FRA 2025 Southcentral Region Spring Meeting: Summary of Business
FRA’s Southcentral Region (SCR) recently held its 2025 Spring Meeting on April 8th – 10th in Morrilton, AR. Forty-five attendees convened at the picturesque Winthrop Rockefeller Institute for a Welcome Dinner on the evening of Tuesday, April 8th. Wednesday (April 9th) featured a full day of scheduled events and activities (See detailed agenda). The day began with a warm welcome from Robby Toombs, FRA Southcentral Region Steering Committee Chair. Green Bay Packaging’s Jeff Berry introduced our Keynote Speaker, Win Rockefeller Jr., Vice President of Operations, who shared his family’s rich legacy in The Natural State and the history of Winrock Farms with everyone in attendance.
Next, Max Braswell, Executive Vice President – Arkansas Forestry Association (AFA), provided an excellent update of AFA’s advocacy efforts and a summary of Arkansas’ 95th General Assembly. John Redman – Senior Economic Development Program Manager, and Mark Morales – Agency Liaison (Forestry Division), provided a thorough progress update on forest-based economic development for The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Next, the meeting’s focus shifted to highlighting the Arkansas Center for Forest Business at the University of Arkansas-Monticello (UAM). The Center is making great strides in accomplishing its mission to “provide market-based economic solutions to forest resource issues, improve business practices for forest enterprises, and enhance the economic competitiveness of Arkansas’ forests in a global economy”. Center Director, Dr. Matthew Pelkki, provided a comprehensive overview of the center’s faculty expertise and shared several success stories of the center’s collaboration with the forest products industry. Dr. Kevin Boston followed by sharing his innovative applied research to improve rural road transportation in the Southeastern US.
The Southcentral Region’s Award Lunch provided an opportunity to recognize and celebrate outstanding service and performance by wood supply value chain stakeholders in the region. We were fortunate to have both SCR Award Winners in attendance this year. Stephanie Fuller, Director of Promotions and Economic Development for the Forest Workforce Training Institute (ForestryWorks®), was presented the Southcentral Region 2025 Technical Writing Award. Her award-winning Technical Release, titled “New ForestryWorks® Truck Driver Recruitment Program Keeps Professional Drivers Home at Night”, showcases a creative, data-driven solution to address the national truck driver shortage—currently estimated at over 60,000 drivers. The article details how ForestryWorks® is leveraging geofencing technology and consumer data to deliver targeted ads to drivers and their families, offering them opportunities to stay closer to home. You can find more information on Stephanie and her award-winning publication in our recent press release.
FRA’s 2025 Southcentral Region Technical Writing Award winner, Stephanie Fuller;
Robby Toombs, FRA Southcentral Region Steering Committee Chair.
The Southcentral Region was honored to present the 2025 Outstanding Logger Award to Donald and Jared Douthit (Douthit Timber Co., LLC) of Wellington, AL. The company was established in 2018 and has evolved into a sophisticated logging company, with 10 employees and a fleet of modern, well-maintained equipment. Their annual production is around 75,000 tons of pulpwood and sawtimber, supplying six area mills where they are quickly emerging as a top producer. The crew is equipped for all species and harvest types, but typically spends 90% of their time on clearcuts, and the balance thinning pine plantations. Douthit Timber boasts an exemplary safety record and is actively engaged in their local schools, promoting the forest products industry and recruiting the next generation’s logging workforce. More information on Douthit Timber Co., LLC can be found here.
Pictured Left to Right: Clay Altizer, FRA Southwide Region Manager; Laurie, Donald, Jared, Jennifer, and Samantha Douthit; and Robby Toombs, FRA Southcentral Region Steering Committee Chair.
Following the Awards Lunch, Dr. Laura Sims – Associate Professor of Forest Health at the University of Arkansas Monticello, provided a current forest health snapshot for Arkansas and the Southern US at large. The day’s activities concluded with an excellent tour of Green Bay Packaging’s Arkansas Kraft Mill in Morrilton, followed by a Group Dinner later that evening upon our return to The Winthrop Rockefeller Institute.
The 2025 Southcentral Region Spring Meeting concluded with a productive Steering Committee Meeting on Thursday morning, April 10th. SCR Steering Committee Chair, Robbie Toombs, led a fantastic roundtable discussion of supply chain topics and issues impacting the entire Southcentral Region. Updates were also shared on FRA’s upcoming 54th Timber Harvesting & Procurement Short Course scheduled for December 8th – 12th at the University of Georgia in Athens.
View the meeting presentations we have permission to share by clicking HERE.
The Southcentral Region’s next meeting will be November 11th – 13th at The Mill at Mississippi State University in Starkville. This will be a joint meeting with FRA’s Forest Products Security Group. FRA is grateful for all the members and guests who traveled to Arkansas to support the meeting. We would especially like to thank and acknowledge all 2025 Southcentral Region Spring Meeting sponsors for their generous support!
