FiberPro announces new facility
Company to employ around 70; invest $3.1M
Half a century ago, 2727 E. Grand Service Road was at the vanguard of the manufacturing of lumber handling equipment, producing trimmers, sorters, stackers and control systems for sawmills and lumberyards.
Edward M. Harvey’s HEMCO occupied the 130,000-squarefoot facility.
U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-District 4, said Friday that Harvey invented equipment used worldwide. Local son Josh Krauss hopes to continue that legacy, announcing Friday that his venture, FiberPro, will use the facility for the purpose Harvey intended.
Harvey, 85, died in 2017 after a decadelong battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
“We’ll be investing millions of dollars to get it back to the way it was,” Krauss, who, along with his father, Jim, sold Baxley Equipment Co. and Price LogPro to Timber Automation in
2015, said at Friday’s announcement.
“It was built in the mid-’70s by Ed Harvey and is custom made to do what we’re going to use it for,” he said.
The reclamation includes 70 new jobs and a $3.1 million capital investment. HEMCO sold the facility to U.S. Natural Resources in the 1990s. Krauss said his father was the plant’s general manager.
“This facility might be new to a lot of you, but it’s not new to me,” he said. “I have a lot of history here. I worked at this facility out in the shop painting equipment. I mowed the yard. I cleaned the offices. It’s come full circle. I look forward to bringing the facility back and bringing jobs to Garland County.”
County Judge Darryl Mahoney said the plant was a modern marvel when he attended nearby Cutter Morning Star High School more than 40 years ago.
“This building was state of the art at that time,” he said. “The front of this building was amazing to look at when I was a young man. It attracted everybody’s attention. It was a facility way ahead of its time when it was built. It looks like FiberPro will bring it back to that position.”
FiberPro acquired the building and 13-acre campus in November from Summit Properties. Summit owner Rick Williams said he entertained more lucrative offers, but none of the suitors were willing to invest in the local economy to the degree FiberPro will.
“We actually had it sold for more money in a different deal,” Williams, who used the building as a mobilization site for his company’s construction projects, said. “Josh said, ‘This is where my dad started, and this facility means a lot to me.’”
“When Josh told me his story, I said, ‘Josh, $100 million wouldn’t buy this building. I’ll keep my word. And I mean that. I appreciate the investment you guys are making here.’”
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said there was a time when homegrown entrepreneurs such as Krauss were predisposed to taking their talent and capital out of state. Friday’s announcement shows the state is living up to its former official nickname: The Land of Opportunity.
“Thank you for having your vision, your heart here in this community,” he said. “When I started in politics, you would see a Josh that loved Arkansas, but he would wind up somewhere else because that’s where the best opportunities are. Not only do we have opportunities here, but we have entrepreneurs like Josh who’s creating those opportunities.”