Are we good with this?

After months of limbo, Northeast Arkansas got presumably good news in late June. 

The $15 billion deal to allow Japanese-based Nippon Steel to acquire U.S. Steel was approved with several caveats. U.S. Steel owns Big River Steel properties and assets in Mississippi County. Combined with Nucor Steel and a variety of suppliers, the steel industry gods have deemed Mississippi County to be the largest steel producing county in the nation.

That’s a source of great pride. It’s certainly a linchpin for the foundation of the Northeast Arkansas economy. And the devil in these details is also critical to understand for how it could impact the region. From all initial counts, it looks good.

A little history:

Former President Joe Biden had blocked the merger in January citing national security issues with allowing one of the leading U.S. steel manufacturers to be owned by a foreign company. Good for him. It did require extensive scrutiny.

Steel is used in every aspect of our defense machinery in this country, including airplanes, tanks, ships and weapons. Steel is also very important to the security of our nation’s electrical grid, which powers our economy and protects us from the elements and generates the energy to keep us alive and productive.

To finalize the acquisition, Nippon reportedly agreed to a national security agreement and a “golden share” provision that gives the federal government the ability to appoint at least one board member and will have input on domestic steel production decisions.

Other parts of the national security agreement include that a majority of U.S. Steel board members will be U.S. citizens, and key management positions, including the CEO, will be held by U.S. citizens.

Nippon has agreed to invest $11 billion in operations in the U.S. by 2028. The agreement also gives the president decision-making powers when it comes to a reduction of investment by Nippon, transferring jobs from the U.S. outside the country, changing its headquarters and others. U.S. Steel will retain its ability to pursue trade actions under U.S. law.

With over 1,000 workers and the fate of their families tied to the steel industry, how this Nippon-U.S. Steel deal plays out is crucial to a lot of people’s livelihoods.

Mississippi County has a median income of about $53,000 according to the U.S. Census Bureau, making it one of the poorest counties in Arkansas in terms of income. But workers in Arkansas’ steel industry can earn $100,000 or more, including bonuses and overtime, making it one of the most lucrative places to work in the county.

In a recent conversation with U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, he lauded the deal and said the benefits for Mississippi County will be numerous.

“I think it’s a good deal,” Crawford said. “And when you think about the $11 billion investment from Nippon to help shore up really an American legacy company, U.S. Steel, broadly, this is a good deal.” 

“Specifically, it’s a very good deal for Arkansas and particularly my district. Three billion dollars of that $11 billion will go directly to Mississippi County for expansion there,” he added. “ And I think there are some important national security elements. One of those is ‘grain-oriented electrical steel,’ which is produced to help build transformers to enhance our electrical grid. So that is a national security imperative. We’ve been outsourcing that [steel] for too long. Now, we’re bringing that home and we’ll have a domestic source for that important part of our electrical grid.”

“So this is a win for the American people. It’s certainly a win for Arkansas. And I can tell you for the folks in Mississippi County, they’re thrilled as well,” he said.

We like win-win-wins. They don’t happen often, but this one seems to have real potential to further propel the steel industry in Northeast Arkansas.

We’ll keep watching the results of the promises being made today, and hope that tomorrow our expectations are exceeded.

Editor’s note: Roby Brock is editor-in-chief of Talk Business & Politics. He hosts Talk Business & Politics and Capitol View and a radio program three times a week on KASU.