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A Hatton-Brown Publication

Co-Publisher: David H. Ramsey Co-Publisher: David (DK) Knight Chief Operating Officer: Dianne C. Sullivan Publishing Office Street Address: 225 Hanrick Street Montgomery, AL 36104-3317 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2268 Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 Telephone: 334.834.1170 FAX: 334.834.4525

Volume 40 • Number 1 • January/February 2015 Founded in 1976 • Our 410th Consecutive Issue

Renew or subscribe on the web: www.timberprocessing.com

Executive Editor David (DK) Knight Editor-in-Chief: Rich Donnell Managing Editor: Dan Shell Senior Associate Editor: David Abbott Associate Editor: Jessica Johnson Associate Editor: Jay Donnell Art Director/Prod. Manager: Cindy Segrest Ad Production Coordinator: Patti Campbell Circulation Director: Rhonda Thomas Classified Advertising: Bridget DeVane • 1.800.669.5613

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Advertising Sales Representatives: Southern USA Randy Reagor P.O. Box 2268 Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 904.393.7968 • FAX: 334.834.4525 E-mail: reagor@bellsouth.net

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THE ISSUES

Best Person For The Job

NEWSFEED

Billy Stimpson, 1920-2015

PERSON OF THE YEAR

Plant Manager Richbourg In The Spotlight

EACOM EAR FALLS

The Sawmill Smell Is Back

NC’S TONEY LUMBER

The Man Who Sets The Tone

MACHINERY ROW

Portable Sawmilling in Liberia

AT LARGE

SFI Reveals Updated Standards

COVER: One reason H.W. Culp Lumber in New London, NC is a leading southern pine operation is Plant Manager David Richbourg, who is this magazine’s Person of the Year. Story begins on PAGE 12. (Jay Donnell photo)

Midwest USA, Eastern Canada John Simmons 32 Foster Cres. Whitby, Ontario, Canada L1R 1W1 905.666.0258 • FAX: 905.666.0778 E-mail: jsimmons@idirect.com

VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.timberprocessing.com Member Verified Audit Circulation

Western USA, Western Canada Tim Shaddick 4056 West 10th Avenue Vancouver BC Canada V6L 1Z1 604.910.1826 • FAX: 604.264.1367 E-mail: tootall1@shaw.ca International Murray Brett Aldea de las Cuevas 66, Buzon 60 03759 Benidoleig (Alicante), Spain Tel: +34 96 640 4165 • FAX: +34 96 640 4022 E-mail: murray.brett@abasol.net

Timber Processing (ISSN 0885-906X, USPS 395-850) is published 10 times annually (January/February and July/August issues are combined) by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc., 225 Hanrick St., Montgomery, AL 36104. Subscription Information—TP is free to qualified owners, operators, managers, purchasing agents, supervisors, foremen and other key personnel at sawmills, pallet plants, chip mills, treating plants, specialty plants, lumber finishing operations, corporate industrial woodlands officials and machinery manufacturers and distributors in the U.S. All non-qualified U.S. Subscriptions are $55 annually: $65 in Canada; $95 (Airmail) in all other countries (U.S. Funds). Single copies, $5 each; special issues, $20 (U.S. funds). Subscription Inquiries— TOLL-FREE: 800-669-5613; Fax 888-611-4525. Go to www.timberprocessing.com and click on the subscribe button to subscribe/renew via the web. All advertisements for Timber Processing magazine are accepted and published by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. with the understanding that the advertiser and/or advertising agency are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof. The advertiser and/or advertising agency will defend, indemnify and hold any claims or lawsuits for libel violations or right of privacy or publicity, plagiarism, copyright or trademark infringement and any other claims or lawsuits that may arise out of publication of such advertisement. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. neither endorse nor makes any representation or guarantee as to the quality of goods and services advertised in Timber Processing. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. reserves the right to reject any advertisement which it deems inappropriate. Copyright ® 2015. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Periodicals postage paid at Montgomery, Ala. and at additional mailing offices. Printed in U.S.A.

Postmaster: Please send address changes to Timber Processing, P.O. Box 2419, Montgomery, Alabama 36102-2419 Publications Mail Agreement No. 41359535 Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to PO Box 503 RPO West Beaver Creek, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 4R6 Other Hatton-Brown publications: Timber Harvesting • Southern Loggin’ Times Wood Bioenergy • Panel World • Power Equipment Trade

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THEISSUES

Rich Donnell Editor-in-Chief

AWARD RECIPIENT IS NO STRANGER 6

“

We’re showing our age,” David Richbourg said to me when I told him I had passed along an article I had written about him in 1988 to our associate editor who was preparing to visit Richbourg to conduct the question and answer session that begins on page 12 of this issue. The interview serves as our announcement that Richbourg, who is plant manager at H.W. Culp Lumber Co. in New London, NC, is Timber Processing’s Annual Person of the Year. Richbourg becomes the 27th recipient of the award, which recognizes sawmill owners or employees who have played a vital role in their respective companies, who have contributed to the greater good of the sawmill industry through leadership in associations or other support groups, and who have simply had a long and impressive career in the industry. What’s unusual about our selection of Richbourg is that he is a plant manager. Most of those years we’ve recognized an owner of a softwood or hardwood sawmill operation. A couple of times we’ve selected a general manager. But never a plant manager. Why not? No good reason, other than it’s probably an easier process to pinpoint an owner for the award. Thus going into the selection process our goal became to find a plant manager who deserved the honor, based on the criteria. Richbourg and a few other plant managers surfaced during our search. But Richbourg’s outstanding performance at highly respected H.W. Culp Lumber for the past 18 years, his involvement with the Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn., and his 24 years as a sawmill machinery salesman prior to his transition to plant manager all worked in his favor. Old articles provide a stoppage in time. The article I wrote in 1988 for this magazine was actually about David and his brother, Al Richbourg. Al was the director of sales and marketing at Newman Machine. David, after some college studies, followed Al to Newman in 1973 and eventually became product manager of the planer line, reporting to his older brother. But the year before our article appeared, David had joined up with Harvey Sales Co. as a sales representative (HEMCO/LSI/Ukiah), while still representing the Newman planer line. David commented in that article, “Good sales people have to not only stay current, but stay ahead of the general knowledge of the sawmill industry.” It would be almost 10 years before Henry Culp hired Richbourg as plant manager, but Richbourg’s thinking (and training) was already a good fit at innovative Culp Lumber. That article appeared 27 years ago. The following year in 1989 we announced our first man of the year. Now, so many years later, we are pleased that Richbourg’s career path has come upon our award. Sometimes showing TP your age is a good thing.

Contact Rich Donnell, ph: 334-834-1170; fax 334-834-4525; e-mail: rich@hattonbrown.com TIMBER PROCESSING

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NEWSFEED

BILLY STIMPSON LIVED LIFE TO THE FULLEST

“W

e run the (Dut), took over the managedent, 1967), Alabama sponsibility. He often said, lumber ment of Gulf Lumber, running Forestry Commission (chair“You should work hard and business to several semi-portable sawmills man, 1972), Southern Forest play hard.” For almost 65 hunt,” Billy Stimpson once that supplied the concentration Products Assn. (president, years he and his spouse, Marsaid with a smile, though not yard in Mobile. 1977), and the National Forgaret, were planning their necessarily kidding. “We hit a lucky streak right est Products Assn. (president, next weekend getaway or Stimpson, who died Janaway,” Billy recalled. “We 1982, and chairman, 1983). their next trip. His favorite uary 17 at age 94, was pretty thought we had a money mak- He passionately served on the places were spending time at good at both, partnering with ing machine.” Then the econ- Forest Industries Committee his family’s retreat in the his brothers in the Gulf Lumomy went into recession, and on Timber Valuation and woods of Clarke County, ber Co. southern pine sawmill “for the next four or five Taxation (chairman, 1988) hunting deer and “the wise operation in Mobile, Ala., years we liked to have starved with the purpose of protecting old bird”; on the beaches of while displaying a passion for to death.” the rights of private property the Gulf of Mexico, preparing hunting and fishing, and conBilly and his brothers owners from unfair taxation. to go big game fishing; or in tinuing the family commitlooked at getting out of the Stimpson retired from Gulf the bush of Africa on safari. ment to wildlife and forestry lumber business, but nothing Lumber in 1992 as its chairWhile living life to the hilt, management. Stimpson captivated William Herbert many an audience (Billy) Stimpson was with his story-telling born in Jackson, Ala. ability. His enthusion August 2, 1920, asm, can-do attitude and moved to Mobile and adventuresome at a young age. He spirit were infectious. was educated in MoHe was pre-debile’s public schools ceased by his parents, and attended the UniFrederick Taylor versity of Georgia, Stimpson and Mary graduating with a White-Spunner StimpBachelor of Science in son; his wife Margaret Forestry. At the UniMcLeod Stimpson; versity of Georgia he and his siblings— was on the boxing Frederick T. Stimpteam, a member of the son, Jr. (who died durSigma Alpha Epsilon ing childhood), Benfraternity, XI Sigma jamin C. Stimpson, Pi (Forestry Scholastic Mary Francis StimpTaking time out from work in 1988 in Clarke County, Alabama: Billy Stimpson, middle, Society), and ROTC. son Shackleford and with sons Fred, at left, and Sandy, right. Beginning in 1942, he Gordon S. Stimpson. served in the 2nd Cavalry Dielse appealed to them so they man of the Board as the three He is survived by his vision, U.S. Army, transferbegan studying the construcbrothers transitioned the own- daughter, Pamela Stimpson ring later into the Army Air tion of a centralized sawmill ership of the business to the (Dr. Charles R.) Hanes; his Corp until receiving an honor- and built it in 1957, producnext generation. His son, sons, Frederick T. (Alicia) able discharge in 1945 with ing 25MMBF annually. They Fred, became Timber ProStimpson, III; William Sandy the rank of Captain. continued to expand with the cessing magazine’s Man of (Jean) Stimpson; and Richard Upon returning home after newest technologies and in the Year in 2000. The family M. (Leah) Stimpson; 15 the war, Billy, like his father, the 1980s were producing became partners with Scotch grandchildren; and 24 greatFred Stimpson, before him, 100MMBF annually. Some Lumber, forming Scotch Gulf grandchildren. began a life-long career in the years previous, in 1973, after Lumber. In 2013 Scotch Gulf Stimpson was a member of lumber manufacturing/timber the death of May, the brothers Lumber sold its sawmills in Dauphin Way United Methbusiness by running a cypress had acquired the ownership of Mobile, Fulton and Jackson, odist Church for more than 65 and tupelo gum logging operaGulf Lumber from his estate. Ala. to Canfor Corp. In 2013, years. Funeral services were tion on the Apalachicola River. During his working career Billy’s son, Sandy, was elect- held there on January 20, folHe left there in 1952 to work at Stimpson was very involved ed as Mayor of Mobile. lowed by interment at Spring Gulf Lumber Co. in Mobile for in trade associations relating Stimpson spent untold Hill Cemetery. In lieu of flowBen May, who had founded to the forest products industry hours with his wife, children ers, contributions may be made Gulf Lumber in 1940 and was and was a respected and well- and grandchildren, creating to Outback America, 5710 a timber business associate of known state and national memories while teaching Watermelon Rd. Suite 350, Billy’s father. Billy and his leader. He served with the Al- them about leadership, stewNorthport, AL 35473 or to a brothers, Ben and Gordon abama Forestry Assn. (presiardship, conservation and refavorite charity. TP

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TIMBER PROCESSING

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NEWSFEED TP&EE ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR 2016

Attendees kept the registration ladies on full alert.

