CONWAY — The chairman and chief executive of Hewlett-Packard joined Gov. Mike Beebe this morning at a ceremony dedicating the technology company's $28 million support center in Conway.
More than 500 people work in the facility in sales and call center positions. HP plans to eventually have up to 1,200 workers there.
The dedication ceremony, which drew hundreds of community members, politicians, corporate officials and site employees, served as the official inauguration for the center, which opened in December.
"This is special," Beebe said. "When you finally see the building's finished, all the employees start to gather and more employees on the way ... it's a special day."
HP CEO Mark Hurd praised Beebe and Conway mayor Mayor Tab Townsell for their commitment to the company and support in finding a location that met all its needs.
"We could have gone anywhere," Hurd said. "We had a lot of people vying for HP to come and have a presence ... We chose Arkansas and we chose Conway."
The area offers HP access to educational facilities and to a community it "can become an integral part of," Hurd said.
HP held a career fair last fall at the University of Central Arkansas. It's not immediately clear when the additional jobs will be filled, but officials say future hiring events will be announced through the center's Twitter site, www.twitter.com/hpconway.
The dedication comes on the heels of an announcement last week from Southwest Power Pool, which said it would build a new headquarters in Little Rock and create an additional 200 high-paying jobs there.
"That's what separates Arkansas from the rest of the country right now," Beebe said. "We've lost lots of jobs but then we've created a lot too."
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
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