Jonesboro Unlimited announced that Hefei Risever Machinery Company is coming to Jonesboro. The new manufacturing plant will be built in the Craighead Technology Park on East Highland Drive in Jonesboro. Risever is a family-owned Chinese company that has three plants in China. This announcement means it will be Risever’s first American plant. General Manager of Risever Yonggang Lai says Jonesboro was chosen after more than 70 other cities were considered.
“We spent a year investigating and searching communities across five states, we are proud to announce that Jonesboro will house the first Risever plant in the United States,” said Lai to rousing applause.
Risever makes machine parts for heavy equipment for manufacturers like Caterpilllar, Volvo, and Komatsu. Over five years, 130 jobs will be created when fully operational. The total investment is 20-million-dollars. Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson says he has been making trips to China for these kinds of announcements.
“It’s the fifth Chinese company that we have been successful in recruiting,” says Hutchinson. “This is important because before I became Governor, there were none. This announcement expresses confidence in our entire state and the relationships that we have built that are so important.”
Hutchinson says he will make his third trip to China next week to visit the Risever plant. He will leave on Halloween. He tells what the trip will also entail.
“We will promote agriculture that is so important to this region, new business opportunities, and to rekindle those relationships that are so strong with those Chinese companies.”
Jonesboro Mayor Harold Perrin welcomed Risever to Jonesboro and gave Lai a key to the city. He said that Jonesboro was blessed and was excited to work with Risever. The Risever plant in Jonesboro will target an annual production capacity of 18-thosuand tons of steel.
