Tyson Boosts Downtown Springdale Renovation Effort with $1M Gift
by January 23, 2015 1:20 pm 312 views
Tyson Foods Inc. president and CEO Donnie Smith on Friday presented the Downtown Springdale Alliance, the nonprofit group working to revitalize downtown, with a $1 million check on behalf of the company.
The money is intended to support the organization’s efforts to develop infrastructure and green space in the downtown area, according to a press release from Tyson.
The check presentation took place at the Springdale Chamber of Commerce annual meeting Friday at the Northwest Arkansas Convention Center.
Also in the meeting, Smith revealed the company’s plans to renovate and staff a 28,000-SF building it bought for $450,000 last summer at 516 E. Emma Ave.
Renovations are scheduled to be finished late summer, and 25 people will work from what will be the new location for the company’s Arkansas Employment Center and company store (both now housed in Lowell), and the also the company’s records management group, according to the press release.
The building will be named the Tyson Foods JTL Building, in honor of its heritage, according to the release.
Built in the 1930s, the building was originally a Jones Truck Lines terminal, later home to Springdale Morning News and most recently was an Orscheln Farm & Home store. Joe Layman was the most recent owner of the property.
Tyson owns other properties in downtown Springdale, including its first headquarters at 319 E. Emma Ave, but no announcements were made during the meeting about the future of those properties.
“For 80 years, we’ve lived and worked in Springdale,” Smith said in the press release. “For 80 years we’ve done business here, shopped here and raised our children here.
“We’re rooted in Springdale. But Springdale is not just our past. Springdale is our future,” Smith added. “We’ve grown from a small operation to a global one and we’ve chosen to do that here.”
Heather Chilson, Tyson’s director of corporate services and also a board member of the Downtown Springdale Alliance, said the company is working with a design firm to finalize plans for the Emma Avenue property, but would not disclose the name of the company.
To see a Tyson Foods video that accompanied Friday’s announcement, click here.