Independent Stave Company, world-wide makers of staves and barrels for the wine and spirits industries, has agreed to purchase two stave mill facilities from Brown-Forman Corporation. The stave mills are located in Stevenson, Alabama and Jackson, Ohio.
Brown-Forman is best known for the distilled spirits they make like Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve, Old Forester, and Coopers’ Craft. In addition to making spirits, they also own Brown-Forman Cooperage where they make their own whiskey barrels in Louisville, Kentucky and Waynesboro, Tennessee.
With this acquisition, Independent Stave Company now owns and operates eight stave mills in the United States that manufacture white oak staves for cooperage. In July, the company broke ground on what will be their ninth stave mill in Batesville, Arkansas to open at the end of 2023. The new facilities will allow the company to further expand the supply of high-quality oak to the cooperage industry.
“We are excited to add the Stevenson and Jackson mills to our existing domestic mill network,” said Independent Stave Company CEO Brad Boswell. “This acquisition gives us the opportunity to immediately expand our capacity which will allow us to further support the growth of our customers and the industry.”
The current mill employees and staff will be retained by Independent Stave Company. The company is excited to be part of the respective communities and looks forward to learning more about the unique characteristics of each region. At all their manufacturing facilities, Independent Stave prioritizes safety, quality, and efficiency. The company has investment plans and will utilize their in-house engineering division to support these priorities.
“The Stevenson and Jackson stave mills are successful operations, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work with the employees there. We will utilize our 110 years of stave-making experience and engineering expertise to implement our best practices at the mills and continue their track record of success,” said Boswell.
Independent Stave Company believes in timberland and process certification as an effective and manageable way to achieve sustainability. All their domestic stave mills and cooperages have achieved certification to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI). The company’s Sustainability Manager will focus on achieving the same certification for the Stevenson and Jackson mills in the near future.
Independent Stave Company is a family-owned cooperage company reaching customers in more than 40 countries. Founded by the Boswell family in 1912, Independent Stave Company still embraces the core values of family, innovation, community, and hard work.
Independent Stave Company’s acquisition of the two Brown-Forman stave mills is expected to be finalized by November 1, 2022.
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