Nick Kendall
Staff Writer
nkendall1@murraystate.edu
Fibonacci LLC, the nation’s first HempWood manufacturing operation, celebrated its opening and first official hemp pressing.
Fibonacci created HempWood to create a new cash crop for farmers with this better alternative to regular wood and help lower the effects of deforestation. The manufacturing facility will have an estimated impact of $5.8 million on the local economy and create job opportunities, according to the press release.
Congressman James Comer was at the public event. He was given the honor of cutting the ribbon, symbolizing the grand opening of the plant. Comer said he hopes the opening of this plant will help return jobs to the community, especially with the news that Briggs and Stratton will close their Murray location.
Greg Wilson, owner of Fibonacci, said he chose Murray because it was common sense for him.
“There’s not too many places where you can find two-thirds of your population working toward or already having a college degree,” Wilson said. “Also, you got Land Between the Lakes. I’m an outdoor guy. I’m a bowhunter.”
He also enjoys how diverse Murray is and how it will help his wife feel like she’s part of the community.
“If I’m going to move somewhere for a significant piece of my life—five, 10 or 20 years—I have to choose a place that I like and with having a university here, my wife fits in,” Wilson said. “She’s from China. I didn’t want to move to an area that didn’t have a diversity base, didn’t have an education level and didn’t have outdoor activities. So when the school’s out, I can go play in the lake.”
He credits Murray State for how helpful the department of agriculture has been. The University sourced the hemp for Wilson and the company to use last year.
Murray State and many other hemp growers throughout western Kentucky have been contracted over 800 tons of hemp.
Fibonacci uses a lengthy yet effective process to grow and create the hemp and other products.
“The hemp in the field is typically planted in May,” Wilson said. “In about four months, the male plants start to die and then it’s time for them to cut off the top because the females have put their seeds out on the top of the plants. They come through, usually in September, and cut the top of it. And then it’s a matter of five to 15 days, that they come back and cut the bottom based on weather and turn it into a bale, then that bale comes here.”
Wilson also compared the process of making the HempWood to baking a cake.
“We take the hemp and dip it into a soy-based adhesive,” Wilson said. “We have to dry the water back out of it, press it into a block and put it into an oven. So it’s literally hemp and soybean baked like a cake. There’s a cross-linking agent that’s also bio based and it causes the soy proteins to bond. Once it comes out of there, we have two days that it has to set and the temperature come down before we can cut it into a board and usually have about a week of putting it into a wood kiln to dry it so you can hit the moisture content you need.”
With business finally under way, Fibonacci is expected to create at least 25 full-time jobs.