The general manager of FutureFuel Chemical Company facility in Batesville, Kyle Gaither, spoke to the Batesville Rotary Club Monday, giving members a brief history of the company and the plant.
The facility came to Independence County when Rochester, N.Y.-based Eastman Kodak was looking for an ideal spot for a production facility between Kingsport, Tenn., and Longview, Tex.
Eastman eventually settled on 1,800 acres a few miles east of Batesville off Gap Road. One attraction of the locale was there would be enough land for a buffer between the facility and adjoining landowners, something that some Eastman plants at the time did not have. Gaither noted FutureFuel continues to add buffer and is currently up to about 2,200 acres for buffer.
The first Eastman Kodak products rolled off in 1976 were chemicals for photography — a big market at the time. Eventually, agricultural and pharmaceutical chemicals were added to the product lines. In 1994, Eastman spun off its chemical business to the Eastman Chemical Company and Kingsport became the headquarters for the local plant.
Pharmaceutical chemicals were the primary aim but, as years went by, with changes in the world economy meant that much of that business started going to China.
Eastman then put that aspect of their chemical operations on hold, as well as agricultural chemicals, too. In the early 2000s, Eastman decided the chemical business was non-strategic to them and looked for a buyer. An investment group came along in 2006 and bought the business converting it to producing biodiesel on a small scale — and Independence County became home to FutureFuel.
Now FutureFuel produces 60 million gallons of biofuel annually — about the capacity of the facility, according to Gaither. In 2011, the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Gaither (pictured above in a White River Now file image) told Rotarians that with manufacturing now coming back to America (a process being called “reshoring”), the business now has two main facets: chemicals and biofuels.
Biofuels continue as a main part of the business, and Gaither said FutureFuel is again focusing on the chemical side of things, ramping up hiring with many positions looking to be filled. The biofuel products are shipped by rail, and the government provides about $1 per gallon in subsidies — which have just been renewed through 2024, he said.
One advantage FutureFuel has with its facility is the ability to destroy hazardous materials on site by incineration. There is no need to transport the materials off-site, saving time and money. Gaither said only protective clothing and similar items are placed in a landfill.
With about 470 employees now, Gaither said FutureFuel paid approximately $32 million in salaries for their Arkansas employees (most of whom live in the Batesville area), $14 million to vendors, $100,000 in charitable contributions, and $2 million in state and local taxes in 2021.
Article by Butch Ketz, White River Now / Featured image: FutureFuel facility via futurefuelcorporation.com
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