A Fort Smith property now under a state investigation for possible ties to the Chinese government is owned by Olivet International Inc., a major Walmart supplier that has an office near the retailer’s Bentonville headquarters.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin announced last month that he would investigate a real estate purchase in Fort Smith after Gov. Sarah Sanders and Agriculture Secretary Wes Ward flagged it for potential connections to China.
There is “reasonable suspicion of ownership ties with China and the Chinese Communist Party as well as national security concerns associated with the site’s proximity to Ebbing Air National Guard Base,” Sanders and Ward said in their letter requesting an investigation.
But an Arkansas Times review of corporate filings and property records shows the 33-acre industrial property at 4811 S. Zero Street was acquired by Olivet, a multinational firm that manufactures products ranging from luggage and backpacks to pet food bowls and camping equipment.
Olivet is headquartered in California and appears to be an American company, with manufacturing facilities in Northwest Arkansas and operations in China, Taiwan and the Philippines. Many of Olivet’s products are sold in Walmart and other major retailers.
Olivet has “all American ownership. It has zero CCP [Chinese Communist Party] connections, ownership, financing, executives, board, nothing,” a source close to the company said.
The source said the facility was slated to be used to manufacture patio furniture or luggage.
Last year, the state Legislature passed, and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed, Act 636, a law that bars certain ownership of, or investment in, agricultural land and other properties by entities that have ties with China and the Chinese Communist Party. The law intends to address national security concerns, specifically with countries like China that supporters of the measure say could use such properties to compromise critical infrastructure in the U.S.
Via email, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office told the Arkansas Times that the agency could not provide more information about the investigation into the ownership of 4811 S. Zero Street LLC, the name of the entity that recently acquired the 378,000-square-foot building located a few minutes from the Ebbing Air National Guard Base.
Agriculture Secretary Ward told the Arkansas Times “there was enough reasonable suspicion” to send the investigation request to Griffin’s office. “Especially [because of] the proximity to the Ebbing National Guard base,” Ward said. “With what we have seen them [China] do in other states, we were not going to take the risk.”
Act 636 also established the Department of Agricultural Intelligence to collect and analyze information about the unlawful sale and possession of land by prohibited foreign entities.
A review of business records filed with the Arkansas secretary of state’s office shows an individual named Pei-te Lin listed as 4811 S. Zero Street LLC’s incorporator/organizer and manager. The records for the LLC were filed with the secretary of state June 14, 2024, according to the document.
An individual’s LinkedIn profile with the same name – Pei-te Lin – shows employment as a secretary with the California-based Olivet International.
Lin’s nationality and citizenship are unclear. A source told Arkansas Times the company has a key executive who is an American citizen but is of Taiwanese descent.
Additionally, Sebastian County assessor records show an entity identifying itself as 4811 S. Zero Street LLC purchased the property at auction July 16, 2024, for $5 million from Ingran LLC, the seller. The manufacturing plant had been occupied by Trane Inc. until 2017, when the heating and air conditioning manufacturer shuttered its operations there.
Here is a link with details of the recent sale as well as a video of the building.
The mailing address listed for 4811 S. Zero Street LLC, the purchaser of the building, is 11015 Hopins St. in Jurupa Valley, California, 91752. Possibly a spelling error in the records (there is a missing ‘k’), the address of Olivet International offices in California is the same: 11015 Hopkins St., Mira Loma, California, 91752. (Mira Loma is part of Jurupa Valley.)
Calls and emails to Olivet offices in Bentonville, New York and California were not returned. As of publication, Arkansas Times has not been able to reach the company via phone or email.
Ward said he could not “go into the details” when asked about possible ownership ties to Olivet.
“We were hearing [concern] from congressional members, legislators,” Ward said. “Just, ‘What is this?’ Certainly with the proximity to the military base, we just want to make sure we are not missing anything, make sure everything is good, make sure [it] is in compliance with the law, make sure there are no national security issues.”
Founded in the 1980s, Olivet International is a private company that produces products for brands including Dockers, Ecotech, JS by Jessica Simpson and Hampton Tote Company. It has offices in California, New York City, Minneapolis and Bentonville, according to the company’s website.
It also lists factories in Kunshan, China; Taipei, Taiwan; and the Philippines. Ecotech, a subsidiary, has a facility in Springdale where plastics are recycled and converted into reusable materials.
Olivet International also owns a 42-acre industrial complex in Fayetteville that it purchased in August 2021, according to Talk Business & Politics. The company is a Walmart supplier for numerous products, including children’s luggage.
Walmart has not responded to Arkansas Times interview requests about the LLC, the investigation or the LLC’s possible ties to one of its suppliers.
“Olivet is proud to be part of the renaissance in American manufacturing,” Olivet says on its website. “We have been moving production and creating jobs in the USA since 2015. We have built two factories, one in California and one in Arkansas creating over 100 jobs.”
A source close to the company said business leaders in Northwest Arkansas are concerned the investigation into the Fort Smith facility could have negative repercussions for the region, in particular other Walmart suppliers that might want to open operations in the state.
“I think it will be interesting to see what the attorney general can find or release,” Ward, the agriculture secretary, said. “There had been speculation and growing concern among the community: ‘What is going on? We don’t know who these people are.’”
Arkansas Times called three businesses located in close proximity to the Fort Smith complex. Employees who answered the calls confirmed it had once been a Trane manufacturing operation but said it otherwise had been abandoned. Some said they’d heard it had been recently auctioned.
A spokesperson for the City of Fort Smith said via email the office would not be able to comment because of the attorney general’s active investigation.
The office of state Rep. Steve Womack (R-Rogers), whose district includes Fort Smith, did not reply to a request for comment.
The Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce also did not respond to requests for comment or for more information about plans for the site.
The property was listed for sale via Commercial Development Company, Inc., a brownfield developer headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. It was auctioned on The Future of Real Estate, a global online real estate auction platform.
The attorney general’s investigation into 4811 S Zero Street LLC marks the fourth instance the agency has targeted an entity in Arkansas with possible Chinese ties.
Last October, Griffin ordered Syngenta Seeds LLC to sell 160 acres of farmland in Craighead County that it acquired when it purchased Northrup King Seed Co. in the 1990s.
The attorney general also ordered Syngenta, which is majority owned by China National Chemical Corp., to pay a $280,000 civil penalty for violating Act 1046 of 2021, a law that requires disclosure of foreign ownership of agricultural land to the state.
The agency has also investigated a machine manufacturer and a crypto mining facility.
Phillip Powell and Griffin Coop contributed to reporting.