Thursday, November 3, 2011
UPDATE: Arden lumber mill will stay open, no layoffs yet
An Idaho lumber company is finalizing plans to buy a Stevens County mill that was slated for closure.
Boise Cascade announced today that they will buy the mill, located in Arden, Wash., from Portland-based Stimson Lumber. Stimson had planned to lay off half of the mill's 67 workers on November 11, then keep the plant running at half-capacity through January.
Those layoffs won't happen, at least not yet, says John Sahlberg, Boise Cascade's vice president of communications. The plan is to close on Dec. 31, lay off all of the employees, then hire them back and open on the first Monday in January.
"The one caveat is that we don't know yet what the operating configuration will be, or if we will need all employees," Sahlberg says. He says they may combine aspects of the operation with Boise Cascade's other mills in Kettle Falls, Wash.
Sahlberg notes that the deal has not yet been finalized. It was announced, he says, in part to quell rumors that layoffs would also take place at the Kettle Falls mills.
