News

In the wake of COVID-19 many companies are looking to rural areas for their recovery. With urban areas hardest hit by COVID-19, many companies are considering less populated states as a way to help mitigate any future losses associated with operational shutdowns and delays caused by future pandemics and quarantines...Continue Reading

Arkansas’ farmers and ranchers keep grocery stores stocked across the nation and around the world, but many of those producers are facing a bare cupboard when it comes to workers. An already-tight labor market and COVID-19 related travel restrictions have sounded alarms from Wabbaseka to Washington D.C. “So many farmers ha...Continue Reading

Over extended and overly risky supply chains are no longer tolerable. Coronavirus is providing new and forceful momentum for the reshoring of manufacturing investment back to the U.S. from China and elsewhere. Our nation’s medical devices and biopharma sector — now dangerously concentrated in China — must be the firs...Continue Reading

The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed the vulnerabilities of the United States’ reliance on imported medical supplies and equipment. Global manufacturers of these much-needed products have had capacities curtailed due to shutdowns, social distancing, and travel restrictions. At the same time more than 50 countries around the world have embargoe...Continue Reading

Your company has just decided to invest in a new facility expansion, and you have been chosen to lead the effort. Perhaps you have specific knowledge about a certain manufacturing process or maybe you are the most trusted individual to the CEO. Whatever landed you the assignment is irrelevant; no...Continue Reading

Top Site Selection Concerns for Heavy Manufacturing Companies When you think of heavy manufacturing, utilities and transportation logistics infrastructure is key for those operations. So, for example, you have operations with demands in the 400 megawatt or the 200 megawatts range. Some smaller heavy-industrial operations require 10 to 20 megawatts &ndash...Continue Reading

For Magdalah R. Silva, joining Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) was a game changer right from the start. As co-founder, CEO, and president of DMS International—an information and technology services company for the Federal government and the private sector—Magdalah attended the 2019 DWEN Summit in Singapore along with other global women entrepreneurs, investors...Continue Reading

The supply chain disruption caused by COVID-19 has highlighted the need for companies to decrease their dependence on China and to increase their manufacturing capabilities within the United States. As site selectors and executives review location options, Arkansas continues to come out on top for its affordable real estate, lo...Continue Reading

Arkansas leaders, business owners and residents! We need your help to make sure that every person in our state is accounted for during the 2020 U.S. Census. The data obtained during the Census will impact the amount of federal funding each city, county and our state receives over the nex...Continue Reading

The million-dollar question in the past two months has been: How do I stay productive during these hard times? When so much is weighing on our hearts and minds — the developing news, fear of what’s to come, and, let’s be honest, cabin fever — it can be difficult to find our groov...Continue Reading

A Federal Communications Commission report Friday indicated that the U.S. is making progress on closing the digital divide, but FCC commissioners don’t agree on how much progress has been made.  The 2020 Broadband Deployment Report showed that very high-speed broadband service (250 Mbps/25 Mbps) can be accessed by roughly 85 percent of citizen...Continue Reading

Despite the fact we find ourselves in challenging times, Arkansas is still working to grow business in the state. Businesses who are growing in Arkansas, or who move into the state and create jobs, are prime candidates for the many incentives, grants and loans available to help businesses grow an...Continue Reading

A California aerospace manufacturer is relocating to Little Rock. On April 14, Arcturus Aerospace, a veteran-owned aviation manufacturing company, announced that it will be shifting its operations to Arkansas, where it will provide CNC machined parts and delivery for aircraft manufacturers.  The company was founded in 1984 and came under it...Continue Reading

The Paycheck Protection Program will encourage businesses with fewer than 500 employees to retain workers and maintain wages through forgivable loans. Businesses will apply for the loans through their banks. The Small Business Administration is currently developing guidelines for exactly the program will work and how businesses will apply. You can sign up for SBA email alerts here. Click her...Continue Reading

At the state and local level businesses may qualify for grants, loans and incentives when creating jobs and growing within Arkansas. We understand that existing businesses are particularly interested in what state and federal funding programs are available to assist with business stabilization during COVID-19. We have detailed those program...Continue Reading

Northwest Arkansas was the 13th fastest-growing metro area in the United States between 2010 and 2019 and the 24th fastest growing metro from 2018 to 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Among U.S. counties with at least 20,000 people, Benton County was the 40th fastest growing county between 2010 and 2019 and th...Continue Reading

During the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of Arkansans are doing their part to slow the spread by working from home. Some are prepared from years of remote working, while many others have had their entire office culture entirely uprooted.  As professionals – and individuals, too – adapting to the new, temporary normal...Continue Reading

The coronavirus pandemic is creating unforeseen real estate challenges for Dallas-Fort Worth businesses forced to move employees to home offices and layoff others–leaving them with significant financial exposure to underutilized real estate. The impact will shift the DFW area’s landlord-controlled real estate market in favor of tenants as landlords battle t...Continue Reading

The World Trade Center of Arkansas is working closely with the U.S. Small Business Administration to promote economic resilience and ease concern among small businesses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The center utilizes the State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) grant, which assists eligible Arkansas small businesses and agricultural producer...Continue Reading

Area Development’s 34th Annual Corporate Survey and 16th Annual Consultants Survey were conducted in early January and, therefore, reflect the respondents’ expectations for new facilities and site selection priorities at that time. Of the 100 corporate respondents, 53 percent represent manufacturing firms and 6 percent distribution/logistics operations. Sixty percent of the respondent companies employ fewe...Continue Reading

The "Site Selection Magazine" journal has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Site Selection reaches those individuals who manage industrial assets, including all aspects of real estate management and site selection for corporations. The content covers manufacturing plant site selection, facilities management, logistics and supply chain network management, tax and incentives policy and economic development strategy. I...Continue Reading

The Greenbrier Companies Inc., an international supplier of railcars and marine barges, announced Wednesday that it is investing approximately $16 million in its Marmaduke facility to support future growth.  As part of the expansion, the company plans to create at least 35 new jobs within one year, adding to the 85...Continue Reading

Zekelman Industries, the parent company of Atlas Tube, announced July 30 in Blytheville it will build the world’s largest continuous ERW tube mill on property adjacent to its existing Atlas Tube mill. The $150 million facility will employ 75 new workers. Atlas will have a total of about 150 employees onc...Continue Reading