Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

More Than 50 Jobs Will be Available to Area Residents In Industrial Park

For several months, the Clark County Industrial Council has been courting a California-based company.

Tuesday, those efforts paid off as Polycarbon, a graphite manufacturing plant, announced its plans to locate in the Clark County Industrial Park.

According to Percy Malone, CCIC president, this will mean more than 50 jobs up front from the Valencia, Calif. company.

Polycarbon is the world's second largest graphite manufacturer. Malone said the Arkadelphia plant would make insulation and gaskets for the automotive industry.

Company President Pat Sterry made the announcement Tuesday afternoon at the Governor's Mansion in Little Rock.

Malone said the CCIC has agreed to finish out the spec building in the industrial park for the company, but the company will spend several million dollars in equipping its new plant and training workers.

"I'm excited about this announcement," Malone said. "It adds 50-plus jobs to the county, good paying, environmentally safe jobs."

Jeff Ruzich headed the site selection team for Polycarbon, and made several trips to Clark County. Each passing trip narrowed the company's list of prospective locations, until it came down to Arkadelphia and a Tennessee community.

In order to get the company to locate in Clark County, the CCIC, during its September meeting, gave Malone the authority to negotiate the deal as he saw fit.

Malone promised to be aggressive in dealing with Polycarbon, and his efforts apparently worked as the company has selected Arkadelphia as the site of its newest plant.