The highly successful Timber Processing & Energy Expo (TP&EE) held last October 1517 at the Portland Exposition Center in Portland, Ore. has prompted show organizers to plan on moving into a larger facility on the same grounds for the next event in 2016. The 2016 TP&EE will be held September 28-30 in Hall E, which is immediately adjacent Hall D, where the 2014 event was held. Nearly 170 exhibitors of machinery and technologies for lumber, veneer, plywood and engineered wood products manufacturing packed Hall D for the event, hosted by Timber Processing and Panel World magazines, and produced by Hatton-Brown Expositions LLC. Exhibitors showcased their goods for 1,700 registered non-exhibitor attendees from wood products operations throughout the U.S. and Canada, and from 20 other countries as well. Approximately 140 wood products companies were represented, sending their personnel from hundreds of individual mill sites. Attendee registration was 70% higher than two years ago. In addition, more than 1,000 exhibitor personnel were on hand. A post-event survey of ex8

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hibitors supported what was fairly obvious on the show floor—a lot of people were conducting a lot of business: 97% of exhibitors rated the overall performance of TP&EE 2014 as excellent or good, compared to 77% for the 2012 event; 91% were satisfied or very satisfied with attendance, compared to 71% in 2012; 91% of exhibitors rated the quality of attendees in 2014 as good or excellent, compared to 79% in 2012. Show Director Rich Donnell says the jump in attendance from two years ago makes perfect sense. “We thought it was good attendance in 2012, especially for our first show, and there were some positive signs in the economy then. But certainly the industry became more upbeat in the past two years, as evidenced by the tremendous amount of project business that was going on at TP&EE this time.” The exhibitor hall was a tight sell-out, an adjacent corridor just off the main floor was packed with exhibitors, and several exhibitors set up tents and machinery on the outside lot in front of the hall. “There was no room to spare in Hall D,” Donnell adds, noting that exhibitors purchased more than 47,000 sq. ft. of space. “We had a waiting list

of probably 30 companies who did not get to exhibit. That’s a good problem to have as they say, but we don’t like the thought of somebody not being able to get in.” As a result, Donnell says the show organizers are moving the 2016 TP&EE to the adjacent Hall E at the Portland Expo Center. It will offer a third more space. “Given the waiting list we had, and also that many exhibitors have indicated they want to increase their space at the next TP&EE in 2016, we need to plan accordingly,” Donnell says. Donnell acknowledges that it’s taking a risk, “but who in our industry doesn’t take risks,” he says. “Forecasts for housing and the building industries are fairly positive for the next couple of years,” Donnell adds. “That helps to drive our decision to move into a larger facility, but it’s also a matter of allowing exhibitors more convenience and space as they set up and tear down, and providing more seating for attendees during the show.” The show in 2016 will be held a little earlier than the 2014 event. “I think late September is the best time of the year in Portland,” Donnell says.

GOOD EARTH PLANS ARIZONA MILL Major federal contract holder Good Earth Power AZ (GEPAZ) recently signed a lease on a 37-acre parcel in Williams, Ariz. for the site of a

Lumberjack Mill in Heber, Ariz.

sawmill and material processing facility needed to support forest restoration through the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI). The new mill will initially focus on logs from 7-9 in. diameter. According to GEPAZ CEO Jason Rosamond, the Williams sawmill will eventually produce 300MBF daily. GEPAZ also completed significant improvements and added a second shift at the Lumberjack Mill in Heber, Ariz. during December. A four-phase expansion project at the mill is expected to be completed in February. That project has included the addition of new and upgraded equipment, night lighting and infrastructure improvements. Second shift workers reported for the first time on December 18. The mill has seen a 60% improvement in production since improvements began and daily log demand has tripled. A kiln upgrade, a new planer and conveyors will allow the mill to also produce higher value, kiln-dried smooth surface lumber. The federal 4FRI in Arizona aims to restore 2.4 million acres of ponderosa pine timberland on the Cococino, Kaibab, Apache-Sitgreaves and Tonto national forests. The 4FRI is an unprecedented, collaborative effort to restore forest health across four national forests, involving more than 30 stakeholder organizations including community groups, national environmental organizations, industry and economic development interests, academics and scientists. A measure of controversy erupted in May 2012 when a Montana-based company, Pioneer Forest Products, was awarded the first major 300,000 acre 4FRI contract over a less expensive proposal from a local group seeking to build an OSB plant to utilize large amounts of

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NEWSFEED low-grade timber coming off the forest health projects. However, Pioneer was never able to gain financing for its timber conversion facilities, prompting sale of the contract to Good Earth Power in 2013. Good Earth has ramped up operations slowly through 2014, hampered by a lack of processing facilities in north central Arizona, with transportation costs to facilities in eastern Arizona not feasible. In addition to the sawmill, the GEPAZ Williams facility will handle biomass for a variety of products, including mulch and soil treatments. The facility will feature two bagging lines for composted and chipped products with the ability to add color to chips for decorative landscaping. Plans also call for the addition of dry kilns, a pole peeler and other equipment to expand the mill operation over time. “We need to be restoring 2,000 to 2,500 acres a month by June 2015 to support the capacity that we are creating,” Rosamond said. “That means more logging sides, more loggers, more truckers and more jobs at all GEPAZ facilities.” Increasing capacity should allow GEPAZ to reach the target goal of thinning 40,000 acres per year by June 2016, he added.

INTEFOR EXPANDS LUMBER CAPACITY Interfor is acquiring Simpson’s sawmill operations in Meldrim, Ga., Georgetown, SC, Longview, Wash. and Commencement Bay, Wash. for $97.7 million (U.S.) plus working capital and contingent future payments. The sawmill operations are located within geographic proximity of Interfor’s sawmills in both the U.S. Southeast and Pacific Northwest and will fit within the company’s existing operating infras-

tructure, according to Interfor. The acquired mills have a combined annual lumber capacity of 750MMBF. Interfor’s total capacity will increase by 30% to 3.1 billion BF. The company’s lumber capacity in the U.S. Southeast and Pacific Northwest will total 1.2 billion BF and 900MMBF, respectively, representing 67% of the company’s capacity. Interfor reports that the Meldrim, Georgetown and Longview sawmills have significant upside potential from capital projects that are under way. The Commencement Bay sawmill is a modern mill that was built in 2001. Simpson is in the final stages of a $5 million capital project at Commencement Bay that will enhance the sawmill’s log processing flexibility and operating efficiency. Simpson operates other sawmills in and around the community of Shelton, Wash. The Shelton operations are not included in the transaction.

MILTON HERBERT DIES IN OREGON Milton Herbert, founder of Herbert Lumber Co. in Riddle, Ore., died December 10 at his home near Roseburg. He was 86. A pillar of the community, Herbert founded his company in 1947 as a portable sawmill near Lowell outside Eugene. Looking to relocate near less expensive timber, Herbert was headed to northern California when he spent a night in Canyonville near Riddle—and never left the community. After building a mill east of Canyonville initially, Herbert moved the mill to its current location in 1962 to be closer to the railroad and on a larger site. The son of a timber faller and logging camp cook, Herbert and his wife Arlene built the business conservatively, never going into debt. A niche mill that has never TIMBER PROCESSING

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NEWSFEED sought to outgrow the competition, Herbert Lumber continues to specialize in highend, clear grain Douglas fir lumber. According to a news report on his death, the mill has never had a layoff. In addition to sawmilling, Herbert was a founder of the first bank in Canyonville (that eventually became Umpqua Bank, the largest based in Oregon); helped build a youth center in Canyonville; was a founding board member of the Roseburg Community Cancer Center and the Douglas Timber Operators trade group—and he also volunteered with the Boy Scouts. In February 2014, Herbert received a Legacy Award from the Douglas County Museum for his “significant impact” on Douglas County history. Herbert is survived by his wife of 69 years, Arlene; a brother; son Lynn (who manages the mill in Riddle); and daughter Billie Davidson.

POTLATCH BUYS 200,000 ACRES Potlatch Corp. closed the previously announced purchase of 201,000 acres of timberlands in Alabama and Mississippi from affiliates of Resource Management Service, LLC for $384 million. Potlatch is a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) with 1.6 million acres of timberland in Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Minnesota and Mississippi.

OSU TO EXPAND WOOD RESEARCH Oregon State University has begun an initiative to build a $60 million complex to accelerate its forestry education programs and research on advanced wood products at Corvallis, Ore. The Oregon Forest Science Complex will encompass renovation of existing OSU campus facilities as well 10

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as new construction; showcase innovative uses of wood in building design; and allow the College of Forestry to help meet the world’s growing demand for energy efficient, tall buildings made from sustainable building products. The project includes a $30 million fundraising goal. Once philanthropic commitments are secured, OSU will seek matching bonds from the state. Bonding for the project was included in the governor’s capital budget for consideration in the upcoming legislative session. The initiative was announced in Portland at the Oregon Leadership Summit of the Oregon Business Plan by Thomas Maness, the Cheryl Ramberg Ford and Allyn C. Ford Dean of the College of Forestry. “We are excited about leading a new national effort to advance the science and technology necessary to primarily use wood in the construction of 5to 20-story buildings,” Maness says. “Developing these new, competitively priced, environmentally friendly products will not only increase the value of Oregon’s natural resources, but also grow jobs in our rural communities, with substantial benefits for our state.” Seeking new methods to reduce the carbon footprint of high-rise construction, architects and engineers from Austria to Canada, Norway and New Zealand have begun constructing buildings with exceptionally strong wood products. This cross-laminated timber is made of strips of wood glued together across the grain, and panels can be more than 1 foot thick and 80 feet long. OSU already is a global leader in developing adhesives and manufacturing techniques for engineered wood products. The Oregon Forest Science Complex will boost the university’s applied research efforts with a new Advanced Wood Products Laboratory. Envisioned as a 25,000 sq. ft. facili-

ty, it will include computer controlled and robotic manufacturing systems, plus a pilot plant designed as a learning laboratory for students. The project also will create a life-sized example of what can be done with advanced wood products through a renovation of the College of Forestry’s main academic facility, Peavy Hall. New space is needed to serve OSU’s growing numbers of undergraduate and graduate forestry students. Over the last decade the College of Forestry’s enrollment has nearly doubled to about 1,000 students, and to meet high demand for trained forestry professionals, OSU plans to further increase enrollment to 2,000.

GP WILL UPGRADE THORSBY LVL

GP’s plans production increase.

Georgia-Pacific is investing $6 million at its Thorsby, Ala. engineered lumber operations to expand production capacity of laminated veneer lumber (LVL). In a move that positions the facility for long-term success, according to the company, improvements include upgrading the press system’s layup line and veneer sheet feeders, as well as increasing overall veneer dryer capacity and efficiency. Project completion is expected by the second quarter of 2015. “As the housing market continues a slow but steady improvement, we are investing in our building products division to ensure our ability to meet growing customer

needs,” says Paul Watterson, general manager for GeorgiaPacific’s engineered lumber business. “Along with being located within a good wood basin that provides easy access to raw materials, the improvements to our Thorsby operations will increase our ability to supply LVL—a key component for beams and headers in new construction.”

PELLET PROJECT SET TO BEGIN International WoodFuels President Steve Mueller reports its 500,000 ton production capacity wood pellet plant at Sims, NC and its receiving, storage and shipping infrastructure at the Port of Morehead City will be in construction this summer and shipping in the fall of 2016. The Port facility will include 80,000 tons of dome storage, rail and truck receiving, and 1,200 T/H of ship loading capacity. The pellet plant will produce industrial grade fuel some months of the year, and “thermal” EN+1A product other months, as per customer orders, which is why the storage facility will include two 40,000 T domes and provide the flexibility to store low-ash biomass fuels for seasonal “just-intime” supply.

