Ecotech working to convert former Trane site into plastics manufacturing plant

Far from being a foreign-owned threat to U.S. national security, Ecotech is planning to renovate the former Trane facility in Fort Smith into a manufacturing operation for its consumer products made from recycled plastics.

Ecotech, a subsidiary of Mira Loma, Calif.-based Olivet International, has a recycling and manufacturing operation in Fayetteville that employs around 450. The company in August 2021 acquired the 42-acre manufacturing/industrial complex in south Fayetteville from Superior Industries for $7.65 million.

The company receives recycled plastics from retailers and uses the material to manufacture items for the retail sector. Walmart is the company’s largest customer.

Olivet recently purchased the Trane facility, located at 4811 S. Zero St., for $5 million in a public auction. The 378,700-square-foot building – which is near the Fort Smith Regional Airport, and the Ebbing Air National Guard Base – once had more than 500 workers producing residential heating, ventilation and air conditioning products. Around 250 were employed at the plant when it closed in 2017.

Gov. Sarah Sanders brought attention to the sale of the plant with a public alarm that ownership could be connected to Chinese communists who want to be close to military operations in Fort Smith. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin on Aug. 13 said his investigation found that the plant was not owned by a “prohibited foreign-party-controlled-business.”

Ebbing, home to the 188th Wing in Fort Smith and co-located with the Fort Smith Regional Airport, was selected in March 2023 by the U.S. Air Force to be the long-term pilot training center supporting F-16 and F-35 fighter planes purchased by Singapore, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Finland and other countries participating in the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.

Olivet CEO Terry Muldoon said Monday the available space in Fort Smith is well-suited for Ecotech’s growing needs.

“We were just growing to the point that we needed the additional space,” Muldoon said. “We will be a very, very good addition to Fort Smith. We’re very excited about taking what we’ve done in Fayetteville to Fort Smith.”

Muldoon said they have initial plans for how to use the Fort Smith space, but are still working with city and state officials on development options and possible incentives. He said the plant, which will be “heavily automated,” will employ at least 100 people when fully operational, and likely more when shifts are added.

He said work is underway to improve the outside appearance of the building and to evaluate electrical capacity and other interior features.