Since Arkansas began targeting the wind-energy sector, four world-class wind manufacturers have announced they will locate facilities in the state. Combined, LM Wind Power, Beckmann Volmer, Nordex USA and Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas, Inc. have pledged 2,300 new jobs and more than $360 million in investment.

Arkansas's unmatched logistics, workforce, cost of business and other key factors were instrumental in bringing these fine companies to our State.

Arkansas is strategically located among the states with the greatest wind generating capacity, making production, distribution and maintenance of wind turbine parts and systems advantageous.

Six of the top 20 states for untapped wind energy surround Arkansas including Texas, currently considered to be the largest potential market for wind energy in the United States.

Other factors contribute to Arkansas's positioning as the ideal base of operations for wind-related production facilities, including:

  • State program support. The Arkansas Energy Office (AEO), the lead organization in Arkansas for the promotion of energy efficiencies and new technologies, contributes greatly to the state's efforts to incorporate the adoption of renewable energy into its economic development agenda. The AEO is a "one stop" resource for alternative energy and is the link among federal energy policies, market evolution and economic benefits in the state.
  • Available and affordable real estate. Arkansas has about 130 industrial sites listed on Arkansas Site Selection Center. The sites range from as little as 11 acres up to 4,000 acres.
  • Strong manufacturing capacity in relevant industries. Arkansas has a strong manufacturing workforce, with 14.7 percent of its workers employed in the manufacturing sector, compared to 9.1 percent nationally.

Available financing and/or venture capital

  • Diamond State Ventures (DSV) is a private equity and venture capital firm with $125 million under management in two funds. DSV invests in small and lower middle market companies located in Arkansas and across the Midwest and Southeast United States. Diamond State Ventures II is a federally licensed Small Business Investment Company which, along with co-investment partners, focuses on transactions up to $25 million.
  • The Arkansas Science and Technology Authority administers an investment fund of $1.7 million that can provide seed capital for new and developing technology companies.

Investors in Arkansas businesses may receive a state income tax credit equal to one-third of their investment in an approved project that can offset half of the state tax liability in a year or be sold or transferred.

  • The Arkansas Institutional Fund (AIF) invests in proven, professionally-managed private equity and venture capital funds that commit to include Arkansas in aggressive and visible deal prospecting. Over time, AIF is committing approximately $70 million to private equity and venture capital funds that provide early stage capital, traditional venture capital, later stage and expansion capital and special situations capital.
  • The Arkansas Risk Capital Matching Fund (ARCMF) will provide matching investments in technology-based enterprises that are in the early stages of development and not yet able to attract adequate private sources of traditional financing, venture or investor-backed capital for their growth and development. The ARCMF was initially capitalized in 2009 to the total of $3.75 million.

Quality transportation infrastructure

  • Interstate 40 provides access to markets from North Carolina to California.
  • Interstate 55 intersects Interstate 40 in eastern Arkansas and provides distribution opportunities from New Orleans to St. Louis and Chicago and Canada.
  • Interstate 30 connects Arkansas with markets in Texas and Mexico.
  • The McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System connects Arkansas with Oklahoma and the Mississippi River system.
  • The Mississippi River Navigation System is directly accessible from many Arkansas industrial sites, as well as sites on the Arkansas River for global water access.

Wind power is one of the fastest growing renewable energy technologies. Currently generating about 2 percent of the United States' total electric capacity, the U.S. Department of Energy has released a report striving to increase that figure to 20 percent by 2030. The report finds that the economic impacts of wind power in the decade leading up to 2030 are great. The U.S. wind industry could:

  • Support roughly 500,000 jobs in the U.S. with an annual average of more than 150,000 workers directly employed by the wind industry;
  • Support more than 100,000 jobs in associated industries (accounts, lawyers, steel workers, etc.);
  • Support more than 200,000 jobs through economic expansion based on local spending;
  • Increase annual property tax revenues to more than $1.5 billion by 2030; and
  • Increase annual payments to rural landowners to more than $600 million in 2030.

Arkansas's business and elected leaders are committed to pursuing and supporting alternative energy solutions. Wind energy companies locating in Arkansas are eligible to be exempt from state corporate income tax. The term is determined by a formula based on investment, wages, employment and location.

For a closer look at how Arkansas can help your company expand its production capacity and translate the potential of wind energy to profits, please contact us.