Glenwood sawmill to reopen; investors’ $50M effort to create 136 jobs

David Henderson with the Caddo River Partnership said Wednesday that work to reopen the Glenwood lumber mill began about three years ago.
David Henderson with the Caddo River Partnership said Wednesday that work to reopen the Glenwood lumber mill began about three years ago.

Caddo River Forest Products will invest $50 million to reopen a Glenwood sawmill, a move expected to create 136 jobs in the Pike County town.

photo

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A map showing the location of Glenwood Arkansas.

Owners of the company will receive a mix of state and federal incentives totaling $2.3 million to assist with reopening the former Curt Bean Lumber mill, which was last operational in 2010. The money will assist Caddo River Forest Products, an entity formed by Texas investors who own timberland in southwest Arkansas.

Lumber production is scheduled to begin at the mill by spring. Arkansas Economic Development Commission Executive Director Mike Preston said the company will spend about $4 million in payroll annually.

"This is a facility that's been sitting empty for a while now," Preston said. "What an opportunity for all of south Arkansas to capitalize on the resources we have. We talk a lot about playing to our strengths. South Arkansas has a lot of timber. That's a great thing. We have natural resources. Let's take advantage of that and put people back to work."

Caddo River Forest Products, which will produce dimensional and specialty lumber, was awarded an $817,726 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and about $1.5 million from the state. The Arkansas Economic Development Commission earmarked $339,000 for the project through a block development grant and an additional $390,000 in sales-tax breaks on materials purchased for getting the plant operational again.

Job-creation rebates paid by the state will be 4.5 percent of payroll for the next four years. Those rebates will total about $800,000 once job-creation goals are hit.

The Economic Development Administration money will be used for road upgrades and improvements to sewer and water lines surrounding the property in the Pike County town of about 2,500 people.

"We're looking for projects that are going to make a difference on the local level," said Jorge Ayala, regional director for the Economic Development Administration. "One of the things we look for that makes a difference to us is collaboration. When communities come together and look for solutions to problems they're faced with, great things happen. This is a great example. Closing down the sawmill was a pretty devastating development. A lot of communities would have thrown their hands up."

Glenwood Mayor Ron Martin said the mill employed as many as 250 when it was fully operational. Restarting production will create between 200 and 300 indirect jobs for loggers, landowners and transportation workers.

"This will trickle down to the way people live," Pike County Judge Dewight Mack said. "More jobs for hardworking people means a better way of life. It's food on the table when there was no food on the table."

Pike County reported 3.9 percent unemployment in April.

Work to reopen the sawmill began about three years ago, according to David Henderson, part of the Caddo River Partnership, which owns the facility and timberland in the area. Henderson said clearing environmental hurdles through the state and federal government was the largest factor in slowing down the project.

Georgia-Pacific originally built the mill in the early 1970s, according to an Arkansas Economic Development Commission news release. Curt Bean Lumber reopened the mill in 2008 after a nearly eight-month shutdown and then closed it again in 2010.

"We appreciate everyone's assistance in helping us get to this point," Henderson said.

Caddo River is the second significant job announcement related to the timber industry in the past three months. Sun Paper Industry Joint Stock Co. announced in April that it was building a $1 billion pulp mill near Arkadelphia in neighboring Clark County. That project is expected to create about 250 jobs at the plant, plus another 2,000 construction jobs over three years.

Business on 06/23/2016

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