Baldor, Whirlpool topics of First Friday breakfast

story by Aric Mitchell
[email protected]

Baldor Electric Co. announced a partnership for adding a robotics curriculum to the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith (UAFS) at the Kraft-Planters-hosted First Friday Breakfast of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce.

In January, Switzerland-based ABB bought Baldor — which has done business in Fort Smith since 1956 — in a $4.2 billion deal.

To show their continued support for the area, ABB donated a robot to UAFS for help in developing the curriculum, which Applied Science and Technology Dean Georgia Hale estimates could begin showing up in the course catalog as early as Fall 2012.

Chamber President Paul Harvel commended UAFS for working closely to develop more training opportunities and professional development for people in the area. He also noted the university would be part of a “Whirlpool transition team” designed to attract new businesses to the facility when the company’s Fort Smith refrigeration division shuts down in 2012.

Benton Harbor, Mich.-based Whirlpool announced Oct. 27 it will cease operations at its Fort Smith refrigerator manufacturing plant, ending employment for about 1,000 hourly and salaried workers. The closure, expected by mid-2012, will mark the end of more than 45 years of Whirlpool operations in Fort Smith.

Baldor representative Tracy Long, who spoke at Friday’s breakfast, said many of the area businesses, Baldor included, are working to ease the transition by hiring displaced Whirlpool employees. The transition team will also include the City of Fort Smith and the Chamber’s new chief operating officer (COO) Tim Allen.

A native of Shreveport, La., Allen was with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC) for more than 11 years helping with economic development projects in the Fort Smith region and Northwest Arkansas. Part of that work included the location of Experian in Van Buren, and expansion of the Gerber and Hiram Walker plants in Fort Smith.

“Tim will be involved. He’s worked closely with Whirlpool in the past, and they (Whirlpool) will have a local team working on this transition. They would like to see the building filled as well,” Harvel said.

Allen told The City Wire that before the chamber can attract businesses to the Whirlpool plant, they need to first complete a “profile” of the building to see which companies could best benefit from the existing infrastructure.

“Certain manufacturers have specific needs, and until you have that (the profile), you can’t really market it,” Allen said, adding that the profile was underway.

Whirlpool and state and local officials are set to meet Friday (Nov. 4) afternoon to discuss the transition process for property and personnel.