Last week’s announcement that Willamette Industries will be sold to Weyerhaeuser was not met well by many folks in Sweet Home.
Willamette has held a key industrial position here for decades. They are a known quantity and Weyerhaeuser isn’t. There is always fear when something new comes our way.
We were sorry to see Willamette give in. It has been a quality company, built on solid values and that means community values as well as business ethics. Their only failure was being too successful and making themselves a target for the larger fish in the sea. It is the way of today’s business world.
When you talk to anyone who has worked for Willamette Industries for a long time, they invariably will say it has a “family atmosphere” or “family-style of operation.”
Willamette Industries was a much stronger player in Sweet Home when we first moved here 17 years ago. It wasn’t long after that when timber issues closed mills in the community, including those of Willamette Industries. Their last plant in the community is at Foster and employs 186 persons.
Rather than roll over, Willamette purchased large tracts of timber lands to distance itself from reliance on public lands. It was a smart and profitable move.
Speculation is that Weyerhaeuser may close the Foster Plywood plant but that’s pure speculation. We believe Weyerhaeuser has the opportunity to blend the business acumen of Willamette Industries into their company mix and more fully integrate the industry, perhaps delving in market areas they’ve previously ignored.
The loss of jobs generated by Willamette Industries over the years has been significant in Sweet Home. They were solid, family-wage jobs that have supported second and third generation employees.
But as important as those jobs were to the economy, the loss of Willamette Industries will create a major void in the spirit of the community. Willamette Industries and its managers that we’ve known, have been committed to making Sweet Home a better place to live and work.
We can’t begin to estimate the number of dollars that Willamette Industries has donated to many worthy causes here. Everything from sports teams to our ambulance and fire department and much more.
When a community event was happening, or needed a hand, Willamette Industries could be counted on in a big way, whether that meant donations of money, equipment or manpower.
We don’t know Weyerhaeuser’s stance on community involvement but we do know that Willamette and its local managers over the years, such as Ed Cutler, Wes Marchbanks and Jerry Underwood, have all been focused on not only making money for Willamette stockholders but also making their community a better place to live and raise kids.
We offer our thanks to Willamette Industries and hope for the best as the transition gets underway.
A.P.