Arkansas Ecodev09

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A Natural Wnder

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ArkansasA Natural Wonder

Arkansas as lng been

knwn fr its gegrapic

diversity and scenic beauty.

Nw it’s a burgeningNatural Wnder wen it

cmes t transprtatin,

lgistics, and trade.

May 2009 • Inbound Logistics



Arkansas A Natural Wnder

Inbound Logistics • May 2009

Aptly coined he Natural State or itsgeographic and geological diversity, andscenic beauty, Arkansas is equally becom-ing known as A Natural or Business.Arkansas is earning a reputation as a mag-net or transportation, logistics, and trade.Home to the oremost consumer goodsretailer in the world, two leading motorreight carriers, the largest U.S. river sys-tem, a major east-west highway, and thecountry’s largest rice crop, opportunitiesabound in Arkansas. Businesses are miningthe state’s potential and polishing its appeal;all the while its reputation strengthens.

“We’re down to earth, approachable, andready to do business,” says Maria Haley,

executive director, Arkansas EconomicDevelopment Commission (AEDC).

Businesses can appreciate this down-home recognition and reception, but publicand private sector Razorbacks are reluctantto rest on their “natural assets” to attractand grow business. Instead, under theleadership o Governor Mike Beebe andthrough the example o leading transpor-tation and logistics visionaries, the state isdevising a blueprint or economic devel-opment that empowers business througheducation and innovation.

“Everything spins rom workorcegrowth and education,” adds Haley. “Wehave a strategic plan or economic devel-opment. Without a plan, you don’t know where you’re going.”

For Arkansas, the destination is already in sight.

ShoPPING WALMART’S CAChET

Having the world’s largest corpora-tion, and arguably most sophisticated andinnovative supply chain, headquarteredin your state goes a long way when sell-

ing potential suitors on the merits o itslocation. But Bentonville-based Walmartisn’t alone. Dillard’s department stores,Murphy Oil, and yson Foods are threeother homegrown Fortune 500 companiesthat call Arkansas home, joined by 100-plus Fortune 500 parent rms that operateabout 310 acilities in state.

Still, Walmart’s prestige leaves anenduring mark on the state. “Its eecthas been helpul in economic develop-ment,” says Haley. “Having homegrown

companies succeed on the global stagesays something about our state.”rue to point, Walmart’s supplier com-

pliance acuity has made Arkansas thelikely location or many o the company’s

vendors, with Heinz, Clorox, General Mills,Pzer, Mattel, Pepsico, Coca Cola, Procter& Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Gillette,and Hershey’s all operating distributioncenters in state.

he discount retailer also is seedingtier-one and tier-two suppliers throughoutthe state, not just in Northwest Arkansas.

“hey want to be within 75 miles o Walmart,” says Joe Holmes, AEDC mar-keting and communications director.

Given the timeliness and immediacy o its replenishment needs, Walmart wantsto have major supply oces in state, whichcan help acilitate just-in-time logisticsand deliveries, Holmes explains.

he largest corporation in the worldbrings a certain level o cachet andexpectation, especially in terms o trans-portation and logistics capabilities and

perormance. Tis benchmark bleeds intoall aspects o the state’s development – rom

Two of the nation’s leading companies –motor freight carrier J.B. Hunt and retailerWalmart – call Arkansas home.

Famus fr its wealt f resurces and dwn-me

carm, te state f Arkansas as fast becme te

perfect matc fr transprtatin- and distributin-

minded businesses.



There’s a reason why global companies like Wal-Mart, J.B. Hunt and Tyson Foods call Arkansas

home. No other state ofers the unique combination o central geography, talent, technology, and

training to propel sophisticated logistics and supply chains. In act, more than 56,000 Arkansans

are employed in the logistics industry, all with the experience to help your business go global.

Learn why business moves orward at arkansasedc.com, or call 1-800-ARKANSAS.

What do the World’s largest retailer and the

nation’s biggest trucking company share? a home.



Inbound Logistics • May 2009

Arkansas

transportation and distribution inra-structure to education.

