On the Move
Five-year capital investment plan positions Iowa sawmill for future markets.

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Originally, the couple purchased the mill in 1983 and ran it as a traditional green circle mill until 1988 when their first upgrade added two American Wood Dryers 35,000 bd. ft. kilns. A decade later, American Wood Dryers built the third kiln. All are manually controlled using Lignomat systems. Samples are pulled daily by dry end supervisor John Carithers.

"We felt it would be in the best interest of the company if we were able to sell both green or dry lumber," Rhonda states. "We never had plans to sell everything dry but markets do change. Sometimes the margins are better if you sell it green. Other times, dry markets are stronger." At present, approximately 30% of total volumes are sold kiln dried.

OFFSHOOTS

McDonough 7 ft. bandmill/carriage headrig with Inovec StereoScan started up in 2002.

When the cabinetmaker installing cabinets in the Kendricks' new home, then under construction, announced plans to close his business and sell the machinery, Rhonda was immediately interested. First he was one of the sawmill's regular customers. Secondly, Rhonda had always wanted to do something in the cabinet business. So the Kendricks bought the equipment, hired two of his key employees, and established Forever Cabinets by Kendrick in 2000.

It wasn't the most opportune time to launch an offshoot to the sawmill business since the Kendricks were already busy finalizing the sawmill expansion. Yet the timing was perfect for welcoming daughter Kerra, who had just completed college, into the family business.

Sawmill manager Kevin Funk

She is the first of the third generation to work here. Tim's dad, Don Kendrick Sr., originally moved from Illinois and started a sawmill at this site in the late '50s. He sold it in 1973 but continued to manage it until the owners closed it in 1980. The mill was dormant a couple of years until the Kendricks brought it back to life.

"We felt (the cabinet business) would give us a little more room for our kids to have the option to join the business if they wanted," Rhonda says. The couple has four children - Kerra (26), Andrea (17), Morgan (14) and Kirby (9). Andrea is already testing the water by writing the company newsletter.

Kerra is the resident computer specialist responsible for the company's information systems. She has also played an integral role in Forever Cabinets' operation from the beginning. "It has been a good learning experience for her to be able to start from the ground up and watch the sales grow," says her mom. "That's how I learned the sawmill. You just get in there and do it."

Shop supervisor Steve Knipp oversees cabinet production. Equipment includes a Pinheiro planer, Weinig five-head molder, Black Brothers panel saw, plus several rip saws and chop saws. Cabinets are marketed locally in Iowa and the Chicago area, but they've already sold to customers in neighboring states of Missouri, Minnesota and Wisconsin. There is a retail showroom in Dyersville, Ia. Two more are slated to open in 2005 - one in Des Moines, Ia. and the other on-site in Edgewood.

COGEN PLANS

Unison Solutions of Dubuque, Ia. was contracted to perform the feasibility study for the cogen plant. It will also provide the engineering and oversee construction of the project, slated to begin next spring.

Project will include a 155 HP wood-fired Biomass boiler that will produce 5.2 million BTUs of power and replace existing Cleaver-Brooks boilers currently heating the kilns. Currently, about 70% of the sawdust generated by the facility is used to fire one boiler and the second is a gas-fired unit, added with the last kiln installation in 1998. The latter costs around $600 a month in energy expenses.

The Kendricks have secured financial assistance for the plant. Project will be partly funded by a $198,000 USDA energy grant and a 0% interest loan through an Iowa Alternative Energy Revolving Loan program, which can provide such loans up to 50% of project cost.

Excess power from the new installation will be sold to the local utility.

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(c) 2004 Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc., used by permission.