PORT ANGELES — In a piece of recession good news for the North Olympic Peninsula, a shuttered plywood mill will begin hiring employees soon to restart the plant.
Peninsula Plywood plans to hire 60 people in the next 90 days, said Josh Renshaw, president of the company, at Monday’s meeting of the three Port of Port Angeles commissioners.
Hiring the 60 employees by the end of the year is one of the terms of the lease granted to PenPly by the port, illustrated at Monday’s port commissioners meeting by the transfer of a ceremonial key to the 19-acre plywood mill complex at 439 W. Marine Drive.
Investors’ plans
The investors’ plans for the mill show that PenPly has a goal of 172 employees who will produce 5 million board-feet of plywood a month.
When prior owner Klukwan Inc. of Alaska closed the KPly mill, as it was known, in November 2007, it permanently laid off 132 employees by the following April.
After two years of working with the port and negotiating with Sterling Savings Bank, which previously owned some of the mill’s assets stemming from its Klukwan days, Renshaw has begun the process of reopening the mill.
The company was required by the port to take out a bond on a portion of the first year’s lease and acquire insurance before taking possession of the complex.
Those requirements were met last week and the company received the real keys to the mill last Friday.
“This is a bright day for Peninsula Plywood, for the Port of Port Angeles and for our community,” port Executive Director Jeff Robb said.
Since KPly closed in 2007, Renshaw — who worked for Klukwan Inc. at the mill — has organized a group of unnamed investors to reopen the mill under its 1941 name, PenPly.
Managerial jobs
The company is now accepting applications for several managerial jobs, Renshaw said.
The company is looking for a chief electrician, production supervisors and a quality manager.
But applications for other positions won’t be accepted at this point, Renshaw said.
“That will be an excellent basis to move forward to our full staff,” he said.
Those interested in jobs should contact Clallam County WorkSource by phoning 360-457-9407.
Jobs will be listed at http://tinyurl.com/58sgbf, select Port Angeles in the drop-down menu.
“We’ve hit another important milestone,” Renshaw said Monday.
“I want to express our appreciation to the port commissioners.
“They really stepped up to the plate in the name of job creation, and their selection of Jeff Robb [as executive director] has helped energize the process.
“What’s really gratifying is that we are now in a position to begin the process of hiring.”
Lease concession
Renshaw said in a news release that he will make no further comment.
At their Sept. 14 meeting, the three port commissioners granted a concession on the lease to the plywood mill by lowering the amount the company needed to take out a bond.
The concession allowed the company to put up $10,000 now and the rest of the money for the other eight months in January.
The investment group previously had to come up with $162,000 for the bond.
“We are excited to have Peninsula Plywood as a tenant and look forward to the jobs returning to our waterfront and our community,” Robb said.
Repairs to idle equipment used by Klukwan must also begin in 45 days, according to the port agreement.
The rent for the property is $13,500 monthly plus a 12.84 percent leasehold tax.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
