
An investment in rural lumber processing pays off
Through the New Markets Tax Credit Program, Ecotrust invested in Ochoco Lumber Company’s capacity to grow jobs and help restore the forest.
By Molly Simas
Communications Associate
Seven years ago, in the throes of a recession and a challenging lumber market, the president of Ochoco Lumber Company, Bruce Daucsavage, knew that the company was vulnerable.
Ochoco Lumber Company’s forestry operations are located in Grant County, one of Oregon’s most economically distressed areas, with one stoplight to its name. In 2010, the county had an unemployment rate nearly twice that of the national average.
The 94-year-old company relies almost entirely on resources from national forests. In 2009, Daucsavage knew that securing a timber supply and capital to expand its product offerings would be critical to keeping Ochoco Lumber Company stable and thriving. Daucsavage’s vision was to create products and markets for every log that arrived at the mill and all of the byproducts produced by the milling process, such as sawdust and bark, to provide diversification in a challenging market and enhance profitability. While discussing Daucsavage’s vision and challenges, Ecotrust suggested funding the needed capital improvements through the federal New Markets Tax Credit Program. Daucsavage was intrigued, but initially skeptical that his small, rural company could actually benefit from a program that seemed so complex. Ecotrust worked with Daucsavage to secure technical resources to help him analyze the opportunity, and not only provided New Markets Tax Credit allocations for the project but also helped secure allocations from two other entities that collectively provided approximately $10 million of net benefit to Ochoco Lumber.
About Ecotrust
Ecotrust is powered by the vision of a world where people and nature thrive together. Since 1991, we have partnered with local communities from California to Alaska to build new ways of living and doing business. From forestry to finance, food access to green building, we work to advance social equity, economic opportunity, and environmental well-being. Together, we are making this place we live a home that we love. Learn more at ecotrust.org. Follow us @ecotrust. Sign up to hear from us.
