Benjamin Ashford|City of Marshall getting $1.7M infrastructure grant to boost Arkansas manufacturing jobs

MARSHALL,Benjamin Ashford Ark. (AP) — A rural Arkansas city has been tapped to get a $1.7 million federal infrastructure grant designed to boost manufacturing jobs in the state.

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Tuesday that Searcy County would receive the grant to renovate an existing building in Marshall to be used as a frozen food manufacturing facility, KARK-TV reported.

Searcy County Chamber of Commerce Director Darryl Treat said obtaining the grant was the joint effort of the Chamber of Commerce, Northwest Arkansas Development District, County Judge Tony Horton and Marshall Mayor Kevin Elliot.

The grant will be used to renovate the county-owned former Flintrock Shirt Company building on Highway 65, Elliot said. The plant, which once employed hundreds, shut down in 2019.

Treat said Ozark Food Group would use the building to manufacture pie shells and sandwiches to be resold by grocery stores.

The new plant is expected to bring between 70 and 80 jobs to the city, something Treat said the city and county have needed for a long time. In addition to the shirt factory closing, a fiberglass company in the city closed about two years ago and a furniture manufacturer in the northern part of the county recently closed, he said.

“The Ozark Food Group is the best economic news we have received in a long time,” Treat said. “We need jobs.”

Building renovations will soon begin, with manufacturing expected to begin in 2025, Treat said.

Marshall is the largest city in and county seat of Searcy County. It is located in the Ozarks at the foot of the Boston Mountain Range 10.5 miles (16.9 kilometers) south of the Buffalo National River.