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Article: Future of Bankrupt Paragould, Ark., Furniture Plant Remains Unclear.
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
- Article date:
- March 4, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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By David Smith, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Mar. 4--PARAGOULD, Ark.--In 1997, Sunlite Casual Furniture Inc. delivered an ultimatum to this job-hungry town in northeast Arkansas: Come up with a package of subsidies or operations will move to plants in Georgia or Texas.
Local officials hurriedly strapped together $150,000 to buy land for a plant expansion. State government engineered a program of taxpayer-funded incentives that have since amounted to about $460,000. Sunlite relented, promised to add 900 jobs and officials declared victory.
Today, Sunlite is still in Paragould, but the jobs ...