Darrington mayor hasn't given up on Wood Innovation Center

Despite a series of setbacks, Darrington Mayor Dan Rankin has not given up on the $115 million Wood Innovation Center project.

The 30-acre development, billed as the first of its kind in the country, was put on hold in late 2023 when a "social purpose corporation" called Whitehorse Timber pulled out of the project, Rankin told the Business Journal earlier this year.

Founded in 2019 as a collaboration between Seattle-based land trust Forterra, Styxworks WA LLC and a small group of investors, Whitehorse aimed to develop an advanced manufacturing plant employing around 150 people in the production of cross-laminated timber and other mass timber products.

Rankin doesn't know what exactly happened because the group didn't tell him much, but now the mayor and owner/operator of a one-man sawmill is committed to advancing the Wood Innovation Center.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2025/10/28/forterra-darrington-wood-innovation-center.html