Winning Project North Star
Winning in economic development requires great infrastructure, favorable taxes, low business costs, and a strong workforce. These factors are non-negotiable for companies that are locating a new facility or expanding an existing one.
An equally important but less tangible factor essential to economic development success is teamwork.
When companies are looking to grow, challenges will inevitably pop up. It might be an issue with energy generation or wetlands, or the company might decide to pivot to a larger site. Whatever the problem, a well-oiled economic development team needs to be able to work together and pivot to solve problems.
In Arkansas, collaboration at the local, regional and state levels is how projects are won.
Weyerhaeuser Company announced a $500 million investment in November 2024 in southeast Arkansas, which was won because partners at every level joined together to solve challenges and bring this project home to the Natural State.
The Weyerhaeuser project began life as Project North Star in mid-2023. The Arkansas Economic Development Commission received the RFI for Project North Star in July 2023, kicking off the effort that would last well into 2024.
Weyerhaeuser’s team looked at multiple locations as part of a multi-state site analysis process. Arkansas had a range of factors working in its favor, including ready access to natural resources, a strong timber workforce, and overall low costs of doing business.
Timber is abundant in Arkansas with 19 million acres of forestland, covering more than 56% of the state’s total land area. The forest volume has steadily increased in recent decades growing from 611 million tons of timber to 1,200 million tons in 2022.
An experienced timber workforce was another key element that set Arkansas apart. The forest products industry provides more than 50,803 direct and indirect jobs in Arkansas at nearly 500 locations across the state.
But the teamwork that went into Project North Star elevated Arkansas to success.
Securing this project for the Natural State was a model of local, regional, and state collaboration. The Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC) team collaborated with multiple partners, including the Monticello Economic Development Commission; local leaders in Monticello, Warren, Drew County, and Bradley County; the Southeast Arkansas Intermodal Authority; and multiple utilities, including the Arkansas Electric Cooperatives and C&L Electric Cooperative on the project.
AEDC and the local economic development team worked closely with C&L Electric Cooperative, led by CEO David Vondran, to provide a competitive electrical package for Weyerhaeuser and its southeast Arkansas site. Providing the power generation needed for the timber facility was critical for winning this project.
Weyerhaeuser ultimately selected a site near Monticello and Warren, Arkansas for a new TimberStrand® facility, which will expand the company’s engineered wood products (EWP) capacity in the southern United States. According to the company’s estimate, the Arkansas facility will have a production capacity of approximately 10 million cubic feet once it begins operations, which is expected in 2027.
“This is an exciting opportunity to grow our EWP business, expand TimberStrand® into the U.S. South and provide an additional outlet for our fiber logs in Arkansas,” said Devin W. Stockfish, president and chief executive officer, in the company’s release. “Of the wood products we produce, EWP has the strongest tie to single-family housing construction activity, and this new facility aligns with our conviction that U.S. housing demand will remain favorable over the long term. In addition, this plant will allow Weyerhaeuser to better serve other customers and end markets in the region, including mass timber applications, and it supports our broader sustainability ambitions. I’d like to thank the state of Arkansas and local officials for working with Weyerhaeuser to site this facility. We look forward to building on our long history in the state and providing new employment opportunities in the Monticello community.”
Locating the new TimberStrand® facility in southeast Arkansas reduces Weyerhaeuser’s supply chain for resources, given the proximity of abundant local timber. Weyerhaeuser will source fiber log materials from its own timberlands in the region. Weyerhaeuser owns approximately 1.2 million acres of timberlands in the south Arkansas area.
In addition, the new facility complements Weyerhaeuser’s existing operations in Arkansas. The company currently operates a lumber mill in Dierks and a plywood and veneer plant in Emerson, as well as a seedling nursery and multiple offices in the state.
“Weyerhaeuser’s $500 million investment is an incredible milestone in Arkansas’ rural economic development momentum,” said Clint O’Neal, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. “This project will be transformational for Southeast Arkansas, strengthening our state’s timber industry and creating 200 new jobs. We are grateful for Weyerhaeuser’s commitment to Arkansas, and we congratulate the local leadership for their hard work in securing this major economic development project.”
Working with a single-minded mission to bring new industry to the state, Arkansas economic developers partnered and solved problems to win Project North Star. Weyerhaeuser’s new TimberStrand® facility will be a major part of the state’s timber industry, and it will create hundreds of jobs, both direct and indirect, for Arkansans throughout the southeastern part of the state.
