State’s manufacturing scene still led by animal manufacturing and processing

Animal slaughtering and processing continues to dominate Arkansas’ manufacturing scene, according to a new report from Bid on Equipment, an online marketplace for packaging and processing machinery.

The company looked at the primary manufacturing focuses of each state using the latest information available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and found the sector employs around 29,132 of the 42,016 employees manufacturing supports in its top three sectors.

Plastic products was a distant second place, employing 7,043, followed by fabricated metal products (ammunition, pipes) at 5,841.

In the animal slaughtering and processing sector, Arkansas was one of 16 states to count the industry among its top three. It was also the field’s third largest, just behind Georgia (35,782) and North Carolina (31,392), with companies like Tyson Foods; Simmons Foods; George’s Processing; Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation; ConAgra, Inc.; OK Industries, Inc.; Butterball; Cargill; Wayne Farms; and Peco Foods, leading the way.

Arkansas was one of 14 states to count plastic products among its top three, ranking at No. 12 and beating only West Virginia (3,073) and Nevada (2,662). For fabricated metal products (ammo, pipes), Arkansas was the only state in 50 to count the sector among its top three.

Link here for more findings from the BOE analysis.