California Redwood Company Sawmill To Close, 106 Employees Will Lose Jobs

The California Redwood Company will close down its last remaining California sawmill in February 2015, putting over 100 people out of a job and ending the company’s half-century-long involvement in lumber manufacturing.

The decision to close the Korbel sawmill was not easy, Douglas Reed, president of CRC’s parent company Green Diamond Resource Company, said in a press release. “The shutdown in February will mean the loss of jobs for many skilled, valuable and loyal employees,” Reed said. “I assure you, I don’t take these decisions lightly. Ultimately, though, this move will focus our attention on the core business of managing our California timberlands.”

The Korbel sawmill does not make a profit, and while CRC will continue to own assets it will no longer have operations or employees in California, Green Diamond Forest Policy and Communications Manager Gary Rynearson said in an email to the Times-Standard. Green Diamond will manage CRC’s assets, he said.

Before the impending closure, the Korbel sawmill facility was actively marketed to potential purchasers, Rynearson said. “Despite our best efforts, CRC has not been able to achieve positive results milling Douglas-fir lumber,” he said. “The facility has been offered for sale or lease, but to date no buyer has agreed to purchase or lease and operate the mill.”

The closure of the mill will result in 106 salaried and hourly employees losing their jobs, and this closure follows a staff cut last year in which 45 employees were laid off when the second shift at the sawmill was dropped due to weak lumber markets, Rynearson said.

From the Eureka Times-Standard: times-standard.com.