Staff Writer
NEW LIMERICK — Flanked by neatly stacked piles of their brand new product, Louisiana-Pacific celebrated its newly-expanded New Limerick mill and its new product line, Solid Start Laminated Strand Lumber (LSL).
Pioneer Times Photo/Sarah Berthiaume
RIBBON CUTTING — Louisiana-Pacific Plant Manager Skip Cleary helps LP Executive Vice President and CFO Curt Stevens with a stubborn ribbon during the New Limerick mill’s grand opening June 10. With local, state and company officials, the plant celebrated its $140 million expansion.
“LP is very proud to be celebrating the new LSL facility with our employees and guests today,” said Plant Manager Skip Cleary at the June 10 ceremony. “It will be the foundation of our contribution to the prosperity and quality of life in the Houlton community.”
In September 2006, the company broke ground on their $140 million project to expand the Station Road mill and convert production from oriented strand board (OSB) to the new LSL. Cleary said production of the new product started March 18 and the first orders were shipped to customers June 4. The change has also swelled employment ranks at the mill, adding 46 new faces to the crew and bringing the total to 158.
Solid Start LSL is a relatively new engineered wood product that’s more uniform than conventional lumber. It’s stronger and straighter, say producers, with less waste and fewer natural defects. The product has also gained green certification from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. The local mill is LP’s first LSL manufacturing facility and is designed to produce up to 7 million cubic feet of the product annually.
“We’ve held LSL launch events across the country … [and] customers are very excited about this product,” said LP Executive Vice President and CFO Curt Stevens at the opening.
Stevens went on to tell the crowd that the local plant was chosen as LP’s exclusive LSL producer for several reasons, including the skilled workforce which makes production possible.
This conversion to LSL has brought new life to the 25-year-old manufacturing plant, he added.
“This mill has operated for 25 years as an OSB mill and I’m confident that we’ll get at least another 25 years thanks to this project,” he said.
