PORT ANGELES — About 100 unemployed workers may get a late Christmas present as Peninsula Plywood Group LLC hires in the hopes of opening next month.
The company, which acquired the shuttered former KPly mill on the Port Angeles waterfront about five months ago, is accepting applications now for the 105 jobs it needs to fill before reopening the facility.
PenPly President Josh Renshaw said Friday that the company would like to fill the jobs before the end of the month and begin production as early as mid-January.
He said that applicants must apply through WorkSource of Clallam County, located at 228 W. First St., Suite A, Port Angeles.
For a list of jobs available, and more information about how to apply, see our online classifieds. Go directly to the PenPly ad here: http://tinyurl.com/penply .
The hourly wage jobs, which come with benefits, are separated into 35 titles — such as lathe operator, panel saw operator, forklift mechanic — and pay between $12 and about $30 an hour, Renshaw said.
Electricians receive the highest pay, while drier feeders are on the other end of the pay scale, he said.
“We’re going to hire the best workers available,” Renshaw said. “And there’s a lot of them out there,” he added, referring to Clallam County’s approximately 1,515 unemployed workers.
“That’s why we’re here, to get them back to work.”
Renshaw said the company already employs 24 full-time staff members, mostly administrators, and 15 temporary employees.
While he said his goal is to begin production around the middle of January, the company president and former KPly sales manager added that there is no official starting date.
“We’re aggressively targeting mid-January as our start-up date,” Renshaw said.
“It might slip into February, but I hope not. And I don’t think it will go much past that.”
He said some sort of dedication ceremony will be held, but nothing has been planned yet.
Renshaw said the mill has received “letters of intent” from nine, or about half, of KPly’s previous customers.
The mill has been idled since November 2007 when the former owner, Klukwan Inc. of Alaska, closed production. It permanently laid off its 132 employees — including Renshaw, who was sales mananger — in April 2008.
The Port of Port Angeles, which owns the land, acquired the buildings, while Sterling Savings Bank acquired the mill’s equipment after Klukwan defaulted on its loans and rent.
PenPly acquired the equipment from the bank and signed a lease with the port in August.
Port of Port Angeles Commissioner George Schoenfeldt, who has been one of the company’s biggest champions, on Saturday applauded Renshaw for his dedication in working to restart the mill and offer good-paying jobs.
“I tell you my hat is off to Josh to just being a real driver behind this and being confident and assured,” he said.
“From day one, the very first meeting we [the port] had with him, I came out feeling that this is going to happen. This is the guy who is going to make it happen.”
Renshaw returned the gratitude.
He said the mill wouldn’t be able to reopen if not for the efforts of Schoenfeldt and state Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, who represents the 24th District, which covers Clallam, Jefferson and a portion of Grays Harbor counties.
“I know for some people, they didn’t think it would get going,” Renshaw said.
“A couple of times, if it were not for the specific response and actions of both Kevin and George, it wouldn’t have had a chance today. It wouldn’t have happened.”
Renshaw said the two helped the company secure financing and a sales agreement with the bank.
In terms of public financing, the port — which owns the mill’s buildings — received $250,000 from the state and $85,000 from the county’s opportunity fund to help bring the facility up to par.
The port, which owns the 19-acre site, had set a deadline of Dec. 24 for the mill to hire 60 people.
Schoenfeldt said it’s not a “hard deadline” and the port will not penalize the company for missing it by a week or two.
Renshaw’s plans are for the mill to produce about 1.8 million board feet of plywood per month, at first. The company’s goal is to eventually reach 5 million board feet per month with about 185 employees on the payroll.
Renshaw said the company hopes to add a swing shift, which will add 25 employees, within the next three to four months.
Schoenfeldt said the port spent “well over $100,000” to mothball the facility after it closed.
Renshaw said the port’s efforts to preserve the mill’s equipment have helped bring the company’s start-up costs below what was expected.
He said the mill will produce fir and cedar siding.
Although most new homes are built with lower grades of siding, Renshaw said the company will have a niche market with new, “high-end” homes. He said the mill will also serve the siding market for the remolding of house’s built 20 to 30 years ago, when fir and cedar siding was more widely used.
Between 90 and 95 percent of the timber used will come from the Olympic Peninsula, Renshaw said.
PenPly’s lease is $13,500 per month plus a 12.84 percent leasehold tax.
Half of the rent is deferred for the first two years.
WorkSource can be contacted at 360-457-9407.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
