Arkansas State Representative Danny Watson (R)--Hempstead, Howard Counties at a news conference held this afternoon at the Hempstead County Economic Development office discusses the proposal to locate a prison in Hempstead County and the recently announced shutdown of Husqvara's facility in Nashville.

In a news conference at the Hempstead County Economic Development office this afternoon, state representative Danny Watson made the announcement that the proposal to build a state prison in Hempstead County is on hold for now.

Watson said at a lunch event Tuesday in Little Rock that he was led over to Secretary of the Department of Corrections John Profiri who then gave him the news about plans for a prison in Hempstead County. 

“Basically, what he said was, ‘We're going to put a pause on the prison. Not only are we going to put a pause on the prison for Hempstead County, Hope Arkansas, but actually for the whole state,’” Watson said.

The reason specified? The lack of an employable workforce sufficient to staff new prisons. Watson said Secretary Profiri also mentioned problems staffing at least two other prisons in the state.

Watson said he responded to Profiri that he (Watson) “wouldn't want my name dangling on this thing if I couldn't get it staffed.”

About the timing of Watson’s news conference, he said he did not immediately tell the media of the news as soon as he got it because he wanted to give the Department of Corrections a chance to put out a release. But that has not yet occurred.

Watson closed the subject of the prison by saying he still felt something needed to be done about the increase in violent crime. “What I suggest everybody to do is to stay tuned, because it's a matter of time something's going to have to happen somewhere,” he said.

Concerning the recent announcement by Husqvarna of closing the facility in Nashville, which is in Watson’s district, by the end of 2024, Watson said he, Nashville Mayor Larry Dunaway and  Howard County Judge Brent Pinkerton, plant manager Steve Harvill and Arkansas Economic Development Commission Executive Director Clint O’Neal met Tuesday to start looking for a replacement industry. 

Watson said he had thought when Swiss-owned Husqvarna built a storage facility three years ago for inventory, that it was confirmation the company would be continuing its decades of occupancy at its Nashville location. He also said the announcement of the shutdown came as a surprise, there being no indications to him of Husqvarna contemplating the shutdown.

The shutdown will occur in four stages, Watson said, adding that he believed more and more companies would be taking the route of replacing the manufacturing of petroleum-fueled machines with electric battery-driven machines, possibly because of pressure from Washington D.C. to do so.