Solar & Steel Developments in Mississippi County

How Osceola & Blytheville’s Steel Industry Is Powering Northeast Arkansas’s Economy

 

What’s new: Hybar’s new solar-powered steel factory is open for business in Osceola.

How it affects Arkansans: the Mississippi County steel industry has brought in or bolstered countless other industries, including solar.

 

Hybar, LLC opened in June 2025, 22 months after breaking ground. It’s the first sustainable rebar manufacturer in the United States, producing rebar from recycled materials and using sustainable solar energy for power.

Mississippi County has been the largest steel-producing county nationwide (by volume), producing about 13% of the nation’s total steel output. Hybar stands to only add to that amount, alongside Merrill Steel, which just approved a new Osceola-based plant.

 

Northeast Arkansas (NEA) is packed with a ton of top-tier steel producers.

With nearly 15 companies and subsidiaries dedicated to steel fabrication, the industry employs 7000–8,000 people (roughly one-quarter of all jobs in Mississippi County).

The Big Players

• Nucor-Yamato Steel Company (opened 1987): The largest structural steel mill in the Western Hemisphere. Produces wide-flange beams, H-piling, sheet piling, and more.
• Nucor (opened 1992): Parent company to Nucor-Yamato. Recently added 100 jobs with its cold mill facility opened in 2019. Produces automotive-grade and structural steel.
• Big River Steel (opened 2017): Specializes in high-strength steel for automotive and oil/gas applications.

 

As steel production expands, so does the demand for specialized equipment and service for equipment. Hugg & Hall is proud to support these major facilities.

We offer equipment parts, equipment service, equipment rentals, and customized equipment solutions to keep Northeast Arkansas companies operating safely and efficiently. Our Jonesboro equipment technicians have specialized knowledge to help keep equipment in these mills in great condition.

One recent highlight: Hugg & Hall’s equipment sales & service team recently completed a customized Bobcat skid steer for Nucor, which is operated remotely and has a sealed-off cab. It’s designed to help keep workers safe, far away from molten steel.

Our Jonesboro-based team is committed to supporting steel facilities with heavy equipment tailored to their needs.

 

Mississippi County isn’t just a steel powerhouse. It’s also home to a number of small farms, making it Arkansas’s leading cotton producer. Farmers in NEA also grow significant amounts of rice, soybeans, corn, and sorghum.

Beyond steel, manufacturing companies like Southworth Products Co and NIBCO, Inc are manufacturing auto parts (like A/C systems and motors), specialty chemicals and plastics, and food service packaging.

And thanks to companies like Hybar and Big River Steel, the solar industry is booming in NEA. It’s an up-and-coming—but major—source of income for the county.

The Rise of Solar in Northeast Arkansas

Over the next five years (according to a source close to the industry) companies like Scenic Hill Solar plan to install solar panels on more than 20,000 acres of land in NEA.

Hybar and Big River Steel offer landowners—many of whom live outside Mississippi County—a hands-off, 25–30-year lease that will triple the income they were receiving from agricultural tenants.

What’s more, solar development is thriving despite shifts in federal energy policy.

 

As the biggest player in NEA’s solar industry, Hybar boasts an impressive field of solar panels and an ecofriendly process to match.

Hybar’s solar-powered steel factory produces rebar from recycled ferrous scrap. They estimate they’ll recycle 700,000 tons of scrap into 630,000 tons of rebar annually.

They promise a 100% green process with increased energy efficiency and reduced emissions, heat- and energy-loss, and water consumption.

Another of Hybar’s boasts? They won’t purchase Renewable Energy Credits to meet their 100% Renewable Energy goal.

How Hybar accomplishes their green initiatives

Power: It starts with the sun. Hybar’s massive solar field takes in an estimated 200,000 megawatts per year, or enough electricity to power almost 15,000 homes.

Battery Storage: The facility has a 160-megawatt battery storage system, making it possible for the factory to run during nights and cloudy days. DEPCOM Power, Inc. designed their behind-the-meter setup to nearly eliminate Hybar’s dependence on the grid.

There is speculation that DEPCOM Power may one day source their lithium from Southern Arkansas’s Smackover Formation. Future battery replacements could end up using Arkansas lithium, keeping profits local.

Heat: The solar power heats a Direct Current (DC) furnace and hot roller, which uses fewer carbon electrodes than standard production.

It’s initially more expensive and “a bit more finicky to operate, but once you get them dialed in, you’re going to have energy efficiencies of at least 10%” (CEO Dave Stickler, courtesy of Steel Market Update).

Recycled Materials: Ferrous scrap is a great metal for recycling because it can be recycled repeatedly without compromising quality.

Ferrous is any metal that contains iron as its primary component. Ferrous metals are everywhere: cars, some construction equipment, farm equipment, household appliances like fridges and stoves, and more.

 

Experts predict the Hybar plant will employ about 150 people in Northeast Arkansas, with salaries above $125,000 per year.

David Stickler, Hybar CEO and founder of Big River Steel, said that his goal is “to have the highest paid steelworkers, with the lowest labor costs—we will achieve that through higher production and efficiency” (courtesy of TB&P).

As the local economy grows, equipment providers like Hugg & Hall are also experiencing growth. Every new steel factory or manufacturing plant opens new opportunities for Northeast Arkansans.

 

Hybar’s facility offers a lot of environmental benefits. It’s the logical next step for a county investing heavily in steel: a plant focused on the health of the land.

Mississippi County’s infrastructure is helping revitalize all of Northeast Arkansas by raising salaries, promoting growth, and bringing in new industries.

Hugg & Hall is proud to provide parts, service, rentals, and sales to companies throughout Mississippi County, including Nucor and its subsidiaries, Big River Steel, Southworth Products Co, NIBCO, Inc., and more.

 

Let’s Build Something Together

Have a custom project you need completed, like Nucor’s skid steer?

Need specialized equipment, service, parts, or rentals to support your operation? We’re here to help.

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