Mercer Reopens Former Structurlam Mass Timber Facility in Conway, Arkansas

The Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported (6-16-23) that production at the former Structurlam mass timber plant located in Conway, Arkansas, resumed on Thursday, June 15th. Mercer, a division of global timber producer Mercer International Inc., completed the purchase of the assets through bankruptcy court proceedings for both the Conway facility and another plant in British Columbia Canada.

Brian Merwin, senior vice president of Mercer, has been at the Conway facility since Tuesday to oversee the restart of manufacturing. Merwin told the Democrat Gazette that, “As we started moving through the acquisition process and once we knew we were the stalking-horse buyer … we actually gave one of our glulam orders to bring a few of the folks back to work in Conway. We are producing some product in the factory today and we will be producing product in the plant next week.”

Merwin could not predict how many of the roughly 170 employees at the plant when it closed would return, according to the report. “We just bought the factory … and we’re just starting to get to know everyone. Where we go from here ultimately depends on how quickly the order file ramps up. That’s all I can really say right now and don’t want to speculate on that. We intended to go quickly but that ultimately depends on the order file.”