Koppers Inc. will spend at least $23 million in the next couple of years modernizing its 157-acre plant in North Little Rock, where some 1.5 million railroad crossties are processed and treated each year.
Koppers said it will add at least eight employees to the workforce of about 80 at the North Little Rock facility, which also produces switch ties, road crossings and framed bridged timbers. Much of the facility's product is used by Union Pacific Railroad, an immediate neighbor.
Based in Pittsburgh, the global provider of treated wood products has owned the North Little Rock plant for about 30 years. The plant opened in 1907.
The company said Tuesday on its website that the North Little Rock investment is part of a decision announced in June to close a plant in Denver by the end of this month. The Denver facility had 26 employees to treat utility poles and crossties with creosote and other preservative chemicals. That production will be transferred to North Little Rock, the company said.
The investment in North Little Rock "will serve to modernize equipment and processes that are near end-of-life," the company said. The sale of the Denver operations and economic incentives from the state will pay for the investment, the company said.
The Arkansas Economic Development Commission said Koppers will qualify for the state's Advantage Arkansas program, which provides a tax credit based on payroll, and the Tax Back program, which provides sales and use tax refunds from purchases of eligible equipment, building materials and machinery.
Koppers' operations in North Little Rock are flanked by Union Pacific operations to the northwest, a mix of industrial businesses to the north, and the Glenview neighborhood of residences, schools and churches to the east and south.
Residents of the Glenview and Poe neighborhood associations were among the plaintiffs in three lawsuits filed against Koppers in the early 2000s. They alleged that emissions from the company's operations contaminated air and soil in the neighborhood and caused other problems.
Koppers settled the lawsuits for about $2.1 million in February 2002 without admitting liability. The settlement was made in the middle of one of the trials.
The agreement included $1.4 million in payments to the plaintiffs and their attorneys and spending $750,000 to improve air emissions controls.
Air quality in the neighborhood has improved since then, Pat Brewer, a resident of the Glenview neighborhood since 1965 and who was active in the lawsuits, said Tuesday.
Koppers has been a good neighbor in the nearly 20 years since, a frequent participant or sponsor in community events such as the National Night Out program, Brewer said.
While there's still an occasional odor, "it's nothing like it used to be," Brewer said.
Brewer said she was happy to hear of the company's plans. "I'm hopeful they'll keep improving," she said.
Chris Martin, manager of the plant, couldn't be reached for comment but said in a news release put out by the economic development commission: "When Koppers had the opportunity to invest in the future, we chose the dedicated workforce and exceptional community of North Little Rock. This is a place where people work hard, and we support each other."
Mayor Joe Smith alluded in the same news release to possible problems keeping Koppers in North Little Rock. "Just a short time ago, it didn't seem as though this would be the final outcome," Smith said. "But an aggressive and effective rapid response by our state and local economic development team, as well as this facility's fantastic employees, made it happen."
Smith couldn't be reached for comment, but Robert Birch, the city's director of development, said Smith was referring to a period in mid-June when Koppers was considering changes to its operations.
Birch said city leaders, along with Arkansas Secretary of Commerce Mike Preston, had a series of meetings by telephone with Koppers officials over a period of two or three days. They pushed hard not just for the survival of the North Little Rock plant but for its expansion and improvement, Birch said.
"We'll see upgrades that make it a cleaner, safer, more productive plant," Birch said.