In July, Bad Boy, Inc. purchased what is known in Batesville as the GDX building, a building that housed an automotive parts production company. The GDX building is 274,000 square feet and sits on 67 acres. The property will be used to distribute orders for Tractor Supply Company. Other possibilites are also being considered for another part of the building. Bad Boy is excited about this expansion, as is the local community. Below is a press release from The Batesville Daily Guard:
“I’m tickled to death,” Independence County Judge Bill Hicks said. “They’re very comfortable with their expansion ...”
“I’m glad our local industry is doing well, and an expansion will mean more jobs,” Batesville Mayor Rick Elumbaugh said. “Bad Boy is a young company, but it is one of the up and coming companies in the manufacturing of zero-turn lawn mowers. This will allow the business to grow and hopefully it will fit into their business plan.”
Hicks added, “Any expansion is good, period.”
Woody Castleberry, a long-time member and treasurer of the Independence County Industrial Development Corporation, agreed.
“I don’t know what the particulars are for that particular building, but the fact they’ve bought it is an encouraging sign. That company has been wonderful for our community,” he said, adding that he hopes it continues to prosper.
GDX closed last fall after undergoing several name changes and transitions through its four decades of operation. The factory opened in 1964 as a bomb manufacturing plant during the Vietnam War era and later began producing rubber parts for automotive companies.
Bad Boy Mowers has been on a steady uphill climb since it was started in 1998 by Robert Foster and Phil Pulley, who have been in several other business ventures including fireworks and tires. Now they’re making zero-turn mowers in a plant in the industrial park north of Batesville.
According to published reports, the company produces 105 mowers a day, using three precision laser cutters, five robotic welders and a one-of-a-kind powder paint line to maximize efficiency and quality. Types of engines available on Bad Boy Mowers include Kohler, Kawasaki, Vanguard, Briggs and Stratton, and Caterpillar.
“Our research team started working with one goal in mind, to develop the strongest, most durable zero-turn mower available and to deliver excellent quality of cut, reliability, productivity and comfort,” according to a biography on the company’s Web site, www.badboymowers.com. “The first Bad Boy Mowers were produced in a small shop in Diaz, Arkansas. The incredible popularity of this highly productive, durable unit has forced Bad Boy Mowers into rapid expansion.
“Bad Boy Mowers has expanded its facilities numerous times in the last several years. Bad Boy Mowers are now manufactured, assembled and stored in multiple facilities comprising over 200,000 square feet in Batesville, Arkansas.
“Bad Boy Mowers innovation and attention to quality has rapidly earned respect throughout the power equipment industry. Bad Boy Mowers and accessories are designed to be user friendly, with an emphasis on ease of maintenance, profitability and long life,” according to the Web site.
But Foster and Pulley didn’t stop with mowers.
In October 2006, Bad Boy made a 10-year lease agreement with an option to buy the building that housed the former Boeing plant in Melbourne. The company plans to manufacture a new multi-terrain vehicle in the facility.
It also received a $400,000 grant from the Arkansas Department of Economic Development to make improvements to the building.
Bad Boy Mowers was recognized as the Mid Size Business of the Year at the third annual Northeast Arkansas Business Today awards show last January. At the speech, Jamie Jo Barber recognized Howard House, saying, “Mr. House was instrumental in introducing Robert Foster and Phil Pulley, founders and owners of Bad Boy Mowers, to Dale Cole at First Community Bank of Batesville Arkansas. Mr. House was very helpful when Robert and Phil were first getting started.”
Cole was also thanked, as was the local chamber.
Bad Boy has also sponsored cars in the NASCAR circuit, and this year, the Bad Boy brand got a boost when country music star Willie Nelson “cast” the mowers in his music video, “You Don’t Think I’m Funny Any More.”
Bad Boy Mowers has a gift shop, with T-shirts, caps and many more items, located next to its plant in the industrial park. The gift shop features, among other things, a pink mower created for Jessica Simpson, but instead of “Bad Boy,” the mower reads “Bad Girl.”
The former property owner was listed as Henniges Automotive Sealing Systems North America Inc., a Delaware corporation formerly known as GDX North America Inc.
A survey in 2001 showed that besides the usual water, sewer, telephone and overhead power lines crossing the property, also located on the property were a pump house, oil processing unit, propane tanks, water tanks, spillage control dikes, extraction settling pond, fire protection control house, and the city of Batesville’s incinerator (which has since been torn down).
