Martco Rises To The Occasion

Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-In-Chief, Panel World

There’s never a dull moment with Martco, also known as RoyOMartin. In fact you might say that the company’s past 10 years have been highly electric—filled with major announcements, achievements and celebrations. Just when you’re thinking that the panel industry may have hit a lull in the action—as most of us have been thinking this year—here comes Martco, again, to keep it interesting.

Let’s go back to February 2015. Already operating an OSB mill in Oakdale, La. and a plywood mill in Chopin, La., the company announces it will build an OSB mill in Corrigan, Texas, about a three hour drive due west of headquarters in Alexandria, La.

Celebration I: In April 2018 the Corrigan mill produces its first OSB.

Celebration II: Chairman and CEO, and legendary figure, Jonathan Martin, dies at age 70 on September 20, 2019.

Wait, celebration? Sure it is. As Jonathan’s obituary stated, he had “finished his work for Christ on Earth and was called home by his Savior.” And given the spiritual culture that permeates the Martco operations, it was definitely a “celebration.”

In August 2021, Martco announces it will build another OSB mill at the Corrigan site.

Celebration III: The company marks its 100th anniversary in 2023, dating back to its first wood products operation, a sawmill in Alexandria, La., purchased in 1923 by family patriarch Roy O. Martin, Sr. A gala for employees, shareholders, retirees and other stakeholders is held in Alexandria.

Celebration IV: The newest Corrigan mill, called Corrigan II, produces its first board in June 2024, followed by a ceremony in late October, which has just happened as you read this.

Also in 2024, the company announces a $30 million investment in the Oakdale OSB mill, while making continued investments in the Chopin facility.

These milestones don’t mention the leadership transition that has been occurring in the past 10 years, kicked into high gear upon Jonathan Martin’s death, with Roy O. Martin III fully taking the helm, but already transitioning quickly toward the day when a “Martin” is not the captain, and the likes of a Scott Poole and Terry Secrest and other members of the leadership team and their successors continue to steer the company into its second 100 years.

Let’s Hear It For The Ladies

Article by Jessica Johnson, Senior Editor, Panel World

One of the things I noticed when I joined the Panel World staff at the ripe ole age of 23 was how often I was the only woman in the conference rooms of the mills I visited. There’d be a female secretary, maybe one or two ladies out on the manufacturing floor, but that was rare. Thankfully, the landscape has changed in the decade plus I’ve been stomping around wood-based panel plants. More and more women are on production floors and in salaried positions—aligning with the Manufacturing Institute’s 35×30 campaign, which aims to increase the percentage of women in manufacturing to 35% by 2030.

Earlier this summer I made the trip to Louisiana-Pacific’s siding plant in Hayward, about two hours from my family’s cabin in northern Wisconsin. A welcomed break from family time—I mean how much fishing can my twin 10-year-olds do, you ask? 16 hours per day apparently. And imagine my pleasant surprise as I was talking “fun facts” with Plant Manager Brett Wienen that corporate-wide in LP, the most tenured female team member was on his staff.

She’s Wanda Headley, currently Hayward’s Supply Chain Planning & Fulfillment Manager, though Wienen says over her career she’s “done pretty much everything.” Having started with Hayward in December 1984, she’s closing in on 40 years. Back then, LP’s organizational structure was split into regional offices, and Headley got her start as an administrative assistant for the Northern Regional office located in Hayward. After a year, she moved over to the LP Hayward mill and hasn’t looked back.

According to Headley: “Back when I started my career with LP there were very few women in management or on the mill floor. That has changed dramatically within the last 10 years or so.” A sign of the changing times, of course, but most importantly a good reminder that hard work and dedication are not gender-specific.

Thanks to Headley’s consistent presence she’s been able to travel to nearly all of the facilities in the LP portfolio (including the Nashville corporate offices) to help train others on the coordination of production with the facility’s team and the planners at LP’s corporate offices.

Women still only make up less than a third of the manufacturing workforce. I’m so proud to come across careers like Headley’s that prove Rosie the Riveter all those decades ago was right: We Can Do It!