At the University o Arkansas, Walmart’slegacy is ront and center. he Sam M.Walton College o Business is named aerthe retailer’s astute architect, and the com-pany’s presence throughout the school isovert. Te marketing and logistics depart-ment is the largest in the Walton Collegeand ofers undergraduate degrees in retailand industrial marketing, and transporta-tion and logistics.

“Walmart has brought a need or logis-tics education,” observes Holmes.

In terms o bringing investment and

development to the state, educated laboris attractive, and education and economicdevelopment are inseparable.

“We have a targeted industry wherewe are able to educate the workorce andcreate an immediate labor pipeline orthe state. Tis is very important or thegrowth o Walmart, its suppliers, andArkansas,” says Haley.

Walmart’s presence is a great advertise-ment, but Arkansas’ product sells itsel.

Bordering the Mississippi River, prox-

imate to the Gul o Mexico, steadastalong the ast-blowing wind corridor, andmere miles rom Memphis – home to the

busiest air cargo hub in the world – thestate is positioned avorably in terms o transportation and market accessibility.

While Walmart-squired business devel-opment is rampant in Northwest Arkansasand the Little Rock area, Memphis hasdraed a second and entirely unrelatedeconomic development vacuum in thestate’s eastern region.

here are miles and miles o trucksand tracks at Union Pacic’s state-o-the-art intermodal acility on 600 acres in

Marion, just north o where Interstates40 and 55 converge. Nearby is BurlingtonNorthern Santa Fe’s Harvard Yard, as wellas immediate access to three other railcarriers. Only 20 minutes rom downtownMemphis, companies such as Smuckersand oyota have located acilities in theWest Memphis/Marion area.

No less important, these intermodalacilities are adjacent to the MississippiRiver, which serves as the primary inlandwater artery in the United States and

Arkansas. Tere are 1,000 miles o commer-cially navigable waterways in the state, withthe largest – the McClellan-Kerr ArkansasRiver Navigation System – running throughthe center o the state, enabling barge tracbetween Catoosa, Okla., and the MississippiRiver. his system serves public ports atFort Smith, Little Rock, and Pine Bluf, aswell as many private terminals and numer-ous large industrial sites throughout thestate. Te Foreign rade Zone at the LittleRock Port is located in a 104,000-square-oot building, with sub-zones in El Dorado,Forrest City, and West Helena.

On the airreight side, Little Rock National Airport eatures three runwaysand can accommodate large aircraf, includ-ing the Boeing 747. Eight reight carriersserve the airport, and UPS Air Cargo main-tains a regional reight hub there. Te statealso lays claim to the Arkansas Aeroplex inBlytheville, ormerly Eaker Air Force Base,the state’s second-largest industrial complexand one o the largest commercial airstripsin the central United States.

Underpinning Arkansas’ transportationinrastructure is a network o highways

Digging InA variety f cmpanies are setting dwn stakes in Arkansas:

n Chicago-based Sculze and Burc Biscuit C., a leading manuacturer o snack

oods, is locating a new 500,000-square-oot production acility in Searcy that was or-

merly home to Maytag. The company currently operates a 500,000-square-oot acility in

Chicago. The manuacturer’s growing pastry and granola bar business demanded additional

manuacturing capacity, which predicated its decision to expand production capacity in the

south central region.

n Byd Metals has broken ground on a new 10-acre manuacturing and distribu-

tion acility within the industrial park at the Little Rock Port. The Fort Smith, Ark.-based

company is investing $6 million in the 36,200-square-oot building, which will employ

46 people. Boyd distributes a broad range o carbon

steel, stainless steel, aluminum, and fberglass products.

Production at the new acility will begin in late Fall 2009.

n Chicago-headquartered Nrdex USA, a lead-

ing global manuacturer o wind turbines, is locating a

manuacturing acility in Jonesboro and will invest approx-imately $100 million in the new acility. The German

company’s U.S. division is building out 187 acres in the

Craighead Technology Park. The new plant in Jonesboro

is a key pillar in Nordex’s international strategy that will

enable it to serve the United States, one o the ast-

est growing markets or wind energy. The manuacturer’s

Jonesboro operation will be an OEM or every wind turbine

component except the tower, producing rotor blades and assembling nacelles.

n Caterpillar, the world’s largest manuacturer o construction and mining equipment,

is locating its new North American motor grader production acility in North Little Rock,

where it will invest $140 million and employ approximately 600 people. Production o com-

mercial motor graders is expected to begin in early 2010.



