“Our relocation to Arkansas from California may be a microcosm of what you’ll see on a much bigger scale in the future," White said. "I call our move common sense ABCs of doing business."

That's ABC as in "Arkansas beats California." And White leaves little doubt about his convictions.

"Arkansas is too good to be true," said White, whose company is located 30 miles north of Little Rock. "I don't know where you could find a better place. The people are exceptional. There's plenty of open space. There's a well-trained employee base and the taxes are low. Plus, the state goes out of its way to welcome you."

In addition, White said Little Rock's cost of living compares favorably with most every other major metropolitan area in the United States.

"In Southern California, you're part of the problem, not part of the solution," he said. "Arkansas, on the other hand, is a really small community. You don't have to deal with a big bureaucracy. I'm pretty sure I could be talking to the governor here with just a couple of phone calls."

Another company realizing the benefit of Arkansas’ warm business climate is Phoenix-based Interstate Group, which will begin building cargo trailers at a newly refurbished facility in Conway. Production is anticipated to begin in September and plans call for 100 jobs to be created over the next few years.

The company looked at Tennessee and Texas before selecting Arkansas for its new operation.

"We chose Conway because of its excellent location and because of the opportunity to use an existing mobile home facility that’s a natural fit for our product,” said Michael Snow, president of Interstate Group. “Also, there is a labor base here with experience in this industry. All of these considerations will mean a lower cost of doing business.”

Interstate Group, which began operations in 1955, produces a full line of work and recreation trailers. In addition to its Conway facility, the company has manufacturing plants in Kingman, Ariz., and Nampa, Idaho.

Gerber Expands Plant

Meanwhile, in northwestern Arkansas, where industry giants like Wal-Mart and Tyson Foods are headquartered, a number of new projects are underway.

In Fort Smith, Gerber Products Co. in May announced a $65 million expansion to the plant that currently produces a variety of baby foods, including first, second and third foods, meats, meat sticks, Tender Harvest (organic) and dry cereal.

Karen Flatley, plant manager, said the expansion will enable Gerber, which has been in Fort Smith for 39 years, to continue one of its most significant initiatives to date: the conversion from glass to plastic packaging for its most popular infant and toddler foods.

Also in Fort Smith, Hiram Walker recently broke ground on a $10 million expansion and renovation project.

Brian Hastings, plant manager, said the project will allow Hiram Walker — bottlers of Kahlua, Hiram Walker Liqueurs, Sauza Tequila and various whiskeys — to handle the company’s growing production volumes. Hastings said production at the Fort Smith facility has increased 33 percent in the past seven years.

And just to the north in Rogers, Cryovac, a subsidiary of Fortune 500 company Sealed Air Corp., will open a new 165,000 square foot facility that will produce packaging for poultry, pork and red meat. Plans are to be in limited production by the first quarter of 2004 with 100 employees.

"We bought enough land to more than double the size of the building," said Ted Bell, a spokesman for the company. "In the next three to 10 years, we expect to expand the building, which would add more employees."

Bell said the company was looking for a site that was central to many of its customers. Cryovac investigated sites in Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri before deciding.

"All of the states offered good incentive inducements,” Bell said. “There really wasn't a big difference. In fact, at one point we were basically down to a coin flip between three states.

"The main reason why we ended up in Rogers, though, was because it was in close to our customers, there were utilities right up to the building, and we were able to negotiate a price that included bringing in rail, which was extremely important," he added.