CHECKOFF PLAN MOVES FORWARD The Hardwood Checkoff, an idea which has been under review and debate for nearly five years, has been given a “green light” for further action at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The proposed program was published in the Federal Register in November 2013, opening an extensive public comment period which drew input from hundreds in the hardwood industry. Nearly every hardwood association also featured ➤ 42

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SAWMILL

KEEPER Everybody in the southern pine lumber industry knows H.W. Culp Lumber Plant Manager David Richbourg, or should.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Little did David L. Richbourg realize that when he was trying to sell sawmill machinery to Henry Culp, Jr., president of H.W. Culp Lumber in New London, NC, that Culp was sizing him up for the position of plant manager at the Culp Lumber southern pine sawmill. Richbourg, born and raised in Greensboro, NC, was a sawmill and planer mill machinery sales veteran of 24 years, beginning in 1973 at Newman Machine in Greensboro, where he worked with his brother, Al; followed by a stint at HEMCO in Hot Springs, Ark., starting in 1987; and then USNR, which had purchased the former HEMCO, Hawker Siddeley (Kockums), CSMI conglomerate. The late 1970s, through the 1980s and into the 1990s saw an explosion of modern sawmill machinery, scanning and optimization technologies. Richbourg always had plenty to talk about with Henry Culp, whose operation was known for its leading edge innovations. In 1997, Richbourg became the plant manager at H.W. Culp Lumber, and 18 years later, at age 63, still thrives in the position. So much so that when Timber Processing decided to look for a plant manager to name as its Annual Person of the Year, the name that kept surfacing was David Richbourg, who was no stranger to the editors of the magazine. 12

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David Richbourg began his career in equipment sales.

As a result, Timber Processing announces that Richbourg becomes the magazine’s 27th Annual Person of the Year. Richbourg oversees a fully optimized mill that produces more than

100MMBF annually, employs 99 and continues to be a leader in sawmill maintenance and sawing practices. Richbourg continues to be active in industry associations. He’s a former chairman of the

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Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn., currently serves on its board, and chairs its governmental affairs committee. Henry Culp, Jr. died in 2010 at age 88, but third and fourth generation ownership and leadership continues with his son, Henry (Hank) W. Culp, III, as president and Amy Culp Shelton (Hank’s daughter) as vice president. To gain some deeper insight into our longtime friend Richbourg, his challenges and responsibilities as plant manger and hear his experienced views of the lumber industry, Timber Processing associate editor Jay Donnell traveled to the H.W. Culp Lumber operation in New London and struck up the following conversation with Richbourg: TP: In 1997, following all of those years in sawmill and planer mill machinery sales, you land as the plant manager at H.W. Culp Lumber. You must have made an impression on Mr. Culp. Richbourg: Mr. Culp called me and asked me if I would be interested to come in and run his mill. He told me that he wanted me to come work there because he liked the integrity I showed him when I was selling him equipment. He said if there’s an issue, you seem to treat your company and our company correctly. You don’t always see only your side or only our side. I was totally happy selling equipment, but I told him I needed two weeks to make my mind up. I felt that my early years in the industry and with the technology had helped prepare me for the job. The difficult part was trying to figure out how to tell USNR I was leaving. I remember that my first day of work was Mr. Culp’s birthday.

In 2009, Henry Culp Jr., left, with his plant manager

about him. He was very hard. He didn’t give you much of a break on anything. You certainly couldn’t stretch the truth any with him and so it just made you want to work hard to please him and be accepted by him that you had done the right thing. TP: Did you learn a lot about employee relations from Mr. Culp? Richbourg: Everything we did he would ask us in our meetings what effect would that have on the employees. The “men” he called them. Today I try to put myself in their (employees) place. If we change a process or put in new equipment, I try to give them an environment that they like working in. We put in a new Samuel strapper and just doing the things when we put it in, console locations and comforts of the work area, safety—trying to make sure the changes we make benefit the employees and their overall morale or attitude and of course

their productivity. I really try to listen to their comments and complaints and fix things we can fix. Mr. Culp always said that he’d love to air-condition the sawmill for those guys so that it would be cool in the summer, but it’s pretty hard to air-condition a sawmill. We think people are really important and keeping them happy and doing what you can for them began with Mr. Culp. TP: What is one of your biggest challenges in dealing with employees? Richbourg: There’s a challenge in maneuvering through some of our senior employees who are in important positions and how we’ll replace them. How do you move the right people up and how do you fill the position with somebody as competent and as interested? We’ve got a lot of senior guys. Some areas we’ve covered it very well, but other areas we haven’t got in place yet and that’ll be a challenge. We’ve got

TP: What a tremendous opportunity and challenge, going to work for one of the most respected and innovative southern pine lumber producers. Richbourg: The thing that attracted me about Culp Lumber was Henry Culp. I thought I was pretty good at sales until I came and sat in Mr. Culp’s office and tried to sell him a piece of machinery and he asked me questions I couldn’t answer. He said you think you know this machine and I said I thought I did. The challenge to survive a technical presentation with him was a real challenge and it prepared me. If I ever sold Henry Culp a machine I always knew future sales of that machine to other people would be easier because I had to prepare so extensively for him. He was very technical and very inquisitive and I liked that

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Log supply is still good; the mill has always been quick to adjust to log sizes.

good people to pick from, but you can disappoint some people when you make the choice. In the lean times, in the slow downs, there are challenges to try and be productive and cost efficient enough to keep from having to lay people off. TP: Certainly Mr. Culp and the

sawmill were known industry wide for technologies and innovations. What is your approach? Richbourg: Mr. Culp was very aggressive in equipment purchases and innovation. This plant had the first 12 inch cant optimizer in the industry. That’s a pretty

big leap of faith to do that back in those days when optimization was a bit hit or miss. I’m not quite that aggressive. I don’t tend to want to be the first, but I don’t mind being second or third. There are many instances where the first machines failed to be lasting designs. I guess I try to have a conservative aggressive approach towards modernization and changes in the mill flow itself. But we certainly are never standing still. We pride ourselves in exhaustive research into new equipment and new process. That goes back to Mr. Culp, too. He was so mechanically inclined and so organized in his thought process. It’s helped us as we have bought machinery and expanded with major projects. This business does not allow mistakes in mill flow or the productivity and recovery very often. We spend a great deal of time researching capital projects. TP: Mr. Culp passed away early in 2010 at age 88. From our perspective on the outside, it appeared to be a smooth transition with Hank already leading the company.

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Richbourg: As Mr. Culp got older a lot of people would ask me, what’s going to happen to Culp Lumber when Henry

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passes? He was the face of the mill even in the latter years, even when Hank had been running it for a good many years. The industry didn’t know that because Hank’s a lower profile kind of guy. Mr. Culp quietly positioned us as a work force and this plant to run efficiently after he was gone. He once told me, “I want to get this curve sawing gang in before I’m gone and make sure that part of the mill is as modern as it can be.” He taught me so much about project details and looking forward. I constantly tell people they’re not looking past their nose. Everything you do, every little bit of planning is for the next two or three steps. Mr. Culp stressed when you put in a new piece of machinery you do all the things right for the maintenance of it, for the cleanup of it, the expansion of it later. He pushed us to start looking ahead. I didn’t ever feel like he was training me. I just realized that I was getting more comfortable with everything that happened. When a major failure in the sawmill happens your efficiency at reacting to it is directly related to your comfort zone and having him around gave me more comfort. I could go to him. I realized as time went by that I didn’t have to go to him as often, so when he was gone it was easier to do because he led us through so many things. Very little has changed around here after Henry left because everything was kind of in place and it’s not really different other than we miss his leadership and his technology skills and certainly him as a person. He was the ultimate Southern gentleman.

mills from the U.S. tour the mill and many of them said it’s very apparent that the work force is different here. Extremely low turnover. Many of our employees are related—fathers, sons, brothers, cousins, families and most of them have been here a long time and I think that’s a tribute to Hank Culp. Even before, when Henry was still here, Hank did most of the hiring for many years and these guys are very loyal to Hank. He treats us incredibly well. TP: What other strengths can you point out about Culp Lumber? Richbourg: There is a positive environment throughout the company. We allow our guys to have some fun and enjoy themselves during work. You can see that when you walk through the mill. They’ve all been here together so they

are always digging for innovative solutions to improve things. We build and install a lot of our equipment which helps during the slow periods. Mr. Culp said he would rather pay our guys to build all this equipment than a machinery manufacturer. It allows us to build it the way we want it and it allows us to build it heavier so we get better equipment, then we also install it ourselves and we know it better and can maintain it. The gang project we did seven years ago we built everything except the gang and the infeed table. We built hydraulic units, the infeed and the outfeed system. When your maintenance staff is spending more time building machinery and developing innovations to make things better you’ve gotten to the point in your maintenance program where you’re not just putting out fires and always fixing things. We don’t fix many things twice.

Left to right, Harold Cagle, planer mill maintenance; Pat Whitley, head saw filer; Charlie Smith, plant maintenance supervisor; and David Richbourg, plant manager

TP: What would you say have been the strengths of Culp Lumber during your affiliation?

Richbourg: Excellent ownership that’s focused on our core business that allows us to maintain a modern, safe, efficient operation that prospers and positions us to work through lean times. I think the ownership part of this mill is phenomenal. We’re not in panic mode and we’re not in crisis management and that is huge for the whole group. We have a team of highly skilled, safe, productive, loyal employees who are dedicated to Hank and H.W. Culp Lumber Company. That’s a true difference between this mill and most mills I know. In the past five weeks I’ve had mills from three countries and four or five other

get along and there’s very little tension or negativity between the guys. We have a wonderful group of loyal customers as well. They stick with us through thick and thin and they communicate openly with us on what they want and what they need. We have a fairly small number of core customers and these are 30-plus-year relationships. Especially through a recession period it’s important to have customers that will stick with you and be there when you need them. We can’t inventory vast amounts of lumber so without them we would’ve been in a world of hurt and we certainly appreciate those guys. Last, but certainly not least, is our maintenance staff. A team of veteran guys that are aggressive, creative, whom

Those guys redesign it and fix the problem. To somebody not in the day-to-day part of this business it probably wouldn’t seem like much, but I think it’s huge. I think our maintenance staff is a big key here. Our maintenance department has remained the same since I’ve been here and it’s a tribute to those guys. We try to get them the best equipment to work with. I think those are the differences of Culp Lumber. This plant isn’t about big differences, it’s about numerous small things that add up. Good people at every position. TP: There have been a lot of major technology developments especially with machine centers and optimization during

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your career, but what are some of the other advancements you can put your finger on as they relate to Culp Lumber? Richbourg: There is opportunity throughout the mill. One primary focus is the filing room. I spend a great deal of time and effort with that group and with that technology. The innovation and technology in the filing room that can save you money in efficiency and reduce downtime is available if you focus on it. Then there are things that have to do with power consumption. We did a project with Duke Energy where all of our air compressors were located in one common building and a control system reduces compressor maintenance and the air consumption of the mill, which is one of our highest costs. Another thing, again, is the role of maintenance. Our maintenance guys are always hunting opportunities to reduce downtime and costs. Replacing existing V-belt drives with Gates poly chain has been very successful, for example. This mill is fully optimized every step of the process so you’re having to work under the radar. Reducing downtime and reducing maintenance is where a lot of the pay off is if you do it right and that’s an area we really focus on. TP: What’s your take on so many independents, so many of your good acquaintances, selling their sawmills in the past several years? Have you been surprised by it? Richbourg: I wasn’t surprised until a couple of the more recent ones that happened. Most all of those mills have been members of the SLMA (Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn.). A lot of

Cant runs through USNR HSS curve-sawing gang.

the owners were very active in SLMA and even past chairmen, so I knew those guys well. I was surprised at some of them. Gilbert Travis at Travis Lumber was a mentor of mine. He hired me at HEMCO and I worked side by side with him for a long time. Very close personal friends. I guess because he was so aggressive at sawmilling and involved in it that it surprised me. Bibler Brothers selling surprised me. Terry Freeman, James Bibler and I are close friends. Bryant Beadles (Beadles Lumber and Balfour) surprised me. You just say wow I wouldn’t have thought it. TP: And of course it changes the southern pine lumber landscape a little bit with more larger corporations.

