PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Hardwood LLC sawmill under construction at Eclipse Industrial Park will begin taking employment applications Sept. 6, said Gary Cantrell, vice president of its parent company, Washington Alder.
The applications will be available at the Clallam County WorkSource office at the Armory Square Mall, 228 W. First St., Suite A, Port Angeles.
The office is helping to coordinate the hiring process, he said.
WorkSource specialist Vickie Kuchan said the company is planning to run a second classified ad to follow its first ad that ran July 31.
People must go to the office to get an application and take a short aptitude test, she said.
Then those applications and tests will be collected and sent to Port Angeles Hardwood, which will handle the hiring process from there, she said.
The office won’t have any applications available until after the second ad runs, Kuchan said.
Cantrell said once employees are selected and they receive a physical and drug test, they will be sent for training at the company’s existing sawmills in Mount Vernon and Chehalis.
In addition to Port Angeles Hardwood, parent company Washington Alder LLC of Mount Vernon also operates Cascade Hardwood LLC in Chehalis.
Lengthy hiring process
Hiring will be a lengthy process beginning in September and lasting through November before all laborer positions are filled, Cantrell said.
The sawmill will operate two eight-hour shifts and produce up to 32 million board-feet of furniture-grade hardwood.
Positions will include benchman, broiler/kiln operator, edger operator, gang saw operator, grader, log clerk, log yard equipment operator, sawyer, shift supervisor and trimmer operator.
“It’s basically for line supervision positions and hourly skilled and semi-skilled positions,” Cantrell said.
