OR - Small timber operation tries to take up job slack

Oregon's northeast corner have jobs thanks to Community Smallwood Solutions, a busy little post-and-pole mill in this economically troubled Wallowa County town

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Small timber operation tries to take up job slack

11/25/2007
Associated Press

In the timber industry they say a job in a mill equals two in the woods.

If that holds, at least 28 people in the forests of Oregon's northeast corner have jobs thanks to Community Smallwood Solutions, a busy little post-and-pole mill in this economically troubled Wallowa County town.

"As long as the shift is running well, we can put out four loads of hops poles a week," Ben Henson, the mills general manager, said.

Small operations can't replace big ones, and the indefinite closure of the Wallowa Forest Products mill last July still hurts.

About 50 people lost family wage jobs, and the true effects remain to be seen, Wallowa Mayor Ron Gay said.

"We're surviving, but the economy is soft and I think it will get worse next year," Gay said.

Community Smallwood Solutions isn't a cure, but it helps.

With 14 workers, it makes jobs for contract loggers and truck drivers, supports the hops industry and sells to retail outlets in the Willamette Valley.

Henson and others say they think the company will take off.

"There are plans to bring in more equipment and expand some of our product lines, and that could mean going to another shift."

The company was established nearly four years ago with support from Wallowa Resources, a nonprofit group promotes forest and watershed health while creating family wage jobs and business opportunities.

Joseph Timber in the upper Wallowa Valley, now out of business, was a partner at first. Local investors pooled resources to start the mill.

As Joseph Timber bowed out, investors including Henson and his wife Georgena, joined to make products from small-diameter trees harvested mainly in salvage and thinning operations.

"The supply is adequate for our needs. The challenge has always been to find logging contractors who are set up for small diameter," Henson said.

Eight-foot fence poles have always been the mill's bread and butter.

Hops poles sold around Yakima also help. A disease outbreak required replanting of a large number of fields, Henson said, and the mill will be filling orders there for at least the next two years.

Last year Community Smallwood Solutions got into the local firewood business, though reluctantly, because it didn't want to compete with local suppliers.

But demand exceeded supply and bundled firewood also goes to the Willamette Valley.

Some of the uncertainty about Community Smallwood lifted last summer when Upstream 21 acquired the mill.

The Portland-based corporation buys small, locally owned companies and operates them as wholly owned subsidiaries, providing management expertise and capital.

Upstream 21 says it is committed to developing businesses that sustain employees, communities and the environment.

"That has always been the aim of the investors," said Henson. "The entire reason for starting the mill was to help the community. For the investors, this is a good fit. They can feel good about letting it go and watching it grow," Henson said.

"Currently we don't offer benefits, but that's something Upstream 21 has on the table," he said.

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Information from: The (La Grande) Observer, http://www.lagrandeobserver.com/

Additional Information

Web Site: http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8T4UF500.html

Category: Forestry>Success Stories

Region: Oregon

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