Baldacci tours New Limerick plant

NEW LIMERICK – Amidst the aroma of freshly cut wood and the whir of machinery at the Louisiana-Pacific plant, company officials joined with economic development leaders to showcase the facility and update Gov. John Baldacci on its planned expansion.

Baldacci toured the New Limerick site this week, along with plant officials and representatives from the Southern Aroostook Development Corp. and the Northern Maine Development Commission.

Founded in 1973, L-P is one of the leading manufacturers of premium building products in North America. The company fabricates home-building products at 29 manufacturing plants throughout the United States, Canada and Chile.

The New Limerick plant, which has 124 employees, was established in 1982.

In February, the L-P Corp. announced plans to convert the site from oriented strand board production to oriented strand lumber production by late 2007.

While oriented strand board is a plywoodlike wood product that is made from wafers of wood, oriented strand lumber is a high-tech engineered wood product that L-P officials said in a press release would increase design flexibility and decrease labor costs for builders.

The production of oriented strand lumber is intended to diversify the corporation’s product line while also meeting demands for alternative engineered products for home construction.

The $105 million expansion is slated to take place over several years, said Skip Cleary, the New Limerick plant manager. Officials hope to begin construction in September and produce their first piece of oriented strand lumber by November 2007.

Once in operation, the plant will serve as the exclusive manufacturer of the L-P product while also becoming one of the few producers of oriented strand lumber in North America.

Along with the new product will come new employees, Cleary said Thursday.

“We anticipate employing an additional 30 to 40 people when this is all done,” he said.

Equipped with a hard hat, earplugs and protective eyewear, Baldacci chatted with employees at the facility while also lauding the impact of the planned expansion both locally and statewide.

“This investment by Louisiana-Pacific is great news for Maine,” he said. “It will make us a strong and responsible leader in this industry and will boost our economy.

“The company’s expansion will allow this industry to grow and prosper while also helping to preserve Maine’s natural legacy, leading to industrial practices that are better for the environment,” he continued. “Louisiana-Pacific could have chosen to expand at any one of their plants, but they chose Maine – and we are proud of that fact.”