Crittenden County and its two principal cities have doubled down on efforts to lure a vehicle assembly plant or other manufacturer capable of employing thousands of people and helping transform the region economically.
A year ago, officials from the county, West Memphis and Marion scrambled to put together a response to a request from a joint effort by Toyota Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. to build an assembly plant. They identified a 1,820-acre site as suitable for a large project.
They never heard back from the automakers and, to be honest, were doubtful they would, said Phillip Sorrell, economic development director for West Memphis.
The acreage, a stretch of farmland along Interstate 40 at Lehi, "wasn't quite ready," he said. "It wasn't a designated shovel-ready site the site consultants and these large projects are looking for."
In January, the two car companies announced they would build the $1.6 billion assembly plant on a 2,500-acre site in Huntsville, Ala., to manufacture Toyota Corollas and Mazda crossover SUVs. The plant is expected to employ up to 4,000 workers.
Two other sites in the Crittenden County area also have been marketed for large manufacturing plants without success in recent years.
Even before the Huntsville announcement, officials from Crittenden County and the two cities already were at work to get the Lehi property ready to market as a certified megasite, which Sorrell said is generally land exceeding 1,200 acres and ready for construction.
"We want to make our mark on the economic future of eastern Arkansas," said County Judge Woody Wheeless.
On Wednesday, about a year after the officials began the effort, Sorrell was preparing to send a draft of a certification application to Entergy Arkansas. The utility has a site-selection certification program that includes a 50-point checklist as an aid to help market economic development opportunities within its system.
"I'm sure there will be some back and forth, some corrections, additional information, that type of thing," Sorrell said. "We've been through all the 50 points. We're just polishing up some of the project narrative."
The joint effort has checked off a geotechnical report on the property, an environmental review designed to identify potential or existing contamination, and a topographical survey. Before that, West Memphis obtained purchase options from eight landowners, which Sorrell said was a "fundamental requirement."
"We've done all the things that need to be done," Sorrell said. "Now, it's just a matter of putting it all together in the format that Entergy needs to be able to review the site and give us some feedback."
He expects the property to be certified within 60 to 90 days.
In the meantime, the county and cities have formalized their relationship. The West Memphis and Marion city councils and the Crittenden County Quorum Court have passed resolutions establishing a cooperative growth and development agreement and pledging to work together.
"It's important then to work together to market the site," Sorrell said. "Bringing the three governmental entities together brings more resources to bear to go through the costs of developing the site, serving it with infrastructure and ultimately trying to put together a local incentive package.
"The more people you have at the table, the more resources you have to bring to bear on a particular project."
Danny Games, the business and economic development director for Entergy Arkansas, said the effort is hitting all the right notes, probably for the first time, as a result of "lessons learned."
The county had a site to the north that it tried to market, but it "never had a solid legal option for the control and purchase of the property," Games said. "With the city of West Memphis' ability to get this property under legal option, they have now been able to invest in some real due diligence and make it more marketable."
While the state has other so-called megasites, the Crittenden County property stands out not just for the region but for the state, Games said.
"This would be the largest contiguous shovel-ready site in the state," he said. "There are other industrial sites, but nothing as contiguous and as shovel-ready and under control as this site."
Another aspect that makes the property "particularly attractive" is its location on I-40 and within the greater Memphis metropolitan area, "especially for large projects that need that kind of land and acreage," Games said.
The level of cooperation between the cities and county also has elevated the project's potential, given the effort and resources it takes to land superprojects, he said.
"That's going to be almost as important as the site itself," Games said. "It's going to present some great opportunities."
Business on 08/02/2018