Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Weyerhaeuser announced last week it was closing one sawmill in Lebanon and planning to build a new sawmill in the area to make its lumber operations more efficient and competitive.
After closing the Lebanon Log Yard on Milton Street Friday, the company also plans to close Lebanon Lumber on Weirich Drive.
Total, Weyerhaeuser will lay off approximately 60 employees, according to the company.
Lebanon Log Yard employed approximately 13 people, including three from Sweet Home.
Those facilities will permanently close, and a new operation will be built at the existing Bauman lumber mill located on Fairview Road in 2008.
The decision is a good idea, according to Lebanon Log Yard barker and sawyer Rick Porria, of Sweet Home. “We’re the guys that process the logs, and I cut them into blocks. We ship them by truck to (Lebanon Lumber).”
Porria’s work finished on Friday, while the other mill will continue working until remaining logs are finished, he said. Weyerhaeuser is paying employees through the end of October and will provide severance pay along with insurance through the end of the year.
Weyerhaeuser also is working with the Employment Department to help the workers find new jobs or attend school through the displaced timber workers program, he said.
Porria has applications in at both Bauman and Foster mills, he said. Both are in other Weyerhaeuser divisions.
To have the resources needed to expand the Bauman operation, “they had no choice but to shut it down,” Porria said. “It’s going to be a good thing. We’re using two or three different places to get the product built.”
That same process will be completed at one location, Bauman, he said. Instead of Porria cutting logs into blocks for processing at another plant in a three-day process, “it will take 30 minutes to get a finished product. It’s going to be real exciting.”
Rob Taylor, Weyerhaeuser’s lumber technologies vice president, said the new mill will be “world-class.”
“The new mill will allow us to be more efficient and strengthen our ability to serve customers,” he said.
Lee Alford, senior vice president of residential wood products, said the addition will allow Weyerhaeuser to be more competitive in offering value to customers while making the company simpler to do business with.
The new mill is expected to employ about 125 people and produce lumber for local and West Coast markets. The company plans to begin construction in the fourth quarter of 2006 and begin operations in the first quarter of 2008.
The selected Bauman site, Taylor said, is the best location for the new mill.
“It has good rail and transportation links, good proximity to customers, will be relatively easy to construct and will provide room for future growth,” Taylor said. “The decision indicates the level of confidence Weyerhaeuser has in this community’s ability to provide the people and resources for a world-class operation.”
“The decision to close the mill and build a new one reflects the company’s strategy to ensure all operations remain competitive and best serve our customer base. We regret the impact this decision has on our associates. Our first priority is to support them through this difficult time. They have earned our appreciation and will be treated with respect and dignity.”
Employees knew for a long time about the coming “super-mill” and that cuts were likely, Porria said.
The way the lumber industry is today, this area couldn’t compete with the operation working in three different locations, he said. “We knew it was going to have to happen sooner or later.”
While the new mill won’t open until 2008, Porria and most of his co-workers are optimistic about getting jobs, he said. The area has a number of opportunities coming, with Lowe’s proposed distribution center along with other corporations planning to move to the area.
Weyerhaeuser also has been helpful and generous with its affected employees, he said.
Porria said he has been working at the yard for 13 years, through three owners starting with Willamette Industries, after he retired from 20 years in the U.S. Army.
While constructing the new mill, Weyerhaeuser will evaluate the timing for consolidating the operations at its existing Bauman and Coburg sawmills.
“These sites produce products valued by our customers, and we will ensure our customer needs are met during this period,” Taylor said.
Weyerhaeuser currently operates lumber mills in eight states and four provinces in Canada. Weyerhaeuser is the world’s leading manufacturer and marketer of lumber products, which provide value for builders and other customers.