On July 25,2022, Allegheny Wood Products began production at the Beckley sawmill for the first time since July of 2020. According to Tom Plaugher – Vice President of Operations, “Beckley is a completely different sawmill today than when we shut the mill down in 2020. We took the mill down because of extremely poor market conditions but had always intended to eventually return the mill to production. While we were down, we have made improvements in every part of the sawmill.”
Improvements to the Beckley sawmill include: a rebuilt carriage and debarker, removing an old ineffective resaw, installing a thin kerf gang system, adding a cant line for handling ties and timbers, upgrading the tally system on the trimmer, remodeling bathroom facilities and the breakroom. Construction of an addition onto the sawmill continues which will put the debarker under roof and additional space for a second headrig. With these completed improvements the Beckley sawmill will have an estimated annual production of 11.5 million board feet.
Between the sawmill (65) and the dry kiln yard (35) Allegheny Wood employees around 100 people at the Beckley facility.
