Plum Creek small mill in Kalispell suspends operations for rest of year

Plum Creek's finger-joint stud manufacturing facility in Kalispell will suspend operations for the rest of the year. The company will monitor the market to determine if and when demand for the re-manufactured wood product made by this plant increases sufficiently to warrant resuming production.

Twenty four positions at the small mill, referred to as the "FJ Reman" plant, will be affected. Employees impacted will have the opportunity to apply for open Plum Creek positions in the Flathead Valley. These employees will also be given priority if they apply for Plum Creek jobs in the future. Employees who do not secure other positions within Plum Creek will receive severance benefits.

Employees were informed of the change Tuesday, which will go into effect on Sept. 30.

"This specialty wood product is used almost exclusively in new residential construction," said Hank Ricklefs, vice president for Northern Resources and Manufacturing. "Market prices are depressed and don't currently cover the costs of production. We reduced shifts in January, hoping to avoid a production stop, but unfortunately the market has not changed. We will re-evaluate the FJ Reman business throughout 2009 to determine if we can resume production at this facility."