Roseburg Expands Stud, EWP Capacity

Roseburg Forest Products, Dillard, Or., has added two shifts at its engineered wood plant in Riddle, Or., and is expanding its stud mill in Dillard.

The company also added a specialized reload center in Rockton. ll.. to serve the Midwest and Great Lakes territories.

The $75 million EWP facility is one of North America's largest, covering nearly 70 acres with over 500,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space. It is a complete processing facility, from drying and grading veneer to final packaging and shipment.

The $20 million expansion in

Cal Hardware Store To Close

Ace La Canada Hardware, La Canada Flintridge, Ca., plans to close permanently this summer.

The 56-year-old store is a victim of Lowe's and Home Depot, according to owner John Hastings. "You see it in the way your sales go," he said. "Selling brushes and not selling paint. It's obvious that people are buying paint somewhere else."

He said the public's perception of the independent hardware dealer has changed. "People are coming to us for things they may have forgotten to purchase (at a big box). People view us as a convenience store."

Hastings and his father bought the business from the founding owners in 1989 after it had been closed for a short time. In 2000, he bought the property the store sits on and, since then, overhead costs have risen too high to stay competitive, he said.

Ace La Canada Hardware is the only hardware store in a community of 22,000 people.

Dillard will increase Roseburg's stud production by over '107o, to over 360 mm bd. ft. per year. The new facility will manufacture custom grades and products as well as all standard product grades. It is expected to start up in April of 2003, with the addition of 45 new employees.

"This will be some of the most efficient and innovative equipment used in the sawmill industry today," says plant mgr. Rick Saunders. "The new equipment comes from North American suppliers and is highly automated and optimized. We expect to increase our productivity by more than a third."

The new equipment will be housed on the site of Roseburg Forest Products' former large diameter log sawmill, adjacent to the current stud mill.

The company expects to further expand the facility in the future, doubling its capacity.