$108M to fund projects in state

Creating, saving jobs is main goal

More than $108 million — including almost $100 million in private funds — will be invested in nine projects that will add jobs and help retain jobs throughout Arkansas, federal, state and local officials said Wednesday at a news conference at the state Capitol.

A combination of state, county and local funds for the nine projects totals more than $7.1 million.

The Delta Regional Authority, a federal-state partnership that works with 252 counties and parishes across eight states, will invest almost $1.3 million in the projects.

In all, the nine projects will help create about 340 jobs and retain about 640 jobs.

The projects include a $ 60 million distribution center being built in North Little Rock by food distributor Ben E. Keith Co. and a $35 million expansion of a feed mill by Ozark Mountain Poultry in Independence County.

The Delta Regional Authority’s investment is going to the city of North Little Rock to purchase backup generators for Ben E. Keith and for future businesses that locate in the area, said Spencer Lucker, a Delta Regional Authority spokesman. The Ozark Mountain Poultry investment will go to Independence County to help it meet the local match of funds for the project,

Lucker said.

The Ben E. Keith project will create 82 jobs and keep 256 Ben E. Keith jobs in North Little Rock that may have been lost without the project, the Delta Regional Authority said Wednesday. The Ozark Mountain Poultry venture will create 225 jobs and keep 247 jobs in Independence County.

The other projects include an initiative to educate ninththrough 12th-grade students about the job possibilities in technical skilled professions; the extension of a waterline to accommodate a Loves Travel Stop and Country Store in Lake Village; improvements to the rail system serving the Helena Harbor; the expansion of the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum in North Little Rock; the extension of a sewer line to businesses on Arkansas 16 near Fairfield Bay; renovation of the learning center at at Our House in Little Rock, which will help train homeless adults with full-time jobs; and improvements for the reopening of the only publicly accessible rail spur on the Missouri Northern Arkansas Railroad in Yellville.

The Yellville project is the first in the state’s 3rd Congressional District to be funded by the Delta Regional Authority. The rail spur had recently been closed.

“[The rail spur] is a very vital part of the infrastructure in Marion County,” said Shawn Lane, mayor of Yellville. “This will kick-start an economic development plan that we have for the Yellville Industrial Park.”

Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he was pleased the projects were focused on economic development and the creation of jobs, particularly with investments in the basics, such as infrastructure, workforce training and education.