At 51, MaryEmily Slate is a vice president and general manager for Nucor Steel Arkansas, overseeing more than 700 workers at two steel mills in Mississippi County. read more >

In Mississippi County, the big news in steel these days is Big River. But the firmly established player in northeast Arkansas steel is Nucor Corp., the largest steelmaker in the United States. read more >

A manufacturing resource to help navigate the leadership of the largest Arkansas companies or institutions. read more >

The construction of the Big River Steel mill is a project defined by superlatives: at $1.3 billion, the biggest economic development project in Arkansas history; at $700 million, the biggest construction project in the state; one of the most technologically advanced, etc. read more >

Nucor Corp. announced Friday that its northeast Arkansas steel plant will install a $75 million Quench and Self-Tempering process, allowing it to produce certain grades of structural steel sections. Nucor aims to commission the new process in the second half of next year. read more >

Nucor-Yamato Steel Co. plans to will announce "a significant capital investment" in Mississippi County and "the State of Arkansas." It's planning a media event for 2 p.m. Friday. read more >

A company that received a state permit to build a new steel mill in eastern Arkansas said Friday that a federal judge should block a challenge mounted by an existing nearby mill. read more >

John Correnti, chairman and CEO of Big River Steel LLC, has more than 40 years of experience in the steel industry. Big River Steel, a $1.3 billion project, is being built in Mississippi County near Osceola. It’s expected to employ more than 525 workers with average yearly compensation of $75,000. read more >

Grant Tennille, head of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, told your Whispers staff last week that the state is “continuing to have conversations with companies from throughout the world who want to be close to independent sources of steel.” read more >

A year after the highly publicized announcement that a $1.1 billion steel mill was coming to Mississippi County, economic development officials say the project is moving forward despite a rival’s objections. read more >

Using the government regulatory process to block a competitor signals an unwillingness to fight on the traditional market battlefields of price, quality and efficiency. We’re sure it’s happened before, but it’s neither good business nor good policy. read more >

Video of the latest "Arkansas Week" on AETN, featuring an interview with State Department of Community Correction Director Sheila Sharp. read more >

Nucor Steel is trying to block the opening of a competing $1.1 billion steel mill in northeast Arkansas by objecting to the new company's requests for environmental permits. read more >

Gov. Mike Beebe's plan to provide $125 million in state financing to help a new company build a steel mill in Mississippi County is gaining bipartisan support among legislators. But some conservatives still object to having the government help fund one of Arkansas' largest economic development projects. read more >

Although Big River Steel reviews weren't over the top, consultant John Anton of IHS Global Services did rate the proposed $1.1 billion project a "6, maybe a 7" on a 10-point scale of good investments in a Monday meeting with Arkansas lawmakers. read more >

A pair of outside consultants on Monday offered mixed reviews of Gov. Mike Beebe's proposal to provide a company with $125 million in state financing to build a steel mill in the northeast part of the state. read more >

It took John Correnti and Arkansas economic development officials about a year to put together the deal for a $1.1 billion “mini-mill” to be built near Osceola, a plant that would employ 525 people earning an average yearly compensation of $75,000 apiece. read more >

In addition to a hard look at the AEDC's incentive package, we'd suggest a hard look at the man at the center of the Big River Steel deal, John Correnti. read more >