Tyson opens downtown Springdale building

SPRINGDALE, Ark. (AP) - Tyson Foods’ dedication to downtown revitalization is starting to show.

The Tyson Foods JTL Building, 516 E. Emma Ave, was unveiled to the public during an open house earlier in July.

“This is the first building to actually open as a commitment that the (Tyson) family and the company has made to give back to our city,” JohnTyson, Tyson’s chairman, said to more than 75 people in attendance at the building’s ribbon cutting. “We talked about how we could help Springdale and make a difference. It morphed into, ’How do we put people back on Emma Street?’ I can say with confidence I don’t know if it will help, but I can sure say it’s not going to hurt.”

The building, which Tyson purchased in 2014 and started renovating in 2015, is the first completed project Tyson recently announced for the downtown area, said Worth Sparkman, public relations representative for Tyson.

The almost 30,000-square-foot building will provide office space for Tyson and is designed to provide natural light and open areas to promote collaboration among staff, according to a fact sheet from Sparkman.

“This building renovation has room for little more than 100 people,” he said. “It will help free up space at our campus. It’s for people who need to be out in the field a lot or people who don’t necessarily need to be at our headquarters.”

Acquiring the new building was necessary to accommodate growth, Tyson said.

“The growth rate of our new building is outpacing our office space,” he said.

Tyson employs about 8,000 people in Washington and Benton counties, 23,000 people across the state and 113,000 nationally, Tyson said.

The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (https://bit.ly/29DRO2a ) reports that staff began working at the repurposed building last month. The building houses Tyson’s Springdale Live Operations, billing and accounts receivable and credit departments, Sparkman said.

Also, the Tyson Foods Company Store moved from its Lowell location to the renovated building and is three times larger than before, according to the fact sheet.

Employees who moved to the JTL building are enjoying their new office environment, said Jeff Ledbetter, manager of billing and accounts receivable.

“We love it — it’s new, inviting space with lots of light,” Ledbetter said. “The team members really seem to be enjoying it.”

The JTL building has a long history, having been built in the 1930s as a Jones Truck Line terminal, and later becoming the home of the Springdale Morning News and most recently an Orscheln Farm & Home store, Sparkman said.

Harvey Jones established the nationally successful truck line and his wife Bernice founded the The Harvey and Bernice Jones Center for Families.

Both Tyson’s original headquarters and the trucking line thrived in the downtown area, Tyson said.

“To take Mr. Jones’ old truck facility and repurpose it, Harvey and Bernice and my dad (Don Tyson) and granddad (John W. Tyson) would be happy with what they see going on,” Tyson said.

Acknowledging the truck line in the name of the building was an important reference to the city’s history, Tyson said.

“I sometimes think we forget to tell stories that connect the past to the present and the present to the future,” he said.

Tyson’s downtown revitalization effort continues beyond the JTL Building with renovation to Tyson’s original headquarters, 319 E. Emma Ave., about a block west of the JTL Building. Around 200 people will work there, Sparkman said.

“We’re putting more jobs and people downtown,” Sparkman said. “The Tyson family is committed to downtown revitalization.”

Mayor Doug Sprouse, who spoke at the ribbon cutting, said the return of Tyson to the downtown area helps legitimize his city’s downtown effort.

“When a company like the Tyson family invests in downtown Springdale, that sends an important signal to other potential investors that this revitalization is for real,” Sprouse said.

In January 2015, Donnie Smith, Tyson president and CEO, presented a $1 million check on behalf of the company to the Downtown Springdale Alliance, the nonprofit group working to revitalize the city’s original commerce center.

“The money will support the organization’s effort to develop infrastructure and green space,” a Tyson news release stated.

Between 350 to 400 Tyson employees will work in downtown Springdale once the original headquarters building and a nearby incubation center project are completed, Sparkman said.

The cost for completing the JTL building and remaining two downtown Tyson locations will be “tens of millions of dollars,” Tyson said.

The presence of so many Tyson employees will help drive downtown business and services, said Patsy Christie, director of the city’s Planning and Community Development Division.

Leo Orpin opened Black Apple Crossing at 321 E. Emma Ave., a year ago.

“When we bought our building a couple years ago, it was very desolate downtown,” he said. “When we started working on (our building), we got news of this (downtown) revitalization.”

Orpin produces and sells hard apple cider at the location, employs one full-time employee and six part-time employees and is on the verge of structural expansion. Orpin is excited by the commerce possibilities Tyson’s downtown presence could bring.

“For a business like Tyson to invest… it’s really a shot into the arm of the downtown area,” Orpin said. “It’s going to be a ripple effect that everybody’s going to feel.”

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Information from: Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, https://www.nwaonline.com