TreeSource Selling Last Mill

TreeSource Industries is selling its green dimension sawmill in Tumwater, Wa., to an undisclosed buyer.

All mill employees have been given notice that they will be terminated at the close of business Nov. 4, and the new owner will take over Nov. 7. An estimated 807o or more of the workers could be rehired after the facility is restarted.

On Sept. 19, TreeSource completed the sale of its other remaining

Fire Consumes Two Buildings

Investigators are trying to determine the cause of an early morning Sept. I fire that destroyed two buildings at Tolo Forest Products, Central Point. Or.

The local fire marshal suspects the blaze was unintentional. Firefighters arrived at the scene to discover flames devouring a mill maintenance shop and an adjacent building. They quickly realized the structures could not be salvaged and instead focused on keeping embers from hitting nearby dry grass and starting spot fires.

facility, a stud mill in Glide, Or., to Swanson Group, Glendale, Or.

TreeSource was founded in 1983 and by 1998 had grown to become one of the 10 largest lumber producers in the U.S.. with 12 facilities in Oregon, Washington and Vermont. A year later, mounting debt forced the company into a l6-month Chapter I I bankruptcy reorganization, during which investors took the firm private and sold off all but four of its mills.

Damages are estimated at a minimum of $100,000, but mill manager Tom Schill is convinced it could have been far worse. "It could have bumed down the production line, and then we wouldn't have been able to do anything here," he said.

Prefab Plant Eyes Alaska

A Missouri-based company will spend $3.5 million to build a 50,000 to 80,000-sq. ft. manufacturing plant in Anchorage, Ak., to construct wall and roof systems made of recycled steel and petroleum and natural-gas byproducts.

"I'm interested in being part of the community," said Russ Wright, president of Stoam Industries. "I'm not interested in getting a contract up here and shipping it up."

The plant should open by April and employ 100 Alaskans to build a prefabricated wall and roof system that combines structural steel framing and polystyrene foam insulation into one product. It can be used for buildings up to three stories and can be made with precut doors and windows. Wright said the system works best in extreme weather conditions, saving over 607o in heating and cooling costs.

With his system, said Wright, it takes three people just 36 hours to construct a 3,500-sq. ft. house, with less impact on the environment. "It takes 40 trees to build a 2,000-sq. ft. home," said Wright. "It takes four recycled cars to build the same house using my product."

A prime customer will be the Army Corps of Engineers, which is moving toward modular housing projects. "They wanted a building system where they could build it, live in it for l0 to 15 years, then move it someplace else." said Wright.

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