Colson Caster To Expand In Craighead County, Invest $3 Million-plus

A company that makes wheels and casters for carts is hoping that plans for an expansion are just like the wheels – ready to roll.

Craighead County justices on Monday night approved allowing Colson Caster, LLC to participate in the Arkansas Tax Back program.

The program allows businesses to receive refunds on local sales taxes if the company is expanding.

Kevin Osborne, an official with Colson Caster, told justices that the company plans to invest between $3 and $4 million in its Jonesboro facility over the next several years.

The company is one of the oldest businesses in Craighead County and has been in Jonesboro since the 1950’s, Osborne said.

The company has about 60 employees at its Jonesboro factory and nearly 50 more at a location in Monette. Monette is about 25 miles east of Jonesboro on Arkansas 18.

The Monette factory is one of the few industries in the Craighead County farming town.

Osborne told justices that the expansion will give the business an opportunity to bring jobs and equipment back to the United States from China.

“Amen to that,” Justice Billie Sue Hoggard, R-Jonesboro responded after Osborne made the statement.

Justices also voted Monday night to authorize County Judge Ed Hill to finalize negotiations with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission on the Bono Lake project subject to final approval by justices.

The project, which started in the late 1990’s as an idea to help with flood control in the Bono area, has been a bone of contention for justices since then.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission bought nearly 275 acres of land, for $689,500, in Feb. 2001 for the project.

The county then spent $568,045 to replace four wooden bridges with concrete ones in the Hatchie Coon Island area of the St. Francis Sunken Lands Wildlife Management Area.

Since then, the county has spent roughly $4.9 million to build a dam and lake bed for the project.

Supporters of the project have said they are optimistic the project will bring people to Craighead County.

However, the project has been vilified in the past on issues involving delays and funding.

County officials have been working for more than a year to get the land ready for the project. The water control gates were closed last April in order to get water into the lake, officials said Friday.

The lake is expected to be filled by April of this year, while officials will not know until at least February 2017 if the lake is suitable for fishing.

Justice Garry Meadows, R-Jonesboro, said he had looked into the cost of operating nearby Craighead Forest Park to determine a future cost of maintain Bono Lake.

“I know it is not apples to apples, but last year, it cost $315,400 to maintain Craighead Forest Lake,” Meadows said, noting he was worried about the cost to future generations.