Emmett's fortunes take hit with sawmill bankruptcy

EMMETT (AP) - A sawmill's resurrection in southwestern Idaho with help from millions in taxpayer money was supposed to bring a much-needed infusion of jobs into a depressed region.

Instead, the Emerald Forest Products mill in Emmett is in bankruptcy and could be soon seized by creditors.

Meanwhile, its owner in Montana says he's trying to cobble together a plan to save the project.

The Idaho Statesman reports Dick Vinson got $4 million in federal economic stimulus money and says he's invested another $7 million of his own money in the project.

But the mill has never really worked - its machinery never functioned as envisioned - and Emerald owes more than $1.9 million to bankers.

A trustee's sale was delayed until September, in part to give Vinson time to secure additional funding.

"We're not entirely out of it," he said. "We're still in there, still trying to put something together."

Emmett, on the Payette River in a lush valley in the midst of Gem County, has a history that's tied to the fortunes of the timber industry. Hundreds of people once worked at mills operated by Payette Lumber Co., which later became Boise Cascade.

But its operation in Emmett closed in 2001, putting many out of work in this town of about 6,500 people.

Vinson's designs for his mill, once projected to employ about 45 people, were seen as a means of rejuvenating at least a portion of Emmett's wood-products glory days.

Now, people aren't so sure.

"Naturally, I hope someone would buy and reopen the mill with the monetary backing to carry them through at least for a few years," said Gem County Commissioner Carlos Bilbao, a former Republican state legislator from Emmett.

"They will have to do a bit of remodeling to make it more productive. Whoever buys it is going to have to invest some money into it."

The public trustee sale is Sept. 13. Northwest Bank, owed the $1.9 million by Emerald, would gain control of the mill if no buyer emerges.

The bank could later sell the mill, dismantle it for its equipment or find another alternative.

As Vincent scrambles to save his investment, he says he's not quite sure what's going to happen.

"It's really out of my hands," he said.