FORT SMITH : Three companies plan expansions, relocation
Posted on Tuesday, July 22, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/232020/
FORT SMITH — Two companies plan to build new plants at Chaffee Crossing and another is moving its corporate headquarters to Fort Smith, officials announced Monday.
Plastic Research and Development Co., or Pradco, announced plans to build a $ 21 million, 300, 000-square-foot factory at Chad Colley and Custer boulevards at Chaffee Crossing that will more than double its manufacturing space.
Air-gun supplier Umarex USA announced it will build a 105, 000-square-foot plant on 27 acres on Chad Colley Boulevard, spending about $ 7 million on the project. The Germanbased company also will make Fort Smith its North American headquarters.
Another company, QualServ Corp., 7400 S. 28 th St., announced it is moving its corporate headquarters from Kansas City, Mo., to Fort Smith.
The various moves will add more than 200 new jobs to the Fort Smith area.
Gov. Mike Beebe, who was on hand for all three of Monday’s announcements, said the developments are the result of the good work force in Fort Smith and the state.
He thanked the Pradco officials who decided to remain in Fort Smith rather than move to Tennessee or Alabama, which were trying to recruit the fishing lure manufacturer.
“We appreciate their continued investment in Arkansas, especially as we work with businesses to redevelop this area of Fort Chaffee,” Beebe said.
The 7, 000-acre Chaffee Crossing formerly was a part of Fort Chaffee. It was declared surplus by the Department of Defense in the 1990 s and turned back to the civilian sector for re- development.
Tasked with redevelopment, the Fort Chaffee Public Trust has worked with other local and state agencies to market the land that now is part of Fort Smith and Barling.
The two new plants will join Graphic Packaging Inc., which opened a 300, 000-square-foot plant at Chaffee Crossing in 2005 and Mars Petcare U. S. Inc., which is building a 240, 000-square-foot plant on Chad Colley Boulevard across from the Umarex site.
“I think the trust wants to work ourselves out of a job,” trust President Jerry Stewart said Monday.
The Department of Defense retained possession of the remaining 65, 000 acres of Fort Chaffee and has leased it to the Arkansas Military Department, which operates the Fort Chaffee Maneuver Training Center.
Pradco, which manufactures Rebel, Heddon, Yum, Bomber and Booyah brands fishing lures, decided to build a new plant because it outgrew the 120, 000 square feet of space in which it has operated since 1962.
It will build its new plant on 67 acres at Chad Colley and Custer boulevards and will build a 2, 000- to 3, 000-squarefoot lodge and research facility on 40 acres at a small lake southwest of the plant.
“We are a leader in the fishing industry worldwide, and we are pleased that the innovation and leadership will continue to be located in Fort Smith,” Vice President and General Manager Bruce Stanton said. “This is our home.”
Pradco agreed Monday to sell its 12 acres on Jenny Lind Avenue to the Fort Smith School District, its next-door neighbor, for $ 1 million, Fort Smith School Board President David Hunton said.
Hunton said the district probably will use at least some of the property for its technology center, for training, for storing its school buses and for warehouse space.
As an incentive to remain in the state, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission ruled the company is eligible for the Advantage Arkansas program that offers state income-tax credits of 1 percent of the payroll total for job creation based on the payroll of new, full-time permanent employees hired as a result of the project.
Pradco also is eligible for the commission’s InvestArk program that makes sales- and usetax credits available to existing Arkansas businesses that invest more than $ 5 million in new construction, expansion or modernization and for equipment.
The company also will receive $ 400, 000 from the governor’s quick action closing fund to help it make its move to a larger facility that will enable it to provide more jobs in the future, commission marketing and communications manager Scott Hardin said.
The Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce is contributing $ 100, 000 for assistance with site development costs.
Pradco employs about 150 people but has no immediate plans to add to its work force once it moves into its new plant, Hardin said.
Fort Smith and the Fort Chaffee Public Trust have agreed to extend water and sewer lines to the sites and roads, work that will cost nearly $ 1 million.
Fort Smith also has agreed to issue up to $ 20 million in revenue bonds that offer longterm tax exemptions to companies that locate or expand their businesses in Arkansas. Pradco will be responsible for repaying the principal and interest on the bonds.
Fort Smith and Sebastian County also have agreed to pay the company’s property taxes for the next 25 years, but the company will make an in-lieuof payment equal to 50 percent of its property tax.
The company receive electricity, natural gas and telecommunications at no cost, according to a memorandum of understanding.
Umarex, the parent company of Walther Firearms, has operated for about three years in a 30, 000-square-foot facility on South 29 th Street in Fort Smith. With 22 employees, it manufactures some of its air guns but mostly markets and distributes its products to sporting-good companies such as Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops and to the military.
The company expects to increase its work force to 120 within three years. It plans to increase its manufacturing that will include a. 22-caliber gun in addition to air guns.
“We are absolutely stoked to announce our new facility that will go up on this piece of ground,” company President Adam Blaylock, a Fort Smith native, told the crowd Monday.
He said when his bosses in Germany asked him where they should locate a new plant in the United States, Blaylock replied, “Well, you know, life is worth living right here.”
The remark, a take-off on Mayor Ray Baker’s mantra, “Life is worth living in Fort Smith, Ark.,” was a serious one, Blaylock said. It describes a place centrally located in the country and that has a good work force, he said.
The exchange rate that lowers the value of the dollar abroad also is making America an attractive place to open a factory, he said.
Like Pradco, Umarex qualifies for Advantage Arkansas and InvestArk programs with the economic development commission and will receive $ 25, 000 from the Chamber of Commerce for site development.
It also will receive electricity, natural gas and telecommunications at no cost.
The city will extend streets and water and sewer lines to the 27-acre site at a cost of more than $ 1 million.
QualServ manufactures custom cabinetry for restaurants and retail outlets like Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouses at its plant.
The company plans to bring in 40 employees for the headquarters and 75 more for manufacturing.
Beebe welcomed QualServ’s expanded presence in Fort Smith.
“This is a prime example of how a strong manufacturing work force can bring additional jobs and expansion to a community,” he said.
QualServ qualified for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s Advantage Arkansas and InvestArk programs and for training assistance.