smith. As a part of this expansion, Gerber is generating up to 50 full-time jobs and investing $30 million for new food manufacturing and food processing equipment and machinery and infrastructure improvements at the site.

Koppers, a global provider of treated wood products, announced that it plans to invest a minimum of $23 million and increase the number of workers at its North Little Rock facility over the next two years.

Fiocchi of America, the United States subsidiary of Italy-based Fiocchi Group, today announced plans to establish a new manufacturing facility in Little Rock. Fiocchi, a global leader in small-caliber ammunition, will invest $15 million to establish a fully independent industrial platform in the U.S.

SCA Pharma, an FDA-registered outsourcing facility, announced that it will expand its operations in Little Rock. SCA will be investing more than $10 million and will create the opportunity to double its current Little Rock workforce of 180 people.

Nice-Pak, a pioneer and the leading global producer of wet wipes, announced plans to expand its manufacturing capacity at the company’s Jonesboro facility, increasing employment by adding more than 300 associates by the end of 2021. Nice-Pak’s project entailed multiple upgrades, including the extension of existing lines and the addition of a new manufacturing line that will create 176 new jobs.

Emerson will open a new facility in Ash Flat where it plans to invest $35 million and create approximately 245 new jobs within four years.

State and local officials joined Carvana for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on January 5 to mark the grand opening of the company’s new vehicle inspection and distribution center in West Memphis. Carvana first announced plans to construct the West Memphis inspection center in September 2019. The company hosted hiring events to recruit qualified candidates to fill more than 400 newly created positions for inventory associates, automotive technicians, and autobody and paint technicians.

Nestle unveiled that it will invest more than $100 million to expand the company’s production facility in Jonesboro to include a new line to produce Hot Pockets brand sandwiches. As part of the expansion, the company plans to hire at least 100 new employees over two years, as well as renovate and add 90,000 square feet to its facility.

Amazon.com, Inc. announced plans to open a new fulfillment center in North Little Rock. The new fulfillment center will create over 500 new, full-time jobs with industry-leading pay and comprehensive benefits starting on day one.

Revolution, parent company of Delta Plastics, announced plans to expand its 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Little Rock by an additional 36,000 square feet. With this investment, Revolution expects to create more than 60 new jobs for the state of Arkansas within the next two years, bringing total employment at the facility to more than 350. The investment at the Little Rock facility, totals over $20 million.

Cynergy Cargo 2, a manufacturer of enclosed cargo trailers, held a ribbon cutting ceremony on September 3, 2020 for its new facility in the Crossett Industrial Park. In April 2020, the company announced plans to build the facility and hire 70 new, full-time employees within 24 months.

Roach Manufacturing Corporation (R.M.C.), a manufacturer of conveyors and conveying equipment also known as Roach Conveyors, announced it will expand its facility in Caraway, creating 30 new jobs over the next two years. The company, headquartered in Trumann, opened its assembly and completion operations in Caraway in 2019, where it currently employs 15 people.

American furniture maker La-Z-Boy is expanding its second shift at its facility in Siloam Springs, creating 125 new jobs. The expansion comes after the plan was forced to temporarily shut down in March 2020 due to challenges presented by COVID-19. At that time, the company had 420 employees. With the expansion of the second shift, total employment will increase to 545.

Nucor Steel Arkansas held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 25, 2019 for its new $230 million specialty cold mill complex at its Hickman facility. The company hired approximately 100 new workers as part of the cold mill project.

Lockheed Martin announced a $142 million investment and 326 new jobs over the next few years with expansion at Camden plant. There are approximately 700 employees currently in Camden.

SupplyPike, a start-up company that offers a digital Supply Chain Management (SCM) platform for Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), announced that it will locate in Fayetteville, creating nearly 180 new jobs within the next five years.

Officials with Transplace, a leading provider of transportation management services and logistics technology solutions, announced it is building a new operations center in Rogers that will accommodate Transplace’s plans to add hundreds of new employees in the next several years.

DXC Technology, a global IT company with offices in Conway, will expand its operation and create 1,200 jobs over the next three years. This will increase the DXC Technology payroll in Conway to 1,600.

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