Doing Business

Located in the south-central United States, the bustling community of Jefferson County, Arkansas offers businesses multimodal connectivity paired with small town costs and southern charm. An ideal location for expanding or relocating companies, Jefferson County prides itself on providing a business climate ideal for growth and expansion. With statewide and local incentives and programs, as well as low operating costs, and great logistics infrastructure, Jefferson County is perfect for your site selection needs. 

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Operating Costs

In 2019, Arkansas was voted by CNBC as the #3 state for overall cost of doing business. Contributing to lower operating costs are our tax rates, along with low operating costs.

Sales Taxes

Download Our Incentives Guide (PDF)

Property Costs 

Property in Jefferson County is affordable with great infrastructure and multimodal access. To explore our available properties, please click here. 

Connectivity

Jefferson County, Arkansas offers a multimodal logistics infrastructure, ideal for businesses needing to connect easily within the region and around the world. We have state-of-the-art road, rail, air, and port infrastructure all within close proximity, working to simplify your importing and exporting needs. 

Rail 

The major railroad servicing Jefferson County is Union Pacific. Union Pacific operates an electronic switching yard at Pine Bluff, offering daily switching, and is situated on the north/south mainline rail. Pine Bluff is located with a northwest route between Memphis, Tennessee and Shreveport, Louisiana that connects south to New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Road 

Jefferson County is situated within a network of highways and roads, the largest being I-530 that connects the county with Little Rock, and eventually turns into I-30 and I-40.  In 2017, Arkansas Department of Transportation completed reconstruction projects along I-530 in Jefferson County at a cost of $58 million. Another I-530 reconstruction project, nearing completion, is valued at $67 million. Other highways serving the community are US 63, 65, 79, 270, 425 and AR 54, 88, 104, 190, 365. Jefferson County is 42 miles south of Little Rock, Arkansas and 137 miles from Memphis, Tennessee.

Port 

Adding significant logistical benefits to the community, Jefferson County is home to the Port of Pine Bluff. The port’s 372-acre Harbor Industrial District sits on an Arkansas River slackwater harbor. The McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System itself has a year-round, 9-foot channel. The port’s public terminal complex is managed by Watco Terminal & Port Services, a leading transportation and supply-chain logistics company. The local terminal, a recognized Foreign Trade Zone, offers transloading, barge loading and unloading, in-transit warehousing and bulk storage.

Air

Jefferson County is home to the Pine Bluff Regional Airport/Grider Field. This general aviation airport is jet capable with a 6,000 ft. lighted, asphalt runway with ILS. Recently, Grider Field completed a $1.9M upgrade to its taxiway improving safety at the airport. Grider Field also recently completed another upgrade by installing a completely new L.E.D. runway lighting system.These upgrades to the airport were funded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Airport Improvement Program. For commercial airport needs, Jefferson County is only 42 miles south, or less than one hour away from, Bill & Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field located in Little Rock, the state’s capital city. This commercial airport operates 6 airlines and 3 cargo carriers.

Incentives 

In order to facilitate location of a project in Jefferson County, several local incentives can be used to offset start-up costs for a new location, or for an industry looking to expand. Learn more about our incentives here.

We Can Help 

The Jefferson County Economic Development Alliance can help your business entity through the step by step process of applying for incentives Jefferson County, Arkansas.