Feature image: Piles of scrap metal wait to be turned into steel at the Hybar mill in Osceola. (Photo by Sarah DeClerk)
Arkansas benefits from a wide range of industries, from agriculture to defense manufacturing. Two industries in particular are set to make a substantial economic impact on the state. In south Arkansas, groundwork is being laid that will make the region a major player in domestic lithium production. Meanwhile, the steel industry that has been growing in northeast Arkansas for three decades is helping bring quality-of-life improvements to the area.
“One is in place already and having a profound impact on the overall economy, and the other one is in very early stages of development but holds enormous prospects for the future for its development and growth,” said Randy Zook, president and CEO of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce/Associated Industries of Arkansas, “so two totally different points in time or development for each one, but really high impact in both cases.”
Randy Zook
LITHIUM
With a royalty rate approved by the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission in May, lithium production in south Arkansas can now get underway in earnest. Florence Meadors, program manager at the Lithium Regional Innovation Cluster, is one of those working to ensure Arkansans reap the full benefits of the burgeoning industry.
“We really think that this impact could truly be transformational,” she said. “We’re looking at billions in investment just to get the actual plants and operations put in. It’s going to create a lot of really high-paying jobs, and then that whole supply chain, in general, is going to apply even more.”
Florence Meadors
The cluster recently launched a network of advanced subject matter experts to help lithium-related ventures and is gearing up for a series of networking events focused on topics related to the lithium industry. Meadors said her goal is to engage small businesses not only related to lithium and its downstream applications, such as battery manufacturing, but also supporting industries such as construction, transportation, and even restaurants and retail.
“In Lafayette County, where the majority of the actual industry’s going to be located, they don’t even have a 24-hour gas station,” she said. “There’s going to be a very broad range of small-business opportunities across that spectrum.”
Other initiatives are underway to help ensure a lithium-ready workforce. Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia recently received a $2.75 million HIRED workforce grant to support the LiTHIUMLEARNS initiative. Meadors said the initiative creates a pipeline from K-12 to the postdoctorate level to ensure workers all the way up the ladder have the skills needed to support lithium manufacturing.
Just recently, the Arkansas Lithium Technology Accelerator in El Dorado made history as the first accelerator in the United States dedicated to lithium and battery supply chain innovation, and the yearly Arkansas Lithium Innovation Summit in Little Rock provides yet another avenue for collaboration among stakeholders.
The 2024 Lithium Innovation Summit in Little Rock brought together various stakeholders from across the industry. (Photo courtesy of LRIC)
“Something that I can see [the lithium industry] doing is bringing a lot of not only the really, really good jobs that we need, but once you have those people in there with those high-wage jobs and those companies that are willing to help and invest into the community, you’re able to better the quality of life,” Meadors said. “That just helps the economy immensely.”
Health care and housing are two immediate needs, she said, adding that new housing developments are already underway and local governments are working to provide additional recreational amenities.
“It’s going to be good for south Arkansas and the middle part of the country, for that matter,” Zook said. “All of Arkansas will benefit from tax revenue that will flow from it, job opportunities, community development. It will save some of south Arkansas that’s had a tough time losing population. That southern and southwestern corner has been needing this kind of opportunity, and here it comes.”
Although she does not predict overnight transformation in the region, Meadors said Arkansas is poised to become a global leader in the lithium sector with the utilization of the direct lithium extraction technique.
“It’s going to position us to set the standard for how lithium can be produced responsibly, efficiently and locally,” she said. “It’s an opportunity for us to lead the clean-energy transition on a national and international level.”
STEEL
Mississippi County has become the largest steel-producing county in the U.S. over the past 30 years. To find out why, one only has to ask Dave Stickler, CEO of Hybar, which recently constructed a state-of-the-art rebar mill in Osceola. Stickler previously served as CEO of Big River Steel, which has two mills in the area.
Dave Stickler
“We liked the work ethic in northeast Arkansas. There’s a lot of people who aren’t afraid to work hard, work with their hands, tend to be mechanically inclined,” he said. “We’ve got supportive government officials from the county and local government organizations. We’ve got the mighty Mississippi. We’ve got a great company for the power-providing perspective in Entergy. You have the [Burlington Northern Santa Fe] Railroad.”
Stickler has made a career out of building highly efficient minimills. Big River Steel was the first steel mill in the world to be certified in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and Hybar is LEED certified, as well.
Add to those Nucor-Yamato and Nucor Hickman — two mills brought to the area in the 1990s by the late John Correnti, who also served as CEO of Big River Steel — and there are five steel mills in Mississippi County, not to mention countless supporting industries and downstream manufacturers.
There is about to be a sixth one too. Although the first Hybar mill has barely begun production, Stickler said he already plans to double capacity by building another mill.
Dave Stickler, CEO of Hybar (Photo by Sarah DeClerk)
“Arkansas as a state is a great place to do business,” he said, “but Arkansas as a state is a really, really, really great place to do steel business.”
The Nucor mills opened shortly after the closure of the Eaker Air Force Base in Blytheville and at a time when the area was losing light manufacturing plants. Although the mills helped replace some of the lost jobs, Stickler said that alone was not enough to make up the difference, and the county began to deteriorate.
“Crime statistics were going the wrong way. School performance was going the wrong way — not for lack of visionaries in the county, but Nucor and the county leaders were like the little kids with the fingers in the dike,” he said. “Instead of having 10 fingers, you needed 1,000 fingers.”
However, with the additional investment, new houses are being built for the first time in a long time. The county recently implemented a “live here, work here” program that provides incentives for workers to buy and build homes in the area.There are also efforts underway to turn around underperforming public schools.
“My goal is to have a small part in uplifting all of the communities,” Stickler said. “If we can crack that code — the key is going to be improving the less-than-adequate-performing school systems — there’s no reason this county can’t just really build on all this momentum.”
Stickler said he strives to have the highest-paid steel workers in the world. With those wages, local families can send their children to college, he said. They can pay off their mortgages, take dream vacations, and buy new trucks and fishing boats. Stickler said what struck him the most was learning from a hospital system in nearby Memphis that health metrics have improved since Big River Steel opened.
The local steel companies partner with Arkansas Northeastern College in Blytheville to ensure a highly trained workforce that benefits from some of the highest starting salaries around, but education is just one component of ensuring a robust workforce. Population is another.
Although Stickler said he has no trouble finding enough workers to staff a steel mill, Zook named population decline as one of the major challenges affecting northeast Arkansas. He said adequate housing, well-performing schools and access to health care are essential to growing communities.
Photo by Sarah DeClerk
“You’ve got to have retail stores. You’ve got to have shopping opportunities. You’ve got to have housing developments so that you’re creating the housing space and family space that’s necessary,” he said. “It’s a complex, challenging requirement that takes a whole lot of people in an area working in concert to make any community continue to succeed.”
He added that he would not be surprised to see a few more steel mills in coming years. Arkansas lawmakers have done a lot to create a business-friendly environment through tax incentives, he said, adding that to continue attracting new industry, the state should invest in shovel-ready sites and be prepared to meet the energy needs of the future.
“Arkansas is being discovered by a lot of the rest of the country and the rest of the world,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of good things going for us. We just need to be prepared to take full advantage of them, and we need to help more of our young people realize that if you’re looking for economic opportunity, it’s staring you in the face if you’re in Arkansas.”
