Blytheville's Bounty

You won't find anyone swinging a sledgehammer at a Toyota in Blytheville, Ark. Situated in one of the most impoverished sections of the U.S., the Mississippi River town (pop. 24,000) has outdone itself trying to make Japanese business people feel welcome. In 1985, when Blytheville first learned that the Japanese steel firm Yamato Kogyo and North Carolina-based Nucor were looking for a 500-acre site to build a jointly owned mill, the townspeople rallied to action. The school system agreed to add extra English classes and hire special tutors. The Cotton Boll Vocational and Technical School promised low-cost training to help Japanese technicians adjust to U.S. industry standards. The state police agreed to waive all requirements for driver's licenses except the written exam. Says Mississippi County Court Judge Joe Gurley: "We promised them just about anything they wanted. We were desperate."

The Arkansans kept up their wooing even after the bride was won. Once Nucor and Yamato picked Blytheville for the $230 million mill, the town chose eight civic leaders to travel to Japan at public expense to see what more could be done. Shortly after ground was broken for the plant in 1987, tempura and stir- fried dishes were on the menu at the Holiday Inn and townspeople were flocking to seminars on Japanese culture and business.

"We were delighted," says Sam Kitadai, a director of the board at the mill and one of about a dozen Japanese living in Blytheville. So are the locals. The plant produces 550,000 tons of steel a year and employs 366 people. Local trucking and service companies have sprung up, giving the town an additional 150 jobs. "I don't have the words to tell you what the plant means to us," says Mayor Joe Gude. "It has people thinking positive again."