Hundreds of workers in Warren are bound to lose their jobs, and they are now preparing for what’s next as a major flooring company closes its doors.
WARREN, Ark. — AHF Products CEO Bryan Carson announced late last month that the company’s mill in Warren will close in September, leaving hundreds of employees without a job.
The company specializes in hardwood flooring and said that after the pandemic, the cost of timber and the housing market are two major deciding factors in why this is happening.
Warren Mayor Gregg Reep said this is not the news anyone wants to hear.
“Kinda one of those things where we took about three steps forward,” Reep said. “I feel like we kind of got slapped back five steps, and that kind of hurt.”
Reep said the news isn’t shocking, as Warren has struggled to keep businesses over the years.
“We never like to lose business or jobs, which is already an issue for our part of the state and our community,” Reep said. “We try to have more job opportunities for people.”
According to Carson, the decision to close the mill was difficult, but they “believe this strategic move is necessary to best service our customers.”
Matthew Pelkki, the director of the Center for Arkansas and Forest Business at the Unversity of Arkansas at Monticello, said this closure affects more than just Warren.
“Arkansas will lose about $16 million in tax revenue,” Pelkki said. “The county will lose close to 350,000 in tax revenue because of this mill closure.”
In the meantime, Pelkki said the mill closing would result in the loss of about 275 jobs, which would not be suitable for the city of schools.
“Normally we would think of these jobs in the economy that we would be able to replace them very quickly, however these are very specialized so a lot of these people will have to move out of the area,” Pelkki said.
Pelkki said we keep seeing drastic changes like this in big companies because of the decline in people’s desire for hardwood flooring.
“Up and down high interest rates right now are really affecting homeowners,” Pelkki said. “What they choose to do is rather [than] loose square footage in our home… we just cut back in cost on high-quality wood flooring.”
But Pelkki doesn’t expect this to be the end of AHF products in Warren. He predicts that in a few years, the mill will reopen.
“When the economy improves, we see companies like AHF products restart because right now they’re not dismantling the mill, just closing it down,” Pelkki said. “I expect a full reopening soon.”
That optimism has rubbed off on Reep. He said that before this happened, he had already been working with two companies to start a business in Warren, which he hopes will provide more job opportunities.
“We’ve got two different companies that are talking about coming in,” Reep said. “They’re going to be using wood waste, but we’re going to see a number of jobs created if everything goes according to plan.”
The last day of the mill is set for late September.
Reep said they are working with current employees of AHF products to find work. They have also partnered with state agencies to help out.
