Walther Manufacturing, the fabrication entity for gun makers Walther Arms Inc. and Umarex USA, on Thursday announced a $30 million plan to expand its U.S. headquarters in Fort Smith.
The project will add 76 jobs and grow the companies’ 185,000-SF physical footprint at their shared campus by 40,000 SF. The extra space will support operations including research development, design engineering, product management and manufacturing.
Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2024.
Walther is the U.S. unit of German gun maker Carl Walther GmbH. Walther moved its U.S. headquarters to Chaffee Crossing in Fort Smith in 2012. The company followed sporting and air gun maker Umarex, which set up shop in 2010.
“Arkansas is proud to be home to Walther U.S. headquarters, both because we love jobs and because we love our Second Amendment,” Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a news release. “After meeting with the company during my European trade mission this summer, I’m thrilled they’ve decided to double down on their investment and grow their facility here in the Natural State, helping Fort Smith and the entire River Valley grow.”
The state offered the following incentives for the project: Tax Back, which provides sales and use tax refunds on the purchase of building materials and taxable machinery and equipment to qualified businesses; Advantage Arkansas, which offers a state income tax credit for job creation based on the payroll of new, full-time, permanent employees hired as a result of the project; and $300,000 from the Governor’s Quick Action Closing Fund.
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