With the purchase of the Little River Dry Kiln, and the announcement of Cadiz native Jake Wallace as its general manager, Jacob Wadlington’s investment — known as PJ Clark Lumber — continues to dig its local roots deep into Trigg County.
During Tuesday’s Cadiz Rotary Club meeting, Wallace explained those ties, and where the organization is headed after three months of whirlwind activity, expeditious hiring and a frenzy of excitement surrounding the potential growth surrounding the lumber industry.
Currently, Wallace and a staff already up to 14 employees are furiously working to get the former Bailey’s Lumber Company site up to full capacity — a difficult task, Wallace said, because its most recent owner in Midwest Hardwood basically left the 23-acre plot in shambles when it up-and-shuttered in 2018.
In the meantime, Wallace and his constituents continue to monitor a lumber market that has done nothing but surge in the last 18 months due to a major confluence of factors: supply and demand, labor shortages, lumber shortages, closing lumber yards due to COVID-19, and more.
Wallace referenced several factoids from the National Association of Home Builders, in which lumber prices have increased an average 377 percent in the last 12 months. A year ago, 1,000 board-feet cost builders nearly $350; that’s now nearly $1,200 for the same length.
In the same time span, the average price of building a single-family home has increased by nearly $36,000 in new construction, while already-built homes have seen their average value increase by $13,000 — just because of lumber costs.
Wallace also referenced a quote from Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater, in which the United States is reportedly 3.8 million homes short of population demand.
This brings the need for a local business like PJ Clark Lumber to the forefront, and Wallace said Little River Dry Kiln — which can service and nearly 640,000 board-feet at its peak — will specifically be dealing with framing softwoods like northern yellow pine, southern yellow pine and Douglas firs, and hardwoods like poplar, walnut, maple, red oak and white oak, in an already-fostered market.
By 2023, Wallace said the hope is to be fully staffed to the 30-to-35 range, with the average pay coming to $23/hour. He also noted there are some “secret plans” in place, but referenced that the 23-acre facility has “plenty of room for growth.”
Perhaps the most important facet of the business, however, is its name — which possesses a very deep and passionate meaning for the organization.
Wadlington has sons named Peter, hence the “P,” and Clark. The “J” stands for Jacob, while the initials “PJ” also serve as an homage to Phillip Justin Croom — a close cousin of Wadlington’s and a member of Trigg County’s Class of 2004, who tragically died Ocober 4, 2003 in a traffic accident along King’s Chapel Road.
The “J” also brings honor to another family name, Wallace said; one that’s more recent and painful regarding the passing of Wadlington’s older brother.
Wallace said the kiln will likely employ 17 workers by the end of the first fiscal year.
