Tyson Foods Mounts Brick-and-Mortar Campaign on Emma Avenue
by July 17, 2015 9:25 am 245 views
The long-awaited revival of Emma Avenue in Springdale is about to begin in earnest.
Mike Roetzel, group vice president of operation services for Tyson Foods Inc., said renovations to an Emma Avenue property owned by Tyson have been fast-tracked and that work will begin within the next few weeks.
The property is the former Jones Truck Lines terminal at 516 E. Emma. A building permit has yet to be pulled and no plans have been submitted to the city of Springdale, so the extent of the renovation is unclear. However, Roetzel said, “It’ll be beautiful when we get done.”
Roetzel made his remarks Wednesday while announcing Tyson’s donation of $500,000 to the Nature Conservancy for protection of waterways in Northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri.
The building, which was most recently an Orscheln Farm and Home, is a 34,484-SF structure that will be named the Tyson Foods JTL Building. The structure will function as a hiring center for hourly employees, and as a company store where employees can purchase Tyson products and grocery staples wholesale. About 25 people will work at the location.
Wednesday morning, a contractor could be seen inspecting the roof there.
“There’s always a lot of planning before you see anything coming up out of the ground,” Roetzel said.
According to Washington County real estate records, Tyson Shared Services Inc. bought the JTL building in June 2014 for $450,000.
Tyson is also in the process of figuring out what to do with two other Emma Avenue buildings, the original Tyson headquarters and adjacent Jeff Brown Hatchery at 317-319 E. Emma.
Washington County real estate records show that Poultry Growers Inc., an old John Tyson company, has owned the 3,708-SF Tyson headquarters since 1964. The adjacent 7,640-SF hatchery, previously owned by Springdale and on the brink of destruction, was bought by Tyson in August 2014 for $37,313.
“We’re looking at it,” said Tyson spokesman Worth Sparkman, referring to the buildings. “We’re considering what to do with those properties.”