Made in Our Hometown: Whitwell Company Makes Green Fire Logs

Описание: In Whitwell, the sizzling sound of a summer cookout is music to one entrepreneur's ears. The logs fueling this flavorful fire are made here in this Marion County factory,
from the sawdust of a nearby plant that makes wooden handles out of hickory.

"It goes through a tumbler or a screening process that tumbles and gets rid of all the heavier material. The finer sawdust goes through the scree up the conveyer to the machine," President Dwight Bryant explains.

Using the same concept as your clothes dryer at home, the sawdust is heated to 150 degrees to knock out any moisture and then sent through the extrutor. "It works with a screw concept where the material is excruted using a screw under 15 tons of pressure and 500 degrees temperatures," Bryant says. "There are no waxes, no binders nothing in the process other than your hickory."

Once the logs are cut to size, the logs are bound, packaged and put on a pallet. And while the carbon-neutral process is something to be proud of, so is the economic impact this product is producing. "The major accomplishment is to be able to create jobs in a community that I grew up in that needs jobs."

The finished logs can be used in winter's coldest days or during the heat of the summer grilling season, all while carrying the name of Whitwell, Tennessee across the country. "It's such a unique product, it's different. No one else does it, so I feel very fortunate to be able to do this."

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By: Latricia Thomas