Montgomery County News

Auctioneer announces approaching reopening of Bean Lumber Company April 23, 2008 - No reporter cited

GLENWOOD – Nick Fowler announced the reopening of Bean Lumber Company’s Glenwood sawmill at the auction of the old Glenwood High School property last Thursday.

Fowler said he had it “right out of the horse’s mouth” that the mill will be reopening the second week in May.

This is good news for the economically strapped community where many have moved away since the mill closed down last August.

The treatment plant was bought by Great Southern Wood Preserving, Inc. of Abbeville, Alabama back in December and the treatment plant was reopened this spring.

Great Southern plans on making millions of dollars worth of improvements to the plant and eventually will have three shifts up and running by this summer.

The city plans on issuing about $5 million in industrial development revenue bonds for Great Southern Wood - Glenwood, Inc., the official name of the treatment plant, later this month. This will enable the company to renovate the existing wood treatment plant up to their specifications.

Now that the mill is reopening, this will complement the investment Great Southern is making in the Glenwood facility.

Tim Bean, president of Bean Lumber Co. said on Monday that an exact date “has not been set as of yet.” But the company is looking at the second week in May to reopen the mill.

He also said that the company has called back a few of their long-time workers that have managed to hold on during the close down.

“I am thrilled to death,” Glenwood Mayor Ron Martin said. “This is a great thing for the whole area.”

Martin went on to say that the reopening will effect not only the mill workers, but the log cutters, log haulers and will “help our economy immensely.”

Bean will be positioned to take over a huge part of the timber market with the May closure of the Potlatch mill in Prescott and the 2006 closing of the Weyerhaueser mill in Mountain Pine.

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