Central States, a Tontitown-based manufacturer of metal building products, has opened a 105,000-square-foot plant in Springdale to support the fast-growing pre-engineered metal building system business.
The plant represents a long-term economic investment of more than $24 million in Northwest Arkansas. The plant will create 50 jobs this year, but plans are to expand the number of jobs to up to 140 after it adds a second shift.
More than 100 people, including employees, city and state leaders attended the plant opening ceremony Thursday (Aug. 7).
Central States broke ground on the plant in fall 2023. In December 2023, the city of Springdale issued a building permit valued at $9.39 million for the construction of the industrial warehouse at 1546 Kendrick Ave. Rogers-based Wil-Shar Inc. was the contractor.
Bill Rogers, president and CEO of Springdale Chamber of Commerce, said “the Springdale Public Facilities Board, which owns and sells land for the purpose of recruiting companies and creating jobs… had the foresight to secure this property in hopes that we could recruit companies like Central States here to bring jobs here.”
The board sold the 12-acre property to a Wil-Shar affiliate in August 2023 for $914,760. Rogers said the city also invested $2 million to improve Kendrick Avenue, between Arkansas Highway 265 and Old Wire Road. The city received a $1.5 million federal grant for the road project in 2020.
Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse said that since he started as mayor 18 years ago the city has received three U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) grants through the help of the Northwest Arkansas Economic Development District in Harrison.
“That helped make this possible — $1 million, it doesn’t go as far as it used to,” Sprouse said. “But it still goes a long way in trying to get these projects done.”
According to a news release, the new plant is part of the company’s Building Works division and will feature advanced steel structure manufacturing technologies, including state-of-the-art welding systems and automated tools. This combination is unique in the industry and will enable the plant to meet exacting standards while achieving shorter lead times.
Jennifer Davis, president of the Building Works division, said the plant will allow the company to manufacture steel frames for metal buildings. Its other plants fabricate building façade materials.
“It’s filled with all of the technology and innovation that’s going to allow us to make and keep promises to our customers,” Davis said. “It’s also allowing us to hire people into Central States, hire people to be employee-owners, starting with about 50 people…and growing well over 100 when we’re two shifts and running at full capacity.”
The plant will be the company’s first to hire certified welders. Its other plants bend steel from a coil to form products, while the new plant will produce the frames from plate steel. Laser cutters are used to cut steel into shapes, and the pieces are then welded together.
“We’re not only building frames here for metal buildings, but we’re building a culture,” Davis said. “For instance, this building, the primary structure is the kind of thing that we would build here.”
Other components of the building, including “the siding, the roofing…everything else you see in this factory, including the secondary framing…were all made in Lowell [at its existing flagship plant].” Springdale plant manager Juan Carlos Garcia Valenciano said the new plant’s production capacity is about 120 tons of steel per week, or about three times the amount of steel needed to build the new plant.
Central States began with a single plant in Northwest Arkansas in 1988 and has since expanded to 12 manufacturing sites and multiple offices across the United States. The 13th factory is scheduled to open in Tooele, Utah, later this year.
The 100% employee-owned company has more than 1,300 employees, with about 30% in Northwest Arkansas. Central States includes the following brands: Central States Manufacturing, Central States Building Works, Elevate Structures and Metal Central.