Pennsylvania Fiberboard Producer to Enter Flooring
Marianne, PA, February 10--Officials at the Aconcagua Timber Corp fiberboard plant in Paint Township announced plans this week for further investments in the local facility as well as increased future employment, according to The Derrick.
Juan Obach, board chairman for the company that is based in Chile, told a group of community and business leaders this week that they have received great support since taking over the plant last year.
"We're starting to fulfill those promises" made last summer during Gov. Ed Rendell's visit, said Obach. And, he said, "there are even greater opportunities in the future."
Plans announced at the special meeting held at the facility involve the installation of new finishing line equipment that will enable the plant to enter the laminated flooring industry.
Obach said there is a huge market for the flooring in Europe, and the United States is importing the product.
Process controls manager Mike Eisenman said the flooring market has grown substantially over the last five years or so.
Carlos Concha, the plant's operations manager, said their goal is to move into value-added products.
Operations were restarted last September after Aconcagua bought the plant from former owner Temple-Inland.
Obach, Felix Bacigalupo and Tomas Muller are the company's three main investors through a holding company.
Obach and Bacigalupo have some 20 years of experience in the wood producing industry, said Concha.
Concha has said Obach is the main driving force behind every new product in the company.
The chairman said their objective is to become one of the five largest manufacturers of particleboard and medium-density fiberboard in North America.
Aconcagua (the company is named after the highest mountain in the western hemisphere, located in the Andes Mountains in Chile and Argentina) currently operates the Clarion plant as well as two other manufacturing facilities.
There is a particleboard plant in Franklin, Va., and a medium-density and particleboard plant in Moncure, N.C. Obach said the upcoming improvements are expected to more than double the plant's workforce over the next few years.
There are currently 90 employees, and that number could climb to about 200, he said.
Obach said more than 70 percent of the employees who worked at the facility under the previous owner have returned.
Officials say they are currently at about 80 percent of the facility's production capacity. The plant is operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Officials say they have already made significant improvements at the facility off Route 322. Prior to the plant's production restart, the company installed a "wet scrubber unit" to enhance emission controls. Concha said it was a $1.5 million investment.