Richbourg: We look at GP, Weyerhaeuser, IP, West Fraser, Canfor and all the big guys as good operators and stiff competition, but they can’t really have anything we can’t have and they can’t do anything we can’t do and we look forward to that challenge to meet them in the marketplace on efficiency, productivity and quality of product. The few things that concern me is their typical method of operation which is multi shifts and high volumes. Therefore they might take some of those independents they bought that were running single shifts or two 8 hour shifts and take them to two 12 hour shifts or three shifts so the total production will go up which will put some pressure on the wood basket and on the lumber market. They’re good for the innovation side. They do aggressive projects sometimes that we learn a lot from. I’ve worked closely with all those large companies and I welcome them here to tour the plant and I know some of them very well. TP: You’ve been chairman of SLMA and you are still active.

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Richbourg: I still serve on the board of directors at SLMA and chair the governmental affairs committee. I still try to stay really involved in industry groups because I think they are powerful tools in the communication between mills. SLMA has roundtables where we visit mills on a scheduled basis and share technology and innovation with each other and I think that’s a positive thing. That and interacting with customers through membership in some of the lumber organizations, including SBCA

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(Structural Building Components Assn.), Treated Wood Council, American Wood Council. I think SLMA and the industry groups have done a pretty good job of keeping a level playing field with the special interest groups and environmentalists. TP: How does SLMA approach government issues and what issues are getting your attention? Richbourg: Governmental Affairs has always been a focus of the Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association and I feel honored to chair the committee following some very dedicated members that kept SLMA engaged in Washington, DC. The Governmental Affairs Committee monitors and gets involved in numerous regulatory and legislative issues that affect solid sawn lumber manufacturers. Some issues include: boiler/kiln MACT, tax reform, waters of the U.S., endangered species act, bio-based/biopreferred, green building, and dust regulations. Our committee and staff work closely with an environmental law firm and an excellent lobbyist firm in DC. TP: How is the health of the Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn., especially given some of the mill ownership changeover in recent years? Richbourg: SLMA continues to be a strong association during these ever changing times due to the excellent management of the staff and the commitment and involvement of our membership. We have tuned and adjusted membership requirements to balance our core beliefs and changing demographics.

The mill is aggressive at searching for new markets.

TP: We were still in the middle of the recession when we last did an article on your operation in 2009. What did Culp Lumber have to do to get through all of that? Richbourg: We’re proud that we didn’t have to lay anybody off. We did cut the mill back to 36 hours a week— four 9’s instead of four 10’s. We did continue to do upgrades to improve the process and modernize the mill through the recession. We have a standard established by Mr. Culp that we don’t borrow money to do projects to minimize interest payments during slow times. TP: Have you made any significant machinery or technology upgrades to your sawmill operation in the past five years or so?

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Richbourg: Two major optimization replacements and a lot of rolling stock. We run all big Taylor forklifts. We bought four new forklifts recently, and put in a MSR machine. Put in a new Samuel strapping line. We did major upgrades to mill infrastructure and the waste handling vibrating conveyers. We had a lot of original 1983 vibrating conveyers and they were at the end of their life cycle so we’ve been changing all those out. And of course a lot of focus in the filing room. TP: We know you’ve made upgrades to the filing room. The Culp Lumber filing room has always been considered one of the best in the industry. Richbourg: Recent upgrades in the filing room are an effort to keep this important department in a position to produce the best cutting tools possible. We continually evaluate the available equipment to produce and maintain guided saws, VP/VD band saws, canter and chipper knives, and carbide planer knives. Our Vollmer saw grinders, band and circular, have been an excellent improvement. CNC equipment offers many benefits and cost savings. Key Knife’s new solid “stepped” heads have improved our chip quality, face quality, and reduced our knife cost. We purchased a Kahny sawmill tipper for our Stellite gang saws and carbide edger and trim saws which has exceeded my expectations. Resulting benefits of this machine have included more accurate tipping, faster tipping, less grinding required, and less tooth loss. Researching gang saw guides led us to replace most of our saw guides from a quality manufacturer in

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Canada who produces guides with very accurate tolerances. Working with the two top saw manufacturers, we tweaked our long standing saw spec and greatly increased the quality run time and life of the curve sawing gang saw blades. I am fortunate to have access to some of the industry’s very best carbide engineers and saw designers that keep me focused on the latest technology in cutting tools. TP: What is an upgrade you have planned or are looking at right now? Richbourg: We’re looking at a new kiln. H.W. Culp has always had a reputation for being a drying focused mill. Our last kiln was an in-house design and it features several air flow patents and innovations. We are currently looking at the continuous kilns, but trying to decide if there are some tweaks to that concept that might be more efficient in the usage of the heat that is still escaping, so we’re in the middle of that thorough evaluation right now. We are also beginning to look at new bucking systems. TP: Is your timber supply situation and logging force still good, or not good, or continuing to change?

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The operation is looking at drying technology for possible upgrade.

Richbourg: We’re buying more logs on the open market these days because it’s available and the big loggers are in a better position to merchandise the log than we are. We think we have a good future timber supply. There has been a decline in the number of loggers the last several years, and is a cause for concern. I asked Mr. Culp the same question the day he hired me because I was worried about getting into an industry that was run-

ning out of wood. But today I think there’s good availability of wood. Probably a concern to me is the move to more plantation wood, which doesn’t have the grade in it and doesn’t have the strength in the wood. We try to focus on buying older timber and cutting higher grades and dense products, but that timber is getting more expensive and getting a little harder to find. TP: Do you feel the sawmill industry

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of today is attracting good workers, managers? Richbourg: I think it’s always a challenge to attract people to this industry. Most mills are located in remote areas. I think automation has helped us attract better employees whether it’s management or production employees. The wages we’re paying are competitive with other industries. We try to offer good working conditions and good benefits. We try to promote from within where possible, to keep our experience level high.

Comact grade optimization in the planer mill; the Ecoustical grader in foreground, when doing MSR grades, weighs the piece and hands off data to the Comact for making a final MSR, or not, grade. The mill grades only dimension.

In-house fabrication is a longstanding practice at Culp Lumber.

New Signode strapper was installed last year. 22

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TP: What advice would you give, or do you give to those younger managers coming on today about handling a sawmill and handling themselves? Richbourg: Like I said before, Mr. Culp told me that he wanted me to come work here because he liked the integrity I showed him. The integrity of dealing with people and treating them right goes a long way, but it has to be consistent. Information is always a difficult thing. If you’re getting ready to cut back hours you’d like to be able to tell the guys you’re going to do it and get them prepared, but at the same time you don’t know if some of them will leave and you get these rumors going. It’s a challenge to inform the whole group to the right level so that they’re comfortable and you’re not putting them in a bad position, but also not creating havoc all the time. It’s not so difficult when things are good. Integrity and communication are the foundation. Communication is difficult to do well, but it’s very important. TP: Any final comments? Richbourg: I just think I’ve had a lot of breaks go my way. I’ve never had a job that I really didn’t like. I’ve had a lot of people who shaped the way I did my job. Even from the beginning I had a fantastic training program at Newman because one of the best salesman I’ve ever known became ill and I was able to travel with him for nine months and it was a training experience you don’t usually get. I never thought I’d leave equipment sales. My experience at H.W. Culp Lumber Co. has progressed very quickly, and numerous people have supported me along the way. The Culp family and team of employees have been very helpful and supportive from day one. My wife of 37 years, Malinda, has been the most important person in my life, keeping me focused and grounded. TP

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BACK

TOWORK By Andrew Macklin

Eacom opens former Domtar mill in Ear Falls.

EAR FALLS, Ontario ast August the sawmill in Ear Falls was restarted, once again producing lumber for the U.S. and Canadian housing market. It had been nearly five years since the mill last hummed with the sound of lumber processing through the line, and it took a change in ownership and a recovering market to bring the mill back to life. On December 7, 2009, amidst the recession that followed the collapse of the U.S. housing market, Domtar closed the doors on the Ear Falls sawmill, located just south of the community of 1,000 over 100 km northwest of Dryden. The mill had been idled in April of that year, but Domtar attempted to reopen the mill a few weeks later, only to shut it down once again in October. The closure put approximately 130 out of work, adding to the long list of mill closures in the region. In March 2010, Domtar sold the shuttered mill, along with six other mills and an equity interest in a seventh, to EACOM Timber Corp., which had been formed in 2008. At the time, there was no definitive statement made about the future of the Ear Falls sawmill, but threeand-a-half years later on October 9, 2013, EACOM officially announced that the mill would reopen. Around the same time, a major shift took place in the se28

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nior management of EACOM, as Kevin Edgson took over as President and CEO and Jeff Webber took over as COO. The push to rehabilitate and reopen the Ear Falls sawmill has been the first significant undertaking for Edgson as company CEO, and it represents a significant step in the recovery of the forest industry in northwestern Ontario. “We looked at the opportunity of the asset, the forest resource that it depended on, and the outlook for the market driven primarily by an increasing demand in the U.S. housing market,” says Edgson. “We saw a shift in the demand supply bal-

ance, and felt the Ear Falls assets to be well positioned geographically so we made the decision to undertake a restart to accommodate the demand.” The sawmill was built just southwest of the community of Ear Falls. Originally built by Avenor Inc. in 1998, the mill was sold to Weyerhaeuser and then to Domtar before being part of the package sold to EACOM in 2010.

TECHNOLOGY The mill is primarily a Comact machinery mill, although several processes

One of the major upgrades made to the mill has been the addition of Prologic optimization equipment on several processes.

have either been tweaked or upgraded. The debarking process was the first piece upgraded, under previous ownership, with two 21 in. Valon-Kone debarkers installed five years after the mill opened. Both the small log and large log saw lines are the original Comact units installed in 1997. The small line features a log turner, DLI, canter, TBL and gang, while the large log line consists of a log turner, DLI, canter, quad saw, TBL and gang. Side boards are sent to the Comact edger. The line has been upgraded with the installation of new Prologic log scanning optimization system as part of the log sorter/debarker process, tied to a Modicon PLC system. The trimmer line and sorter is Comact equipment from the original build which now features Prologic scanner optimization equipment. Those lines run at approximately 160 lugs per minute. The original Comact stacker can stack a pile every three to five minutes according to Operations Manager Harrison Wicks, who has overseen the restart of the Ear Falls sawmill. The planer mill features a Comact infeed outfeed with a Newman-Whitney planer that runs at about 1200 linear feet per minute. That line has also seen upgrades to its optimization with the addition of a VAB auto grader. The mill is producing 2x3, 2x4, 2x6 and 7-9 ft. boards targeted at the housing market both in Canada and the U.S. The chips produced are shipped to Domtar in Dryden, with an expected 100,000 odmt/ year in chips produced at full capacity. In total, the investments made just on the inside of the mill represent a multimillion commitment to the operation in Ear Falls. “The optimization and electrical systems were either out-of-date or in dire need of upgrading, so a significant part of the investment was used to modernize and bring the systems and the processes back up to today’s standards,” says Edgson. Outside of the mill itself, the original set of three Wellons Canada kilns are in operation, with the capacity of 230,000 BF per charge. That provides the mill with the capability to dry approximately 3.5 million BF per week. The heating system for both the mill and the kilns is a Wellons Canada 84 million BTU wood waste system, which burns the bark and sawdust from the mill. The system is coupled with a 30 million BTU natural gas systems, which runs as a backup system. However, it does run the plant’s thermal oil heat exchanger, used to heat the plant by running thermal oil through

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An 84 million BTU Wellons wood waste heating system heats the mill and kilns.

EACOM added a VAB auto grader system to improve quality and productivity.

the system at between 220-230° C In the mill yard, three new Volvo L150G loaders have been purchased to move wood waste and lumber, along with a Sennebogen 830 material handler for stacking logs. The log sorter features a Caterpillar M325C, a relic of the previous ownership that has stayed in good condition for use by EACOM. The sawmill was restarted on August 5, with the planer coming online on September 2. Just nine days later, on September 11, the first shipment of lumber left the yard for the rail lines. The mill is running one shift with 44 employees. At that level, the company is able to produce 66MMBF annually. Full production at the mill, which would include a second shift, is being discussed. So far, EACOM has been able to acquire the needed spruce, pine and balsam logs to support a single shift at the mill. But the company is working with surrounding communities to ensure that there is a workforce out in the forest that can meet the long-term wood diet demands of the mill. “It has been dormant in the area in that the sawmills have been down for a number of years,” says Edgson. “As such we are working to rebuild the hauling and harvesting contractor capacity by working with individuals and groups who are interested in strengthening their operations in the area. These were seriously lacking when we announced we were restarting the mill.” That difficulty did not extend to the mill itself, as EACOM was able to find a strong workforce in the Ear Falls region, including a solid base of young professionals eager to get involved in the mill. According to Edgson, the local management group did an excellent job of building the team in Ear Falls. “The real credit goes to the folks in the field, on the ground in Ear Falls. We were very pleased at the interest level and the quality of the applicants that we were able to draw from.”

