Visitors on a catwalk above the log deck at the sawmill

Corporate event case study

A Blue Wolf Capital Visit to Vicksburg Forest Products

An executive site visit by private equity firm Blue Wolf Capital to its portfolio company Vicksburg Forest Products, from the log yard and sawmill floor to a new facility under construction.

Private equity firms don't just invest in companies; their leaders regularly go on site to meet the teams, walk the operations and see progress for themselves. On February 1, 2024, Adam Blumenthal, Managing Partner and Chairman of Blue Wolf Capital Partners, led a visit to Vicksburg Forest Products, a Southern Yellow Pine lumber producer in Mississippi that the New York firm invested in in 2021 to support an expansion of its mill. Haystack Needle brought us in to spend the day documenting the visit, from the first handshake in the parking lot to a walk through a new facility under construction.

Arrival and briefing

Log trucks were already rolling in when the Blue Wolf team arrived. After greetings with the mill's leadership outside the office, the group gathered for a briefing, pulled on hard hats and safety vests, and climbed into utility vehicles for the tour.

The log yard and sawmill

The tour followed the wood. From catwalks above the log deck, the visitors watched logs move onto the conveyors, stepped into the control rooms where operators run the line on banks of screens, and walked the sawmill floor as logs became boards, chips and finished lumber. Along the way, managers explained the process and the team stopped to talk with the people doing the work.

The production floor and lumber yard

Next came the production floor, where workers graded and sorted lumber by hand, and the lumber yard, where forklifts carried finished bundles to be shipped. The group then met with the site's team around a conference table before heading out for the last part of the day.

New construction

The visit ended at a large new facility under construction, with steel framing going up, crews working from lifts and new equipment being installed. Leaders walked the site together, stopping to point out progress and plans along the way.

How we photographed it

  • Documentary, not staged: real conversations and reactions as the visit happened, while following the group through an active, working mill.
  • Safety first: full protective equipment and close coordination with the site team, working around moving equipment without slowing the tour.
  • People and operations together: the visitors, managers and mill workers, alongside the logs, lumber and machinery that tell the company's story.
  • Images with a purpose: coverage suited to internal communications, investor updates and the firm's and company's websites.
  • Organized delivery: 281 edited images from a single day on site.

One day on site

The visit at a glance

The day in order, sized by the number of edited images delivered.

  1. Blue Wolf Capital visitors greeting the mill's leadership outside the office1 Arrival and briefing 12 images
  2. Visitors on a catwalk above the log deck at the sawmill2 Log yard and sawmill 86 images
  3. Forklift carrying a bundle of finished lumber3 Production floor and lumber yard 54 images
  4. Wide view of the new facility's steel frame with visitors walking4 New construction 129 images
Log truck arriving at the Vicksburg Forest Products mill Handshake as the Blue Wolf Capital team arrives at the mill Blue Wolf Capital visitors greeting the mill's leadership outside the office Briefing in the mill office before the tour Visitors in hard hats riding a utility vehicle through the mill Loader moving lumber in the yard at Vicksburg Forest Products Visitors on a catwalk above the log deck at the sawmill Pine logs moving along the log deck conveyor Three visitors in safety vests on the sawmill catwalk Manager explaining the sawmill operation to a visitor Operator running the line from a control room with monitors Visitors watching the monitors in a sawmill control room Close view of pine logs on the conveyor Boards moving down the production line inside the sawmill Wood chips produced by the sawmill Visitors walking through the sawmill floor Visitor smiling during a stop in a control room Mill worker grading lumber on the production line Mill worker sorting boards by hand Manager pointing out equipment to the visiting group Visitors talking beside stacks of finished lumber Finished Southern Yellow Pine lumber on the line Ends of stacked finished lumber Forklift carrying a bundle of finished lumber Group meeting in a conference room with hard hats on the table Visitors walking across the mill yard Group walking to the new construction site Leaders talking at the new construction site Visiting group standing in front of the new facility under construction, with a crane and steel framing behind them Site manager pointing out progress on the new facility Visitors on steel stairs of new equipment under construction Crews on lifts erecting steel framing for the new facility Visitor smiling during the construction site walk Wide view of the new facility's steel frame with visitors walking Workers on a lift installing framing on the new building Group walking back from the new construction Two leaders walking together at the end of the visit

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