Not even a devastating flood coming on the heels of a crippling recession could close Bethel Mills’ doors. Lang Durfee, the third generation of his family to shepherd this venerable company with a 236-year history in its tiny town, was not about to let it go down along with the White River's receding waters.
Not Just Another Flood
Being on a river, we have been through many tiny floods, and we are well versed in in preparing for those. You put things up off the ground, squeegee things out, and never close your doors.
We sandbagged all day before [Hurricane] Irene. We were prepared for a 4-foot flood, but what came was a 9-foot flood, and we were not all insured.
Something upstream must have let go, and we could see water breaching all the sandbags and the levees we had built. I sent everyone home. I went upstairs to my office, mixed a drink, and watched the water come up. I watched my life’s work being destroyed in front of me. I stayed here all night. Even the back-up generator went out around 10. You couldn’t see a thing, but I could touch the water from my window. We were obliterated. The next morning, the river was within its banks.
Back to Work
I got the strength to get through the flood by thinking of my grandfather. I never thought of failure. We just went to work. We never closed our doors.
We had a goal of being operational in a couple of months. All the banks stuck by us. Not one pulled the rug out from under us. All our employees, vendors, and customers stood by us. It was a humbling, emotional time for us. We are proud to say we have survived.
Over the next year, we remodeled the place. We are an old facility, so we modernized, and went to an open office plan.
Family Inspiration
My dad [John Durfee, 93, who still comes into the office several hours each week] was the businessman who brought in good practices. My grandfather was an entrepreneur. They were a good team. It was my grandfather, who, when he found out other sawmills were being charged a lower rate for power than Bethel Mills [back in the late 1930s] started thinking and reading about using water to generate electricity. He just felt like when somebody wasn’t playing fair, you push back.
With sawmill labor and a one-bag mixer, my grandfather rebuilt the dam, which had been washed out in the great flood of 1927, and by 1941 he generated his first kilowatt of power. All these years later, we are still using the same dam, and lots of the same parts of the hydroelectric plant that my grandfather built.
I loved working at the lumberyard growing up, but I had interests in another direction. I wanted to get into architecture, and my older brother was already working at the yard, doing a great job. But he asked me to come on after graduation, and I admired my brother, and that was appealing to me.
Moving Forward
We went from trying to grow out of the recession to just trying to survive and rebuild. We have five hardware stores—they were bought during the recession—and they were a godsend, because they are in different markets, and it was fortunate to have other yards while we rebuilt here. Now we are re-engaged on growth. That’s in our crosshairs now.
After college, my two sons, Andrew and Matthew, joined the company, and we have a lot of young talent. The kids are excited for the opportunities.