Beavercreek, OR— Established in 1999 by Jeff and Cheryll Bowers, Bowers Forest Products fulfilled a need in lumber remanufacturing. Over the past 20 years, Bowers Forest Products has grown to about 75 employees, distributing wood products across the United States.
Jeff Bowers, president and owner of Bowers Forest Products, a specialty remanufacturer, said his company operates on honesty and integrity. “You get your money’s worth. You get what you pay for. I am probably not going to be the least expensive one out there, but our quality and service will be exemplary.”
When asked how he sees the future of Bowers Forest Products, Bowers said it looks “exciting!” “There is a lot of room for growth and so much potential in the market going forward. As in the past we will focus on diversifying – but not overly so. Diversification has helped us be successful and make it through the tough times in the past, like 2008. It was our diversity in products, our service, and our relationships that we have built with our customers and suppliers that got us through the ‘Great Recession.’ More recently, supply chain demands in 2020-2021 have been challenging, but we have not run out of wood. We have solid relationships with our suppliers, and they have been instrumental in keeping our facility running seamlessly.”
Bowers Forest Products offers a variety of Softwood items. The primary products offered are Cedar planter boxes for the nursery industry, construction and survey laths, tile-battens and furring strips, pallet and crating material, blocks for the wood truss industry, lattice panels, garden trellis, post caps, and deck balusters. Services available include custom re-manufacturing, kiln-drying, planing, trimming, and ripping and resawing. The company purchases between 600-800 truckloads of lumber annually.
When asked about where Bowers Forest Products markets its products, Bowers commented, “Ninety percent of the Cedar boxes stay local. While we do ship some to the East Coast, the truss blocks mainly go into West Coast markets, mostly to wooden truss manufacturers. The furring strips will ultimately end up in the big box stores on the West Coast. We have one product, an elevated tile batten, that’s an exclusive patented product that we ship nationwide. Our Woodway brand lattice panels, post caps and deck balusters, and garden trellis also ship nationwide.”
Industrial products have been the primary product offering until acquiring the Woodway product line in 2019. The Woodway line includes lattice panels, post caps, deck balusters, privacy panels, fence toppers and garden trellises. These are made from Western Red Cedar, Redwood, Douglas Fir and Mahogany. Known and respected in the Northwest, the Bowers are excited to continue to expand the Woodway line to larger distribution channels. “The Woodway Products line is known for high-end products and has a great following,” Bowers said. “We are excited to expand this line into other distribution channels and have, in fact, recently added an additional distributor onboard, which is basically covering the Pacific Northwest. We are also looking at two more areas to add to distribution. The additional distribution prospects are an exciting step for us because we have additional capacity, so any additional volume will help us run that much more efficient.”
He further explained, “Our mill facility spans 20 acres. The manufacturing space is about 100,000-square-feet including dry kiln space.”
The Bowers continue to reinvest in their business with state-of-the-art equipment. “We have a full line of remanufacturing capabilities,” Bowers observed. “Including a planer, twin band resaws, gang ripsaws, chop saws, pointing machines, assembly machines, sanders, a lath mill, dry kilns, hunchers and a new moulder. In 2020 we built an additional automated assembly machine for our garden trellis line. We’ve since made the decision to build four more of these enabling us to expand our capabilities in that market. One of the things that gives us an edge is that we’ve fitted our facility to be efficient at making 1x2s and 1x3s. That ties in well with manufacturing our trellis, which is made from 1x1s. So, when it comes to surfacing and gang ripping boards into 1x1s and 1x2s, this is where we’ve found our niche.”
Bowers added, “Historically Bowers Forest Products has built their reputation on quality and service, shipping on time, and shipping quality products. We want to maintain that and at the same time, we are reorganizing the administrative side of our business. All of this is to expand the volume of what we are doing with our existing product.”
Key personnel, including President and Owner Jeff Bowers, are:
- Cheryll Bowers – CFO
- Cecil Higby – Purchasing
- Cassidy Bowers – Sales for Woodway/National Accounts, Customer Service
- Jeanine Dubose – Sales for Woodway/National Accounts, Customer Service
- Elio Barriantos – Plant Manager
- Dan Randall – Accounting
- Retha Warren – Human Resources Manager
Bowers Forest Products is a member of the North American Wholesale Lumber Association, the Oregon Association of Nurseries and the National Federation of Independent Business.
For more information visit www.bowersforestproducts.com or www.woodwayproducts.com.
