Highbar LLC said Tuesday that it has chosen a site near Osceola to build a rebar steel mini mill that will create about 200 jobs.
The Highbar mill will be built on a six hundred acre site that includes space for an expanded Mississippi River port facility, a railroad spur, and a planned solar farm. Groundbreaking is scheduled in the first half of 2023 once permits are obtained.
“My team and I have had great success investing billions of dollars in northeast Arkansas over the past eight years. I am pleased that after conducting a multi-state site search that we are able to make this announcement today,” said Dave Stickler, chief executive officer of Highbar and senior managing partner of Global Principal Partners, a leading metals and mining investment and project development firm. “Arkansas is a great place to conduct business, especially steel business,” Stickler stated.
Highbar plans to spend approximately $500 million on the project. It will support 200 direct and indirect jobs, with the direct jobs paying $140,000 a year on average plus benefits and the indirect jobs paying $60,000 a year on average plus benefits, the company said.
“The addition of Highbar’s first rebar mill in Arkansas will not only support the growing steel industry in northeast Arkansas, but it will further diversify our economy and provide hundreds of high-wage jobs to deserving families,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a news release. “I’m excited about the opportunities this significant investment will bring to the region.”