Caddo River Forest Products to invest $50 million to reopen closed Glenwood lumber mill

LITTLE ROCK (Scrap Monster): Caddo River Forest Products has announced its decision to invest $50 million to reopen a closed Glenwood lumber mill. The investment will be made over a span of three years and is expected to create 136 new jobs in the region. The mill is expected to commence production of dimensional and specialty lumber in the spring of 2017, thereby opening new market for Arkansas timber industry and providing big boost to the region’s economic growth.

The company will receive a combined incentive of nearly $2.3 million from state and federal authorities towards reopening the mill, which has been out of operation since 2010. The Arkansas Economic Development Commission will provide a support of around $1.5 million. This includes $339,000 development grant and an additional $390,000 in sales-tax breaks on materials purchased for getting the plant operational again. Job-creation rebates will be arrived at 4.5% of the payroll over the next four years. The rebates are expected to total about $800,000 upon creation of complete jobs as proposed. As part of the federal grant, the U.S. Economic Development Administration will provide $817,726 in infrastructure grants to the city. This sum of money would be utilized towards road upgrades and enhancements to water access to the plant. Caddo River Forest Products will invest up to $50 million.

According to Arkansas Economic Development Commission Executive Director Mike Preston, the proposed investment will further strengthen south Arkansas’ efforts to capitalize on its natural resources including timber. He noted that the reopening of the plant will create significant job opportunities in the region. In addition to the permanent jobs, the plant is expected to generate 200-300 indirect jobs that would benefit loggers, landowners and transportation workers. Glenwood Mayor Ron Martin extended full support, saying that the mill-reopening would offer better living standards for surrounding communities. He noted that the investment is expected to contribute to lower unemployment rates in Pike County. Incidentally, the County had reported 3.9% unemployment rate in April this year.

The mill was originally built by Georgia-Pacific in 1970’s. Various upgrades had converted the mill facility into one of the most technically advanced mills in North America. At the peak of its operations, the mill had employed nearly 200 workers. After eight-month shutdown in 2008, the mill was reopened by Curt Bean Lumber. However, the company closed the mill in 2010 after operating for nearly two years. Since then, the facility has been remaining idle.

Caddo River Forest Products is an entity formed by Texas investors who own timberland in southwest Arkansas.

This is the second significant investment in Arkansas timber sector during the past three months. Earlier in April this year, the Chinese Sun Paper Company had announced that it will build a $1 billion paper mill in southern Arkansas. The construction of the mill is expected to commence during the first half of 2017 and is expected to take at least 2-2.5 years to get completed. The project is expected to create nearly 2,000 jobs during its construction phase. The mill is expected to generate around 250 direct jobs and additional 1,000 indirect jobs.