Far from posing an external risk to the national security of the United States, Ecotech is renovating the former Trane plant in Fort Smith to become a production facility for its customers’ products made from recycled plastics.
Ecotech, a subsidiary of Olivet International, in Mira Loma, California, has a manufacturing and recycling operation in Fayetteville that employs approximately 450 people. The company acquired the 42-acre manufacturing/industrial complex in south Fayetteville from Superior Industries in August 2021 for $7. 65. . million.
The company receives recycled plastics from stores and uses those fabrics to make parts for the retail sector. Walmart is the company’s largest customer.
Olivet recently purchased Trane’s facility, at 4811 S. Zero St. , for $5 million at a public auction. The 378,700-square-foot construction near Fort Smith Regional Airport and Ebbing Air National Guard Base once housed more than 500 personnel generating residential heating, ventilation and air conditioning products. About 250 more people were hired at the plant when it closed in 2017.
Gov. Sarah Sanders drew attention to the plant’s sale, alarming the public that the assets could simply be related to Chinese communists who want to be close to the military’s operations at Fort Smith. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said on Aug. 13 that his investigation found that the plant was not owned by a “company controlled by prohibited aliens. “
Ebbing, home to the 188th Wing at Fort Smith and located adjacent to Fort Smith Regional Airport, was chosen in March 2023 by the U. S. Air Force. The U. S. Department of Homeland Security has been the U. S. government to be the long-term pilot education center that supports the F-16 and F-35 aircraft. fighter jets purchased through Singapore, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Finland, and other countries participating in the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.
Olivet CEO Terry Muldoon said Monday that the area available in Fort Smith is well suited to Ecotech’s development needs.
“We were developing to the point where we needed additional space,” Muldoon said. “We will be a great addition to Fort Smith. We are very excited to move what we did in Fayetteville to Fort Smith.
Muldoon said they had initial plans for how to use Fort Smith’s space, but were still working with city and state officials on progression features and incentives imaginable. He said the plant, which will be “heavily automated,” will employ at least 100 more people. people when it’s fully operational, and probably more when shifts are added.
He said that paintings were being made for the external appearance of the building and evaluating the electrical capacity and other internal features.
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