PORT ANGELES — What a difference a month makes.
After nearly facing closure at the beginning of June, Peninsula Plywood has more than doubled production and hired about 30 new workers after receiving an infusion of public and private funds.
“We’re shipping more plywood now than we have ever shipped,” said Grant Munro, one of the mill’s investors.
One month ago, the mill on Marine Drive in Port Angeles didn’t have enough money to buy wood to meet orders.
Workers were sent home for days a time as the mill was unable to make enough plywood.
But that changed about three weeks ago when the mill received $212,000 from the state Department of Commerce — the first payment of a $500,000 grant — and another $230,000 from its investors.
“We have the capacity, we have the orders,” said PenPly President Josh Renshaw.
“I just think we’re all feeling much better,” he later added.
In what appears to be an unprecedented move, Commerce provided the mill with the community development block grant aimed at simply keeping the facility open.
The mill’s investors had to raise additional funds on their own to receive the first payment. They have to raise another $470,000 to receive the rest.
Renshaw said that should be accomplished next week.
Production has increased from 1.3 million square feet a month to three million feet, he said, and workers are putting in 50 hours a week to keep up.
That’s nothing that employees, which had a 10-percent pay cut in May, are complaining about.
“The more business we get, the better it is,” said Chris Zier, general foreman.
“Morale is up; people want to work.”
Kathy Barley said she and other employees welcome the work load.
“A lot of people don’t mind because it’s more money,” said Barley, who removes knots from plywood sheets.
“I’m really hoping the mill makes it,” she said.
Renshaw said the mill has a workforce of about 130.
It had 85 mill workers and 102 total employees before receiving the grant, he said.
Another 10 to 15 workers will be hired in the next few weeks, Renshaw said
Starting pay is $10.80 an hour.
Helping boost production is the certification the mill recently received to sell to Japan, which Renshaw said is in need of plywood after this year’s massive earthquake.
So far, the mill has made seven shipments there and expects the contracts to make up 20 percent of its sales by year’s end, he said.
Renshaw said the mill is at the production level it needs to be at to become financially stable, though he added the rest of the grant is still needed.
“As you grow,” he said, “you’re not accumulating cash, you’re spending it all. But we have to grow to be more stable.”
Munro of Port Angeles said the investors wouldn’t have felt comfortable putting more money into the mill without the grant.
“We were all struggling,” he said. “We were basically in all as far as we can go.
“The grant was enough to get over the top.”
Renshaw said PenPly has made a $50,000 payment on its overdue utility bills to the city as required by the grant.
The mill owed $315,331 to the city as of June 7. Renshaw said it hasn’t missed another payment and is working out a repayment plan with the city.
Additionally, the mill owes $82,783 in rent to the Port of Port Angeles.
A repayment plan with the port is also in the works, Renshaw said.
Renshaw said it’s unclear when the pay cut, intended to be temporary, will be eliminated. He said he hopes it’s a “matter of months.”
Management took the same pay cut last November, he has said.
PenPly reopened the mill — which was shuttered by its former owner, Klukwan Inc., in November 2007 — in March 2010.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
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