Springdale Park To Attract Technology

A few blocks east of the Farmer”s Livestock Auction on Emma Avenue in Springdale, a research facility for cutting-edge nanotechnology is being erected.

Think Old Springdale collides with New Springdale.

At least that”s the sort of thing city leaders hope to encourage with the 37-acre Springdale Technology Park, which they believe will attract knowledge-based jobs and advance the city”s economy.

The future of the town is in technology and retail, not in food processing industries, said Perry Webb, president and CEO of the Springdale Chamber of Commerce.

When the 13,200-SF building is complete, sometime in late January, Duralor LLC will be the first occupant of the park.

The company is an industrial strength spin-off from NanoMech LLC of Fayetteville. NanoMech is working on nano-based coatings to improve medical implants, such as knee or hip replacements and dental implants placed into the jawbone.

Duralor”s product, called TuffTek, is a coating used to cover industrial cutting tools and other machine parts making them last longer, reducing replacement materials and downtime costs for many manufacturers.

The technologies are the brainchild of Ajay Malashe, a professor at the University of Arkansas and chief technology officer of NanoMech.

Duralor has said it will hire 10 employees in its first year and plans to add 100 more within five years. The average annual wage for the first 10 employees will be in the neighborhood of $60,000 each.

Attractive Offer

Duralor is a client of Virtual Incubation Co. of Fayetteville. VIC provides clients with management, operational, research and fundraising support. It takes an equity stake in the firms and derives some fees from the awards it helps land.

Calvin Goforth, VIC”s president, said that Duralor was looking for a place to locate and was actively looking in Fort Smith and Fayetteville, but, “Springdale came to the table pretty aggressively.”

The city, along with Tim McFarland, a finance expert and freelance business consultant, brought investors to the table and were able to offer Duralor some cash investments and actually purchased a used piece of equipment — a chemical vapor infiltration unit — for the company.

Rick Barrows, president of Multi-Craft Contractors Inc. of Springdale, was one of the investors, and his company and Fadil Bayyari are building the Duralor building. Because Barrows has a background with many of the markets Duralor will serve, he is now also on the Duralor board of directors.

According to Springdale”s inspection office, the Duralor building is valued at about $1.6 million and is a total of 13,200 SF, about half of which is unheated space.

The park is the Chamber”s most visible effort to attract businesses with those higher-paying jobs. But Webb and others are working behind the scenes to entice investors and Springdale residents to put their money in tech companies that choose to locate in the city.

Webb thinks there may one day be the creation of a venture capital fund, or a “bank,” that individuals may use as a vehicle to invest in technology moving to Springdale.

There has also been talk of possible legislation to increase investment tax credits on a statewide level. The credit is currently 33.3 percent “of the actual purchase price paid for the equity interest to the business, less any fees or commissions to underwriters or sales agents paid by the business.”

Webb said he would support an increase in the tax credit and an increase to as much as 50 percent has been mentioned, but he”s not seen a final draft of a bill and does not know who might sponsor it.

But he”s sure Springdale”s proximity to the U of A and the ongoing research there will elevate his city”s economy.

“The future is in technology,” he said.