Manufacturer to open new Arkansas facility, add up to 60 jobs

A subsidiary of a major railcar manufacturer that already employs about 1,000 people in Arkansas will open a $3.5 million facility in Paragould, creating up to 60 new jobs.

Officials from Corbitt Manufacturing announced the new jobs Wednesday alongside Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and other local leaders, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission said in a news release.

Jeff Hollister, president and CEO of Corbitt's parent company, American Railcar Industries, said the new facility would help the firm "meet current and anticipated demand for key components that go on the railcars" the company produces.

“The proximity of the new facility to our railcar manufacturing plants and the work ethic of people in Northeast Arkansas were two of the factors in choosing to start up a new facility in Paragould," he said in the release.

American Railcar Industries first opened a freight railcar assembly factory in Paragould in 1995 and four years later opened a second plant in Marmaduke.

Production at the new facility was expected to begin immediately.

Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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