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Bestway Enterprises, Corttand, N.Y., shut down its HDK Wood Products dry kitn/miiling facitity in Harrisviile, N.Y., July 31 and placed the plant and equipment up for sale.

International Forest Products, Vancouver, B.C., has completed its acquisition of Keadle Lumber Enterprises' sawmill operations in Thomaston, Ga.

Interfo/s $4S-million investment will include adding more kilns, to up Keadle's capacity over 160 million bd. ft.

Robbins Lumber, Searsmont, Me., installed a new 35" debarker.

Deltic Timber has installed a new USNR doubte-track batch dry kiln, Kiln Boss controls, and Green Burner technology at its operation in Ola, Ar.

Pukall Lumber, Arbor Vitae, Wi., lost the buitding that houses its panel shop, moulding/flooring shop, and planer in a July 3 fire.

Amelia Lumber, Amelia, Va., added micronized copper and Wolmanized EraWood heated lumber to its existing lines.

Lee Roy Jordan Lumber, Dailas, Tx., is now dishibuting AbacO tropical hardwood decking.

Monsma Marketing Corp., Grand Rapids, Mi., is now distributing Boral TruElterior Trim products.

Atlas Roofing, Atlanta, Ga., added new equipment to increase production of shingles with HP Technology, which are larger, with a 1-114" wide nailing area and 13O-MPH-rated high-wind warranty.

Cornerstone Specialty Wood Products retocated to a larger facility in Cincinnati, Oh., with room for an R&D lab.

CertainTeed broke ground in Jonesburg, Mo., on a new $100-million complex, which will include a 60,000-sq. ft. residential roofing shingles manufacturing plant and 150,000-sq. ft. warehouse.

Roxul Inc., Milton, Ont., will open a stone wool insulation plant next year in Mississippi.

GalStar has purchased a 100,000-sq. ft. building on 23 acres in Columbus, Ms., to open a new masonry products plant in the first or second quarter of 2014.

Perennial Wood, Binghamton, N.Y., now offers '1"x4" decking factory-fi nished in mahogany.

Osmose's MicroPro wood preservative has earned Greenguard gold certification from UL Environment.

New websites: Earthwise Grouo. Libertv. Oh.. www.earthwisewindows.com Integrity Compdsites, Biddeford, Me., www.duralifedecking.com

Anniversaries: Curry Lumber, Wooster, Oh., 160th Eberhard Lumber, New Branfets. Tx.. 60th ... Hall Lumber Co., Chester, S.C., 60th Express, Canton, Ga., 1Sth C&D Trim

New England Dealers Closing Up

Two Massachusetts lumber dealers have closed after more than a century of business.

Northampton Lumber, Northampton, shut down in July, as owner Gail LaBarge fielded offers for its building and site. "There was more interest in the property alone," said LaBarge, who took over the business from her father, Charles Paquette, about a decade ago. "I understand the nostalgia aspect, but that's just the way it's playing out."

While the economic downturn and the emergence of big-box retailers hurt the business, LaBarge said her desire to retire is the primary motivation behind the closure.

Noble Hardware, North Attleborough, Ma., also closed, due to warehouse-store competition. "The big stores have the buying power so the small businesses can't keep up, and we aren't building houses right now, so it's just not cutting it," said Keith Noble, who bought the store-then called Schofield Hardware-with his brother John in 1989.

When the brothers won $l million on a scratch ticket last year, they put most of it into the business. They opened up a seasonal garden and home d6cor store called Noble Country Gardens, and renovated their building so they could lease out floor space to local artisans and vendors.

"But we couldn't get enough vendors," Keith said. "It's too bad to see it go. We put our hearts into it. It's a shame."

Boise Buying Southern Plywood Mills

Wood Resources LLC, Shelton, Wa., has agreed to sell its Southeast operations to Boise Cascade, Boise,ld.

Expected to close in the third quarter, the deal includes softwood plywood producer Chester Wood Products, Chester, S.C., and specialty hardwood/softwood plywood manufacturer Moncure Plywood, Moncure, N.C.

Wood Resources, a division of Atlas Holdings, acquired Chester and Moncure from Weyerhaeuser in 2004. Wood Resources will continue to operate Olympic Panel Products, Shelton, and the newly restarted Omak Wood Products. Omak. Wa.

Hankins Restarts Mississippi Mill

Hankins Lumber is investing $1.5 million to reopen its mill in Grenada. Ms.. after a 15-month closure.

The company uses southern yellow pine harvested in Mississippi to produce dimension lumber and boards.

G-P Takes Over Temple-lnland Building Product Plants from lP

Georgia-Pacific, Atlanta, Ga., has completed its $7 l0million acquisition of the building products division of Temple-Inland, Diboll, Tx., from International Paper Co., Memphis, Tn.

"With the sale final, we are eager to combine our assets into one building products business," said Mark Luetters, executive v.p.-building products. "Temple-Inland brings high-quality assets with teams of talented employees, and we look forward to combining best practices so that we will continue to improve our ability to serve key customers."

The purchase includes l5 U.S. facilities in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas, producing a range of building products, including fiberboard, gypsum panels, lumber, MDF and particleboard.

IP agreed to sell the building products unit to G-P in December, after acquiring Temple-Inland a year prior.

Anthony Adds Span Calculator

Anthony Forest Products, El Dorado, Ar., has added a lumber span calculator to its website at www.anthonyforest.com. A mobile app version for Apple and Android smartphones is also available.

Powerful Solutions uses the new southern pine design values to calculate spans and compare spans of southern pine versus other lumber species. Pull-down menus allow users to input species, grade, member type, deflection limits, spacing, and loading conditions.

Automatic defaults are set for the most common deflection limits, spacing and loading conditions when member types are changing. Clicking on the grade/span comparison calculator bar allows span comparisons between different grades of southern pine.

Insurers lLM, PLM Join Forces

Indiana Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Co. and Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Co. have struck a deal to affiliate their companies, creating common management, shared services, and pooled reinsurance.

The newly affiliated group will be headquartered at PLM's offices in Philadelphia, Pa., although significant operations will continue in Indianapolis,In.

Current PLM president and c.e.o. John K. Smith will serve as c.e.o. of the integrated organization. John F. Wolf will retire as president and c.e.o. of ILM and become a member of the board of directors of both companies.

"This combination is an opportunity to capitalize on the strengths of each organization for the benefit of all," Smith said. "It will allow us to offer a broader and financially stronger market for the insureds of both companies, and a more secure workplace for employees. I truly believe that we are building the premiere property and casualty insurance marketplace for wood products and building material businesses in the United States."

The affiliation is not a merger. Over time, there will be a gradual sharing of resources, but the companies' names, brands and unique products will be preserved.

The deal is subject to approval by the applicable departments of insurance-a process that management expects to be completed by year's end.

Based in Indianapolis, In., ILM was established in I 897 -two years after the founding of PLM.