May 2009 • Inbound Logistics

A Natural Wnder

and byways served by two o the coun-try’s premier motor carriers: ArkansasBest Freight (ABF) and J.B. Hunt.

Situated midway between Mexico City and Montreal, within a 550-mile radiusArkansas can serve a market o 103 mil-lion people, or 42 percent o the U.S.population, Haley notes.

Interstate 40 is a major east-west, coast-to-coast thoroughare, while Interstate55 intersects I-40 in eastern Arkansas,and provides distribution opportuni-

ties rom New Orleans north to St. Louisand Chicago. Interstate 30 connects withI-40 in Litt le Rock, and continues west toDallas, creating a corridor to the south-west United States. In 2005, the statecompleted a $1-billion reconstruction planthat overhauled 372 miles o the state’s589-mile interstate highway system.

NATURAL ATTRACTIoN

he breadth o Arkansas’ transpor-tation inrastructure and resources

accommodates an array o industries withunique logistics demands. Shippers mov-ing consumer goods with just-in-timerequirements or glacial-like project cargowith out-o-the-box specs, via LL or barge,next-day air, or rail are well-provided or.

Manuacturing, agriculture, and or-estry are staple industries that have givenway to specialization in ood production,lumber, aviation and aerospace, and therenewable energy industry, which hasbeen urther distilled into rice, bottledspring water, paper, urniture, and windturbine components.

“Arkansas’ top export industry is avia-tion and aerospace,” says Haley, “and oursingle largest export is component man-uacturing or major companies such asLockheed Raytheon. Eighty-three auto-motive and industrial equipment suppliersare located here.”

he complexity o the aerospace sup-ply chain, as with automotive, requireshigh-caliber logistics resources andexpertise – capabilities that t well with

Arkansas’ emerging wind turbine indus-try. Situated conveniently near major Gul

Coast ports that have become primary gateways or wind turbine component

imports and exports, Arkansas is on theperiphery o a wind corridor that stretchesrom exas to Canada.

“here has been tremendous growthin wind turbine manuacturing,” Haley says. “Four international wind manuac-turers have located in state in the past twoyears. We’ve seen growing blade and tur-bine manuacturing activity or use in theUnited States as well as or export to South

America. We need tremendous logisticscapabilities to support this industry.”

Recently Nordex USA, the Americanarm o the German wind turbine man-uacturer, announced plans or amanuacturing acility in Jonesboro,Ark. As a result o the Nordex project,Jonesboro and the surrounding regionexpect numerous suppliers or the com-pany to locate in the area.

While these natural attributes draw notice, Arkansas’ state government

has worked hard to nurture a businessenvironment that keeps interest andinvestment in the state fowing.

“Leadership understands the needs o business – o getting public and privatesector on the same page. Governor Beebehas ocused us on working together andeducating al l the diferent agencies – edu-cation, labor, transportation and logistics,science and technology – to build a work-orce or the uture,” says Haley.

With 56,000 people employed in trans-

portation and warehousing jobs in thestate, and more than 80 distributionacilities and 20 major trucking irms,Arkansas has committed resources, capi-tal, and its uture to the growth o supply chain and logistics industries and jobs.

It’s little wonder then that Arkansas is anatural t or transportation and logisticsindustries. Te land o opportunity holdsno bounds. n

The Port of Pine Bluff serves as the majortrade center for the southeast portion ofArkansas, and is the anchor of the city’sHarbor Industrial District.

Fort Smith

LITTLE ROCK

Pine Bluff

West Memphis

Osceola

Bentonville

Texarkana

Searcy

540

40

530

55

40

30

65

67

hitting te RadA netwrk f igwaysand byways blstersArkansas’ strategiclcatin and is servedby tw f te cuntry’spremier mtr carriers,ABF and J.B. hunt. I-30cnnects wit I-40 inLittle Rck, and cntinueswest t Dallas, creating acrridr t te sutwestUnited States.

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Arkansas Ecodev09