It was a week chock-full of good news for the Bluff.
Put another way, it was raining jobs and investments.
On Tuesday, the newspaper had a story about a cannabis grower coming to Pine Bluff that will provide as many as 200 jobs with an average pay of $19 an hour and an annual payroll of $9.4 million.
Good Day Farm Arkansas, a medical marijuana cultivator, received approval to buy Natural State Wellness Enterprises of Newport and move the business to Pine Bluff.
Alex Gray, an attorney in Little Rock who is an investor in the venture, said the operation would have a 100,000-square-foot canopy in the Jefferson County Industrial Park and a 42,000-square-foot growing area. The company will continue to operate out of its Newport location until the one in Pine Bluff is ready. When everything is finished here, the company will quickly shift all operations to Pine Bluff.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
As for jobs, Gray said, the company is offering positions to workers in Newport, but he said there are only 20 employees there; consequently, most of the hiring will be done locally.
Gray had nice things to say about the area and the leadership he has dealt with, but one comment jumped out at us, as it showed that people outside of our boundaries are taking notice of what’s going on here.
“Also, we know the people in Pine Bluff and Mayor [Shirley] Washington and [Jefferson County] Judge [Gerald] Robinson, they’re just good folks, and we look forward to helping to continue the economic development that’s been taking place there.”
Gray also named off several of the investors in the project and added that there was money from “out of state” being put into this expansion “and it’s pretty neat to see.”
Yes, pretty neat, for sure.
Judge Robinson pointed out that the salaries would range anywhere from $32,000 to $84,000.
“Think about this,” he said. “Look back two years and look ahead two years from now. In that time, we will have added nearly 2,000 jobs to our economy, and I’m talking about well-paid professional jobs. These aren’t just manual labor jobs. These are good jobs that pay good salaries.”
On Wednesday, there was more positive news.
Highland Pellets, which has been in operation for three years, has partnered with Orion Energy Partners, to greatly expand its operation. The investment from Orion was an eye-popping $135 million, officials said, and will include expansions and upgrades to the Pine Bluff plant, allowing it to serve markets around the world with its wood pellet fuel.
Company officials said the expansion will create 60 more plant jobs at the plant and another 100 ancillary jobs, equaling some 330 jobs in all.
This is not just a Pine Bluff or Jefferson County story, however, because, as Highland Chairman Tom Reilley explained, all of south Arkansas will benefit because of the sudden increase in demand for wood. He said that demand will give tree farmers a new market for their product, something that is currently sorely lacking.
Reilley also painted a picture in which wood pellets, which, he said, are more environmentally friendly than coal, are used in coal-fired electric plants. Many older coal-burners are being shut down because of environmental problems associated with coal, and Reilley said those plants could be retooled to burn wood pellets.
The two announcements are very nice additions to the Pine Bluff jobs landscape. Cities and counties across the state and country work hard every day for the addition of any sort of job growth. The fact that these are, as the county judge said, good jobs that pay well is a testament to the local political and business leadership that, no doubt, have either been active in making these projects go forward or have been a part of the effort to make Pine Bluff and Jefferson County an attractive alternative for investors.
Kudos to those involved, and welcome to the area’s new business enterprises.