Posted on September 9, 2021

State Representative and Speaker of the House Matthew Shepherd gave introductory remarks during the El Dorado-Union County Chamber’s Economic Outlook luncheon on Wednesday. (Matt Hutcheson/News-Times)

By Matthew Hutcheson
Staff Writer/El Dorado News-Times

State Representative and Speaker of the House Matthew Shepherd gave introductory remarks during the El Dorado-Union County Chamber’s Economic Outlook luncheon on Wednesday. (Matt Hutcheson/News-Times)

Continental Carbonics president Dennis Harris spoke about the ongoing construction of a new plant in El Dorado at the Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Outlook luncheon on Wednesday, September 8. (Matt Hutcheson/News-Times)

The El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce hosted its first Economic Outlook luncheon since February 2020 on Wednesday and used the opportunity to introduce an incoming business to the community.

Dennis Harris, president of Continental Carbonic Products, Inc., served as the luncheon’s keynote speaker.

Continental Carbonics announced in May plans to open a dry ice manufacturing facility in El Dorado, and construction of the facility is underway on the property of LSB Industries (El Dorado Chemical), according to previous News-Times reporting.

Both U.S. Representative Bruce Westerman and State Representative and Speaker of the House Matthew Shepherd were present at the luncheon and both made introductory remarks.

“When new businesses come to El Dorado and Arkansas, that’s a good thing, and when they’re utilizing products like CO2 to make products that benefit all of us, that’s a good thing too,” Westerman said.

Shepherd spoke briefly to introduce Harris.

“It’s a great success for south Arkansas, with the pandemic and so many things we’ve dealt with as a state, as a country and in our local community. It’s nice to have a success story right here in El Dorado and something that is a big deal and significant for our area,” Shepherd said.

Harris used his speech to explain the production capabilities of the company and share the reasons why El Dorado was chosen to host the new facility.

He led by giving a brief history of CCPI, including the fact that the company is owned by Matheson Tri-Gas.

Harris used a map of the United States to demonstrate CCPI’s production and distribution capabilities; the company currently has around 39 distribution branches and 12 production facilities.

Harris also detailed the various uses of dry ice, including protein processing, food distribution, dry ice blasting, laboratory and medical uses and shipping.

“During the [COVID-19] vaccine roll-out, we had a pretty significant hand in helping Pfizer and Amazon as a shipping partner with dry ice to keep the vaccines cold,” Harris said.

The pandemic has altered and increased the demand for dry ice, according to Harris.

“When everyone was stuck at home and everyone was buying food and things online, a lot of third-party logistics folks starting making a business out of that. What they need to keep all that stuff frozen is dry ice. I initially thought that might be a temporary thing… but I’ve learned that is not the case,” he said.

The company has seen a 45% increase in that market segment “since the pandemic started,” according to Harris.

The new CCPI plant in El Dorado will offer 77 full-time jobs to the region – 62 in production and 15 in distribution.

Harris said his company was able to avoid laying off any workers due to the pandemic.

He added that CCPI becomes involved in communities it is based in through community college programs and community organizations.

He also said the company was able to hire a local plant manager and has nearly finished overall hiring for the plant.

As for why El Dorado was chosen to host the new plant, Harris noted CCPI’s partnership with LSB Industries, access to customer bases in places including Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, the skilled local workforce and the “business-friendly” stance of the county and state.

Harris concluded by sharing several pictures of the under-construction plant, which he said will serve as the benchmark for future manufacturing plants.