Bringing an Industry Back Lumber Mill is Reviving a Segment of Arkansas’s Forest Industry w What started as a phone call between co-workers soon evolved into the revival of a once-lost aspect of the Arkansas forestry industry. The last stave mill in Arkansas closed about 70 years ago, and the industry quickly moved on. However, all changed in 2016 when two former petrochemical workers decided they wanted to pursue different careers. Arkansas Stave and Lumber, located in Malvern, was founded in July 2016 by Grantt Guillory and Gene Cannon III. The company produces cross ties for the railroad industry, hardwood for the flooring industry and white oak staves for the production of barrels. Prior to founding the mill, Guillory and Cannon were managers for a Texas petrochemical company. Guillory said he had been feeling burnt out working in the oilfields and was looking to make a change, so he contacted Cannon. After some convincing, Cannon eventually decided to take the leap of faith with Guillory. Both business partners relocated their families to central Arkansas where they established their headquarters because of the closeness to the southern range of true white oak. Six months before the mill opened, another area business, General Cable, closed its doors, leaving many skilled laborers unemployed. Guillory said this provided the perfect labor force for Arkansas Stave and Lumber. “Since starting production, the mill has added almost 50 jobs to Hot Spring County,” said Phillip Qualls, general manager of Arkansas Stave and Lumber. The barrels produced from Arkansas staves have many different purposes, including the production of wine, sake, and a traditional Korean drink called soju. Primarily, though, the barrels are used for the production of whiskey and bourbon. The mill sources white oak from logging companies, with the majority of the timber coming from tracts very close to the mill. One tract is located directly across the street. “Grantt concentrates on buying logs from big industrial land owners as well as small land owners,” said Cannon. Cannon said Arkansas Stave and Lumber is the only mill in the state of Arkansas to produce staves full time, and possibly the largest independently owned stave mill in the U.S. “We’re happy to be bringing back an industry to the state of Arkansas that hasn’t been here in a long time,” said Cannon. The majority of the company’s staves are sent to the area surrounding Louisville, Kentucky, which is the epicenter of bourbon production. The other hardwood products milled at Arkansas Stave and Lumber are sent to the “international market,” said Cannon. In the future, Guillory said he hopes to see their staves sent to Arkansas cooperages and then to Arkansas distilleries. But long before a barrel is used to age whiskey, it must undergo quite a transformation. “The loggers harvest white oak, which is the only wood that barrels can be made from,” said Cannon. “The pores of the white oak are filled with a compound called tylosis, which makes it nonporous.”
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