Hewlett-Packard to Conway!

I have had a few of my friends from around the web ask me what I thought about HP building a new facility here in my hometown of Conway, Arkansas. 

Naturally I am excited, honestly I think that HP is a good fit for Conway, we have a very skilled workforce already here and more graduating each year from our 3 universities.  Another large tech-firm here in town, Acxiom, has done very well here over the years as well and is now branched out all over the world and publicly traded.

As a resident of Conway for almost 3 years now, I can tell you that we really enjoy living here.  It’s like a great big small town with a lot going on.  We now have just about every major restaurant chain and mom and pop establishment that you could ever want in town now, and I have probably eaten at every one of them!  Every time I pass through town I notice a few more new businesses that are opening up, it just a positive community in a lot of ways.

Another pretty big deal here in Conway is the construction of a new airport.  This is definitely something that has been in the works for a long time and is desperately needed to accommodate the needs of a company like HP. 

For those of you who might have missed the announcement a month or so ago about HP’s Conway Plant, here’s a link to KATV’s story: Hewlett-Packard Enticed With $43M to Build Conway Facility and here’s an excerpt:

Documents from the state show that Hewlett-Packard was offered more than $43 million in incentives from state and local officials to build a new customer and technical service center in Conway.

The documents were released today by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission released the documents to The Associated Press in response to a Freedom of Information request. Details such as the number of jobs, average wages and the company’s investment were blacked out in the memorandum of understanding between the technology company and the state, as well as several attachments.

The June 17th memo, however, details the the $35.4 million in incentives that the state used to lure the Palo Alto, California-based company to Conway for its new facility. Officials announced last week that the company plans to open the center by the end of 2009 and have its full contingent working within four years.

Beebe has contributed $10 million from a fund he controls to help attract new businesses and help existing ones expand to go toward that infrastructure.

The document also details $8.3 million in incentives that local officials in Conway offered to HP to open the new center. The local incentives included $2.1 million for the project’s site work and nearly $3 million for transportation corridor improvements to the office park where the facility will be located.

The company has said it will hire 1,200 people for the new center.