WALLOWA — Integrated Biomass Resources in Wallowa has sold its assets to Heartwood Biomass LLC to mark new beginnings for the small-diameter wood products facility.

But little else will change, Heartwood CEO David Schmidt said.

The acquisition was announced Wednesday, March 31, in a press release that said the mill continues to benefit from community support as well as a new investor base and a rejuvenated leadership team.

As for change in operations, Schmidt discounted any likelihood.

“There won’t be. Not a lot,” he said. “There will be a little bit less stress on us and ability to keep building what we set out to do and be more effective.”

Started in 2009, Schmidt and wife, Jesse, came to Wallowa after nonprofit Wallowa Resources first began developing a vision in 1996 to move to a restoration-based forest economy. The business was designed specifically to monetize low-value, small-diameter timber from forest restoration projects, the release stated. Validating the need for companies like IBR, the U.S. Forest Service’s local forest restoration contracts grew from just one in the first five years of the business, to eight over the next five years.

Unlike traditional mills, the Heartwood facility can process small-diameter trees that increasingly dominate Western forests. Too small to be processed by traditional mills and used for lumber, these smaller trees are often left standing in tightly spaced forests, contributing to high-intensity, catastrophic wildfires and insect infestation that can destroy entire forest stands.

Heartwood uses them to create wood products like bundled firewood for grocery stores; agricultural poles for hop, vineyard and orchard trellising; and fence posts for ranches.

Heartwood grew out of a group of investors who identified an opportunity for broad impact at the intersection of rural jobs, forest restoration and community resilience. The company believes the Heartwood facility is a scalable model that can boost forest health and community vitality across the Western U.S.

“We believe it’s critical to adapt our region’s economy to focus on what our forests and communities need, which is restoration and stewardship,” David Schmidt said.

After nearly a decade of growth, a devastating fire at the IBR facility in 2019 threatened to undo the company’s progress. With the backdrop of wildfires rampaging across the Western U.S. and the growing need to pivot rural communities’ natural-resource dependence to land restoration, a group of investors who had been following the important work of IBR embarked on a capital-raising campaign. The result culminated in the formation of Heartwood and its recent acquisition of nearly all assets of the original facility.

“I had the blessing to have grown up in Wallowa County and know how important Heartwood’s business is in creating healthy forests for our planet and providing jobs and economic growth for this community,” said investor Jeff Nuss, founder and past president/CEO of GreenWood Resources. “I know I can speak for all of the investors when I say we are incredibly excited to be able to come alongside the management team and continue this important work. We believe these types of impact investments are in critical demand and Heartwood’s business model has a great opportunity to expand to other places.”

Heartwood was able to retain all the approximately 20 employees and the management team, as well as add important management capacity and infrastructure. The company will continue serving the established customer base and partnering with the strong supplier and contractor community that had been integral to the growth of the original business. Heartwood plans to look for opportunities to expand throughout the Western U.S.

For more information about Heartwood Biomass or to seek employment opportunities, visit heartwoodbiomass.com.

“We’re going to be continuing to do more timber sales and lots of stuff,” David Schmidt said.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated.

———

Bill Bradshaw is a reporter for the Wallowa County Chieftain. Have a business tip? Contact him at 541-398-5503 or bbradshaw@wallowa.com.