Georgia-Pacific boosts its Alabama investments with $100 million facility in Talladega



Georgia-Pacific boosts its Alabama investments with $100 million facility in Talladega | Georgia-Pacific, investment, lumber,


TALLADEGA, Ala. (From news reports) -- Georgia-Pacific LLC will be recycling a former facility as part of a new $100 million investment in Alabama.

The Atlanta-based manufacturer said construction on a "state-of-the-art" 300,000-square-foot lumber production facility in Talledega is scheduled to begin immediately, with an anticipated startup in late 2018. The facility will be in Georgia-Pacific's former plywood plant that closed in 2008 after more than 30 years of operation. Once fully operational, the plant will employ more than 100 full-time employees and generate an estimated $5 million in annual payroll, the company said in a press release.

"The availability of talent and natural resources makes Talladega an ideal site for this new lumber production facility," said Fritz Mason, vice president and general manager, Georgia-Pacific Lumber, in the release.

The Georgia-Pacific pipeline with Alabama is nothing new, with more than 2,300 employees at seven facilities in the state. Georgia-Pacific said that over the last five years, the company has invested approximately $1.1 billion in additional capital and acquisitions in Alabama. Georgia-Pacific said the new project will provide jobs for approximately 120 workers a day at the peak of the 12-month construction period. University of Alabama's economic modeling estimates an economic impact of more than $26 million on the city and county during construction.

"Georgia-Pacific's new investment in Talladega will bring good jobs and enhanced opportunities to the area's citizens while also benefiting timber owners in the region," Alabama Gov Kay Ivey said.

Once in production, the new facility will receive about 150 log trucks a day and produce approximately 230 million board-feet of lumber a year, with plans to expand production to 300 million board-feet per year in the future, according to the company. Mason said that the new facility is the first of several they have planned.

"The demand for lumber continues to improve as the housing market recovers, so we are evaluating similar investments in Georgia, Texas and Mississippi," Mason said.

Georgia-Pacific announced last month that it reached an agreement to sell its pine chemicals business for $315 million.

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