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TO THE EDITOR:
As a banker in Southwest Arkansas and an attendee of the recent opening of Caddo River Forest Products in Glenwood, I want to commend Caterpillar Financial Corp., especially Jeff Sampson, as well as Gov. Hutchinson, federal, state and local elected officials, and all the many others for their efforts to successfully reopen the sawmill that had been closed since 2009.
The people of southwest Arkansas owe a debt of gratitude to the people of Caterpillar Financial, who showed themselves to be exemplary corporate citizens in our state, working through many obstacles to reopen the mill. They were dedicated to selling the sawmill to someone who would put it back into production and put our community back to work. For nearly 10 years, Caterpillar paid taxes, back taxes, 24-hour security, insurance, environmental assessments, plus enormous environmental cleanup costs. This will soon put hundreds of Arkansans to work with benefits reaching into every aspect of our community and region.
As a banker for over 30 years, I have experienced the negative economic impact the closing of a sawmill can have, resulting in a loss of community businesses, hospitals and local schools. I’ve seen the hurt in people’s eyes when they were forced to move from family homes to find jobs in other areas, so I want to show my appreciation. On behalf of the people of southwest Arkansas we owe Caterpillar a debt of gratitude as well as our elected officials, AEDC, AEDQ, the Regional Intermodal Authority, Quorum Court and countless others including the investors in this endeavor. We look forward to new opportunities and economic growth with Caddo River Forest Products.
Darwin Hendrix
Delight
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