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Green Forest Products
Tom Newberry, Owner
Green Forest, Arkansas

Green Forest Products is a wood waste recycling company that has been in business for over 20 years. Since starting the business, they have grown from a feed pellet manufacturer into a successful recycling company under the leadership of Tom Newberry. In January 2003, Newberry met with Lance Sexton, center director of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville SBDC, to discuss cash flow solutions and debt restructuring. Over the next seven months Newberry and Sexton explored refinancing options. Sexton assisted Newberry in preparing a SBA guaranteed loan request, and the loan was funded by Arkansas Capital Corporation in August 2003. The SBA loan greatly improved the cash flow by reducing debt payments and increasing working capital.

Green Forest Products has experienced great success and the business continues to grow. Green Forest Products purchases wood waste from various outlets where it would have been disposed of and turns it into a viable consumer product. This not only benefits the environment, but also has created jobs in an economically depressed region of Arkansas. This year alone, over 15 million pounds of cedar and cypress slabs from local sawmills were turned into mulch for landscaping and gardening.

The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration through a partnership with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock College of Business and other institutions of higher education. All opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA. It is the goal of UALR to eliminate discriminatory harassment and to promote equal opportunity regardless of race, gender, color, national origin, sexual orientation, age, religion, veteran's status, or disability.