InVision Technologies, Inc., Newark, Calif., has acquired privately held sawmill optimization manufacturer Inovec, Inc. of Eugene, Ore. for $5 million in cash and stock payable over the next two years. In addition, the purchase agreement provides that Inovec shareholders will be paid up to an additional $1.4 million in cash and stock over the next two years based on the achievement of certain performance milestones.

Since its founding in 1973 by John and Pat Crites, Allegheny Wood Products has been a growth company. In terms of physical facilities, the company has not been shy with capacity expansions, technology upgrades, acquisitions and new installations. But the Crites’ have also sought growth of their forest resource base. The company’s forestland and management style has been a major boon to the company, but it has also led to a showdown with environmental preservationists.

Some talk about the future, others prepare for it. Last year was one of rebuilding for Anthony Forest Products (AFP) based here. Maintaining its facilities hasn’t been a walk in the park, but staying true to its goals and realizing that new technology is an integral part of success has put the company over the top. That mindset, coupled with a solid safety record, has made the 84-year-old company an industry leader, and company officials want it to stay that way.

This month I’m playing 10 questions with Rusty Wood, President and CEO of Tolleson Lumber Co., Perry, Ga., and the new Chairman of the Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports. Wood, who succeeds Mack Singleton of New South, Inc. as Chairman, has to immediately deal with the March 31, 2001 expiration of the U.S. and Canada softwood lumber trade agreement. That agreement, now entering its fifth year, allows 14.7 billion BF of softwood lumber per year to enter the U.S. combined from British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec without being subject to Canadian export fees.

Those looking for a good story about the solid wood products industry needn’t go farther than Cochrane, a small bedroom community 40 minutes outside of Calgary in southwestern Alberta. There, at the center of town, you’ll find Spray Lake Sawmills (1980) Ltd., a family-owned and operated independent sawmill with a story worth telling. Spray Lake Sawmills (SLS) was founded in nearby Sundre, Alberta by Chester Mjolsness in 1943, who was joined by his brother Lloyd in 1946.

Certain myths about electric cogeneration combined with the efforts of utility oriented engineers, who often impose costly, over designed power plants upon the timber processing industry, have left many of us with the wrong impression of cogeneration and its potential usefulness. However, what you don’t know about your power bill and the opportunity to cogenerate could well be costing you thousands of dollars in profits.

Mill managers must choose equipment that maximizes floor space, plant resources, time and labor to increase productivity and profitability. Keith Walking Floor systems have been used in the wood products industry to move everything from wood chips to waste material, and several plants are realizing success using the technology in fingerjoint production.