Alabama’s Westervelt Company Plans New Sawmill

A 130-year-old Tuscaloosa company is preparing to build a new lumber mill in south Alabama, which is expected to create more than 100 jobs and produce 250 million board feet of lumber annually.

The Westervelt Co. said in a news release the new facility is still in the planning phase, but its specific location and design should receive final approval from its board of directors soon.

The new mill will complement Westervelt’s existing lumber facility in Moundville, which the company called the second-largest southern yellow pine production facility in the United States.

“The Westervelt Company has a long history in lumber manufacturing and environmental stewardship,” Brian Luoma, Westervelt Co. president and CEO, said in the release. “The expansion of our lumber business will continue to build on that legacy. Our customers are growing, and we are doing our part to grow our lumber business to support them.”

Herbert Westervelt founded the company in 1884 as Prairie State Paper Corp. in South Bend, Indiana. In 1927, he moved the company to Tuscaloosa, where the company became known as Gulf States Paper Corp. In 2006, the company changed its name to the Westervelt Co. The company is now under the fourth generation of family leadership.

From TuscaloosaNews.com: tuscaloosanews.com.