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Louisiana-Pacific OSB mill almost ready
"We're now testing our equipment and most of our workforce is on board," said Steve Doffitt, manager of the mill. About 200 contractors are on site, putting the finishing touches on what will be the company's largest OSB mill in the country. During the height of construction, about 600 men and women were working on the project. "Construction has gone well, and there's been nothing outside the normal challenges," Doffitt said. The mill has completed most of its hiring but is still looking to fill about 15-20 positions, most of those being entry level jobs. When production starts, the plant will employ about 140 people full time. The machine operators have gone to other L-P plants around the country and some even to Canada for training on the equipment that will be used here. But even then, the scale of the mill is so large, that there will still be some adjustment to get used to the size of this particular operation.
Once production full ramps up, the plant is expected to produce 750 million square feet of oriented strand board per year. In December, the mill took its first delivery of timber. Currently it has 5,000 cords awaiting processing. By the time the mill starts production, that number will have risen to 35,000 cords. Company officials project the mill will receive 150-175 trucks per day for delivering the raw materials. Those trucks will be operated by outside contractors, and the mill is working with local companies to establish its supply lines. Tommy Thompson, the mill's forest resources director, said the company is working with 15 "core suppliers" to deliver the timber. Doffitt praised Clarke County and Thomasville for the parts they have played in getting the mill up and running. "We've gotten very good cooperation from them," he said. "I think the finished product is going to be very good," Doffitt said.
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