PORT ANGELES — Peninsula Plywood Group, LLC owns the assets of the former KPly plant, president Josh Renshaw said today.
Peninsula Plywood, owned by Renshaw and several unnamed Port Angeles investors, has completed the purchase of the assets of the plywood plant at 439 Marine Drive from Sterling Bank, Renshaw said in a prepared statement.
The company also entered into an agreement for a long-term lease with the Port of Port Angeles, which owns the 19-acre property, the statement said.
“We’re pleased that the purchase agreement and the lease were concluded today,” Renshaw said in the statement.
“These represent major milestones in creating a significant number of jobs for the community.
“Plywood is a big part of the history of this town. Now, we can see it in the future as well.”
On July 13, the Port of Port Angeles commissioners agreed to sign a letter of intent to enter into a lease agreement with Peninsula Plywood.
Bill James, port interim executive director, said then that the date the lease would begin would depend on its formal approval by the commission and when it is signed by Peninsula Plywood executives.
The terms of the purchase agreement are confidential, Renshaw’s statement said.
Renshaw said he would make no further comment, except to say that applications for employment are not being accepted and that the company expects to release more information in the coming weeks.
Peninsula Plywood Group signed an agreement in June to buy the equipment at the mill, which has been inoperative since the former owner, Klukwan Inc. of Alaska, closed it in November 2007, leaving 132 employees without work.
The layoff was made permanent in April 2008.
The investors’ plans for the mill — which has had several owners since it opened in 1941 — are to reopen it under its original name, Peninsula Plywood, with about 172 employees, and produce 5 million board-feet of plywood a month.
The port seized the mill’s buildings after Klukwan failed to pay its outstanding rent.
Sterling Savings seized the mill’s equipment after Klukwan failed to repay its loans with the bank.
