Search North America Adds Senior Recruiter

Search North America Adds Senior Recruiter

Search North America Adds Senior Recruiter

Search North America (SNA), a leading wood products-based search, recruiting, and placement firm, is proud to announce and welcome Dave Rupp as a new Senior Recruiter, mainly focusing on the Western U.S. and Canada. He joins the SNA team with over 40 years of experience in the wood products industry, working with Fortune 500 companies in North America and abroad. Rupp has extensive experience developing strategic alliances within all levels of the business, government, and environmental communities.

Rupp’s home office will be based out of the Vancouver, Wash. area, while SNA’s main office will remain located in North Carolina. Dave graduated from The Ohio State University and most recently was a business development director at Advanced Nano Adhesives. While there, he leveraged industry contacts in pressure-treated wood, OSU, particleboard, MDF, EWP, and resin suppliers/industries to move the company forward, promoting a patented technology that improves board properties and water resistance while reducing resin costs.

Founded in 1982, Search North America has placed professionals in every area of the wood products and related industries. From entry-level positions and skilled trades to executive-level roles, SNA helps companies find the talent they need and can help individuals with their next career move.

Richard Poindexter, SNA’s President and Owner, will continue to specialize in client and candidate relationships in the eastern and southern parts of the U.S. and Canada. Carl Jansen, SNA founder, will be stepping back into a role as recruiting consultant and business developer.

Rupp can be reached at 360-601-3717; [email protected]

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Roseburg Names Tony Ramm Senior VP

Roseburg announced that Tony Ramm has been named Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Labor, overseeing the company’s human resources, benefits and compensation, recruitment, and environmental health and safety teams.

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Roseburg Adds New VP-General Counsel; Corporate Secretary

Roseburg Adds New VP-General Counsel; Corporate Secretary

Roseburg Adds New VP-General Counsel; Corporate Secretary

Roseburg announced that Matt Lawless has been named Vice President-General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, effective March 1, 2023. Lawless will join the company’s executive team and help set strategy and overall direction for the business.

“Matt is an accomplished legal strategist and litigator, and we are fortunate to have him on the team,” Roseburg President and CEO Grady Mulbery says. “He has shown a passion for the business and our industry, and a clear understanding of our strategic objectives. We look forward to his continued contribution to Roseburg’s growth and success.”

Lawless joined Roseburg in November 2019 as Assistant General Counsel. His scope of responsibility expanded in January 2022, when Stuart Gray moved out of the General Counsel role to become Chief Operating Officer for Roseburg.

“Matt has a keen legal mind and deep appreciation of Roseburg’s values and goals as a business,” Roseburg COO Stuart Gray said. “His leadership and skillset have proven invaluable as we address the complex legal issues regarding our timberlands, operations, and ongoing work to expand our geographic footprint in North America.”

Before Roseburg, Lawless practiced law at Arnold Gallagher PC in Eugene, Ore.; and Jones Day in Cleveland, Oh. He began his career at Howard, Stallings, From, Atkins, Angell & Davis PA in Raleigh, NC. Lawless earned his law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, and his bachelor’s degree from Washington and Lee University in Virginia.

Latest News

Roseburg Names Tony Ramm Senior VP

Roseburg announced that Tony Ramm has been named Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Labor, overseeing the company’s human resources, benefits and compensation, recruitment, and environmental health and safety teams.

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Egger Invests More Than $42 Million In North Carolina

Egger Invests More Than $42 Million In North Carolina

Egger Invests More Than $42 Million In North Carolina

Egger Wood Products has announced the start of production on a third lamination line at its Lexington, N.C. facility. The $21 million investment will expand the company’s thermally fused laminate (TFL) production capacity by 50%, increasing production to more than 155 million sq. ft. per year, and alleviate supply chain and logistical challenges for customers.

Egger’s Eurodekor TFL boards are produced on lamination lines by fusing resin-impregnated decorative paper directly onto both sides of the company’s Eurospan Particleboard substrate, which is also produced at the Lexington, N.C. plant. TFL is easy to process as a pre-fabricated, finished panel that requires only cutting and edge banding.

Egger has also announced an additional $22 million investment to install a decorative paper impregnation line. This new line will supply locally produced, resin-infused decorative papers to the lamination lines, allowing the company to have greater production flexibility to better meet the needs of its customers. Construction is expected to be completed this summer.

Junior Project Manager Jamali Lewis signs the first board, an EGGER tradition when a new lamination line begins production.

“Currently, we import impregnated papers from our manufacturing facility in St. Johann in Tyrol, Austria,” says Markus Frevert, Plant Manager for Production at Egger. “Ideally, the impregnated papers should be laminated within six months for optimal quality. Local impregnation will eliminate up to three months of shipping time, resulting in a longer lifespan for the papers, which will significantly reduce waste and costs, improve our service for special orders and shorten lead times.”

The new lamination and impregnation lines, representing a more than $42 million investment and 40 new jobs, will work in tandem to increase TFL production capacity while allowing Egger to better serve the needs of its customers in North America.

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Tolko Plans High Prairie Rebuild

Tolko Plans High Prairie Rebuild

Tolko Plans High Prairie Rebuild

Tolko Industries Ltd. has commissioned Dieffenbacher to supply the core components of a new OSB line at High Prairie, Alberta, Can. On May 20, 2022, a fire in the press building damaged beyond repair a Dieffenbacher 12-opening press, which Tolko had commissioned in 1995, and much of the surrounding equipment. A Dieffenbacher CPS+ continuous press will replace the previous press.

