MARTIN AND BLACKWELL TO LOCATE IN CONWAY
December 10, 2002
Conway, AR — Martin & Blackwell, a telecommunications consulting company, announced it will open its corporate headquarters in Conway in early 2003. The company, which has operated in North Little Rock since November 2000, provides plant-consulting services for such clients as ALLTEL, CenturyTel, Verizon, AT&T and numerous independent telecommunication companies.
The company is constructing a 6,000-square-foot facility, financed by First Community Bank in Conway, in the Conway East Industrial Park. Over the next two years, it could add as many as 80 new employees to its current 20-person workforce of designers, inspectors and CAD operators.
Owners Doug Martin and Andy Blackwell are both residents of Conway. "We could not be happier moving our young company to Conway to be a part of an already growing community and expecting to contribute with company growth of our own," said Blackwell.
"It's rewarding when an Arkansas-based business expands and brings jobs to the owners' hometown," said Gov. Mike Huckabee. "It's especially exciting when the company is a high-tech firm paying good salaries. This announcement is further evidence that Arkansas provides an environment conducive to the success of knowledge-based industries."
Martin & Blackwell provides the telecommunications industry with a full range of professional consulting services, including broadband designs (DSL, fiber to the home and hybrid fiber co-ax designs), outside and inside traditional copper and fiber designs, feasibility studies for competitive local exchange companies, rural utility service contract administration, and CAD drafting services with such software as AutoCad, TeleMap, Microstation, Lode Data, Focus and IDDS. Martin & Blackwell also provides Global Positioning System (GPS) services.
"The addition of Martin & Blackwell is a great complement to the growing telecommunications cluster in Central Arkansas," said Mayor Tab Townsell. "It demonstrates a corporate confidence in this community's workforce and business climate."
"We have diligently worked to make Conway a more attractive place for technology companies to locate," said Bill Hegeman, president of the Conway Development Corporation. "Historically, Conway has proven to be a community where entrepreneurs have grown their ideas into large, profitable corporations that are leaders in their respective fields. We believe Martin & Blackwell will follow in that same tradition."
"We're very pleased to work with this high-tech company," said Jim Pickens, director of the Arkansas Department of Economic Development. "ADED's mission is to bring more, better-paying jobs to our state, and Martin & Blackwell is certainly contributing to this effort. We look forward to years of continued growth for this company and the potential to bring even greater prosperity to the highly skilled and dedicated Central Arkansas workforce."
CONTACT:
Brad Lacy
bradl@conwayarkansas.org
501-329-7788
