Growth with deep roots
Powell Valley Millwork expands family legacy and production
AT POWELL VALLEY MILLWORK, craftsmanship runs in the family—and so does the commitment to Kentucky.
With a $29.6 million expansion underway at its Clay City and Jeffersonville facilities, the company plans to nearly double production capacity and create 33 new jobs. It is one of the region’s most dependable manufacturers of poplar and radiata pine mouldings and millwork. With more than 30 years of operations in Powell and Montgomery counties, the investment represents a modernization effort and a long-term vote of confidence in the local workforce.
“Our family has worked in this industry since 1993,” says Michael Thornberry, sales director and son of company CEO Jimmy Thornberry. “These two facilities have been producing poplar millwork for decades, and this expansion—now with support from our parent company, CMPC—makes it possible for us to serve customers even more efficiently while creating more career opportunities here at home.”
In 2023, the Thornberrys sold Powell Valley Millwork to CMPC, a multinational wood fiber and manufacturing company headquartered in Chile. But the family culture remained firmly intact. CMPC is majority-owned by its founding family and shares the Thornberrys’ values of stewardship, sustainability and long-term vision.
The acquisition and expansion enabled Powell Valley to diversify its offerings beyond Appalachian-sourced poplar. Now, in addition to sourcing from 30 to 40 regional sawmills, the company is manufacturing radiata pine products using engineered lumber shipped from CMPC’s plantation forests in Chile.
“It’s a strategic investment by CMPC that brings our manufacturing closer to the end user,” says Thornberry. “We’re now producing both radiata and poplar mouldings and trimboards right here in Kentucky.”
The partnership has sent a reassuring signal to employees and communities in both counties. “The enhanced technology and material handling will not impact our personnel levels in a negative way, in fact, we’re hiring,” Thornberry emphasizes. “This is job security. This is an opportunity to advance your career with a company right here in east Kentucky.”
The electric co-op powering the Clay City facility sees it the same way. “These are great companies,” says Chris Brewer, president and CEO of Clark Energy. “We are proud to count them as our co-op members and excited they are reinvesting in our hometowns and local workforce.”
