South Arkansas is known for its military manufacturing, but a sampling of U.S Defense Department contracts this year shows a business impact statewide.
Some of the contracts reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The department’s Defense Commissary Agency, based at Fort Lee, Virginia, awarded in August two contracts totaling more than $700 million to Tyson Fresh Meats of Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, a subsidiary of Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale.
One contract, worth more than $440 million a year for two years, then eligible for three one-year extensions, will provide fresh beef and frozen coarse ground beef for military installations in the central and east regions of the United States. The other contract, for the west and Pacific areas of the nation, is also a 24-month contract, this one worth nearly $269 million per year. It also has three one-year option possibilities.
The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support unit in Philadelphia exercised its option to have the Arkansas Lighthouse for the Blind in Little Rock continue to provide flame-retardant camouflage jackets for the Army. The deal is worth a maximum of $10.2 million, with a delivery deadline of Oct. 31, 2019.
In May, the Pentagon awarded a $55.2 million adjustment contract for the Jacksonville Water Works for operating and maintaining the water distribution system at Little Rock Air Force Base, served by nearly 4,000 active-duty military personnel.
