TALLADEGA — The Alabama economy got another shot in the arm on Thursday with the official launch of a $100‐million, 300,000‐square‐foot Georgia-Pacific lumber production facility.
Georgia-Pacific announced its intentions to open the Talladega facility late last year. From groundbreaking earlier this year through today’s ceremony, it took less than a year to complete.
The plant currently employs more than 130 full-time employees and will generate an estimated $5 million in annual payroll according to Georgia-Pacific.
“[Georgia-Pacific] has already made a difference in this community and this county,” Talladega Mayor Jerry Cooper said at the opening of Thursday’s event. “And believe me, brother – they’re going to make a difference in the future because they’ve got quality employees coming in here and going to work, and being productive and make them look good. And they want to make their employees look good. And I want the city and all the surrounding areas to work with Georgia-Pacific and promote what a good company they are.”
Fritz Mason, the vice president and general manager of Georgia‐Pacific Lumber, thanked the local governments for their help to expedite the process of getting the facility up and running in such a short time.
“It was hardly a year ago we announced our intentions to build the facility and I think you all will agree – we’ve come a long way in 12 months,” Mason said. “And think, we actually didn’t start pouring concrete here until January 4 of this year.”
“Everyone including the state, city and county have been extremely helpful throughout the process,” he added. “I look forward to continuing our great working relationship.”
He explained the Talladega facility was the first of the three new facilities of its type to be added to Georgia-Pacific lumber production portfolio, with the other two set to open up in Georgia. Mason attributed the expansion to the rebound from the 2008 housing downturn and the increased demand for lumber.
“I’m happy to announce we are now producing quality lumber made in Alabama,” he declared.
Mason boasted about the new “state of the art” mill and how it will double the output of a similar-sized sawmill from 20 years ago, which he said was enough lumber annually to build 20,000 homes.
“When you see this mill, you’ll realize this isn’t your grandfather’s sawmill,” Mason said. “The technology in the mill is pretty amazing, and the facilities we are building are all state of the art facilities.”
Although it took the cooperation of local government for Georgia-Pacific to open its facilities at this time, Georgia-Pacific President and CEO Christian Fischer emphasized it wasn’t a “handout” and that the cooperation has benefits for all of those involved.
“None of these were handouts, folks — none of these were gifts,” Fischer said. “We do good by each other. Everybody has got to win when we do something. By coming here, we all win.”
“This is what good relationships are built on,” he added. “That is what makes progress in society. That is what we are here to do.”
Offering the keynote remarks at the facility’s opening ceremony was Gov. Kay Ivey. Fresh off last week’s dominating election win, Ivey thanked Georgia-Pacific for “believing in” Alabama.
“Folks, this is an exciting day for our state,” Ivey said. “This is an exciting day for Georgia-Pacific. It’s an exciting day for Talladega, and it’s a truly exciting for the entire state of Alabama. When Talladega wins, we all win.”
“Thank you for believing in our state, but most of all to our friends at Georgia-Pacific, Christian and others, thank you for believing in our people. Our people are what makes our state so wonderful … We probably got the hardest-working workforce of any state in the nation.”
Following her public remarks to the crowd assembled for the grand opening, Ivey addressed the media and stressed the importance of workforce development.
“Workforce development has to be an ongoing thing,” she said to Yellowhammer News. “We’ve got to upgrade and give advanced training to our some-500,000 workers so they can be even better prepared for our jobs of tomorrow. It’s no longer good enough to just have a K-12 degree. You need at least a two-year certificate, credential or two-year degree. We’re working on that and people are responding.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and is the editor of Breitbart TV.
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