Home Opinion A Great Week for a Tremendous Year

A Great Week for a Tremendous Year

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Asa Hutchinson | Arkansas Governor

LITTLE ROCK – Governor
Hutchinson’s weekly radio
address can be found online
in MP3 format and downloaded
HERE.
Over the past week, I
have attended three major
jobs announcements.
In Siloam Springs, Simmons
Foods announced a
new pet food ingredient facility
near their company’s
home office. According to
Simmons Foods, the facility
will create 78 new jobs with
an economic impact of $50
million.
In Batesville, Bad Boy
Mowers expanded its operations
by investing nearly
$7.8 million into a larger
property for their existing
facility. The expansion will
add 160 new jobs and bring
the total employment of
Bad Boy Mowers to 750
people. In each of the past
two years, the company
has averaged more than 33
percent growth—and that
is quite an accomplishment.
In Lowell, J.B. Hunt expanded
its corporate headquarters
and is adding more
than 1,000 jobs in Arkansas
over the next six years. As
one of the largest transportation
companies in North
America, this is great news
for our ever-growing Northwest
Arkansas community.
When you do the math,
these three announcements
have added more than 1,240
new jobs to Arkansas’s
economy in the last week
alone. What a great way to
cap off the year.
When you’re building the
economy in Arkansas, or in
any state, it’s important for
people to have confidence
in the direction we’re going.
When people are optimistic
about the future, it
will increase spending and
increase investment in our
state.
Success is built upon
how you invest your time
and your leadership. Since
I took office last January,
there are now more than
33,000 Arkansans who are
newly employed. We’ve announced
thousands of new
jobs and nearly $2 billion in
investments through company
expansions across
every region of the state. As
governor, I want to build a
future for Arkansas including
economic growth, job
creation and expanding
Arkansas’s economy.
What a great week, and
tremendous year, for job
creation in Arkansas. All of
these milestones are physical
evidence of Arkansas’s
momentum. And as the
New Year approaches, we’re
not slowing down anytime
soon.