Brian Luoma Picked To Lead Alabama’s Westervelt Company

Brian Luoma Picked To Lead Alabama’s Westervelt Company

 

The Westervelt Company named Brian Luoma as President and CEO, succeeding Mike Case, who announced his retirement after more than 32 years with the company. Luoma will oversee Westervelt Lumber, Westervelt Renewable Energy, Westervelt Forest Resources, Westervelt Communities, Westervelt Ecological Services and Westervelt New Zealand.

Luoma most recently served as executive vice president and general manager, Siding, with Louisiana-Pacific Corp.

Jon Warner, Chairman of the Board at The Westervelt Co., based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, comments, “Brian’s proven leadership and vision will be essential in leading our company.”

“I am thrilled to join the Westervelt team,” Luoma says. “The company’s commitment to excellence and focus on sustainability are the driving forces behind 133 years of success.”

Since 1987, Luoma held roles of increasing responsibility with LP. Luoma graduated in Forestry from Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. He worked for LP while attending college, first as an assistant log scaler at the LP stud mill in Fort Bragg, California and then in the woods as a forestry technician. After graduating he worked for Simpson Timber in Korbel for a year before rejoining LP as timberlands manager in northern California. He then became wood procurement manager for LP’s Western Region. He later led LP’s Northern operations OSB group in Hayward, Wisconsin before moving to LP headquarters as head of forestry, wood procurement and logistics.

He advanced to LP’s vice president of Engineered Wood Products before becoming executive vice president and GM over LP Siding, based at headquarters in Nashville, Tennnessee.

Westervelt operates a high production, modernized southern yellow pine sawmill at Moundville, Alabama, a large industrial wood pellet plant in Aliceville, Alabama, and owns/manages 500,000 acres of timberland.

For more information on The Westervelt Company visit westervelt.com.

 

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Louisiana-Pacific Announces Mill Exchange To Increase Siding Capacity

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LP) recently announced that it has reached an agreement with Norbord Inc. to exchange OSB mills in Quebec, Canada. LP will swap ownership of its Chambord, Quebec, mill for Norbord’s Val-d’Or, Quebec, mill. The asset exchange is expected to be complete in early November 2016.

This transaction, along with the recent acquisition of a former OSB site in Cook, Minnesota, is part of LP’s strategy to increase siding capacity, an area of the business that has delivered consistent sales growth over the past decade.

“The Canadian mill exchange, coupled with the recent Minnesota acquisition, provides us flexibility and increases our ability to optimize our capacity for sustained business growth,” LP Chief Executive Officer Curt Stevens said.

“We have seen tremendous growth in our siding business and anticipate this growth to continue as we look to meet increasing demand,” he said. “The aim of these transactions is to provide additional siding capacity by the end of 2018.”

LP’s immediate priority will be to conduct a detailed evaluation of the Cook site and Val-d’Or mill. The assessment will determine the operational feasibility, including access to timely and adequate wood supply, the work required to convert the sites into fully operational siding mills, as well as conversion costs and annual operating expenses.

From LP Corp.: https://investors.lpcorp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=73030&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2217033

Louisiana-Pacific Building New Minnesota Plant

The months-long mystery behind which home siding company would be receiving a $66 million subsidy package from the state has finally been made public. Louisiana-Pacific will construct a $440 million plant in Hoyt Lakes. This is the Nashville-based company’s second operation in the state (the other being in Two Harbors).

The Hoyt Lakes site will employ 250 people, amounting to roughly $264,000 in state funding per job created. The Duluth News Tribune notes that many of those employees will be loggers and felled tree transporters, a group of workers that has struggled to find employment following years of board plant closures and layoffs at paper mills in the area.

The new plant will also source its wood products from Minnesota. LP is currently estimating its take to be 800,000 cords per year (one cord equals 128 cubic feet of wood) or about 200 logging trucks each day.

Minnesota lawmakers began developing the public financing package for LP earlier in the year. Senator David Tomassoni, DFL-Chisholm, previously said at least Michigan and Canada were vying for the LP plant as well.

Funding for the project comes from a number of sources. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development will be kicking in $20 million from its 21st Century Minerals fund, while the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board will be contributing $16 million from its economic development trust fund. The final $30 million will come from state taxpayers in a 10-part, $3 million per year deal.

From Twin Cities Business: https://tcbmag.com/News/Recent-News/2016/June/Louisiana-Pacific-Is-Mystery-Company-Receiving-$66

LP Building Products, Sherwood Lumber Partner On Engineered Wood

LP Building Products and Sherwood Lumber announce the distribution of the full line of LP SolidStart Engineered Wood Products to the distributor’s locations in Holtsville/Long Island, New York; North Bergen, New Jersey; and Palmer, Massachusetts. This increased distribution of LP’s products—including LP FlameBlock I-Joists—brings the building products to the Northeast.

“Because of their brand excellence and diverse product line, there is tremendous value in doing business with LP Building Products,” said David Gaudreau, senior vice president of sales for Sherwood Lumber. “We are excited to launch the LP program, providing our customers with some of the finest engineered wood products available to help grow sales.”

“Sherwood Lumber has a reputation for providing tremendous logistical and technical support to their customers, and we look forward to working with them in the Northeast,” said Jim Abbott, regional sales manager for LP. “Sherwood’s extensive relationships combined with our innovative products, solutions and sales support to the professional lumber dealer align well to aid future building industry growth within the market.”

From LBM Journal: https://www.lbmjournal.com/lp-building-products-and-sherwood-lumber-partner-on-engineered-wood-in-northeast/

B.C. OSB Mill Given Green Light On MDI

B.C. OSB Mill Given Green Light On MDI

 

Despite local opposition, Peace Valley Oriented Strand Board (OSB) in Fort St. John has been granted an amendment to its Environmental Certificate to allow the use of a controversial chemical in its manufacturing process. The plant is currently only permitted to use phenol formaldehyde resin as an adhesive — a condition on its original certificate.

The Louisiana-Pacific Ltd. (LP) plant applied for the amendment to use methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, or MDI, at its factory for the production of its particleboard items in spring 2014. Before that, it had applied to the Ministry of the Environment for an amendment to its Discharge Authorization Permit to use MDI at the plant in late fall 2012.

MDI would be incorporated as a resin into the core of the oriented strand board before it undergoes the pressing process. During that process, MDI would be discharged from the press vent stack.

The news of the certificate’s amendment was met with disdain from at least one Baldonnel resident, Sandra Cushway, whose 2013 Freedom of Information request revealed “hundreds of pages” of non-compliance to environmental regulations with Peace Valley OSB.

Peace Valley OSB is now following up on its discharge permit from the Ministry of Environment to have it altered to include MDI emissions.

From Alaska Highway News: alaskahighwaynews.ca.

 

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