PB Community Impact Fund provided $12.75 million of New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation to Tate Access Floors, Inc. (Tate) to finance the acquisition, rehabilitation, equipping, and initial working capital needs of an approximately 420,000 SF manufacturing facility that produces equipment for data centers in Pocahontas, AR. The Project brought 148 high-paying jobs to rural Arkansas. 

 

The Project was needed to meet the rapidly increasing demand for Tate’s data center infrastructure products driven by increased investment in data centers across the U.S. Tate pursued the Project due to projections that its previous data center infrastructure facility would exceed its capacity by FY25, necessitating the construction of a new facility. NMTC Financing was crucial to afford the Project’s state of the art equipment and to improve and expand Tate’s impactful employee training program. 

 

The accessible, high-paying jobs created by the Project addressed a clear need in Pocahontas and the surrounding Randolph County. According to the US Census Bureau, only 18.8% of Randolph County residents and 15.9% of Pocahontas residents aged twenty-five and older hold a bachelor’s degree. Therefore, the vast majority of these residents rely on access to jobs with educational requirements no greater than a high school diploma. Further, Pocahontas’s poverty rate of 21% evidenced the need for the newly created high-wage jobs. These jobs also provide a comprehensive benefits package that includes health, vision, dental, disability, and life insurance, PTO, 401K plans, a tuition reimbursement program, parental leave, and access to wealth management advisors, job-specific training, and various mentorship and leadership development programs.

 

To recruit and train local job seekers, Tate partnered with the Pocahontas-based Black River Technical College. The institution provides $3,400 per employee in educational incentives such as internships, apprenticeships, and additional training opportunities. These educational incentives focus on leadership development and skills specific to manufacturing that are necessary for career advancement within the industry.

 

The Project supported the 2020-2025 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy of the East Arkansas Planning & Development District, which identifies low job growth, few high paying jobs, and workforce skills as areas for focused improvement. Furthermore, the Project received strong support from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and the Arkansas Office of Skills Development. In a statement regarding the Project, Arkansas Governor Sara Huckabee Sanders said, “When Arkansas’ State, county, and local governments are all on the same page, we can beat out competition and secure investments like Tate’s time and time again.”