When it comes to economic development, it pays to think ahead. For communities across Arkansas, recruiting a major employer can be essential to ensuring stability and continued growth. So it was with no small celebration that Maumelle hosted the grand opening of its Tractor Supply Co. distribution center in 2024.
“Across the country, many Americans are struggling right now,” Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at the event. “Prices are higher, but paychecks are staying the same. There’s only a few times in the past when so many Americans feel so badly about our country’s national economy. Here in Arkansas, though, we’re bucking that trend, and Tractor Supply’s just one of many companies that have decided to make a major investment in our state in the past couple of years.”
The company did not land in Maumelle by mere happenstance, however. Courtney Dunn, community engagement director, said it was an effort three years in the making that required close collaboration with the city, Entergy Arkansas, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and local landowners…