PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Hardwood mill is up for sale.
Its owners, Washington Alder and Cascade Hardwood, began advertising the sale of the facility in west Port Angeles about a week ago and plan to have a transaction completed by the end of the year, said mill President Lindsay Crawford.
“It’s going to happen pretty fast,” he said.
The mill at 333 Eclipse Industrial Parkway, which opened in 2006 and employs about 90 people, makes furniture-grade lumber.
Won’t close
It is not at risk of closing, Crawford said.
If a new buyer doesn’t step forward, he said, it’s expected that one of the current owners will buy out the other.
“Somebody is going to own it,” Crawford said, adding that he expects that employees will not be affected.
He said the sale is prompted by disagreements between the two owners but declined to elaborate.
The depressed timber market and overall poor economy factored “very little” into the decision, Crawford said.
“Certainly a poor economy is not helping,” he said.
Issues between owners
“It’s more about issues between the owners. Issues you run into in a partnership from time to time.”
The asking price is confidential, Crawford said.
The mill was considered one of the most efficient in the state four years ago and opened with much fanfare, with Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Mountlake Terrace, making an appearance.
It cost more than $30 million to build, Crawford said.
Asked if the owners regret the decision to build the mill on the verge of an economic recession, he said: “Anyone who invested anything between 2003 and 2006-2007 is probably questioning the investment they made.”
He added, “They absolutely don’t regret building in the location.
“The crew already has got a good reputation, even though they don’t have a long history,” Crawford said.
The mill is capable of producing 35 million board feet of lumber per year with two shifts working five days a week.
It is currently operating with two shifts, but only three or four days a week, he said.
The owners received a $15 million U.S. Department of Agriculture loan to open the mill.
Crawford said the mill is meeting its debt obligations.
“Like everybody else, we have either modest profit or we’re breaking even,” he said.
Washington Alder operates a sawmill near Mount Vernon.
Cascade Hardwood operates a lumber mill in Chehalis.
The sale of the mill is being handled through an arbiter, Stew Cogan.
To contact Cogan, phone 206-860-1000.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
