LOUISVILLE, Mississippi. April 21, 1998 -- Georgia-Pacific Resins Inc., the Chemical Division of Georgia-Pacific Corp., today dedicated its new formaldehyde manufacturing facility at its chemical operations at Louisville. The more than $10 million expansion added eight fulltime jobs to the Louisville payroll, which now totals 56 employees.
“The fact that we located this plant in this community is a reflection of the excellent relationship we have enjoyed for more than 30 years with the people and leaders of Mississippi, which is one of the key manufacturing states for our company,” said Lee M. Thomas, Georgia-Pacific executive vice president - paper and chemicals.
“It made strategic sense for us to expand our production facilities at Louisville because of their proximity to nearby Georgia-Pacific plants and other wood products facilities in the region,” said James R. Taylor, Georgia-Pacific vice president - Chemical Division. “This expansion creates value for Georgia-Pacific because it addresses an existing demand for formaldehyde in the marketplace, plus a growing demand in the wood products industry.”
Formaldehyde is a raw material used to manufacture resins needed to bond plywood, particleboard, fiberboard, waferboard, oriented strand board and other structural panel products.
The new plant provides an additional production capacity of 110 million pounds of formaldehyde per year, increasing Louisville’s total production capacity to about 430 million pounds per year of formaldehyde, phenol-formaldehyde and urea-formaldehyde resins.
“This expansion recognizes the quality of the local work force and enhances the already considerable Georgia-Pacific presence in Louisville and Winston County,” said Steven Harriman, plant manager. The company also employs about 480 other area residents who help produce plywood and particleboard at Louisville. “This expansion ensures that we will continue to be a productive member of this community for many years to come.”
The Louisville chemical complex opened in 1967. Its formaldehyde and resin products are used in the manufacture of particleboard, glass mat, plywood, oriented strand board and industrial adhesives. Its products are shipped to customers in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia.
Georgia-Pacific’s Chemical Division is a market leader in chemical products for the building products and pulp and paper industries as well as other industrial manufacturing processes.
Headquartered at Atlanta, Georgia-Pacific is the leading manufacturer and distributor of building products in the United States and one of the world's leading manufacturers and distributors of pulp, paper and building products. It consists of two distinct operating groups -- the Georgia-Pacific Group (NYSE: GP), which includes the pulp, paper and building products business, and The Timber Company (NYSE: TGP), which manages 5.8 million acres of timberland in North America. The company employs 46,500 people at 400 locations in the United States and Canada.
