By Nathan Owens
Staff Writer
EL DORADO — After Conifex Timber Inc. announced 120 full-time jobs would be created for the new sawmill complex south of El Dorado on Monday, company officials said it would be better to hire workers based in Union County rather than hiring outside talent.
“It’s in our best interest to hire from within the community,” said Sandy Ferguson, vice president of Conifex Timber Inc. “We would prefer people coming from Union County or El Dorado because they are connected to the community, and if they’re not [local] we want them to stay there.”
Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Conifex has committed $80 million to the new El Dorado complex, the company’s first facility in the South. Sawtimber purchases are expected to amount to 700,000 tons per year, or $30 million, from suppliers within a 60-mile radius of the complex.
The types of jobs are expected to range from office to plant positions. Specifically, Conifex will be hiring mechanical, electrical, and saw filers, heavy machine operators, general laborers, and office positions — general management, human resources, accounting, finance, safety, purchasing, and log procurement.
On Monday, about 150 people gathered at the future Conifex site to celebrate the renovation and development of the former Georgia-Pacific sawmill. Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Conifex’s addition would strengthen both local and state economies. Also, it will provide opportunity for workers with backgrounds in the timber industry.
Robert Hanry, Conifex’s recommissioning and start-up manager, worked 21 years at Georgia-Pacific. He started as a cleanup laborer and moved his way up to plant manager, until the sawmill shut down abruptly in 2006.
At that time, Koch Industries had purchased Georgia-Pacific, and shortly afterwards Koch Industries closed timber plants nationwide, including two plywood plants in Crossett, another in Fordyce, and one in El Dorado.
“Literally that morning I got a notice from an email I wasn’t supposed to see,” Hanry said. “By 11:30 a.m. no one had a job — I wouldn’t even drive by the place after that.”
Since Conifex purchased the mill in August 2015, the company has employed seven former Georgia-Pacific workers to help in the rebuilding phase until the opening scheduled for September.
“The workers are going to be local workers,” said Mike Dumas, president and CEO of the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce — who has worked with Conifex Timber Inc. on the development side for the past year. “The jobs they’re bringing aren’t high paying jobs — not $100,000 — but they’re good jobs.”
The yellow pine timber industry is unique to Arkansas, and has directly employed more than 37,000 Arkansans. Mayor Frank Hash said it’s unnecessary to seek people outside of Union County and Arkansas for the new sawmill positions.
“They’re already here,” Hash said. “It would be a disservice to look outside.”
Union County Judge Mike Loftin and Mayor Frank Hash have helped bring and sustain industry in South Arkansas and are looking forward to how Conifex’s decision will bring constructors, distributors, and industry sales people to Union County.
“I’m very excited for the economic impact,” Loftin said. “It will go way beyond those 120 jobs.”
Conifex will be hiring a small group of workers in late spring and a majority in August, a month prior to the plant’s reopening.
Those interested in employment at the Conifex plant in El Dorado can contact Alexandra Bell with Advantage Staffing at 870-862-3000 or email: [email protected].