Hybar, ASU leadership change, Ridge Athletics Center among top stories of 2025

The steel industry continued to flourish during 2025 in Northeast Arkansas with mills opening and plans for more mills were announced. Record floods plagued farmers in the spring throughout the region and then dismal commodity prices in the summer and fall forced many to abandon their farms altogether.

The largest educational institution in NEA had a leadership change and the largest public works project in Jonesboro’s history got underway. 

Here are the top stories in Northeast Arkansas from 2025.

ASU LEADERSHIP SHIFT
Dr. Brendan Kelly, president of the Arkansas State University System, was selected to become president of his alma mater, Eastern Michigan University, in Ypsilanti.

The Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents voted to elect Kelly as its 24th president, effective March 1, to succeed the retiring James Smith. Kelly has been ASU System president — only the third president in the system’s history — since Sept. 23, 2024. 

ASU System Board of Trustees Chair Steve Eddington of Benton said Kelly has given the board notice and that his resignation is effective Feb. 12. Dr. Robin Myers was selected as the interim System President.

“We appreciate Dr. Kelly’s service and respect his decision to return to his alma mater and home state,” Eddington said. “The board of trustees will outline a plan to prepare for a smooth transition for future leadership. We have a strong team of campus and system leaders to carry on the work of service to our students in the interim.”

HYBAR OPENING
Mississippi County officially has another steel producer. Hybar held its grand opening in November for its sustainable rebar mill in Osceola.

Since the startup company was formed a little more than two years ago, it has completed a scrap metal recycling steel production mill, a behind-the-meter solar and battery storage electrical energy facility, and a Mississippi River port operation for a total investment of nearly $1 billion.

“I’ve had the privilege of being involved with more than $8 billion of greenfield steel mill projects in Mississippi County over the past 12 years,” said Hybar CEO Dave Stickler. “I can confidently say that Arkansas is not only a great place to do business, but it is a really, really great place to do steel business.”

Hybar’s scrap metal recycling steel production mill will now produce more than 700,000 tons annually of reinforcing bar, commonly known as rebar, accounting for approximately 7% of the U.S. annual rebar demand. The company also announced it will open a second mill, Hybar II on its Mississippi County campus.  

GOOGLE DATA CENTER
Google is set to invest the most money ever in an Arkansas project. Alphabet and Google President and Chief Investment Officer Ruth Porat said the company will spend $4 billion through 2027 building a data center in West Memphis.

The company made the announcement in October on the site where the data center will be built. How many jobs will be created was not released, but Porat said the center will employ hundreds of workers and thousands of construction workers as it’s being built.

“Google is investing in the next generation of AI innovation in Arkansas and across the country,” she said. “We see AI and the energy powering it to be the innovations that will define this century. The upside of AI cannot be unlocked without the energy it requires. That is why Google is building energy capacity that protects affordability for ratepayers and creates jobs that will drive the AI-powered economy.”

AGRICULTURAL WOES
One in three or more farms in Arkansas could be shuttered by this spring if the federal government doesn’t provide some type of supplemental assistance to farmers this fall, Agriculture Council of Arkansas President Joe Mencer told Talk Business & Politics in August.

Commodity prices continue to plunge and as of mid-August the state’s ag sector was projected to lose $1.145 billion this season and that number ballooned by another $300 million by the end of the month to $1.4 billion as rice prices spiraled down to an eight-year low. And, the overall losses will almost certainly continue to rise, Mencer said.

RIDGE ATHLETICS CENTER
Construction on the most expensive public works project in the history of the city of Jonesboro started last year. Ground was broken in April on the $77 million multisport complex that city officials have spent years wrangling over the details of the project.

“This is a monumental day for the city of Jonesboro,” Mayor Harold Copenhaver said at the groundbreaking.

The main structure will include 12 basketball courts that can be converted into 24 volleyball courts, 36 pickleball courts, and a natatorium. The natatorium plan has a 50-meter pool, a competition diving pool, and a warm-up pool. The natatorium features seating for 1,245 spectators. The 200,000-square-foot facility will have an aquatic center, slide, a moving water feature, and other amenities.

For years, the structure has been referred to as the Jonesboro Sportsplex, but it has been rebranded as the Ridge Athletics Center (RAC), said Craig Rickert, executive director of the Jonesboro Advertising & Promotion Commission. 

NEW STEEL MILL
When Japan-based Nippon Steel Corporation was allowed to acquire U.S. Steel in the summer of 2025, one requirement for the merger was the company had to commit to investing an additional $11 billion in U.S. operations by 2028. It appears part of that investment will be in Northeast Arkansas.

U.S. Steel announced in November it will build a direct reduced iron plant on the Big River Steel Works campus in Osceola. U.S. Steel spokeswoman Amanda Malkowski told Talk Business & Politics that details such as how much the project will cost and how many people it will employ will be released at a later date.

RECORD RAINS
Historic rainfall and multiple tornado outbreaks during the spring damaged row crop fields throughout the Arkansas Delta region. Up to 1 foot of rain fell in some parts of the region, and all parts got 6 inches or more during the first week of April, according to the National Weather Service.

The influx of water has caused massive flooding along many rivers including the Black, White, Cache, St. Francis and others. Many row crop fields along these rivers are covered with water and will be for days, if not weeks.

Many farmers had to repair damaged fields, cleared ditches and some had to replant their crops, according to Jeremy Ross, extension soybean agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.