The rise and fall of Peninsula Plywood was the subject of my January 13 blog. It told the tale of how a group of investors worked with the city of Port Angeles, WA, and the Port Authority of Port Angeles authority to reopen the dormant tK-Ply plywood mill, creating jobs and hope for an area hard hit by the nation's housing downturn.
A PenPly timeline I developed for the blog post spanned from the August 2009 announcement to reopen the mill to its owners being forced to vacate the premises and subsequent plans laid to demolish and redevelop the property in December 2011. Sandwiched in between these two points in time were a series of events, including hirings and layoffs, a pair of mill fires, and the piling up of unpaid rent and utility bills by the mill's owners.
When I posted my blog about PenPly's wild ride in January, I thought the saga was over. But not so fast. Now as preparations are readied to clear the property, the port has filed a lawsuit against PenPly seeking more than $1.6 million in unpaid rental payments, equipment rental fees and funds owed under a log transport licensing agreement, according to the Peninsula Daily. All told, the paper reports that PenPly owes more than $2.4 million to the city, port and Washington state.
What a tragic turn of events to a story that had such a feel-good beginning. Port Angeles gambled on helping restore a wood products business and lost.
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Rich Christianson is Associate Publisher and Editor at Large of Woodworking Network. During his 25+ years covering the wood products industry, Rich has toured hundreds of manufacturing plants throughout North America, Europe and Asia. His reporting has covered everything from the state of the industry and impact of wood imports to technology and environmental issues. In his current capacity he is responsible for editing the daily Woodworking Network Update newsletter and coordinating events including the annual Cabinets & Closets Conference & Expo and Canada’s biennial Woodworking Machinery & Supply Expo.
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