“Big River Steel is here!”
Applause erupted after that announcement from Mississippi County Judge Randy Carney . Hundreds of dignitaries, including state and local officials, joined investors, contractors, vendors, and supporters during a groundbreaking of the Big River Steel plant in Osceola. Mayor Dickie Kennemore told the crowd that the process started back in 2012, when he took CEO John Correnti to the current site of Big River Steel. Kennemore says it has been a long process, but he is happy the groundbreaking took place.
“I would like to tell you how excited I am about this. I never expected something like this,” Kennemore told the crowd. “I have been working toward something like this, but never expected it.”
Kennemore said this project is crucial to be able to help the county get out of double-digit unemployment and provide a better quality of life for citizens of the area. He says the county has been economically depressed for many years.
“We went through some depressing times when we lost the [Eaker] Air Base [in Blytheville], and textiles and shoe factories. We pulled ourselves up by our boot straps and passed our own sales tax, which led to the incentive to eventually place the steel mill here.”
Kennemore says he is thankful for John Correnti’s decision to place Big River Steel in the region, which he says will help the region tremendously, through the 2,000 temporary construction workers that will build the facility in 20 months, to the near 500 workers that will make at least $75,000 dollars annually while working at the facility.
“He has helped people already in Mississippi County. The Big River Steel project will help the workers and their families, as well as the service industries. We are already working with several and we hope to announce real soon 3 or 4 more service industries that are interested in coming to Osceola as a result of Big River Steel.”
CEO John Correnti says the location of a steel mill in Northeast Arkansas was a “no-brainer”.
“You can’t beat it for putting a steel mill here. You have the Mississippi River on the east border and Interstate 55 on the west border. You have railroad transportation, Entergy’s main transmission line, and other resources. That is perfect.”
He says the process is like the birth of a child, in that the next several years, the hard work is ahead of them. He asked for support of the many people that were in attendance, and vaguely mentioned the federal lawsuit that has filed against them by Nucor Steel in Blytheville as “legal shenanigans.” Nucor is wanting to stop the project, accusing the company if violating the Clean Air Act. He says Big River Steel will work to the highest standards, will train workers appropriately and pledged “to keep unions and management out of the way so workers can make a lot steel and a lot of money”.
Governor Mike Beebe also spoke to the crowd and stated that Mississippi County is now known as one of the top steel producing areas in the world. He says it is a great sign for those who live and work in the county, because the area is moving out of the classification as being one of the most economically depressed in the state, and the region.
“If you can think about a county that has suffered more than any county in unemployment, lost productivity, and major organizations leaving, it is this one,” Beebe said. “Then, look at that same county picking themselves up from their bootstraps and making a turn around like this, it serves as an example for the rest of the state”
Governor Beebe also praised the workforce in Mississippi County, and said the people who will make the steel deserve as much of the accolades for Big River Steel as the people who worked to make Big River Steel possible.
