About Us
We specialize in appraising sawmills and secondary manufacturers which use forest products. We work in Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.
We understand the nuances of appraising mills and industrial facilities, which integrate the use of land and buildings, equipment, rolling stock, fuel, an assembled work force, inventory, local logging relationships, local availability of timber on the stump, transportation including rail and trucking, and are influenced by international competition for raw, intermediate, and finished product. These are complex commercial facilities which are typically located in rural areas, constructed and expanded over time, and are very important components of their communities.
We have worked on large and small mills for primary forest products. Examples of primary mills include green lumber, kiln dried lumber, wood chips, poles, railroad ties, and specialty woods. Examples of secondary manufacturing plants and retail facilities include flooring, trusses, OSB, pallets, pellets, furniture, manufactured housing, retail lumber yards and building supply centers, etc.
The Advantage of Our Team and Experience
Our firm has as current owners, partners, or affiliate appraisers, three individuals who hold the MAI designation and one individual with the AI-GRS designation of the Appraisal Institute. Some individuals may hold more than one Appraisal Institute designation. Southern Sawmill Appraisers is a division of Scott Collins Company, LLC, a commercial appraisal firm established in 1952 and headquartered in Knoxville, TN. Each of our appraisers have between 20 and 50 years of commercial real estate experience and our support staff has been working with us for over a decade.
Our Certified General Real Property Appraisers maintain licenses in TN, AL, VA, NC, SC, GA, KY, and frequently obtain temporary practice permits in surrounding states such as FL, MS, TX, MO, and WV.
Over the years we have developed relationships with business and equipment appraisers and can provide a combined solution to fit the needs of our clients, which include mill owner(s), banks, insurance companies, CPAs, financial advisers, tax appeal consultants, attorneys, and estate advisers.
Our experience allows us to effectively and efficiently coordinate with business and equipment appraisers to make sure the gray areas between equipment and real property are clear and there is no duplication or omission of specialty items which inflate or under value the subject property. We understand with a mix of going-concern, equipment, and real property the sum of the parts may not always equal the whole.
From the Pine Belt Coast to the Ridges and Valleys of Appalachian Hardwoods
Our lead appraiser, Jerrod L. Gaertner, MAI, was born in the piney woods of East Texas then moved to the timberlands of Eastern North Carolina, Northwest Florida, Oregon, and eventually settled in the Appalachian hardwoods of East Tennessee. He is a graduate of the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering with a second major in economics and has over 20 years of experience working in the commercial real estate industry, including finance, brokerage, development, construction management, and appraising. He was exposed to the forest products business through his father, Johnny L. Gaertner, who worked for 28 years in the timberlands, papermill, and international sales divisions for a Fortune 500 international wood and paper products company. They spent their free time hunting, fishing, camping, cooking BBQ, and discussing sports with foresters, loggers, mill workers, and executives within the industry. Johnny later retired as the CFO of a coal mining company. He continues to be a valued consultant to the firm.