River City Wood Products has recently acquired Southwood Lumber and Pallet, located in Orrville, Ohio. Southwood has been in business for over 35 years and is one of the biggest new pallet manufacturers in the Midwest. It employs 65+ full-time employees and produces lumber from sister company Forest City Lumber as well as 60+ sawmills throughout Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The deal also includes a full-service trucking company, RCS Transportation (formerly S & W Express).
Along with Southwood Pallet, River City Wood Products operates River City Solutions in West Salem, Ohio, which focuses on pallet recycling and specialty custom pallets for customers throughout Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania. Southwood Pallet builds over two million pallets per year in its automated facility, which features eight nailing machines (three Vikings and two Woodpeckers). The plant cuts 30 million board feet per year on five gang saw lines.
Having Southwood as part of the River City family allows the combined companies to be truly fullyintegrated with a new manufacturing facility (Southwood Pallet), a recycling facility (River City Solutions) and a nationwide brokerage (River City Wood Products). This expanded capacity allows River City to service customers throughout the country.
