ponchh
Member
The Arkansas plant is on hold or dead. A few days after the election was called, all work was stopped and all contractors paid off for work done.
CZ is Purchasing Colt
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The Arkansas plant is on hold or dead. A few days after the election was called, all work was stopped and all contractors paid off for work done.
Please provide a source for your information. The Feb 13 article in the local Arkansas newspaper cited at the General Discussion thread CZ / Colt in Ark. News seems to indicate CZ intends to follow through with the Little Rock plant.
Craig
armoredman
Member
I have not heard about the plant being shut down.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
Colt has to move South to survive. New England is terribly expensive to operate in to begin with. Over-regulation, high taxes and a volatile political climate. Then there are labor unions to contend with. I've heard from industry insiders that the UAW has held Colt hostage for years. Hartford is practically dead anyway. I don't know where the new facility is but downtown and the area around the old Colt building is a ghetto.
ponchh
Member
I've seen it with my own eyes. In early November the lot was covered with bulldozers and earth movers. Went by there after I was told by someone with the company that had the HVAC contract that it was on hold and they were paid for work done in planning, and the lot looks like a ghost town. All heavy equipment is gone and there wasn't even a pickup truck there.
They might build someday, but it won't be anytime in the near future.
Thanks, Ponch. Good info. [deleted-wrong plant mentioned] My guess is they are waiting for final signatures on all the purchase documents, and also dealing with COVID restrictions. That would also be why the article includes this:
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Construction of the facility on a 73-acre site at the port has not started. The facility would also serve as Ceska Zbrojovka's North American headquarters, CZ-USA said.
Bryan Day, the port's executive director, said he remains confident CZ-USA is still coming to the port.
"We are in constant contact with CZ and they are still planning to build at the Port," Day said in an email. "I do know the global pandemic has complicated their efforts, but I have no reason to believe they are not coming."
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Craig
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The delay in construction of the CZ plant in Little Rock is now extended 3 to 5 years, according to a Feb 16 news article:
Arms-maker's factory in LR delayed again Acquisition puts off project up to 5 years, CZ-USA says [article is not behind subscription paywall]
CZ says the delay is due to focus on the Colt acquisition. From the article:
@ponchh had it right.
Craig
Arms-maker's factory in LR delayed again Acquisition puts off project up to 5 years, CZ-USA says [article is not behind subscription paywall]
CZ says the delay is due to focus on the Colt acquisition. From the article:
"With this strategic move, CZG will acquire significant production capacity in the United States and Canada and substantially expand its global customer base," the Czech company said.
...
Once the Colt transaction is completed, Ceska Zbrojovka will need time to integrate the new company into its operations, hence the need to delay the port project, spokeswoman Eva Svobodova said in an email.
"For this reason, we anticipate postponing the construction of the Little Rock plant by three to five years," she said. "We have already notified Arkansas officials about the ongoing acquisition of Colt and the delay in the construction in Little Rock."
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Once the Colt transaction is completed, Ceska Zbrojovka will need time to integrate the new company into its operations, hence the need to delay the port project, spokeswoman Eva Svobodova said in an email.
"For this reason, we anticipate postponing the construction of the Little Rock plant by three to five years," she said. "We have already notified Arkansas officials about the ongoing acquisition of Colt and the delay in the construction in Little Rock."
@ponchh had it right.
Craig
armoredman
Member
Makes sense. Still very much interested in what magic comes out of this match.
More news, and looking shaky for an Arkansas plant.
In the Feb 18 Democrat-Gazette, the article is Gunmaker's future at Little Rock port uncertain.
This time the article seems to be behind the subscriber paywall.
From the article:
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The land that the Port of Little Rock gave CZ-USA to build its North American headquarters and production facility is all but certain to revert to the port if the Czech arms maker doesn't meet a June 1 deadline in the land agreement to begin construction.
"We still have an agreement that is valid until June 1 this year for them to commence construction," Jay Chesshir, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, said Wednesday. "But the likelihood of that happening is probably very, very slim if not downright impossible."
CZ-USA's parent company, Ceska Zbrojovka Group, had two ways to move into the U.S. market, Chesshir said. One was to build its own headquarters and production facility; the other was to acquire the assets of another gunmaker already in the United States. Chesshir said he and other officials were aware of the company's two-pronged approach.
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There is more in the full article, but you can see the drift. When CZ firmed the Colt deal, that may well have pushed the Arkansas plant off of their plan, because the Colt buy will give them manufacturing plants and administrative space in USA already in place.
We shall see, we shall see.
Craig
In the Feb 18 Democrat-Gazette, the article is Gunmaker's future at Little Rock port uncertain.
This time the article seems to be behind the subscriber paywall.
From the article:
=-=-=
The land that the Port of Little Rock gave CZ-USA to build its North American headquarters and production facility is all but certain to revert to the port if the Czech arms maker doesn't meet a June 1 deadline in the land agreement to begin construction.
"We still have an agreement that is valid until June 1 this year for them to commence construction," Jay Chesshir, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, said Wednesday. "But the likelihood of that happening is probably very, very slim if not downright impossible."
CZ-USA's parent company, Ceska Zbrojovka Group, had two ways to move into the U.S. market, Chesshir said. One was to build its own headquarters and production facility; the other was to acquire the assets of another gunmaker already in the United States. Chesshir said he and other officials were aware of the company's two-pronged approach.
=-=-=-
There is more in the full article, but you can see the drift. When CZ firmed the Colt deal, that may well have pushed the Arkansas plant off of their plan, because the Colt buy will give them manufacturing plants and administrative space in USA already in place.
We shall see, we shall see.
Craig
OP
OP
If we've gotten to the point of discussing their plant as opposed to the guns, it must be time to put this thread to bed.
When new information comes out, please feel free to start another thread
When new information comes out, please feel free to start another thread
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