Alexandria-based RoyOMartin announces plans to invest 25-million dollars into its oriented strand board site in Oakdale and its plywood manufacturing site in Chopin. Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain says this is great news coming from one of Louisiana’s biggest employers.
“They are committed to the long-term stability and growth and they do a lot of things in the community,” said Strain.
RoyOMartin employes over one-thousand workers in Louisiana. Officials say this investment will lead to an additional 10 permanent jobs and 28 new indirect jobs. Strain says one reason RoyOMartin is investing in these two facilities is that new home construction is at a 12-year high.
“We also see the economy continue to grow, all of those things help the wood industry,” said Strain.
The RoyOMartin plant in Oakdale is the leading employer in Allen Parish and the company’s modernization of the Chopin facility will feature plantwide upgrades. Strain says it’s exciting news for the state’s natural resource-based economy.
“The fiber it comes through the earth and we grow that and now we are adding value to that and that what turns the economy in rural areas and the entire economy of Louisiana,” said Strain.
