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A family thing no more
Mills: A dying family industry in the area?Date published: 3/26/2005 By PORTSIA SMITH A light breeze blows sawdust in the air like snow flurries at Lake Anna Lumber Co. in Spotsylvania County. Piles of wooden planks sit alongside the planing mill, which takes rough wood and smooths it down. The recent rain made the driveway pretty muddy, but it also dampened the pungent aroma of fresh-cut hardwood. Under a rusted tin roof, seven employees keep a steady stream of stiff boards flowing on a belt like a factory line. This wood will soon be shipped out to Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania or New Jersey to be used for pallet manufacturing. Sixty years ago, many communities had mills like this. There was a time when planing mills, sawmills and lumberyards were a vital part of the local economy. Families ran them. Fathers passed them on to their sons. And the risk involved was accepted as just a part of doing business. Safety measures weren't enforced by government agencies, but by individuals who knew their best protection was to be careful. These days, the lumber industry has changed. Mills have gotten bigger and are no longer a booming business for the small, family businessman. People in the industry say there were about 165 mills in the region in the 1940s. Nearly 30 are located in the area now. Several reasons are cited for the decline in family-owned sites. Bobby Edenton, vice president of Lake Anna Lumber Co., said the population growth of the area and the size of mills are partly to blame. "The average sawmill in Spotsylvania in the 1960s used to cut about 8 [thousand] to 10,000 feet of lumber a day," Edenton said. "We have lumber companies now that cut 70,000 feet a day. That takes the place of seven mills." His company, which cuts about 18,000 feet of lumber a day, has about 14 employees. Charlie Beck, of the Virginia Department of Forestry, said the larger mills make for tough competition. "A lot of it has been that mills have gotten more efficient and larger, and a lot of the smaller mills can't compete with the newer, efficient mills," he said. In the Fredericksburg area, growth has impacted the lumber industry because less timber is available.
Date published: 3/26/2005
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