Hardy Wentzel, the CEO of Structurlam Mass Timber Corp. of Penticton, British Columbia, has been watching Arkansas COVID-19 pandemic news quite intently the past month.
That’s because Structurlam is in the midst of a $90 million renovation of the former Nucor Fastener plant in Conway. Structurlam will open a mass timber production facility, in part to serve its contract to provide the building materials for the new home office campus of Walmart Inc. in Bentonville. (For more on that, see our cover story about Dean Peter MacKeith.)
So far the news has been good. The renovation work by Baldwin & Shell Construction Co. of Little Rock hasn’t been shut down, and Wentzel said the plant is still on course for its scheduled opening in June 2021.
“Fortunately, it is still deemed an essential service, so it hasn’t interrupted our timeline,” Wentzel said. “We watch the news and watch the webcam every day to make sure people are being safe and working on our project.”
