Bryan Day had big expectations in 2020 for the Little Rock Port Authority.
Day, the authority’s executive director since 2014, saw the port post record revenue in 2019, when it celebrated its 60th anniversary. A deal in which Amazon would pay $3.2 million for 80 acres of port land on which it would build a 3 million-SF distribution center was set to close in mid-April.
The Amazon deal closed as expected, but it did so in the atmosphere of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus-caused business slowdown has tempered Day’s optimism for a big 2020 for the Port of Little Rock.
“We had a record year last year, and we budgeted to have an even better year this year based on what we thought the economic conditions were,” Day said. “That is no longer true. We will not have a record year. We will be significantly less than last year in total tonnage and total goods handled. I just don’t know what that will look like.”
Day said he would have a better idea of how the pandemic has affected the port when he gets the financial figures from April, the first full month operated in the new virus environment. He said there are 42 businesses on the port’s 8,000 acres and they were still open and operating, just not the same as before.
“We will end up cutting expenditures,” Day said. “We will end up modifying our operations a little bit because the revenue will not be there. That said, the port as a whole is healthy.”
Day said some companies, such as those in the food supply chain, have seen product demand grow, while others have had to deal with the opposite. He said the businesses most harmed have been in the manufacturing sector.
“We’ve got some industries that are doing better than ever, you have some industries that have modified, and you have some industries that have reduced or slowed productions,” Day said. “We are all hopeful that when we have that ‘Aha!’ moment — when we have a vaccine, the curve flattens and no one goes back to the hospital — that manufacturing will rebound.”
One business at the port has at least temporarily changed its production line. TY Garments USA, a subsidiary of Chinese manufacturer Tian Yuan Garments Co., produces sportswear for Adidas and other brands. That was before. Now, with the onset of the pandemic and the drop in demand for sportswear, TY Garments has switched its production line to the making of protective masks.
Day said it was important for people to know that the port was still functioning as before, just “slower and safer.” The Port Authority employs 10 people, but more than 4,000 more work at the various facilities at the port.
The virus, according to medical experts, can live on certain surfaces for as long as three days, Day said. That is a shorter period than it takes barge and rail traffic to reach the port, so he believes the risk of infection is limited.
That said, Day added that heightened safety protocols are used. “We are all taking extraordinary steps to keep safe,” Day said. “I am sure there has been some exposure out here, but I have not personally heard of any industry or anybody [at the port] that has been diagnosed with the virus. Whatever we are doing at the port seems to be working.”
Day said he is optimistic that the port will recover as soon as business returns to normal. He said Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Mayor Frank Scott Jr. have handled the situation well, and he hopes people continue to proceed with patience and caution.
“I know people are anxious to get back out; I’m anxious to get back out, but we can’t rush it,” Day said. “We are all in this together. We are going to be fine. America is going to be fine.”
Sign up for Daily E-news
