NORTH CAROLINA (News release) -- Roseburg Forest Products held a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of its new Roanoke Valley Lumber sawmill in Weldon, North Carolina. The company announced it planned to expand its operations in the Southeastern U.S. last summer with the new 375,000-square-foot, high-capacity dimensional lumber mill, during an event with N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper.

Since that initial announcement, extensive preparation work has occurred at the 200-acre Roanoke Valley Lumber site, former home to a Roanoke Valley Energy facility, to prepare for construction. Roseburg has contracted with BID Group to design, build and equip the sawmill complex. The mill is expected to create more than 135 jobs in the first two years.

"Roseburg has been the largest private timberland owner in the Roanoke Valley area since 2017, with nearly 200,000 acres of timberland in North Carolina and Virginia," said Adam Reed, Roanoke Valley Lumber plant manager. "This new sawmill advances Roseburg's strategy of vertical integration - owning the trees and the facilities to process them - from the West Coast to the Southeast. It reflects our long-term commitment to the Roanoke area, which has welcomed us to the community with open arms."

Roseburg currently has 13 manufacturing facilities in North America, including the country's second largest short lumber stud mill in Dillard, Ore. The company carefully selected the site for this new mill, with criteria including market demand, business climate, and workforce availability at the top of the list.

Founded in 1936, Roseburg Forest Products is a privately-owned company and one of North America's leading producers of particleboard, medium density fiberboard and thermally fused laminates.