Dieffenbacher’s scope of supply for the rebuild of also includes the forming station and forming line, and the raw board handling system. In line with Dieffenbacher’s CEBRO smart plant concept, the Press Emission Control System and the Intelligent Air Management System will improve the plant’s sustainability by creating cleaner air inside and outside the production hall. Dieffenbacher’s new digitalization solution, EVORIS, and the digital service platform, MyDIEFFENBACHER, will help make Tolko’s new plant a truly “smart one.”

“It’s great that Dieffenbacher stepped up so quickly to help us after the fire,” says Fred Chinn, Vice President Strand-Based Business at Tolko. “Once we rebuild, High Prairie will be better than ever, and our new CEBRO smart plant will be a big part of that.”

High Prairie OSB mill readies for upgrade.

Chinn believes the plant will produce its first new board by year’s end. Once operational, the plant’s annual production capacity will reach up to 734,000 m³.

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Roseburg Names Tony Ramm Senior VP

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Carroll Is COO At Swiss Krono

Carroll Is COO At Swiss Krono

Swiss Krono Group appointed Steve Carroll as its COO and Technical Director for U.S. operations at Barnwell, SC.

Carroll comes to Swiss Krono from Arauco North America where he most recently served as director of the Grayling, Mich. operations. He brings to Swiss Krono more than 30 years of experience in the wood industry.

“Steve’s strong performance in the building products market segment, specifically his previous work within the U.S. wood manufacturing industry, makes him the ideal person to oversee our operations. We look forward to working with Steve as Swiss Krono continues to grow its presence in the United States,” says Erik Christensen, CEO of Swiss Krono USA.

Carroll joins the Swiss Krono USA management team composed of Christensen, Aaron Johnson (finance) and Kyle Brown (sales & marketing).

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West Salem Unveils New Website

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CPA, APA Leaders Size Up Situation

CPA, APA Leaders Size Up Situation

Leadership from two of the major primary panel production associations provided 2022 year-end reports, while also looking ahead to 2023 and both pointed to economic issues moving forward.

“This year (2022) was more ‘back to normal,’ as the COVID pandemic was mostly in the rearview mirror. There were still a few ‘hangovers,’ with the supply chain still being constrained and a shortage of workers limiting productivity,” commented Andy O’Hare, president of Composite Panel Assn. (CPA).

O’Hare added, “The new boogieman is sticky inflation and its cousin high interest rates. We saw the effects of the latter two elements in the fourth quarter of 2022, with declines in composite wood panel shipments. The commercial and residential housing markets have been significantly impacted by the increased interest rates, which will negatively impact construction activity into at least the first half of 2023. We can be hopeful that inflation will wane progressively over the year and be back in the 3-3.5% range by Q4 2023, with an accompanying reduction in interest rates.”

Formaldehyde and climate change policy developments dominated in 2022, O’Hare said, with most of the formaldehyde action occurring in Canada. Health Canada finalized its Formaldehyde Emissions from Composite Wood Products regulations in 2021 and CPA worked with the ministry throughout 2022 to clarify several details in anticipation of the rule going into force in January 2023.

In the U.S., EPA rolled out an updated version of the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) for formaldehyde, a hazard and exposure assessment for the chemical, which will inform the risk assessment under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The IRIS assessment is presently under review by the National Academy of Sciences.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress passed a climate change bill in August, titled “The Inflation Reduction Act,” which is heavily focused on promoting carbon free electricity generation and incentives for electric vehicles. There are also provisions encouraging the federal government to procure “low carbon” building materials, which could enhance consumption of products made with composite panels. Potential benefits for CPA members will be clearer in 2023 when these programs are implemented.

With climate change being a focus of the national and international policy dialogue, Gary Heroux, CPA technical director, initiated a study late 2022 to complete the environmental lifecycle work begun several years ago. This work in 2023 will examine the “plant gate to grave” portion of the composite panel lifecycle. This will allow CPA to account for the fate of the carbon stored in composite panels after the products in which they are contained have reached the end of their life.

Mark Tibbetts, President of APA—The Engineered Wood Assn., described 2022 as a year of transitions. “Thankfully, we put much of the disruption of the pandemic behind us. We held our first Annual Meeting since 2019. We also returned to routine mill audits and in-person meetings within our Technical Services and Field Services divisions.”

One lingering impact, Tibbetts noted, is inflation—with the response of tightening monetary policy being felt most acutely in the housing market. On a year-over-year basis, new housing starts dropped 16.4% since November 2021, with single-family construction declining 32.1% over the past 12 months.

“I believe we are in store for a shallow recession and don’t buy into the Fed taking its foot off the break,” Tibbetts said.

Tibbetts noted several positives. APA’s proposal to allow OSB sheathing in floor construction in high-velocity hurricane zones in Florida, mainly Miami-Dade/Broward counties, was recommended to the Florida Building Commission for approval as part of the 2023 Florida Building Code by the Florida Code Committee.

APA’s Quality Services Div. spent much of the year conducting a comprehensive review of APA’s quality program and APA is aligning processes across regions, improving documentation and quality of the work product.

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“It’s hard to believe it has been four years since TP&EE was held, and what a strange trip it has been,” comments Rich Donnell, TP&EE Show Director and Editor-in-Chief of Panel World. “The important thing is that we’re back face-to-face. ‘Virtual’ is okay, but it’s not like being there.”

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