Ammo distributor opening Searcy site

Company expects to create 100 jobs

American Marksman Arkansas LLC, an ammunition distributor, announced Thursday that it is opening a facility in Searcy that will create up to 100 jobs.

The company, which distributes ammunition of varying calibers, is part of American Marksman LLC of Omaha, Neb.

Employment payroll in what was described as advanced manufacturing jobs is expected to be more than $2 million over the next five years, according to a news release.

“Our expansion into Searcy, Arkansas, is a part of our continuing efforts to create local job development throughout the United States,” Thomas A. K. Schmidt, chief executive officer of American Marksman, said in the release. “Our manufacturing facility in Arkansas is a development milestone for our efforts to have significant financial impact on the local communities we serve.”

The company already is looking to hire and likely will open within 30-60 days in a 62,500- square- foot building on 7 acres on Benton Avenue in the southeast part of the city, said Buck Layne, president of the Searcy Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“One hundred new jobs are going to have a tremendous economic impact on our community,” Layne said in an interview.

Searcy, a city of 24,000 people, already has a manufacturing base employing about 3,000 people, he said.

The building was vacated in March by Electrocraft, a manufacturer of small electric motors. The company employed about 50 people when it closed, Layne said.

Mike Preston, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, said in a statement that the company’s expansion reflects a robust firearms industry.

“There has been a great deal of momentum in the ammunitions and firearms industry over the past several months, and I am excited to watch businesses such as American Marksman grow and prosper here,” he said.

American Marksman said its mission “is to be the leading recycler of ammunitions and technologies in respecknow

tive target markets with the vision of delivering the highest quality ammunition and components to civilian firearms enthusiasts, U.S. military, law enforcement and civilian security by utilizing market leading environmental practices.”

In November, it announced it was investing $35 million in an operation in Independence, Mo., which the company said would eventually create 400 jobs.

Layne said American Marksman received no local incentives, but it is expected to apply for two state credits available to companies.

One is Advantage Arkansas, which offers a state income tax credit for job creation that’s based on the payroll of new, full-time, permanent employees hired as a result of a new location or expansion in the state.

The other is the Tax Back program, which is available to Advantage Arkansas participants who invest at least $100,000. It provides a refund of sales and use taxes on the purchase of building materials and taxable machinery and equipment associated with the project.