Workforce

Northwest Arkansas' Best & Brightest, Youth and Technical Skill Help Shape the Future.

SITE SELECTION TEAM - Fayetteville MSA ranked #4 in nation for Best Transportation & Warehousing work force by Expansion Management's 2007 Logistics Quotient Report - America's Most Logistics Friendly Cities!

If your company is planning to set up a distribution center or other logistics operation and intend to hire a number of logistics workers, it is important to take a hard look at the Transportation & Warehousing work force in each metro you're considering. Availability of a reliable and hard working work force at reasonable wages rates are additional pillars of effective distribution operations. Some areas you should focus on are the number of T&W employees by specific occupation, prevailing wage rates, productivity measurements and reliability indicators, such as work stoppages. As with evaluating the T&W industry, once a particular metro area makes your short list of potential locations, you should also talk with several companies that currently operate in that metro to learn from their experiences in terms of the price, quality and reliability of the T&W work force. Click on link below for top 10:

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROWTH IN FAYETTEVILLE MSA

In October of 2007 The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report showed that the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers MSA grew by 6.9% in 2005 and ranked 32nd nationwide. By comparison, GDP grew by 3% across all 363 U.S. metropolitan areas. Northwest Arkansas received the highest ranking of percent change along with larger MSAs along the southern east and west coast.

Fayetteville, Arkansas is one of several connected communities which comprise the sixth fastest growing area of the United States with a 2006 MSA civilian labor force estimated at 420,876.

This area had a 47% population increase in the 90s and is continuing that growth at the same pace. The area boasts of a 60% employment growth in the last decade. Currently, approximately 1000 people move into the Northwest Arkansas area per month with the creation of nearly 450 jobs per month.

For its size, the region posts a $3.5 billion in annual retail sales with a $4.8 billion effective buying income. Businesses new to Northwest Arkansas have again and again found high caliber workers to be widely available and immediately employable.

A number of global companies - Wal-Mart (the world's largest corporation), J. B. Hunt and Tyson Foods - are included in this area. Ten universities and colleges provide graduates with the skills needed in today's workforce.

Even with the area's rapid economic growth, the region consistently ranks about ten percent below the national cost of living according to the American Chamber of Commerce Research Organization (ACCRA). Together these factors ensure strong continued job growth and a large influx of relocating workers to Fayetteville.