But little else will change, Heartwood CEO David Schmidt said.
The name change was announced Wednesday, March 31, in a press release that said the mill continues to benefit from community support as well as a new investor base and a rejuvenated leadership team.
As for change in operations, Schmidt discounted any likelihood.
"There won't be. Not a lot," he said. "There will be a little bit less stress on us and ability to keep building what we set out to do and be more effective."
Started in 2009, Schmidt and wife, Jesse, came to Wallowa after nonprofit Wallowa Resources first began developing a vision in 1996 to move to a restoration-based forest economy. The business was designed specifically to monetize low-value, small-diameter timber from forest restoration projects, the release stated. Validating the need for companies like IBR, the U.S. Forest Service's local forest restoration contracts grew from just one in the first five years of the business, to eight over the next five years.