OSCEOLA, Ark. (KAIT) - Northeast Arkansas will soon be the home to two new mini rebar steel mills for sustainable scrap metal recycling and steel production.
According to Talk Business & Politics, the newly formed $500 Million Company will sit on over 600 acres of property outside Osceola. The project will include space for an expanded Mississippi River port facility, a direct Class 1 railroad connection, and a planned adjacent solar installation. Corten Steel Sheet Suppliers
The mills are designed to be world leaders in terms of energy and water efficiency, labor productivity, and carbon emission reductions.
Dave Stickler, chief executive officer of Highbar and senior managing partner of Global Principal Partners led Big River Steel for several years.
“My team and I have had great success investing billions of dollars in Northeast Arkansas over the past eight years. I am pleased that after conducting a multi-state site search that we are able to make this announcement today,” said Stickler. “Arkansas is a great place to conduct business, especially steel business.”
Around 200 direct and indirect jobs are expected to be created as a result of the Highbar project and during the planned 22-month construction period that number is expected to be over 600.
Direct jobs will pay $140,000 a year on average plus benefits and indirect jobs paying $60,000 a year on average plus benefits.
“The addition of Highbar’s first rebar mill in Arkansas will not only support the growing steel industry in northeast Arkansas, but it will further diversify our economy and provide hundreds of high-wage jobs to deserving families,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said. “I’m excited about the opportunities this significant investment will bring to the region.”
“Arkansas continues the momentum to become a national leader in the steel industry,” Arkansas Secretary of Commerce Mike Preston said. “Companies like Highbar are looking for locations where they can find a qualified workforce and low business costs while being able to get products to customers quickly and efficiently. Arkansas checks all of the boxes, and companies are taking note. I am confident we will continue to see many such investments in the future.”
Groundbreaking is scheduled to take place in the second quarter of 2023.
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