Success Story: Excel Boats Rebuilds Manufacturing Center in Mountain View, Arkansas After Tornado Devastation

Excel Boats manufactures a full line of high-end aluminum boats for outdoor recreational enthusiasts. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, Arkansas, approximately 70 miles north of Little Rock.

In 2009, a tornado devastated another Arkansas boat manufacturer: Rivertrail Boat Company of Clinton. All production was closed down and over 30 employees lost their jobs due to the natural disaster.

Glenn Foreman, the American business owner and entrepreneur who owns Excel, bought the company and developed an available space in Mountain View to expand his manufacturing capacity.

A $200,000 EDA Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) loan from White River Planning and Development District helped Foreman renovate the deserted Mountain View facility into a top-of-the-line boat manufacturing facility. The RLF loan also provided funding for tooling, a forklift, fixtures, working capital and inventory.

Due to competitive salaries and benefits, Excel Boats serves as an important regional employer with employees from several local counties. After the tornado devastation, they were able to save and create over 30 jobs.

With all of its recent success, the company has announced that they are expanding even further and are building a 100,000-square-foot facility in Lake County, Tennessee. The facility will include an office space, showroom, and visitor area. This development is estimated to create nearly 200 more American manufacturing jobs. Construction will begin this month and the facility is expected to be operational in the second quarter of 2019.