By Jim Morris
El
Dorado Hills in the Sierra Nevada foothills is one of those hot spots in the
state where everywhere you look, luxury homes and businesses are being built. A
short distance away, weeds grow at what used to be a prominent timber mill that
could have helped serve the lumber needs of those new structures.
Two years ago, overregulation, foreign competition and economic pressure forced the shutdown and sale of Wetsel-Oviatt Lumber Company, after 64 years in operation.
"It seemed like it happened yesterday," said Cecil Wetsel, who served as president and chief executive officer of the business. "It's amazing the changes that have taken place in the industry and in this local community since the 2003 closing."
Opened in 1939, the mill at its peak produced 40 million board-feet of lumber a year, enough to build about 2,000 homes.
The company's environmental stewardship and favorable treatment of workers earned it multiple state and national awards, including the governor's award for exemplary efforts toward older employees, though it wasn't enough to save it from what Wetsel called "a perfect storm we had no control over."
Low lumber prices and enormous increases in utility bills, as well as skyrocketing worker's compensation insurance costs, forced the closure. About 120 workers lost their jobs when the company shut down, though Wetsel said he's heartened that his work force showed its resilience.
"My worst fears have not come true at all; it has been the very opposite," he said. "To my knowledge there has not been any case of somebody who just lost it all. The majority of people have been able to take their skills, drive, energy, and what they learned here, and they have gone into other occupations and are doing very well."
Wetsel said he doesn't regret the decision to shut the mill, though he misses many aspects of the business.
"I do miss coming and seeing the people gathered together and working," he said. "I miss creating a value-added product for the consumer. I miss the machinery running. I even miss dickering with people who are buying logs or selling lumber."
Wetsel said he hopes that a more business-friendly climate will emerge in the Golden State.
"Some regulation is healthy and needed, but this mindset that we can regulate everything into perfection permeates through the Legislature," he said. "We need to refocus our priorities. If we were friendlier to all business, and particularly to agriculture and the forest products industry, business costs would decrease and efficiency would increase. The result would be providing products the public demands and at more reasonable prices."
(Jim Morris is a reporter for Ag Alert. He may be contacted at jmorris@cfbf.com.)
Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item.
