A spokesman for CZ-USA, a Czech gunmaker that was supposed to begin operating at the Little Rock Port next month, sent a response today to my questions Monday about the delay in the startup.
Construction has not begun and the company is seeking financing in the Czech Republic for a factory, distribution center and North American headquarters in Little Rock. The venture received various incentives from the Hutchinson administration, including free land. The governor announced last April that it would create more than 500 jobs and should begin a phased-in operation in March 2020.
The company’s e-mail response to my questions:
We are committed to Little Rock as the future home of CZ-USA. The investment plan continues. The preparatory work on the project currently focuses primarily on the selection of optimal technologies and preparation of production, while at the same time creating an appropriate funding framework.
Work on the actual construction of the facility is planned for the second half of this year, according to the current schedule. CZ is continuously informing our Arkansas partners about the development of the project.
Sincerely,
Jason Morton
State and city officials had said yesterday that a team was at work on the project and they were still confident it would happen. The port has an agreement by which it would get its 73 acres back if the plant isn’t built.