Project would bring 3 new businesses Camden News 2/18/10 By DONNA COLLINS Staff Writer If a local developer can bring to fruition a proposal that includes a hotel, restaurant and an assisted living center, Ouachita Partnership for Economic Development will cover the cost of extending needed city sewer and water service infrastructure.
The decision to cover the cost through OPED’s retail development incentive fund was made by OPED board members Wednesday during the board’s regular monthly meeting.
The board also approved spending $5,000 to $8,000 to have an engineering team assess the cost to raise the roof of the former General Dynamics building near Camden Regional Airport.
James Lee Silliman, local land owner, told board members Wednesday that he is working to develop a restaurant and an assisted living on land he owns near the Comfort Inn off the Arkansas 278/79 Bypass.
Charles Shinn, who owns Camden’s Comfort Inn and Holiday Inn Express, told the board he wants to build a 63-room Roadway Hotel on land he owns near the Comfort Inn.
Silliman, who is also executive director of the Camden Area IndustrialDevelopment Corporation, and Shinn want the $154,000 to cover the cost of a 20-inch boring under U.S. 278, installation of a 10-inch sewer line and manholes, and a 6-inch water line.
The incentive funds for the project would come from a $450,000 retail development incentive pool the Camden City Council established and contracted with OPED to appropriate.
OPED executive director Norm MacNeill said the development project is projected to generate $187,350 in sales taxes during a three-year period.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Ceremony opens East Camden site for Rheinmetall Camden News 2/18/10 By TAMMY FRAZIER Staff Writer Highland Industrial Park in East Camden welcomed another business to the area Wednesday afternoon when American Rheinmetall Munitions held its official opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony. Sen. Mark Pryor was the guest speaker at the event.
Dirk Ruettgerodt of A.R.M. introduced Camden Mayor Chris Claybaker and East Camden Mayor Dan Keithley, along with American Rheinmetall’s chief operating officer Helmut Binder; Joe Bailey of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Armin Papperger, member of the executive board of Rheinmetall Defense; and chief executive officer of American Rheinmetall Munitions Kevin Sullivent along with representatives of industries in Highland Park.
The facility location was planned through the Ouachita Partnership for Economic Development and the Arkansas Department of Economic Development to benefit surrounding communities.
A.R.M. is a division of Rheinmetall Defense, whose headquarters is in Dusseldorf, Germany, according to information provided by the company. A.R.M. is Germany’s largest defense contractor.
Papperger told the group that A.R.M. produces medium-caliber automatic cannons, weapon systems and pyrotechnics. "We invested in the U.S.A. and we are proud to create value for your country," he said, adding that to date, the U.S. Marine Corps has placed an order with A.R.M. for more than $130 million in products.
"We were fortunate enough to find this location in Camden, Arkansas, through the Arkansas Economic Commission," he said. "We are pleased to have this multi-million dollar project and to play a small part in stimulating this struggling, global economy."
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Camden plant gets ammunition contract, plans ribbon cutting |
 |
 |
 |
|
Camden plant gets ammunition contract, plans ribbon cutting Camden News 2-8-10 (Reports from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette were used in this article.) The American Rheinmetall Munitions Inc. plant in Camden will celebrate its official opening Feb. 17. Activities are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and will including a ribbon cutting ceremony and a visit by U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas.
The company has been awarded a contract by the U.S. military to produce ammunition. The 2010 Army ammunition budget has allocated $74 million for the procurement of Mk281, which has the potential to positively impact local jobs and jobs within Rheimetall’s American supply-chain, a recent news release from the company stated.
The contract "means big jobs for Camden," said Kate Roa, a public relations official speaking for American Rheinmetall of Stafford, Va., a subsidiary of Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH of Germany.
The plant will produce 40 mm, high-velocity training cartridges fi red by grenade launchers. The company says the facility is the only plant in the country that produces the specialized ammunition. Roa said the cartridges are nontoxic and were created to fi x problems associated with 40 mm projectiles made in the 1970s.
"If you’re picking up a 1970 design, you could pick up one that hasn’t exploded, so it could explode on you," she said. With the new cartridges, she said, "there’s no risk of bodily harm and there’s no risk of contamination in the soil." |
|
|
Lockheed gets work on Himars |
|
|
|
|
Lockheed gets work on HIMARS Camden News 1-18-2010 Lockheed Martin Corp., Missiles and Fire Control, Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded on Dec. 22, a $151,166,292 firm-fixed-price contract, according to a news release from the company. The contract includes High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, full-rate production Lot 5 launchers in support of the U.S Army, to include 46 Army launchers one Army launcher rebuild; launchers loader module trainer kit; product definition data package maintenance tack; new equipment training and support equipment. About 50 percent of work on the project will be performed at Lockheed’s plant in the Highland Industrial Park. The company’s estimated completion date is March 30. |
|
Leadership Camden Area Class of 2010 |
|
|
|
|
Camden News 12/21/2009 Photo by Bekah Green From left, Angie Paxton, Ouachita Electric Cooperative Corp.; Kerron Simpson, SAU Tech; Santresa Wilkins, Chamber of Commerce; April Jones, Farmers Bank and Trust; Patricia Lewis, SAU Tech; Olivia Clack, SAU Tech; Dean Johnson, Lockheed Martin; Gene Morton, General Dynamics; and Ron Beaver, Lockheed Martin. Not shown are Mike Sherman, Boys and Girls Club of Ouachita County and Todd King, B and M Painting. LCA is sponsored by the Camden Area Chamber of Commerce and Southern Arkansas University Tech. The group will attend sessions on local history, community development, and other subjects through May. For more information call the chamber of commerce at 836-6426. |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 1 of 6 |
| |
