EL DORADO — Conifex’s first timber sawmill complex in the U.S. South, located at the former Georgia-Pacific sawmill, will have the company’s most state-of-the-art site with updated machines processing 180 million board feet annually, officials said.
Once the sawmill complex is open and running at full capacity the company will look into expanding the location, said Sandy Ferguson, Conifex Vice President.
Robert Hanry, Conifex’s recommissioning and start-up manager, and Supervisor Chad Saxon have been quietly working for the company at the El Dorado mill since April 2016, and hired a small team a month later—seven formerly worked for Georgia-Pacific.
“Based on the number of old employees coming up to us, we think we’re doing it right,” he said. “It’s going to be really nice, state-of-the-art.”
Hanry worked 21 years for Georgia-Pacific at the El Dorado sawmill. After ten years of driving past the idle mill, he said “I really think it’s fate that Conifex ended up with it.”
Dec. 2005, Koch Industries purchased Georgia-Pacific and shortly after closed company-owned timber plants nationwide, including the El Dorado mill in 2006.
“Most of the plants were scrapped, except for this one,” Hanry said.
Ten years later, Conifex purchased the mill.
Conifex has strong business ties around Texas and had been searching for a future production site the last few years, Hanry said. The company looked at three site qualifications: a nearby timber forest, usable machinery, and a nearby community. The abandoned El Dorado sawmill met every qualification.
Located in the
southern region of Arkansas is a large pine forest just below the Ouchitas, which has made timber a viable economic resource for the state.
“Your trees grow more quickly than in Canada,” said Sandy Ferguson, Conifex Vice President. In fact, the loblolly pines have a growth rate of roughly 30 years. Canadian pines reach optimum height three times slower than loblollies.
After processing, the southern timber product can withstand 120 lbs/square inch, ideal for housing in the northern states. Haynes said approximately 20 percent of the timber product in Arkansas is sent to Michigan or Wisconsin so residences can withstand the ice and snow.
Conifex will source its lumber from forests within a 60-mile radius of the complex. Also, 60 percent of the forests are owned by private individuals, meaning the majority of money Conifex has spent on timber is staying in Arkansas.
“Yeah its great to have jobs,” Hanry said. “But people forget the biggest impact’s the landowners.”
There are five main components to lumber operations: log delivery and processing, sawing, sorting and stacking, lumber or kiln drying, and planning or sizing. The final products are smooth planks primarily used in construction.
“We have a very detailed plan on how to ramp up this facility,” Ferguson said.
Conifex estimated that once the complex has finished phase one of construction by September 15, about 100 trucks each carrying 27 tons of logs will unload and leave the new complex daily. Another 100 trucks will be leaving the property with processed lumber or chips.
Significant factors for the new complex’s processing speed will be the dual bridge lineal log crane—estimated to unload two trucks in about three minutes—automated laser systems for controlling log processing speeds and cutting accuracy, and efficient drying kilns.
The crane system used at the El Dorado complex will be unlike anything Conifex has used at other plants, Ferguson said.
With a height of 60 feet, the crane can rotate and grapple up to 17 tons of logs.
Two benefits of the crane is that trucks can get in and out faster than at the old plant and there is more inventory control, Haynes said.
Next, the logs are sent through a debarker which will be two times faster than the one at the former Georgia-Pacific plant, with speeds reaching 550 feet per minute. After the debarking process, the logs are passed through a log turner that will guarantee a near perfect 360-degree log within two degrees.
Then logs are sent through a scanner programmed to find different knots and imperfections in the wood; from that the saws will adjust and make the most valuable cuts. To guarantee the complex is operating at optimum speeds, there are sensors that will slow down operations when needed, Haynes said.
“It ensures we’re going as fast as possible without screwing up the lumber,” he said.
Once the boards are separated, they are sent through a kiln estimated to dry 120 million board feet annually. In comparison, the old mill required seven kilns for the same amount of work. The company’s plan is to have three continuous kilns going with two built for phase one, and another built for phase two.
For a timber complex of this capacity Conifex estimated 120 full-time jobs ranging from sawfilers and forklift operators to human resources, finance, and management positions. The bulk of the jobs will be operator types—people who run cranes, fork lifts, trimmers, and sorters.
Truck drivers won’t be hired by Conifex, Ferguson said.
“They will be separate,”she said. “We don’t anticipate having those positions at this point.”
The company is looking to staff as much of its workforce from the local El Dorado area as possible.
For those interested in applying for one of the positions at the Conifex complex in El Dorado, Alexandra Bell at Advantage Staffing is accepting letters of intent. Conifex will be hiring a small group of workers in the early spring, with the majority hired in August before the opening. She can be contacted at 870-862-3000 or by email: [email protected].
Nathan Owens is a staff Writer for the El Dorado News-Times and can be reached at 870-862-6611 or by email: [email protected]. For news updates or story ideas follow him via Twitter: nowensednt.