L-P fetes new plant, new line of lumber

NEW LIMERICK – After nine months and $140 million, the Louisiana-Pacific plant in New Limerick on Tuesday ushered in the public to show off its expanded facility and product line.

Company officials joined with local and economic development leaders, legislators and representatives from the state’s congressional delegation to celebrate the grand opening of its laminated strand lumber, or LSL, facility.

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 158 employees, was established in 1982 as an oriented-strand board, or OSB, mill.

Officials broke ground on the expansion project last September in order to convert the site from OSB production to LSL production.

The expansion and conversion to an LSL mill represents an investment of more than $140 million. LP made its first LSL board in March. The mill is designed for an annual production capacity of 7 million cubic feet.

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

The new laminated strand lumber will be called SolidStart LSL.

Now that it is in operation, the plant will serve as the exclusive manufacturer of the product while also becoming one of the few producers of LSL in North America.

While LSL is not new, it is a new material for L-P. Laminated strand lumber is a high-tech engineered wood product that L-P officials have said will increase design flexibility and decrease labor costs for builders. Company officials also have said SolidStart LSL will deliver consistency with no warping, waning, twisting or bowing.

The plant expansion continued throughout the winter and has added about 40 jobs to the mill.

Skip Cleary, who serves as the New Limerick plant manager, said the company is excited about its expansion and the new product line.

“We are very proud to have been chosen as the first site for LSL,” he said Tuesday afternoon. “This is a major investment in the future of L-P and a major vote of confidence in our employees and our community.”

Curt Stevens, L-P’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, said the additions to the plant made it a “world class facility” and that customers were “very excited” about L-P’s new LSL product.

“This event marks the successful completion of an important investment project for L-P,” he said. “The expansion and conversion of the oriented strand board mill to LSL represents the culmination of the major construction project we are celebrating in Maine today, as well as years of research and development across the company.”