BIG PICTURE

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The Ear Falls mill is a key component of EACOM’s overall business, one of four stud mills to go along with the company’s three dimensional mills. “(Ear Falls) is a fundamental part of what we would view as our asset base,” says Edgson. It is an important part of our stud supply. While geographically it is at a distance from the rest of our assets, we think that logistically it is in an ideal location to supplying areas of the market that we had not been as active in.”

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Those markets include the U.S. Midwest, which is easier to access as opposed to the other stud mills owned by EACOM. The rail access afforded to them in the region also means that the mill can reach the company’s traditional markets in southern Ontario and the east coast, which gives the company options for the lumber produced at the mill. With wood markets becoming more stable, and the Ear Falls mill continuing its progression towards full operation capacity, EACOM is able to focus on additional challenges and opportunities facing the company. While finding young, talented skilled labor has not been a challenge thus far for the Ear Falls mill, it remains a concern for EACOM’s operations across Canada. Finding skilled labor has always been a challenge, but it will be even more the case across the next decade. “The industry has a requirement, in terms of attrition, for a significant number of tradespeople to join the workforce,” says Edgson. “Recruiting them, or better yet, training them and providing them the kind of future where we can offer them a stable opportunity, is probably the most significant challenge.” There is also a question of whether or not to engage the booming bioenergy market, as pellet production has become a popular alternative for using wood waste from the mill. In Ear Falls, that waste is used for heat energy. And for EACOM, that may continue to be the focus. “Pellets offer an intriguing opportunity, especially given their success in the West,” says Edgson. “But a lot of the prime pellet supply material is currently used in drying opportunities where we don’t have a natural gas alternative. If you look in the West, a lot of these mills have natural gas as an alternative energy source and, therefore, can turn their shavings, chips and dust towards pellets. We don’t have that opportunity at most of our mills.” Instead, the company will focus on new prospects for additional revenue sources within their current mills, as Edgson believes that there are a number of high return projects available within EACOM’s current mills. Should the demand for lumber continue to grow both at home and abroad, EACOM looks poised to be able to grow right along with it. TP This article originally appeared in Canadian Forest Industries magazine, and appears here as part of an alliance between CFI and Timber Processing. TIMBER PROCESSING

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COAL

MINER’S SON By Chris Brown

Frank Toney has pretty much done it all in the forestry and lumber industries.

LOUISBURG, NC t 82 years old and in semi-retirement, Frank Toney still knows his way around the sawmill he has operated since 1962. Better yet, his employees still know who he is and always respond with a respectful “Hello, Mr. Toney” as he leads a tour through this family-owned facility in Louisburg. There is a connection there—a mutual respect—between a man who has spent his lifetime trying to keep his yard full of logs, his machines running, his employees healthy and happy; and a group of employees that have built Toney Lumber’s reputation for fulfilling orders in a timely manner with high-quality products. The mill, whose primary products are radius edge decking and stair materials, employs 65. Toney, a son of a West Virginia coal miner, credits his past and current employees for his company’s success throughout the years. “We have maintained a good workforce by hiring people who were willing to work,” states Toney. “We set up a retirement program years ago that I felt was necessary to keep good people. For the employees to see me being actively interested in making it a better place to work and taking measures to take care of them financially, I believe it is one of the reasons why we are still here.” Still here is no small achievement for any forest products mill during this past recession, and keep in mind that Toney Lumber is a “very medium size sawmill” in Toney’s words, producing 25-30 milFrank Toney still sets the pace.

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lion board feet annually. Then again, hanging tough is a Toney trademark— one that he developed at an early age.

BACKGROUND Born in November 1931 in Comfort, W. Va., Toney was the fifth of six children. His father, Frank Sr., passed away from an injury suffered in a coal mine when Toney was just 14. “He got hurt in the coal mines,” recalls Toney. “I remember him coming home that night and he was hurting. We rode up to the doctor and then came home and he kept hurting. So I went back for the doctor, I drove myself, and got the doctor. The doctor thought he would be all right. He just gave him a shot and we would take him to the hospital the next morning. Well, he didn’t make it that night.” Toney’s mother, Orva, who had taught school before, went back to school at Morris Harvey College to finish her degree. “She was a tough lady,” says Toney. “She had six children plus a first cousin who came to live with us when he was all of six months old.” After graduating from high school, Toney went to West Virginia University where he majored in forestry. As part of his studies, Toney unknowingly got a glimpse of the area that he would someday call home when he spent a week on the Hill Forest with a North Carolina State University forestry professor. “We had summer school for 10 weeks learning how to cruise timber, survey and map and all that,” says Toney. “Then we came down here for a week to N.C. State’s Forestry School somewhere on Route 501 north of Durham and Professor Slocum was who was there showed us around.” Toney graduated from West Virginia in 1953. His first position in the forest products industry was with Robert Gair, a paper company based in Savannah. The company was divided into two branches—woodlands and manufacturing. Toney was hired into the woodlands branch. “My first job was buying and managing timberland in north Florida,” recalls Toney. “Primarily managing what they had down there. I spent about a year there before being transferred.” Toney transferred to Warrenton, Georgia, where he not only developed his timber buying skills, but he also met his first wife, Edna Earl. Frank and Edna eventually had two daughters, Elizabeth and Susan, and were married for 21 years be-

Toney Lumber produces up to 30MMBF annually.

fore Edna died of cancer in 1978. The Robert Gair company merged with Continental Can Co. while Toney was in Georgia. During his five-year run in Georgia, Toney earned the reputation as a top timber buyer—a reputation that would get him another transfer to Wake Forest, North Carolina. “I had bought a considerable amount of land the last two or three years I was down there and had become pretty well known as a good trader for the company so they wanted to build this area,” recalls Toney. “That’s why I got transferred here. The company had about 18-20 thousand acres when I came. I stayed with them with a little more than four years and we had 40 something thousand when I left.” In addition to his formal and field studies at West Virginia where he learned how to cruise timber, Toney’s tenure with Robert Gair and then Continental Can gave him a unique perspective on the timber purchase-to-product output equation. With frequent timber sales on their own company lands, Toney’s job was to cruise the timber and provide a value on the tract. “We cruised the timber before we sold it to them and then compared it to their manufacturing measurements,” recalls Toney. “So, I checked my cruises with how much logs came in here that was measured and over a year’s period—plus or minus three or four percent—it was close.” In addition to his confidence in his own ability growing with each sale, Toney’s reputation as an efficient timber

buyer began to grow in the area as well. He had doubled the acreage of Continental Can in a short period.

LUMBERMAN The partnership of W.W. Thayer and Fred Taylor, which ran the original sawmill on the current Toney Lumber Company acreage, took notice. The partnership reached out to Toney to see if he would be interested in buying into the business. At the time, Thayer ran sales for the sawmill with Taylor as a partner based in Troy. The company needed someone who knew how to value timber. “I knew that I could buy timber and I knew prices because I sold timber and I knew what it cost to log,” says Toney. “All you have to do is just put the prices together and see where you could make a profit or not. If the paper company thought I was doing a good job for them, why couldn’t I do that for myself.” “After strong consideration,” says Toney with a smile, “my wife wanted to go back to Georgia, so it was strong consideration, I decided I would try it. The bank agreed to loan us more money to buy timber with if I would come in here. It was an opportunity I didn’t think that I should turn down. So that was 1962, June 1.” When Toney joined this new venture, the sawmill was considered a roofer mill, focusing on the production of one by sixes that were then used in roof construction. The mill also produced several other products that were used in the construction of houses, including two by eights, two by sixes, two by fours, and

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Five-quarter radius edge decking market propelled Toney Lumber.

stair treads. The mill’s annual production was about 7 million board feet and had 70-plus employees. A few years later, Taylor sold his share of his company back to Toney and Thayer, making way for Toney and Thayer Lumber Company. Thayer handled sales and Toney looked after everything else in terms of buying timber and running the sawmill. In 1968, Toney sought to add to the range of products the company offered by purchasing a 75 inch log chipper to provide chips to area paper companies.

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The chipper not only added value to the mill, but it pretty much saved it when a fire took down the rest of the mill. During the rebuilding process, Toney brought in a portable sawmill and fed the chipper all that it could eat. “We just had just finished paying First Citizen Bank for the sawmill,” recalls Toney. “And then, our mill burned to the ground. It took us a year to build it back. I had just ordered the big chipper so it turned out to be perfect timing. We paid for the mill in short order.” While the fire was a low point, an

emerging market gave the company an economic boost in the 1970s. A treating plant in Virginia had a special request for a type of five-quarter decking board with a unique curve. Toney had the right people on staff to address the opportunity. “We called our millwright to see if he could grind the knives to turn that corner,” recalls Toney. “We started making that radius edge decking board and we were the only mill around here doing it. That really did well till seven or eight years later when the big companies got into it and drove the price down.” Another market condition, albeit this was a global one, led Toney to reassess his power plant options. At one point, the mill ran a boiler burning number six fuel oil, which was a cheap fuel at the time. When the price of the fuel shot up in the 1970s, Toney began seeking an alternative. The answer was a gas-fired power plant, which produces methane gas from smoldering sawdust. After a pilot project produced mixed results, Toney and his crew improved and enlarged the power plant and used it for a dozen or so years before replacing it with an even larger version that stands in the middle of the facility today. “We built that down in the shop,”

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states Toney while pointing at the power plant. “We put sawdust down both sides and down both ends and it drops down into a triangular shaped fire box. You smolder it, you don’t want it burning hot, and then make a methane gas, and we pull that off and burn that gas in our boiler room. It’s just a clean fire. We use our own sawdust. This does us a good job.“ During the 1970s, Toney expanded and redesigned his mill to put the large logs (14 in. or bigger) on one side and the smaller on the other. His business was expanding, and so was his family as he married Edna Earl (yes, a strange coincidence in names) and gained two new daughters in Katina and Joan.

