Produces clothes for brands like Adidas, Reebok and Armani
Reported by CNN
Tianyuan operates five factories in China, but it sees its biggest market as North America.
"It's cheaper for them to be here," said Preston.
Arkansas makes sense for a few logistical reasons, he added.
"We're midway between Canada and Mexico and a one-day's truck drive to 60% of the U.S. population," said Preston.
Arkansas' status as a cotton producing state is especially attractive to textile and clothing manufacturers.
The state is actively wooing foreign manufacturers through an incentive package. In return for its investment, Tianyuan receives a $1 million infrastructure grant, $500,000 for training assistance and a 3.9% annual tax rebate, which comes to about $1.6 million annually.
"When you add more jobs, there's a multiplier effect in a place like Little Rock," said Preston. "Having a new clothing manufacturers here will affect everyone, from the cotton farmer 40 miles out to the trucking and shipping companies moving the products out to customers."
In October, Chinese garment manufacturer Tianyuan Garments Co. sealed a deal to acquire a defunct 100,000-square foot metal fabrications plant in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The $20 million investment would make Tianyuan -- which produces clothes for brands like Adidas, Reebok and Armani -- the first Chinese manufacturer to make clothing in the U.S.
The Chinese firm expects to hire 400 American workers to run the refurbished factory, slated to open in late 2017.
Tianyuan Garment is the second Chinese company in a span of six months to announce it was expanding production to the U.S.
In April, Chinese paper products maker Sun Paper Industry said it was opening its first North America factory in South Arkansas, investing more than $1 billion to construct a new bio-products mill that would create 250 local jobs.
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