Canada invests in $161 million Louisiana-Pacific facility upgrade, 269 jobs
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DAWSON CREEK, B.C. - The Canadian federal government will invest $4.5 million in Louisiana-Pacific's sawmill in British Columbia. Louisiana-Pacific is a Nashville-based manufacturer of engineered wood products.
 
The upgraded sawmill - in total a $161 million project - will increase the facility's capabilities and be a major assist for local forestry jobs.
 
After the upgrade, the sawmill will produce 300 million square feet of SmartSide Lap Siding, an engineered wood siding product for exterior applications, build new revenue from underused biomass, and create 69 direct jobs and 200 indirect, says Canadian Forestry Industries. The $4.5 million will support construction and startup. 
 
“As a leader in building solutions, LP (Lousiana-Pacific) is committed to meeting the growing demands of our siding business," says Jimmy Mason, company VP of manufacturing operations. "Our Dawson Creek manufacturing operations and its more than 200 local employees play a significant role in driving growth in our specialty markets by producing high-performance products. We’re grateful for the government of Canada’s support of our expansion and new jobs, as well as the government’s continued support of our long-time outstanding employees in Dawson Creek."
 
Headquartered in Nashville, LP operates 20 engineered wood manufacturing operations in the United States and in Canada, two in Chile and one in Brazil and employs about 5,000 people worldwide. The company manufactures OSB, structural framing products, and exterior siding for use in residential, industrial and light commercial construction. From manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Canada, Chile and Brazil, LP products are sold to builders and homeowners through building materials distributors and dealers and retail home centers.

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About the author
Robert Dalheim

Robert Dalheim is an editor at the Woodworking Network. Along with publishing online news articles, he writes feature stories for the FDMC print publication. He can be reached at [email protected].