TONEY LUMBER In 1982, Thayer retired and sold his portion of the business to Toney, creating Toney Lumber Company. Throughout its history, regardless of its official name, the company has dealt directly with wholesale lumber brokers. The company signs contracts on an annual basis. The combination of these contracts and years of delivering on them probably saved Toney Lumber during the most recent recession, which Toney admits was

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At left, Toney’s son-in-law, Roger Melvin, who is company president.

the worst slowdown he has ever experienced in all of his years in the business. “I guess the five-quarter-six is probably the thing that has saved us,” says Toney. “I guess having those customers that we have looked after all these years, they looked after us.” Toney Lumber really doesn’t play in the export market. “We never been much to export, we have a little,” says Toney. “When business is slow, that one gets hurt the worst. We did export a little bit several years ago, but I am a little bit

leery of that. I prefer to doing business at home.” Through the years, Toney believes his biggest challenge has been and will continue to be finding quality logs. He estimates that his company draws logs from a 130 radius from the facility in search of the right size and quality of timber. The mill, which has two procurement foresters on staff, operates on the principle of acquiring enough timber during the winter months to last through the summer. “Most of the timber is controlled by farmers,” says Toney. “When they are busy farming, they are not thinking about selling timber. But after they get their crops in, they may have a timber sale. We try to buy enough timber so we don’t need to press during the summer months to buy timber.” In retrospect, Toney regrets not trying to acquire more of his own timberlands over the years, but his focus was building a sawmill mostly from scratch. “As far as buying land, I should have invested in more land,” says Toney. “I wish we had, but I kind of let that slide by, but when you are building a business, it’s tough.” These days, the majority owners of Toney Lumber Co. are Frank’s two old-

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est daughters, Elizabeth and Susan. Elizabeth’s husband, Roger Melvin, is the company’s president. Toney smiles proudly when he says, yes, two women in the lumber business. Looking toward the future, Toney is encouraged by what he sees through the orders that have come into the mill as signs that the economy may have finally turned the corner. Keep in mind, his desk was pretty well covered up with papers for a “retired” person who likes to “keep up on things,” and the papers are not scorecards from his latest round of golf,

which he admits to playing once a week. Toney originally hoped to modernize the planing mill—a project that the slowdown of 2002 delayed and the recession of 2007 shelved—when he broke ground on a new building in 1998. “In 1998, I built a 37,000 square foot building behind the hardware store, and I was going to move the planer mill down there,” says Toney. “Well, we had the slowdown in 2002, and then we hit the big recession, so we have never gotten it moved down there, but that’s what that building was put there for—a modern

type planer operation.” Melvin sees making the necessary capital expenditures to replace some aging rolling stock on the yard and upgrading the mill as a significant challenge for Toney Lumber and probably any mill that managed to keep its doors open through this latest epic downturn. “We tried to manage our expenses and produce a good quality product,” says Melvin. “Between the two, we were able to keep it going, and we were fortunate the recession ended when it did. That’s just bottom line.” For Melvin, it’s not just a matter of going out and buying the newest and best equipment, but rather, equipment that makes sense for the production schedule the company maintains to meet its customers’ demands. As in the past, employees at Toney Lumber continue to make hands-on contributions to the machines and systems that exist on the yard or are brought in to replace aging machines. “We did take the Top Dog and it was a 20 foot machine and we cut it back and redesigned it to make it work for us in the 16 foot environment,” explains Melvin. “We bought that used from a company in Idaho and transported it here. We just built the building one year, contracted out the electrical, but then we did all the work on the Top Dog itself.” Melvin is cautiously optimistic about the company’s future based on its commitment to quality products while echoing the concerns of his father-in-law about the available forest resource. “The two products that we certainly take pride in are the radius edge decking and the stair material products,” says Melvin. “We are very fortunate to be able to buy the log that gives us those products.” A West Virginia native and a “huge” West Virginia University fan, Frank Toney certainly carved out his niche in the forest products industry in North Carolina. “I have really enjoyed this business,” says Toney as he looks around his spacious office. “The old office was nothing but slabs that sat over there in the corner of the mill. In 1988, I built this building. This is like moving uptown from where we were.” And a long way from Comfort, West TP Virginia. Chris Brown is director of communications at the North Carolina Forestry Assn. and is a frequent contributor to Timber Processing magazine. He can be reached by email: cbrown@ncforestry.org.

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NEWSFEED 10 ➤ Checkoff panels at meetings last year to discuss the proposal and answer questions relating to how the program would work. According to Jamey French, CEO of Northland Forest Products and Outreach Co-Chairman for the Hardwood Checkoff Committee, “It is hard to imagine an idea which has been given as much deliberation, discussion and analysis in the hardwood industry. While none of us who joined this committee ever dreamed the process would take this long, we are pleased that so many have been given a say and brought improvements along the way. USDA has listened, and we are pleased that they remain committed to continuing the pursuit of a Hardwood Checkoff.” “We anticipate the next step to be publication of a revised proposal and we hope to see many of the improvements suggested during the comment period,” says Jim Howard, CEO of Atlanta Hardwood and Co-Chairman of the Hardwood Checkoff Committee. “Our Committee believes this will bring us closer to the up-ordown referendum vote required to put a Checkoff program in place and we are confident a majority of the industry will join in support. We will continue to reach out to those who have suggestions for changes in the details of the proposal and believe we can find common ground. Certainly we all agree that promotion, research and education programs need to be at the forefront if our industry is to grow and thrive.” Green sawmill producers and kiln operating facilities with annual sales in excess of $2 million will be subject to checkoff. The checkoff fee applies to all hardwood lumber, cants and railroad ties produced from American hardwood logs. All operations with annual sales greater than $2 million will pay $1 per $1,000 of sales. Concentration kiln 42

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drying yards producing over $2 million will also pay $1 per $1,000 on all sales of kiln dried lumber. Hardwood plywood mills producing over $10 million of annual production will pay $3 per $1,000 of production. Checkoffs do not receive government financial assistance. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture personnel oversee the Checkoff programs to assure that the program is being administered according to the requirements of federal law. Additionally, the federal government can assist in enforcing compliance if the industry seeks that assistance.

ENVIVA HAS PELLET PARTNER Enviva Holdings, LP and John Hancock Life Insurance Co. have partnered with plans to develop industrial wood pellet production plants and marine export terminals in the Southeastern U.S. Their initial project, through their affiliates, Enviva Development Holdings, LLC and Hancock Natural Resource Group, Inc., will include an investment of up to $320 million in Enviva Wilmington Holdings, LLC and the construction of an industrial wood pellet plant in Sampson County, NC, and a marine export terminal at the Port of Wilmington, NC. Enviva affiliates currently own and operate five wood pellet production plants throughout the Southeastern U.S. and export products through terminals in Chesapeake, Va. and Mobile, Ala. It is also expected to close on its purchase of the Green Circle Bio Energy pellet operation in Cottondale, Fla.

PORTUGAL FIRM PLANS PELLET MILL Portucel Group, a leading paper manufacturer based in

Portugal, plans to invest $110 million to build a wood pellet manufacturing facility in Greenwood, SC. The plant will produce 460,000 tons annually. Portucel’s facility will be located in the Emerald Road Industrial Corridor. The company expects to create 70 jobs. The Coordinating Council for Economic Development in South Carolina has approved a $150,000 grant to assist with the costs of road, site and infrastructure improvements as well as job development credits related to the project. The company states it has negotiated supply contracts with fixed price and tenure of 10 years, guaranteeing the sale of 70% of the new facility’s output. Portucel has total paper capacity of 1.5 million tons/year and eucalyptus pulp capacity of 1.3 million tons. Its activities are based at three large scale production mills in Portugal. The Group manages woodlands occupying some 296,400 acres in Portugal.

STEVENS CHAIRED SFPA, NFPA John E. (Jack) Stevens, who spent his entire career in the forest products industry, was president of Kirby Forest Industries and served as Chairman of Southern Forest Products Assn. and National Forest Products Assn., died November 29 in Savannah, Ga. He was 83. Stevens was born in Cambridge, Mass. and graduated from Bentley Accounting School in Boston before joining the Army during the Korean Conflict. He was stationed at Fort Knox, where he was in the Finance Corps and was in charge of soldiers’ payroll. He graduated with a degree in Economics from the University of Maryland, where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. For many years he was in

charge of the Texas wholesale operations of Bradley Plywood Corp. In 1980 Stevens became president of Kirby Forest Industries until it was acquired by Louisiana Pacific. He served as chairman of SFPA in 1985. President Gerald Ford appointed Stevens to join a trade mission to China to establish relationships between American and Chinese forest products industries. Stevens became chief operating officer of Bradley Plywood Corporation, at which time he and his wife moved from Houston to Savannah. While serving as chairman of SFPA and NFPA there were numerous meetings at the White House, often on the issue of Canadian lumber subsidies. He was an active member of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, serving as the Finance Chairman for 17 years. He was a lifelong Rotarian. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Gaynell Mouton Stevens, and two sons. A memorial Mass was held December 2, at The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

SFPA CELEBRATES 100TH YEAR Southern Pine Assn. (now the Southern Forest Products Assn.) held it first meeting in January 1915 in New Orleans. SPA’s first president, Charles Keith, announced the list of members and that all would contribute 10 cents per thousand board feet of total sales; a five cent rebate was granted to those companies agreeing to provide statistical data. The group’s first forest products machinery and equipment exposition (EXPO) was held in 1950. Southern Pine Assn. changed its name to the Southern Forest Products Assn. in 1970, in response to changing needs of its members and to project a broader image of its activities.

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MACHINERYROW

IN-WOODS JOB TAKES UNUSUAL TWIST SERRA bandmills are operating in Liberia forest.

n April 2014, before the sickness Ebola surfaced, the government of Liberia began a railway construction program. A local landowner, Sylvester Rogers, started thinking about his ancestors who used to produce railway sleepers (crossties) and he contacted the governAt the SERRA factory, left to right, Roberto Lautenment about doing the schlager, International Sales Manager; Arild Oygarden, same. He was told to Norway SERRA dealer; Sylvester Rogers, customer; Joproceed. One of two SERRA bandmills operating in Liberia hann Fritz, General Manager of SERRA Rogers promptly visited SERRA Maschinenbau in Gerizontal bandmills, which are built heavy to land owned by Rogers. But almost immany accompanied by SERRA Norwehandle large diameter hardwood logs. mediately, Ebola started spreading. gian dealer, Arild Oygarden. Rogers purFollowing installation and training in Rogers isolated all his workers in the forchased two SERRA AFRICA XE 160 hor- Liberia, actual cutting began on forestest with guards in order to avoid any-

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MACHINERYROW body with Ebola to get into the camp; and whoever left this camp was not allowed to come back. Rogers not only took the workers into the camp, he also took their family members. They had to build the camp and that included a church, school and lodging, built with lumber cut by the SERRA sawmills. The food they ate was supplied from outside of the camp to guarantee the health of the people in the camp. Because it’s so difficult to get a license to cut wood, these two sawmills are the only ones that are working in Liberia, according to officials at SERRA. Meanwhile the United Nations was in need of lumber for building hospitals required for the Ebola patients and other facilities and along with the government of Liberia contacted Rogers about cutting and supplying the lumber. Although the production of the two sawmills was already close to the limit, Rogers accepted the challenge in order to help the people in his country. The first order of 5.500 m3 for the United Nations is already being processed at the same time as the railway sleepers. Visit serra.de.

Plywood Mills Buys ‘Home Grown’ Stacker

Strong’ and rebuild, they also have shown their community support by buying equipment from Taylor Machine Works. Their local purchase will help provide work for Taylor employees until this unit is complete in the latter part of 2015.” Winston Plywood & Veneer is part of New Wood Resources/Atlas Holdings. “We are committed to Louisville and the surrounding region,” comments Dr. Richard (Dick) Baldwin, president/general manager of Winston Plywood & Veneer.

Carbotech Expands On West Coast Carbotech International is establishing a new Carbotech/Gemofor spare parts and service center in Prince George, British Columbia. This strategic location will drastically decrease time-to-market and related costs of products that would otherwise be shipped from the company’s Eastern Canadian location. Offices and warehouse will accommodate a service team and an inventory of Carbotech and Gemofor spare parts for customers in Western Canada and the Northwest U.S. With almost 30 years of experience, Carbotech International specializes in sawmill and planer mill handling and conveying equipment. The company is headquartered in Plessisville, Quebec. Visit carbotech-intl.com.

HGA Purchases R&D Consulting

Winston Plywood and Taylor Machine are located in Louisville, Miss.

Winston Plywood and Veneer ordered a new TXLS-1000 log stacker from Taylor Machine Works, Inc. for the plywood facility to be built in Louisville, Miss. Taylor Machine Works is also located in Louisville. Taylor Machine Works stated, “We are proud to have this company in Winston County. At the time they were planning to celebrate their grand opening and begin their hiring process, the April 28 (2014) tornado struck their facility. They not only have been determined to stay ‘Winston 46

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HGA has acquired Baton Rouge, La.based R&D Consulting, a 30-person engineering and consulting firm. The company offers a variety of engineering services to clients, including structural, process, civil and electrical engineering, as well as mechanical and piping design, instrumentation services, process automation and control services. HGA, founded in 1997 by Trott Hunt and Jay Guillot, has more than 360 employees in 12 offices throughout the U.S. and in the Middle East. The firm has averaged over 30% top-line growth for the last 10 years and was recently recognized as the third fastest growing company in Louisiana by Inc. magazine.

