Clinch River Forest Products settles in

Virginia Business
October 2005

Clinch River Forest Products Inc. is building a $4.35 million high-technology lumber mill in Tazewell County. The company says the operation will initially hire 102 employees, including truck drivers, lumber graders, forklift operators and log scalers. The mill is already under construction and should be completed by next spring, says Jim Belcher, one of the owners.

Clinch River is a private company owned by four longtime sawmill owners and timber growers in Southwest Virginia. The company will process locally harvested timber using new technology that produces less sawdust. As a result, it gets more lumber for each log that is sawed.

Virginia chipped in $150,000 from the Governor's Opportunity Fund and $200,000 from the Tobacco Region Opportunity Funds to assist Tazewell County in getting the mill. All hiring will be done through the Virginia Employment Commission.