Inside the Bad Boy Mowers manufacturing plant in Batesville.
Bad Boy Mowers of Batesville marked the completion of a $7.4 million expansion it said will create more than 200 jobs over the next five years.
The expansion, which Arkansas Business reported in March 2012, accommodates the lawn mower company’s new line of multi-terrain vehicles, or MTVs. As part of its celebration on Wednesday, the company presented Arkansas State University Chancellor Dr. Tim Hudson the first of the company’s new Intimidator XD4 4×4 MTVs.
Intimidator Inc. is an affiliated company of Bad Boy Mowers.
“We’re excited about launching our new generation of side by side all-terrain vehicles, The Intimidator Series,” company owner Robert Foster said in a news release. “Most of all, we’re excited about the opportunity to continue to grow and be a difference maker in Independence County and in Arkansas.”
The Intimidator Series features a 1,600-pound payload, more than a compact pickup truck, and a 2,100-pound towing capacity.
“Bad Boy is an Arkansas success story that is still being written,” said Gov. Mike Beebe, who attended Wednesday’s event. “Once a tiny start-up, this company has undergone several expansions, continues to develop innovative products and keeps hiring more and more Arkansans.”
Bad Boy was established in 1998 in Diaz, Ark., and began production at its Batesville location in 2002. The company has experienced several expansions in its short history, and now makes products in 650,000-SF of space in Batesville. Its mowers and MTVs are available through dealers throughout the United States, Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Bad Boy made six versions of MTVs before the expansion. It now makes 10 new varieties of utility terrain vehicles (UTV) and MTVs. The vehicles are used for agricultural, industrial, recreational or high-performance purposes.
The company said the Intimidator is “the first MTV to feature 10.25-inch slip-on brake rotors with dual piston calipers, parking gear in the transmission, and an emergency brake that locks all four wheels.”
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