Hood Industries To Acquire McEwen

Hood Industries, Inc., Hattiesburg, Ms., has signed a definitive agreement with International Paper Co. to purchase the assets of its McEwen Lumber Co. distribution business.

The assets include distribution facilities in High Point, Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C.; Orlando, Delray Beach, Tampa and Jacksonville, Fl.; Nashville and Memphis, Tn.; Mobile, Al.; Atlanta, Ga.; Greenville and Charleston, S.C., and Richmond, Va.

The sale, expected to close in July, is subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. The distribution operation is expected to retain the McBwen name, according to Mike Easterling, Hood v.p.-corporate marketing.

Hood, with lumber mills in Waynesboro, Ms., and Coushatta, La., and plywood mills in Beaumont and Wiggins, Ms., currently has no distribution operations.

Oklahoma Dealers Aid Bomb Relief Efforts

Within hours of the bombing of the Oklahoma City, Ok., federal building that killed at least 167 people, local lumber dealers mobilized to provide supplies to the rescue efforts and donations to victims' families.

Many firms contacted the Oklahoma Lumbermen's Association to see how they could help. OLA located the Association of Federal Government Employees, which had begun a trust fund for victims' families.

A mailing to OLA retail and associate members yielded approximately

$1,000 in contributions.

In addition to cash, Oklahoma City dealers also donated lumber, plywood, ladders, space heaters, tools, respirators, goggles, gloves, hard hats, knee pads, bottled water and other supplies. Some companies volunteered trucks and labor to deliver the supplies and labor for clean-up crews.

Although apparently no immediate family members of industry workers were lost, two victims were cousins of dealer employees, according to OLA executive John Branscum.