At first glance, Camden, Arkansas, appears as just another charming small town. People still smile and greet you here, chat over coffee at the local cafe or wave as you drive along. It’s the kind of place you can immediately feel at home, enjoy a nice dinner out or just take in the local natural scenery.
But Camden is more than just good food and good brews (check out Native Dog Brewery while you’re there). It’s also one of the biggest manufacturing centers in Arkansas and a hub for the country’s aeronautics and defense industries.
And times, like the explosives being made here, are booming. “We have multiple opportunities and openings available in the aerospace and defense industry,” said James Silliman, executive director for the Ouachita Partnership for Economic Development. “The companies have been here 40-plus years, and they continue to make investments in their facilities and equipment here, which means the job market here is very stable.
“Aerospace and defense industries provide well-paid, career-track positions to people of all skill levels. It’s a wonderful place to start and build a career.”
Camden’s history in the defense and aeronautics industry is a long one. Highland Industrial Park, the industrial district where many of the com- panies are located, began as Shumaker Naval Ammunition Depot during World War Il. This provides the companies located here with ample pro- duction space as well as specialized facilities required for the manufacture and testing of ordnances. For those who don’t know, an ordinance is anything our military men and women deploy that goes boom, such as hand grenades, missiles and various other tools for defeating terrorism and defending freedom around the world.
“Over time, we’ve evolved and been able to use the physical assets here in the park as far as facilities that are specially designed for manufacturing of ordnances as well as buildings where we can store ordnances safely,” said John Schafftzel, president of Highland Industrial Park.
”We have 639 earth-covered storage bunkers in the park, and the manufacturing facilities are designed in a special way with structural concrete walls and really thick foundations. Those big, heavy-duty structural elements are the key element that we offer. We also own 18,780 acres of land, which is important. When you’re building ordnances, you want to be able to spread out and not be too close to one other.”
Skilled careers of all types are in heavy demand here, in companies of all sizes. Not only do global defense giants Aerojet Rocketdyne and Lockheed Martin operate here, but they are supported by dozens of smaller vendors located in Camden and nearby communities, all of which are in near constant hiring mode. Companies work closely with the local college, Southern Arkansas University Tech, to help ensure training programs prepare students to excel in the workplace.
“It takes a whole mix of the workforce to make this place happen,” Schaffitzel said. “It takes all types of workers and skill sets. The key thing to know is advanced manufacturing now is different than what the old manufacturing line looked like, it’s much more high-tech than people think And safety is priority number one for every one of these companies.”
