Columbia Forest Products
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Columbia Forest Products is the largest manufacturer of
hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...
veneer Veneer may refer to: Materials * Veneer (dentistry), a cosmetic treatment for teeth * Masonry veneer, a thin facing layer of brick * Stone veneer, a thin facing layer of stone * Wood veneer, a thin facing layer of wood Arts and entertainment * ' ...
and hardwood
plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...
in the United States. Founded in 1957, it is headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina. It specializes in decorative, interior veneers and plywood panels that are used in high-end cabinetry, fine furniture, architectural millwork and commercial fixtures. The company distributes its products primarily through a network of
wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...
distributors, mass merchandisers and
OEM An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...
s. Since 1976, the company has been completely employee-owned and currently has 10 manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. and Canada. At the end of 2006, Columbia converted all of its standard hardwood plywood production to produce
formaldehyde Formaldehyde ( , ) (systematic name methanal) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula and structure . The pure compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde (refer to section F ...
-free panels called PureBond. In 2007 Columbia added PureBond formaldehyde-free particleboard to its product range.


History

The company began in 1957 in
Klamath Falls, Oregon Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city was ...
as Klamath Hardwoods, establishing its first hardwood veneer plant with 43 employees. In 1963, it was acquired by Columbia Plywood Corp. In 1966, it acquired additional facilities in Presque Isle, Maine and Newport, Vermont. The company was restructured by an employee buy-out in 1976, acquiring its current name. In 1982, it built a manufacturing facility in Old Fort, North Carolina. In 1986, it acquired two additional plants in
Chatham, Virginia Chatham is a town in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Pittsylvania County, Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Pittsylvania County. Chatham's population was 1,269 at the 2010 census. It is included in the ...
and Trumann, Arkansas. In 1989, it acquired the Laminated Products Division in Thomasville, North Carolina, as well as a hardwood veneer face manufacturing mill in Rutherglen, Ontario. In 1991, it acquired a half-round slicing operation in
New Freedom, Pennsylvania New Freedom is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the borough had a population of 4,874. Once an industrial/railroad town, the community has evolved into a mostly residential town. History New Freedom Borough is locate ...
. In March 1996, it acquired two hardwood plywood plants in
Danville, Virginia Danville is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, located in the Southside Virginia region and on the fall line of the Dan River. It was a center of tobacco production and was an area of Confederate activity ...
and
DeQueen, Arkansas De Queen ( ) is a city and the county seat of Sevier County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 6,629 at the 2010 census. The placename is the anglicization of the family name of the Dutch merchant and railway financier, Jan de Goeije ...
. In August 1996, it acquired two plants in
Hearst, Ontario Hearst is a town in the district of Cochrane, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Mattawishkwia River in Northern Ontario, approximately west of Kapuskasing, approximately east of Thunder Bay along Highway 11. At Hearst, Highway 583 extends ...
(Plywood, PBC & Melamines) and St-Casimir, Quebec. In December 1996, the Laminated Products Division became Columbia Flooring. In January 1997, it acquired an additional hardwood plywood plant in
Cuthbert, Georgia Cuthbert is a city in, and the county seat of, Randolph County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,520 in 2019. History Cuthbert was founded by European Americans in 1831 as seat of the newly formed Randolph County, after Indian Remo ...
. In 2000 CFP acquired an existing veneer plant in Mellen Wisconsin. And a few years after, a massive overhaul in the plant took place, and an in-line dryer system was installed to streamline production and ensure the plant stayed competitive and profitable. In June 2007
Mohawk Industries Mohawk Industries is an American flooring manufacturer based in Calhoun, Georgia, United States. Mohawk produces floor covering products for residential and commercial applications in North America and residential applications in Europe. The comp ...
bought four factories from Columbia Forest Products: two pre-finished solid plants and one engineered wood plant in the U.S., and an engineered wood plant in Malaysia. Columbia Forest Products relocated its headquarters at the end of 2007 to Greensboro, North Carolina from
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
.


References

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External links


Columbia Forest Products
(official website) Companies based in Greensboro, North Carolina Forest products companies of the United States Manufacturing companies established in 1957 1957 establishments in Oregon