The site of Dragon Woodland Sawmill in Helena-West Helena.
Dragon Woodland Sawmill Corp. on Thursday celebrated the grand opening of its Helena-West Helena facility, a $10 million investment that will create 75 jobs.
The venture is owned by Erxin Zhou and husband Yifan Kong, a Chinese immigrant couple who live in Memphis. It purchased the former Chicago Mill & Lumber property at 129 N. Washington St., an operation that, at its peak in World Word II, employed 1,500 people.
“With nearly 19 million acres of forestland, the rich timber resources in Arkansas make the area attractive for growing companies like Dragon Woodland Sawmill,” said Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who attended the grand opening event. “We are thrilled to welcome them to the state, where they will find abundant timber they need and some 28,000 workers skilled in the industry.”
According to a news release from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Dragon Woodland mills red oak, white oak, ash, hickory, gum, poplar, cherry, sycamore and black walnut. The company sells domestically but also exports to China and other Asian countries. The company has two sister companies in town that support the facility: DragonFly logging and DragonFly trucking.
The Helena-West Helena facility has enabled Dragon Woodland Sawmill to double its output capacity. The site will also store and ship materials to other contractors, to include flooring, furniture, and other various wood factories domestically, according to AEDC.
Dragon Woodland bought the 119-acre complex for $500,000 last year from Delta Lumber LLC, led by Danny Wilson and Brice Slane. In 1984, American Box Co. replaced Chicago Mill in the ownership picture followed by Barnes Lumber Co. in 1987 and Delta Lumber in 2009.
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