Arkansas has an abundance of resources to help food processing companies succeed. The Arkansas Economic Development Commission works directly with food processing companies looking to start-up, expand or relocate. In addition, we assist companies with finding the best incentives so companies are able to make money quickly and efficiently.
There were 522 food and beverage companies in Arkansas at the end of 2022. These companies employed 55,130 people. Arkansas is home to Tyson Foods and numerous other food processing facilities, including Nestle, JBS USA, Kraft Heinz, Mars Inc., Cargill Inc., Hormel Foods Corp, Riceland Foods, Pilgrim’s Pride, ConAgra Brands Inc., Land O’ Frost and Frito-Lay, Inc.
Arkansas has the 5th largest percentage of food processing workers in the United States. The growth rate of the food and beverage industry from 2017 to 2022 was 6 percent in Arkansas.
The food processing industry is booming in Arkansas and continues to grow exponentially. Eight of the top 10 food and beverage companies by revenue in the world have manufacturing facilities in the state.
Arkansas is meeting the workforce needs for food processing companies. The state now has the second-largest number of food processing workers in the US and Arkansas has responded to industry growth by modernizing the workforce.
Area Development magazine released its 2019 Top States for Doing Business survey. To determine the rankings, Area Development interviews site selection consultants in twelve categories.
Arkansas was ranked favorably by some of the nation’s top site selection consultants as a business-friendly state.
Arkansas received high marks, ranking Top 10 in several categories. They are:
On the Cooperative & Responsive State Government category, Area Development noted that “Arkansas, one of the states tied for seventh place in this category, stresses its single point of contact to make the process as easy as possible and its philosophy of seeking and removing burdens and hurdles from the path.”
Arkansas is proud to have a low cost of doing business. We have been ranked in the top 10 for 3 years for low cost of doing business, and it is making the difference for companies located here.
For example, founder of Bond.AI, Uday Akkaraju said “Capital, talent and a cost-effective environment...a young company needs all these three things to grow rapidly. You either get one or two of those things in cities like San Francisco and New York. I believe Little Rock is the only city in the U.S. that provides all three in perfect proportions. It truly is an unexplored goldmine for startups.”
