SHOT Show Breakfast Spurred CZ-USA Investment, Expansion Into Arkansas

Eggs and coffee? Bacon and biscuits? Who knows what was on the menu, but a breakfast at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas spurred Czech firearms-maker CZ-USA to invest $90 million in a new facility in Arkansas.

SHOT Show Breakfast Spurred CZ-USA Investment, Expansion Into Arkansas

C-Z-USA Supreme Field shotgun is designed for the discriminating hunter or clays enthusiast (Photo: C-Z-USA via Instagram)

Eggs and coffee? Bacon and biscuits? Perhaps it was the delicious waffles at the Grand Luxe, with a side of fruit.

Whatever was on the menu, the food and a heavy pitch from Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson during a SHOT Show breakfast in Las Vegas spurred Czech firearms-maker CZ-USA to invest $90 million in a new facility in Little Rock. The news was announced April 23 by Hutchinson and other state, city and CZ-USA officials.

The new facility will involve manufacturing and be the CZ-USA headquarters on 73 acres at the Port of Little Rock. It joins Sig Sauer, Walther, Daisy, Umarex USA and Remington with facilities in the Natural State. The deal calls for employment of 565 workers over a six-year period. CZ-USA produces pistols, rifles, shotguns and suppressors, and pistols under the Dan Wesson brand. 

Opening is planned in spring 2020.

CZ-USA Chairman Bogdan Heczko said the new facility marks a "new chapter for our company."

"As CZ looked to increase our presence in North America, it engaged in a multi-state search for the ideal location," Heczko said, according to ArkansasBusiness.com. "The Arkansas workforce, culture, business climate and industry support cleared the way for us to choose Little Rock as our new home."

Hutchinson said the SHOT Show breakfast in 2017 was the catalyst. CZ-USA is receiving financial incentives and assistance from state and local entities. It has a two-phase plan for meeting employment goals and incentive benchmarks. 

"It was at that breakfast that we got things moving. We really saw eye to eye, and I think they understood then the interest that Arkansas had, the commitment that we have, the relationship that you can have with our state," Hutchinson said. "From that meeting grew some very intense negotiations and competition and discussions, but through all of that and through many personal visits to our state, CZ-USA chose Arkansas."



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