CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Woodworking Network announces the winners of the 2016 Best in Wood (formerly the Custom Woodworking Design Portfolio) Awards, which are given annually to honor custom woodworkers for their outstanding craftsmanship.

Biofuel producer Enviva Partners LP has acquired a fully-contracted Southampton County, Virginia plant for $131 million. Acquired from Enviva's sponsor’s joint venture with affiliates of John Hancock Life Insurance Co., the Southampton plant has an annual pellet production capacity of 510,000 metric tons.

The decrease in demand for logs and lumber in Asia could also mean lower prices for U.S. secondary wood products manufacturers.

Georgia-Pacific LLC announced that it plans to sell its engineered lumber business to Boise Cascade for $215 million, including working capital.

There were fewer woodworking companies that closed their doors during the past year than in any year in recent memory, if the FDMC 300 is any guide. With FDMC 300 research well underway, only five companies have been identified as closed or likely out of business. Work is continuing on the list of leading manufacturers of cabinets, furniture, millwork and store fixtures, and it is possible that one or two other companies may be identified as being closed.

A woodworking inventor from Utah says he has developed a specialized clamping system for clamping vertical wood parts.

Laminate flooring and panel producer Kronospan has entered the U.S. flooring market, acquiring Clarion Boards Inc. and Clarion Laminates LLC. The Shippenville, PA-based Clarion Industries says it is the only fully integrated laminate flooring operation in North America. Based in Austria, Kronospan operates an MDF mill in Alabama.

Home improvement professionals have long understood, and used as a selling point, the positive impact remodeling projects have on a home's resale value, but the 2015 Remodeling Impact Report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), suggests renovation projects also provide a more intrinsic value for homeowners who choose to stay in their homes: Joy.

Horner Millwork will invest $7 million to expand its Somerset, MA, manufacturing plant by 20,000-square-feet, adding two new CNCs and a solar plant facility and creating 15 new jobs.