History
Balfour Timber Company became the official source of selective timber harvesting in 1958, but our roots were established much earlier.
In the late 1920’s R.C. Balfour Jr. was purchasing hardwood timber for the Georgia Crate & Basket Company. He discovered that when he marked and cut the larger trees, taking care not to damage the sapling, these young trees would rapidly grow to maturity. After word of “selective harvesting” made way around the area, Balfour was asked to put his method to use in some of the pine forests. It soon became necessary for Balfour to build a sawmill which cut primarily timbers starting at 40 ft. and longer. Thus the beginning of the Balfour Lumber Company in the mid 1930’s.
As the demand for wood products increased, the mill gradually expanded to produce boards and framing lumber for home construction.
Twenty years later R. C. Balfour III purchased the Lumber Company from its parent company, the Georgia Crate & Basket Company. Therein followed a number of major improvements. The first, of which, was the modification of the sawmill to produce chips from sawmill waste. These chips were shipped to paper mills which converted them into paper and white pulp products.
The relationship between the Lumber Company and the area paper mills flourished. As the production of pulp and paper products increased, the demand for raw material increased to the point that the paper mills wanted more than just chips. They strongly encouraged Mr. Balfour to procure pine roundwood pulpwood for their facilities. Through this venture, Balfour Pulpwood Company was formed.
Balfour Pulpwood mainly purchased and logged tracts of pulpwood, while Balfour Lumber Company retained its own procurement division to continue the purchase of sawtimber for lumber production.
In order to move the possible liability associated with logging and trucking away from the lumber company’s assets, the decision was eventually made to move the procurement division of Balfour Lumber in its entirety to Balfour Pulpwood Company. Balfour Pulpwood was successful under the direction of Wayne Dodson. Mr. Dodson retired in the early 1990’s and Charles Balfour became President of the company.
Since then, Balfour Pulpwood changed it name to Balfour Timber and expanded over the years to supply roundwood weekly to almost every wood-using plant within a 100 mile radius of Thomasville, Georgia. The company has also purchased export logs for mills located as far away as Africa and Asia.
In 2001, Balfour Timber purchased an existing pole manufacturing plant near Albany, Georgia which under the name of Balfour Pole, LLC, currently produces utility poles and marine piling. Operations there are run by Charles Balfour’s first cousin, Mike Balfour Jones.
Also, in 2014 Balfour Timber Company started a reforestation division which utilizes the latest techniques of site preparation and planting of pine seedlings.
The company employs 50 people directly, and through its contract logging crews and truck drivers supplies jobs for an additional 70-80 people.
the company creed; passed down for 4 generations:
We believe the forest and trees were made for man’s use and enjoyment.
We believe that it is our duty to assist in the perpetuation and improvement of the pine forests entrusted to the landowners of this area; further, to advise them concerning the life and regeneration of the forest resource and the improvement and protection of wildlife habitat so that succeeding generations might continue to enjoy all the benefits of the forest.
We believe that our company should strive to provide fair compensation to all employees supplemented by health, retirement, vacation and other benefits so that all employees will share in company accomplishments.
Finally we believe in a loving and all powerful God from whom all blessings originate, to whom we must all be held accountable, and in whom we put our trust.
