Multimillion-dollar conversion completed at LP

SAGOLA – We have an exciting milestone to share—Louisiana-Pacific Corp (LP), a long-time employer in Sagola Township, successfully completed its multimillion-dollar conversion from the manufacture of oriented strand board (a product it’s made for 35 years) to LP® SmartSide® Trim & Siding (the company’s flagship product and one of the fastest-growing home siding brands in the U.S.).
Exactly one year after breaking ground on the project, LP Sagola completed its conversion with the pressing of its first SmartSide board on March 15.
Sagola expansion project; by the Numbers: Required more than 475,000 contractor hours, added 134,000 square feet to the mill, added $84 million in new machinery and equipment alone, more than 1,200 contractors involved, at peak construction, had more than 300 contractors on site, an additional 35 employees have been hired, creating new jobs in the area and bringing the site’s headcount to approximately 185 people and added 330 million square feet to operating capacity to LP’s SmartSide business, bringing the total to approximately 2.3 billion square feet.
Three LP employees—Electrical Lead Jim Chartier, Supervisor II Brodie Anderson, and Dryer Operator Ted Lundin—worked at LP Sagola when it pressed its first oriented strand board in 1988 and are still with LP today as the mill begins its SmartSide era.