Wood-Mizer To Build Production Plant Wood-Mizer LLC plans to build a new production facility in Batesville,

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MACHINERYROW Ind. The new facility will replace WoodMizer’s current sawmill manufacturing plant operating in New Point, Ind. Wood-Mizer reached an agreement with southeast Indiana area leaders to establish an 85,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility on 13 acres in Batesville. WoodMizer has announced an $8.4 million investment in the facility. Scheduled for completion in December 2015, the facility will produce Wood-Mizer’s product line of portable sawmills, industrial sawmills, and blade maintenance equipment.

Sweden Sawmills Boost Drying Production

Sweden sawmills invest in Valutec kilns.

Three sawmills in Sweden have decided to increase their drying capacity by investing in new batch kilns from Valutec. Rörvik Timber in Rörvik, and Nydala Trävaru and Norra Timber, both in Sävar, have each invested in a new batch kiln with the goal of increased production. “We compared several suppliers, but felt most comfortable with Valutec, who we have worked with for a long time,” says Johan Fredriksson, Production Developer in Sävar. They have well thought out solutions and good support.” Norra Timber in Sävar is increasing production from 180,000 m3 to 210,000 m3; Nydala Trävaru is increasing from its current level of 90,000 m3 to 120,000 m3; and Rörvik is increasing its capacity by 30,000 m3 to 150,000 m3. For family-owned Nydala Trävaru, which is only a short distance from Rörvik Timber, Valutec’s service and aftermarket offer was important. “They are a major brand in Sweden, and they have a well-structured organization for aftermarket work,” says partowner Ingemar Lidman. All the batch kilns are made from 48

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MACHINERYROW stainless steel. In Sävar, they are being constructed with an extra-long air-blow depth and are designed for pine, spruce, boards and planks. “The increased capacity will be good for us for various reasons. When the economy is doing well, we can dry increased volumes to 18 percent, while during downturns we can also offer more drying down to eight and 12 percent, which creates an expanded market for us. We see this as a long-term investment,” explains Fredriksson. During 2014, many Swedish sawmills increased production as a result of increased global demand, which appears to be a continuing trend into 2015. “There are huge markets such as China, which is still in its infancy in terms of the use of wood, says Valutec CEO Robert Larsson. “That means there is huge potential for expansion. We are working towards development that allows us to make even better use of Swedish forests. The use of sustainably managed forest as a building material or for interiors is a fantastic way to contribute to sustainable development.” Visit valutec.se.

WoodMac China Set For March 11-14 WoodMac China 2015 will be held March 11-14 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre. Two shows for supporting industries will also take place, Furnitek China for furniture hardware and supplies and Woodbuild China for lumber, veneers and building timbers. Combined, these events offer comprehensive coverage of the total woodworking industry from primary technology including forestry equipment to panel board production, to flooring, door, staircase and cabinet making technology through to wood products used in the manufacture of all these products. The last show held in 2013 attracted 14,314 buyers of which nearly 2,000 buyers attended from outside China. Chinese visitors come from all over the country including the furniture production heartlands of East and South China. International visitors attend principally from Korea and Japan, South East Asia, Middle East, Russia and South America. “The prospects of valuable export sales in addition to serving their existing customers in China is an important deciding factor for Chinese companies to exhibit at WoodMac,” comments Uly TIMBER PROCESSING

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MACHINERYROW Liu, project manager for WoodMac China 2015. WoodMac China 2015 is supported exclusively by the China National Forestry Machinery Assn. (CNFMA). The CNFMA membership includes all the leading Chinese wood equipment manufactures divided by their separate woodworking guilds from Beijing, Qingdao, Shanghai, Lunjiao and Harbin. Trade visitors are invited to pre-register and apply for a visitor badge online via the show website, woodmacchina.net.

WoodMac showcases technology for international markets.

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MACHINERYROW Logmeter Measures Loaded Logs Woodtech’s 3D laser technology system known as the Logmeter automatically measures individual logs on the truck while it goes through the laser curtain of the scanning system. For each load entering the mill, the Logmeter provides the number and type of defective logs, diameter and length averages and distributions, volume and number of logs per load. The Logmeter includes a comprehensive auditing system that allows managers to analyze log data and images, identify trends, rank log suppliers, avoid fraud, etc. Logmeter database can be integrated to the client log accounting, inventory and procurement systems. At the end of 2014, Woodtech presented to the management team of West Fraser the results of a test that compared the accuracy of the Logmeter system (installed in Newberry, SC) versus manual measurements taken at the weigh scale and the rollout area of several variables such as stem count and average log length per load, log SED and LED. Results were ex-

Woodtech reports that West Fraser is implementing Logmeter.

cellent in detecting small tops and butts and identifying logs with sweep automatically and accurately, according to Woodtech; and the Logmeter was more consistent with less variability and significantly less time consuming than scale operators in log count and average length per load. Compared to the actual values measured at rollout, the average log length per load calculated by the Logmeter was within 10% in all loads and 7% in 90% of the log loads. The Logmeter stem count per load was within 17% in 95% of the loads. West Fraser has started testing the

Logmeter system in a preliminary operative mode with the intention of getting used to the information provided, its interface and auditing system, reports Woodtech. In addition, operators are being trained to detect and mark on the PC screen visual log defects such as cat face, knots, etc. using the log pictures the system captures which complement the automatic measurements and defect detections provided by the scanners. Based on the test results of the logs received at Newberry, the average percentage of logs per load detected and scanned by this Logmeter model is in the order of 65% for butts (scanning more than 70% of the log butts in 60% of the loads received), 60% for tops (scanning more than 70% of the log tops in 40% of the loads) and 50% for length. Official date for operation was agreed to be the beginning of February 2015 when the system will be fully customized according to West Fraser’s IT systems, log specifications, etc. The impact of this technology is realized in increased efficiencies, recovery and profitability of the operation.

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ATLARGE Sawmill Venture Adds Composting Firm Good Earth Power AZ, LLC (GEPAZ) has entered into a partnership with Roots Composting, LLC to produce a line of enriched soil products that will be sold and distributed throughout the Southwest. Flagstaff-based Roots is now part of Good Earth Power Soils, Ltd., the soils and bagged products division of GEPAZ. An expanded composting operation will be based on a 37 acre site in Williams, where GEPAZ also plans to build a sawmill and processing facility. GEPAZ expects to process 60,000 tons of biomass a year from its forest restoration operations on the west side of the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) project area, according to Div. Director of Soils and Bagged Products Martin Gillard. Roots co-founders Kevin Ordean, Patrick Pfeifer and Matt Laessig started the business in 2013 after meeting through Northern Arizona University’s Sustainable Communities graduate pro-

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gram. The company’s proprietary composting process, which was developed by Pfeifer and adapted for local conditions, reportedly utilizes far less water than most industrial composting operations. It also repositions food waste as a raw material that is used to produce rich, waterretentive soils. Plans call for slash from 4FRI task orders to be composted into soil and bagged on-site at GEPAZ’s Williams processing facility.

Emmerson Is New AWC Chairman American Wood Council (AWC) announced the election of Sierra Pacific President George Emmerson as AWC Chairman for a one-year term. Tom Corrick, executive vice president of Boise Cascade Wood Products, was elected the First Vice-Chairman and Andrew Miller, CEO of Stimson Lumber, was elected as Second ViceChairman. Fritz Mason, vice president and general manager of lumber for Georgia-Pacific, will serve as the Im-

mediate Past Chairman. President and CEO of Anthony Forest Products Aubra Anthony was re-elected to serve another two-year term. Roseburg Forest Products President and CEO Allyn Ford was confirmed as a new member of the AWC board. “Fritz has been a tireless leader for the last two years. His commitment to the organization has been unsurpassed and he’s been the central force in implementing AWC’s management plan, which has improved our overall operational performance,” says AWC President & CEO Robert Glowinski. “Moving to next year, I look forward to working with George as AWC continues to grow to serve wood products manufacturers.” The full AWC board of directors includes: Chairman George Emmerson, Sierra Pacific; First Vice-Chairman Tom Corrick, Boise Cascade; Second ViceChairman Andrew Miller, Stimson Lumber; Immediate Past Chairman Fritz Mason, Georgia-Pacific; Aubra Anthony, Anthony Forest Products; Marc Brinkmeyer, Idaho Forest Group; Mike Dawson, Norbord, Inc.; Ray Dillon,

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ATLARGE Deltic Timber; Allyn Ford, Roseburg Forest Products; Michael Giroux, Canadian Wood Council; Brian Luoma, Louisiana Pacific; Joe Patton, Westervelt; Jim Rabe, Masonite; Cathy Slater, Weyerhaeuser Company; and Danny White, T.R. Miller Mill Company. American Wood Council promotes itself as the voice of North American wood products manufacturing, representing more than 75% of an industry that provides more than 360,000 men and women with family-wage jobs. Staff experts develop state-of-the-art engineering data, technology and standards for wood products to assure their safe and efficient design, as well as provide information on wood design, green building and environmental regulations. AWC also advocates for balanced government policies that affect wood products. Visit awc.org.

BCAP Continues To Make Strides Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack reports that more than 200,000 tons of

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biomass were removed from federal lands through the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) in 2014. BCAP, reauthorized by the 2014 Farm Bill, provided incentives for the removal of dead or diseased trees from national forests and Bureau of Land Management lands for renewable energy, while reducing the risk of forest fire. Last summer, 19 energy facilities in 10 states participated in the program. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Service Agency administered the program. Eligible farmers, ranchers and foresters participating in BCAP received a payment to partially offset the cost of harvesting and delivering forest or agricultural residues to a qualified energy facility. Up to $12.5 million is available each year for biomass removal. Key program accomplishments include: —In Colorado's Front Range, 18,000 tons of trees targeted by the USDA Forest Service to reduce forest fire threats were removed to generate energy. —In California's Rim Fire area in

Tuolumne County, nearly 100% of the Forest Service's targeted 40,000 tons of forest residue was approved for removal and transport to energy facilities. —In Arizona, 41,000 tons of forest residue in Apache and Navajo counties were approved for removal and transport to energy facilities. —In Oscoda County, Mich., home of the Huron Manistee National Forest, 5,000 tons of forest residue were approved for removal and transport to energy facilities. The Forest Service has entered into a three-year, $1.5 million agreement to provide technical assistance to the Farm Service Agency as they implement BCAP on National Forest System lands.

NHLA Plans Culture Tour Of China National Hardwood Lumber Assn. will host a Chinese Culture Tour of China, June 20-July 1, for NHLA member companies. The trip will cover three major urban areas: Guangzhou, Nanning and Shanghai and will be limited to 35 people.

