Arkansas Builds Its Lithium Workforce, Sells the State to Global Investors
South Arkansas’ lithium industry is investing in workforce training while state officials pitch the region to investors worldwide, according to two new reports from Arkansas Business and Arkansas Money & Politics.
In Arkansas Business, energy reporter Kyle Massey profiles the workforce pipeline taking shape around the state’s lithium industry, following Angela Meadows, a former school custodian who doubled her pay after a four-month training course at South Arkansas College’s Catalyst Program landed her a job with Standard Lithium in El Dorado.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders highlighted Meadows’ story at July’s State of Lithium summit in Texarkana.
The programs — including Southern Arkansas University’s LithiumLearns — are funded in part by ExxonMobil, Chevron, Smackover Lithium and Albemarle.
What Happened in Vegas
In Arkansas Money & Politics, Arkansas Commerce Secretary Hugh McDonald recaps his trip to the Fastmarkets Global Lithium, Battery & Critical Minerals Conference in Las Vegas.
McDonald told reporter Mark Carter that state analysis shows Arkansas “can be competitive on the production-cost curve given the state’s relatively low costs of doing business and low costs of energy.”
McDonald also cautioned that federal 45X production-cost tax credits and U.S. tariff policy on China remain essential to Arkansas’ ability to compete long term.
More: Read the full reports at Arkansas Business and Arkansas Money & Politics.
Previously: Arkansas DLE Leaders Head to Fastmarkets Global Lithium Conference
