By Scott Loftis
SLoftis@CarrollCoNews.com
Approximately two years of work came to fruition for the City of Berryville on Tuesday, Jan. 14, when Messer, a leading industrial gases company, announced a strategic investment of more than $70 million to construct a state-of-the-art air separation unit in the city’s business park.
In a news release, Messer said the new facility will address the growing demand for industrial gases in the southern part of the United States, reinforcing Messer’s commitment to supporting expanding industries in the region.
“Our new ASU in Berryville underscores Messer’s commitment to fueling growth in the South,” the news release quotes Elena Skvortsova, president and chief executive officer of Messer Americas. “This investment reflects our dedication to providing a dependable supply of industrial gases like oxygen and nitrogen to meet the evolving needs of our customers in food and beverage, healthcare, metals, chemicals, and many more industries. I also would like to note that Messer appreciates the working relationship with the City of Berryville. Without their dedication to this project, it would not have been possible.”
Messer’s site in Berryville will employ more than 20 people and will provide temporary local jobs during the project’s construction phase, according to the news release.
“On behalf of the City of Berryville, we are excited to welcome Messer to our community,” Berryville Mayor Tim McKinney says in the news release. “They bring cutting-edge technology, high-quality jobs, and most importantly additional people to call Berryville home. We look forward to developing a great partnership with Messer as they establish presence in our community.”
“Congratulations to the City of Berryville for Messer’s $70 million investment — our state’s first major jobs announcement of 2025,” Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in the news release. “Thank you, Messer, for choosing the Natural State and helping make our economy stronger than ever.”
“Messer is a global leader in the gas industry, and we are proud the company is investing in Arkansas,” the news release quotes Clint O’Neal, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. “Congratulations to the City of Berryville and its local leadership team on this significant economic development win.”
The air separation unit in Berryville is slated for completion in the second half of 2026, Messer’s news release says.
Amy Ficon, chief of staff and senior manager for external communications for Messer Americas, told the Carroll County News that the company separates air into elements used in manufacturing and other industries.The air is compressed in order to be pushed into a “cold box,” where expansion turbines are used to lower the temperature and the air is liquified. It can then be separated into oxygen and nitrogen.
“Oxygen is then sold via tractor-trailer to hospitals,” Ficon said. “It’s also sold to steel mills to make their furnaces run hotter so they’re more efficient. And nitrogen is used in a lot of different ways, but primarily for food-freezing and chilling applications.”
The Berryville facility will include tanks to hold the products in addition to a large cold box” that will separate the incoming air. The cold box will stand approximately 120 feet tall and will be built on 25 acres within the business park.
Ficon said Berryville’s location made it attractive to Messer.
“It does have proximity to some of our major customers — very simply, some of the major food customers in the area,” she said.
The local facility will be Messer’s second in Arkansas. The company has a plant in Lewisville, approximately 30 miles east of Texarkana. Messer’s news release says the Berryville site will complement the Lewisville plant, enhancing production capacity to meet increasing demand for industrial gases.
“We know that Arkansas is very business-friendly,” Ficon said. “… We’re looking to grow, as are the industries that we serve.”
McKinney told the Carroll County News that Messer’s investment will be one of the largest economic development projects in his time as mayor, which spans more than 30 years.
“Tyson, of course, they’ve had bigger total projects over the years, but it’s a pretty big deal for a town our size,” McKinney said.
McKinney praised the city council for its foresight in creating the business park.
“This wouldn’t be possible if the city council hadn’t made the decision to buy that property and develop a business park five or six years ago,” McKinney said. “They wouldn’t have had a place to go. We wouldn’t have been in the running. But having this park, it got us in the running for that.”
McKinney said the city is in discussions with other companies regarding potential projects in the business park. He said Messer’s presence could help attract more industry to Berryville.
“I think it does,” he said. “Just seeing that other companies have looked at us and think it’s a good place to locate, I think that’ll speak to other companies as well.”
Messer is the largest privately held industrial gas business in the world and a leading industrial and medical gas company in North America, South America, Asia and Europe, the company’s news release says. Messer Americas sales account approximately for 52 percent of Messer worldwide sales of $4.7 billion, according to the news release.
Founded in 1898, Messer is headquartered in Bad Soden, Germany.
