March 20, 2015
(Glendale, OR)
-- Swanson Group Manufacturing LLC,
a Pacific Northwest forest products company, announced today that it has acquired the assets of
Olympic Panel
Products LLC. Located in
Shelton, Washington,
Olympic Panel
is
the largest overlay plywood manufacturer in North America. Terms of the transaction
were not disclosed.
Swanson
Group
plans to relocate the Olympic Panel
assets in 2016 to its state-of-the-art
facility that will be constructed in Springfield,
Oregon. The new facility will continue
to produce Olympic-branded
products. During the next twelve
to eighteen months, Olympic
Panel
Products will
continue to operate
in Shelton to ensure a smooth transition for all customers and suppliers.
Swanson
executives believe
Springfield, Oregon is the right location to maintain the
Olympic Panel tradition
of
building the highest quality overlay products.
“Swanson
is
building a world-class plywood
and veneer manufacturing facility in a location with
an excellent workforce and log supply,” said Steve
Swanson, President and CEO of Swanson
Group. “We have long
been impressed
with the quality and
depth of Olympic’s overlay product line
and
believe that this acquisition fits perfectly with our goal to
become the leading producer of overlay panels in North
America.”
“With our lease expiring next year, we
needed to make a strategic, long-term decision
and concluded that this transaction is the right step at this time,” said
Kurt Liebich, CEO of New Wood Resources, which owns
Olympic Panel. “While Swanson’s new facility in Springfield
will
eventually be
the place where Olympic’s products are made, nothing
with respect to our operations will change until 2016.”
New Wood
Resources will
continue
to own
Omak Wood Products in Omak, Washington, which
produces softwood
veneer for Northwest
markets and Douglas fir
plywood for
specialty and commodity applications. New Wood Resources
is also rebuilding
the Winston Plywood &
Veneer Mill in
Louisville, Mississippi, which was destroyed by an F4 tornado in
2014.
About Swanson Group
Swanson
Group
is a family owned forest products company based in
Southern Oregon, that operates two sawmills, two
plywood &
veneer facilities, and a utility lift
helicopter services
division. Since 1951, the
Swanson family has manufactured dimension lumber, plywood, veneer and
studs.
The
company has a long
history of supporting
its home state’s natural
resources and
purchases its raw materials from environmentally
responsible sources.
For more information, visit www.swansongroup.biz.
About Olympic Panel Products
Part of New Wood Resources LLC, Olympic Panel Products is the largest
manufacturer
of
overlay plywood
in North America. With over 70 years of production and field
application know-how, the
company’s panels are known
in the industry as the finest overlay plywood panels in North America. Olympic Panel
Products has one of the
broadest product offerings
available and is the market share leader in
overlay plywood. For
more
information, visit www.olypanel.com.
