01/06/17   Former Georgia Pacific Sawmill May Reopen In El Dorado

Conifex Timber Inc., the Canada based company that owns the former Georgia-Pacific sawmill in El Dorado, has obtained 130 million dollars in financing for the modernization and restart of the complex.

According to a report in the Arkansas Demo-Gazette, Conifex's chief financial officer, Yuri Lewis, declined to give a timeline for the sawmill to reopen or say how many employees it will have. She said the board was to meet and details would be revealed in a week or two. The 130 million dollar loan was to close this week.

Conifex bought the sawmill complex on U.S. 167 outside El Dorado in 2015. Last fall.  Union County officials were told the sawmill could be operating this June with some 140 employees.