Hytrol Conveyor breaks ground on new warehouse and distribution center in Jonesboro
by June 26, 2022 9:15 am 1,818 views
Hytrol Conveyor Co. and Haag Brown Commercial Real Estate and Development, through its holding company, Real Estate for e-Commerce, broke ground Friday (June 24) on a new warehouse and distribution center at the new e-Commerce Park in Jonesboro. The 150,000 square foot facility will provide easy access to I-555 and will serve as Hytrol’s main warehouse.
Hytrol and Haag Brown will be partners in the deal. Financial terms of the deal were not divulged. Groundwork on the site will begin in the coming weeks and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2023.
“This is another landmark day in Jonesboro because a great industrial partner is once again doubling down on its investment in our city and in our region,” Jonesboro Mayor Harold Copenhaver said before the first shovels of dirt were moved. “Today’s announcement with Haag Brown shows a shared commitment with Hytrol to our area and confidence that Northeast Arkansas will continue to progress at a record pace.”
Hytrol is the first company to sign a lease in the e-Commerce Park. The park is located at the gateway into Jonesboro’s industrial market and will provide up to 3 million square feet of logistics, warehouse, and manufacturing space. In addition, it is within one hour’s drive of Memphis, Joshua Brown, developer of the project and a principal in Haag Brown Development said.
Brown said that he spent a year and a half working out the details with Hytrol officials. The e-Commerce Park is a 260-acre swath, and there will be several other facilities that will be located there. Hytrol will occupy about 15 acres. Getting the first one in place is crucial for industrial and e-Commerce development in the city, he added.
The facility will indirectly create space for functions within the Hytrol facility for growth in its administrative functions, including its panel shop and non-manufacturing support activities that include the company’s engineering department.
It’s the second expansion announced by Hytrol in Arkansas during the last nine months. The Jonesboro-based company announced plans in September to hire another 100 workers at its Fort Smith manufacturing plant to operate a new product line. The expansion would bring employment in Fort Smith to around 350.
That expansion announcement came eight months after the company in January 2021 leaseed 300,000 square feet in what was once a warehouse for Whirlpool and invested $20 million in a new conveyor production plant.
Hytrol has more than 700,000 square feet of production space and 48,000 square feet of research-and-development space in two facilities in Jonesboro that employ more than 1,200 people. The company also develops software for conveyors and warehouse management.
Ramsons Inc. will be heading up the warehouse project. Ramsons has worked previously with Hytrol on its most recent project, Hytrol’s Silver Cell expansion. Ramsons executive special projects coordinator Scott McDaniel said his company is looking forward to expanding Hytrol’s footprint in Northeast Arkansas
“Hytrol does things the right way … their conveyors move the world,” McDaniel said.
Editor’s note: Michael Tilley contributed to this story.