Mitsubishi to bring 400 jobs to Fort Chaffee

Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas has announced it will build a $100 million wind turbine manufacturing plant on 90 acres at Fort Chaffee that will employ up to 400 once fully operational.

Construction on the 200,000-square-foot building is set to begin in early 2011.

The company issued a press release around noon on Friday (Oct. 16), and officials with the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce, city of Fort Smith, University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority (FCRA) and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission gathered at 1 p.m. at the chamber for a press conference.
 
“We are very excited to announce today the future MPSA Wind Turbine manufacturing site in Fort Smith, Arkansas,” Koji Hasegawa, president and CEO of MPSA, based in Lake Mary, Fla., said in the Mitsubishi statement “After an intensive site selection process conducted during the last fifteen months, we concluded that Fort Smith, Arkansas offers the most attractive site and community support for building and operating our wind turbine plant.”

Cheryl Garner, vice president of economic development, said Fort Smith was one of 64 sites in the original selection process. She said the process was narrowed to 12 sites, then six and finally two sites prior to the selection. Garner, who was given credit for being the lead contact for much of the process, said the city, university, state and chamber focused on being “very proactive in taking away the barriers” that threatened to take Fort Smith out of the selection process.

Kelly, who said the 15-month process was “the most phenomenal exercise” in his 32 years of public service, said the involvement of Gov. Mike Beebe may have been the game changer. He said Beebe made two “secret trips” to Fort Smith to meet with Mitsubishi officials.

Beebe’s office included the following statement in the press release: “The arrival of Mitsubishi in Arkansas is exciting news for our economy and for our renewable-energy manufacturing sector. Mitsubishi is a brand recognized and respected worldwide, and the substantial investment they will make in Fort Smith is evidence of Arkansas’s momentum in the global economy.”

Ivy Owen, the FCRA executive director, and Kelly were among the officials who also praised the efforts of the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. Dr. Paul Beran, UAFS chancellor, had an opportunity to visit with Mitsubishi officials during a recent trip to Yokohama, Japan. Also, Takeo Suzuki, executive director of international relations at UAFS, was “very instrumental” in enhancing communications between all parties involved in the process, said Dr. Arleene Breaux, UAFS vice chancellor. (Beran, ironically, is currently touring Japan and Asia to build relationships for international studies programs.)

Owen said Mitsubishi’s plant will locate behind the Mars Petcare plant — which just recently held its formal opening — and adjacent to the relatively new Graphic Packaging plant and the Umarex manufacturing and warehousing facility now under construction. Owen said the four new and modern plants will be an impressive site to show future business and industrial prospects.

“What an exciting neighborhood to be a part of,” Owen said, adding that the next chore is to see if Mitsubishi suppliers can be recruited to Chaffee.

Ray Gosack, deputy Fort Smith city administrator, was specifically cited several times during the press conference for his work on the project. Kelly said the city’s commitment to the project included the extension of Chad Colley Boulevard, water and sewer service extensions, waivers of building permit fees and water and sewer connections, and support through an Industrial Revenue Bond.

Chamber President Paul Harvel and Fort Smith businessman Chester Koprovic, both who serve as members of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, stressed that it took all parties at the local and state level to make the deal happen.

“Mitsubishi will be a good fit for Fort Smith and for Arkansas,” Koprovic said.

Mitsubishi officials noted the same in their statement: “We are very thankful for the excellent support provided to us by Governor Mike Beebe, Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, Congressman John Boozman, Maria Haley and her Economic Development staff and the entire Arkansas delegation. Additionally, we are also very impressed with Arkansas’s commitment to the renewable energy industry. With the establishment of this Wind Turbine manufacturing plant, we are also planning to expand our component sourcing in the U.S. so as to shorten our supply chain”

MPSA has more than 4,500 wind turbines in operation worldwide, and over 3,000 wind turbines in the U.S.

Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas, Inc. was established in 2001 and is headquartered in Lake Mary, Fla. The company provides a wide variety of products and services for the electric power generation industry including gas, steam, wind, geothermal and hydroelectric turbines, boilers, selective catalytic reduction systems and solar energy. The company is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), a diversified Fortune “Global 150” company with more than $30 billion in annual revenues and 40,000 employees worldwide.

The project was inadvertently given public light in March when FCRA officials mentioned an April 10 event at Chaffee that would include Beebe and Japanese business officials. Following a story in the Times Record and The City Wire, officials asked the local media to refrain from publicity so as not to jeopardize the project.