11/01 German Company to Open Facility in Camden PDF Print E-mail

German Company Plans to Open Facility in Camden

Camden News 11/01/09

EAST CAMDEN – Rheinmetall Defense, whose headquarters is in Dusseldorf, Germany, is announcing the groundbreaking of American Rheinmetall Munition’s new production facility in Camden, according to a news release from ARM and Walt Galvin, the company’s supply-chain manager.
   Galvin told the Sunday News that ARM is Germany’s largest defense contractor.
He told the Sunday News that the company is going through final qualifications with the U.S. government and expects to have all permits required within the next few weeks. ARM has been running some operations in Highland Industrial Park, he said, but the production part of the company is expected to be up and running by mid-November.
   "We are currently building product at Spectra Technologies," Galvin said. "We will be starting production of our product there within the next few weeks.  We are at Highland Industrial Park at the 9 AT location.
   "We are definitely looking to hire two people right now, and probably right after the beginning of the year, a third and possibly a fourth person." He said, according to plans for the facility, there will be around 50-100 people employed at ARM during 2010 and 2011.


   Three new buildings were recently constructed in Highland Industrial Park for ARM operations, he said. One building will be used as an office, and two of them will be used as manufacturing buildings. He said the cost of construction of the buildings is more than $2 million.
   "A very good portion of it (funds for construction) has been pumped into the local economy," Galvin reported. "We’ve been using local contractors and buying a lot of the materials, office supplies, furniture, etc., if not in the direct Camden area, the majority of it from Arkansas suppliers."
   ARM is a U.S. subsidiary that specializes in 40-millimeter munitions, which includes the only "Green Ammunition" in the U.S., Mk281 and XM1110, the company’s news release said.
   Galvin said ARM’s initial product is the MK281 Mod 0 and Mod 1 40 mm x 53 practice round and that it is currently being purchased by the U.S. Marine Corp and U.S. Army to support the training mission for U.S. warfighters. The company’s five- year plan includes several more 40 MM and other products to be introduced to the U.S. and manufactured in Camden, he said. Galvin explained that a supply chain is in place to provide components for their products, pumping more than $40 million dollars into the U.S. economy.
   The ARM news release said the U.S. acquisition process for these types of munitions began in 1996. These "trend-setting" environmental designs are "critical" insolving unexploded ordnance (UXO) problems, according to the Defense Science Board, an organization that seeks to advance technologies in the interest of the Department of Defense. Problems associated with older designs include diminished training, range fires, lower property values, and stagnate development in communities affected by high risk unsellable DoD land.
   The release revealed that the Camden location was planned with economic sensitivity in mind through the Ouachita Partnership for Economic Development and the Arkansas Department of Economic Development.  ARM’s new facility will be part of Highland Industrial Park, formerly the Shumaker Naval Ammunition Depot.
The depot was operated by the Navy from 1944 -1957 until it was categorized as surplus by the DoD. In 1961, the government received bids for the land. Part of it became the town of East Camden; another part became educational facilities that supply high-skilled labor for the park, the release said.
   Since "green ammunition" designs require advanced production techniques, high skilled jobs are created in the U.S. economy, said information from the news release. Recent contract awards for Mk281 components went to small businesses, Greystone Corporation in Rhode Island and AK Stamping Company, Inc. in New Jersey. Established teaming partners include Cyalume Technologies in Massachusetts and Spectra Technologies, Llc. in Arkansas. The U.S. Marine Corp is the program’s lead and primary user of Mk281, according to the news release.
   It stated that ARM is committed to continued growth by means of strategic teaming, exceptional supply-chain management, advanced production techniques, and alignment with Department of Defense’s initiatives to provide the best for war-fighters.