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ATLARGE The trip will include participation in the AHEC Greater China & Southeast Asia Convention along with the SYLVA WOOD Show. Though the trip is aimed at those NHLA members who have never or rarely travel to China, it is open to all members of the association on a first come basis. Companies interested in joining the delegation to China and reading more about the program should contact John Hester, Director of Membership, via email j.hester@nhla.com or call 901399-7558.

vesting professionals. Because it directs how SFI program participants procure fiber from non-certified land, this standard encourages the use of responsible forestry practices. —The Chain of Custody Standard tracks the percentage of fiber from certified forests, certified sourcing and recycled content through production and manufacturing to the end product. Organizations can use physical separation, av-

erage percentage or volume credit methods to track and communicate their chain of custody claims. The SFI Chain of Custody Standard is applied globally. “The revised SFI standards will continue to serve as a proof point for responsible forestry in North America,” says Lawrence Selzer, Chair of the SFI Board of Directors and President and CEO of The Conservation Fund. “These standards are shaped by the people and

New SFI Standards And Rules Released The new Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) 2015-2019 Standards and Rules marks an important advancement to support better decision making all along the supply chain and to promote sustainable forest management, according to officials. “The future of our forests depends on credible, transparent and auditable standards to enable sustainable resource use for today and generations to come. Our work starts with the SFI standards, but SFI is so much more—it’s a community that stands together for the health and future of forests,” says Kathy Abusow, President and CEO of SFI Inc. “SFI plays a central role in strengthening the vital link between healthy forests, responsible purchasing and sustainable communities.” A major change to the structure of the SFI 2015-2019 Standards and Rules is the establishment of three stand-alone standards: —The Forest Management Standard promotes sustainable forestry practices based on 13 Principles, 15 Objectives, 37 Performance Measures and 101 Indicators. These requirements include measures to protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, species at risk and forests with exceptional conservation value. —The Fiber Sourcing Standard promotes responsible forestry practices based on 14 Principles, 13 Objectives, 21 Performance Measures and 55 Indicators that address the 90% of the world’s forests that are not certified. These fiber sourcing requirements include measures to broaden the conservation of biodiversity, use forestry best management practices to protect water quality, provide outreach to landowners and utilize the services of forest management and harTIMBER PROCESSING

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ATLARGE communities who put them into practice every day.” Forests certified to the SFI Forest Management Standard cover more than a quarter billion acres/100 million hectares, stretching from Canada’s boreal forest to the U.S. South. The SFI standards are updated every five years to incorporate the latest scientific information and to respond to emerging issues. As part of this update,

comments were received during two 60-day public comment periods and input was gathered from 12 public workshops across the U.S. and Canada. Independent oversight was provided at each stage of the revision process by the SFI External Review Panel, a group of independent experts representing conservation, professional, academic and public organizations operating at arm’s length from SFI.

WSRI Is Accepting Research Proposals Wood Supply Research Institute is accepting suggestions from members and others for research projects focused on improving the efficiency, productivity, profitability and business relationships within the wood fiber supply chain. WSRI recommends certain submission guidelines: —Be brief, consisting of three paragraphs with the first paragraph establishing background information for project consideration. —The second paragraph should state expected project deliverables. —The third paragraph should state how final project data might be used. Submit your suggested research projects to WSRI Executive Director Jim Fendig by email: fendig@bellsouth.

WWPI Adds Government Relations Specialist Western Wood Preservers Institute (WWPI) has named Eric Wareham as director of government relations for the regional preserved wood organization. Wareham will be responsible for the Institute’s legislative advocacy and regulatory compliance activities. Before joining WWPI, Wareham managed several state and national political campaigns, served as in-house counsel to the largest heavy-civil construction firm headquartered in Oregon and worked as a policy adviser at the Oregon state legislature. He is from a fourth-generation logging family in Oregon and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a J.D. from the Willamette University College of Law.

KFIA Celebrates 50th Annual Meeting Kentucky Forest Industries Assn. (KFIA) will hold its 50th Annual Meeting on March 25-27 at The Embassy Suites in Lexington, Ky. The meeting will get under way with a golf outing at the University Club of Kentucky Golf Course in Lexington, and a Unique Horse Farm Tour. The exhibit area will be open throughout the meeting and the Tree Farm Awards Luncheon will recognize outstanding individuals for their achievements in the forest industry communi➤ 61 ty. A special presentation from 56

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PRODUCTSCANNER10 Round Saw Tipping After years of research and development in Europe and North America, Cut Technologies and Kahny have released the Sawmill Kahny, a machine perfectly suited for the North American filing room. The Sawmill Kahny is a fully automated round saw tipping machine that

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boasts extreme precision and speed. At an affordable price and exhibiting the latest in European technology, the machine is specifically formulated to meet the low-cost, high reward demands of saw filers and mill management. The Sawmill Kahny allows for tip reduction, less grinding and, due to precise squaring and centering, tips only need to be 0.005" over final kerf. The single tip clamping jaws from the bowel to the saw coupled with the quick changeover from carbide trim saws to v-tip trims to conventional 40toothed gang saws make the Sawmill Kahny an obvious choice for any sawmill looking for an automated machine capable of tipping both carbide and super alloy tips. Cut Technologies is the exclusive

agent for Kahny Automation in North America and supports the product line with service technicians and stocks a large inventory of parts. Visit cuttech.com or call 800-435-4370.

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WOOD PRODUCTS marketplace NORTH AMERICA ■ United States

■ North Carolina

■ Virginia

Cook Brothers Lumber Co., Inc.

Producing Quality Southern Yellow Pine Since 1939

■ Florida CRACKER SAWMILL

CYPRESS AND SYP Sawmill, Drying and MillIng facility Custom Cut to Order Lumber, Cants, Specialty Beams to 44’ We will Mill Log Home logs S4S 6”x6” thru 8”x12” T&G Your wood or ours WE DO WHAT OTHERS CANNOT 20253 N.E. 20th Street Williston, Fl 32690 www.Crackersawmill.com Info@Crackersawmill.com

Manufacturer of Appalachian Hardwood Lumber LEONARD COOK, Sales (828) 524-4857 • cell: (828) 342-0997 residential: (828) 369-7740 P.O. Box 699 • Frankin, NC 28744 NATIONAL HARDWOOD LUMBER ASSOCIATION

(352) 529-2070

Buyers & Wholesalers We produce quality 4/4 - 8/4 Appalachian hardwoods

■ Georgia Beasley Forest Products, Inc. P.O. Box 788 Hazlehurst, GA 31539

beasleyforestproducts.com Manufactures Kiln-Dried 4/4 Red and White Oak, Poplar, Ash and Cypress Contact: Linwood Truitt Phone (912) 253-9000 / Fax: (912) 375-9541 linwood.truitt@beasleyforestproducts.com

Pallet components, X-ties, Timbers and Crane Mats Contact: Ray Turner Phone (912) 253-9001 / Fax: (912) 375-9541 ray.turner@beasleyforestproducts.com

■ Indiana

• Red Oak, White Oak, Poplar •

Green Lumber: Air Dried, Kiln Dried Timbers & Crossties • Hickory, Sycamore, Beech, Gum & Elm • Custom Cut Timbers: Long lengths and wide widths

Sales/Service: 336-746-5419

336-746-6177 (Fax) • www.kepleyfrank.com

Next closing: July 5, 2015

■ Tennessee

STACKING STICKS

FOR SALE

AIR-O-FLOW profiled & FLAT sticks available Imported & Domestic DHM Company - Troy, TN 38260 731-538-2722 Fax: 707-982-7689 email: kelvin@kilnsticks.com www.KILNSTICKS.com

P.O. BOX 25 • 628 Jeb Stuart Highway Red Oak, VA 23964 Tel: 434-735-8151 • Fax: 434-735-8152 E-mail Sales: john@morganlumber.com Website: www.morganlumber.com Product Mix: ALL KD, HT STAMPED

1x4 D&BETTER, 1x6 D&BETTER, 1x4 #2, 1x6 #2, 1x4 #3/#4, 1x6 #3/#4, 5/4x6 PREMIUM, 5/4x6 STANDARD, 5/4x6 #2/#3/#4,

Do you produce or buy lumber? Here's your #1 source for effectively promoting your hardwood or softwood service to your top prospective buyers.

WANT TO GET YOUR AD IN OUR NEXT MARKETPLACE? Call or email Melissa McKenzie 334-834-1170 melissa@hattonbrown.com

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Call Toll-Free: 1-800-669-5613

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• Rails straightened & ground in-place at a fraction of the cost of rail replacement • No down time for the mill • Restores carriage rails to optimum sawing efﬁciency •Precision Laser Alignment • Machining and Grinding • Carriage and Bandmill Alignment 489

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LUMBERWORKS ■ LUMBERWORKS GREENWOOD KILN STICKS Importers and Distributors of Tropical Hardwood Kiln Sticks 127

“The lowest cost per cycle” GW Industries www.gwi.us.com

Dennis Krueger 866-771-5040

Jackie Paolo 866-504-9095

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jackie@gwi.us.com

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Call Toll-Free: 1-800-669-5613

EMPLOYMENTOPPORTUNITIES Executive – Managerial – Technical - Sales

JOHN GANDEE

Management Recruiters of Houston Northeast

Gates Copeland 281-359-7940 • fax 866-253-7032

& ASSOCIATES, INC

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“Your Success Is Our Business” Serving the Wood Products and Building Materials Industries For more than 21 years.

Michael Strickland & Associates, LLC Executive Recruiters Wood Products/Building Materials Industries Mike Strickland mike@woodproductjobs.com 601-529-2157 • www.woodproductjobs.com Fees paid by employer

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Top Wood Jobs Recruiting and Staffing George Meek

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ATLARGE 56 ➤ “President Abraham Lincoln” will honor all of KFIA’s past presidents. Other speakers will include Dean Nancy Cox from the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture; James Comer, Commissioner of Agriculture for the state of Kentucky; and LeeLee Andrews, Kentucky Field Office Supervisor who will provide an update on the Northern Long-eared Bat and the potential affects on forest management if listed as an endangered species. For more information, e-mail michele@kfia.org or visit kfia.org

Cox Buys Pole Business From Koppers Cox Industries Inc., a privately held wood treating company based in Orangeburg, SC, has completed the acquisition of the U.S. utility pole business from Koppers Inc., a subsidiary of Koppers Holdings Inc. Completion of this transaction makes Cox one of the country’s largest providers of treated wood utility poles. “The addition of the Koppers business provides Cox a broad customer and geographic platform within the U.S to further expand our already successful business in treated wood utility poles,” says Cox Industries CEO Michael Johnson. The transaction includes the sale of Koppers’ existing pole inventory, lease agreements related to the multiple pole distribution yards Koppers maintains throughout the country, and the purchase of related manufacturing assets. The transaction does not include the sale of the Koppers wood treating facility in Florence, SC.

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MAINEVENTS FEBRUARY

SEPTEMBER

25-26—California Forestry Assn. Annual Meeting, Westin Verasa Napa Hotel, Napa, Calif. Call 707-257-1800; visit calforests.org.

18-19—Western Saw Filers Educational Association 2015 Annual Workshop and Conference, Monarch Hotel and Conference, Portland, Ore. Email westwm@chwa.com; visit westernsawfilers.org.

MARCH

11-13—National Wooden Pallet & Container Assn. Annual Leadership Conference, Loews Ventana Canyon, Tucson, Ariz. Call 703-519-6104; visit palletcentral.com. 25-27—Hardwood Manufacturers Assn. annual meeting, Omni Nashville Hotel, Nashville, Tenn. Call 412-244-0440; visit hardwoodinfo.com or hmamembers.org. 25-27—Kentucky Forest Industries Assn. annual meeting, Embassy Suites, Lexington, Ky. Call 502-695-3979; visit kfia.org.

APRIL 12-14—American Wood Protection Assn. annual meeting, The Omni Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC. Call 205-733-4077; visit awpa.com. 23-24—Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn. annual convention, Marriott Long Wharf Hotel, Boston, Mass. Call 207829-6901; visit nelma.org.

MAY 11-15—Ligna: World Fair For The Forestry And Wood Industries, Hannover, Germany. Call +49 511 89-0; fax +49 511 8932626; visit ligna.de. 15-16—Northeastern Loggers Assn. annual meeting, Cross Insurance Ctr., Bangor, Maine. Call 315-369-3078; visit northernlogger.com.

JUNE 10-12—Forest Products Machinery & Equipment Expo, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 504-443-4464; visit sfpaexpo.com.

JULY 22-25—AWFS Fair 2015, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV. Visit awfsfair.org.

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1-3—Western Wood Products Assn. annual meeting, Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront, Portland, Ore. Call 503-2243930; visit wwpa.org.

Listings are submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend.

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▲

25-March 1—Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers annual meeting, Hyatt Coconut Point, Bonita Springs, Fla. Call 336885-8315; visit appalachianwood.org.

Easy access to current advertisers! www.timberprocessing.com/adindex.html Don’t forget to bookmark this link!

This issue of Timber Processing is brought to you in part by the following companies, which will gladly supply additional information about their products. ADVERTISER

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