Aerospace firm announces $50M expansion at Arkansas site

News-Times
News-Times

LITTLE ROCK (AP) — An aerospace manufacturer announced Wednesday a $50 million expansion of its facility in south Arkansas and said it will hire 140 new people for the project over the next three years.

Aeroject Rocketdyne announced it will expand its facility in East Camden, 83 miles southwest of Little Rock, where the company manufactures solid rocket motors and warheads. Company officials say the expansion will give it the capability to build large solid rocket motors, which provide propulsion for the Air Force's Ground Based Strategic Deterrent.

More than 800 people currently work at the company's East Camden site, which spans 140 buildings and 1,940 acres. The full-time jobs are expected to pay an average annual salary of $55,000. The company has been in Arkansas since 1979.

"We've benefited over the years from a workforce that's very smart, very dedicated, but just as important a group of people who share key values of the company," Eileen Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne's chief executive officer and president, said at a news conference at the state Capitol.

The expansion project is receiving $1.3 million in state incentives for infrastructure and equipment, as well as a payroll rebate and sales tax refund. The project is also receiving $236,900 in local incentives, along with an agreement that will abate local property taxes by up to 65 percent.

The company in 2015 announced plans to add 85 new full-time jobs and invest $18 million in new buildings, upgrades and equipment. The Arkansas plant already produces more than 75,000 solid rocket motors annually.

"It's important to Arkansas as a great Arkansas-based manufacturing facility, but it's also very important to our national defense structure," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said.

Upcoming Events