Corrigan OSB, L.L.C., owned by Martco L.L.C. (trade name, RoyOMartin), will manufacture oriented strandboard, a versatile structural wood panel primarily used for roof and wall sheathing in residential and multi-family housing construction. The products manufactured in the new plant will be shipped throughout the U.S. and marketed under the licensed RoyOMartin® brand, including Eclipse™ Radiant Barrier Roof Sheathing, Eclipse™ Reflective Housewrap, TuffStrand®, WindBrace® and StructWall.
RoyOMartin manages over 550,000 acres of family-owned timberland in 32 parishes in Louisiana. RoyOMartin’s timberland management has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) since 2002.
According to Jonathan E. Martin, Chairman, “Ever since my grandfather started out in the wood-product industry more than 90 years ago, our family has taken pride in utilizing raw materials to the fullest extent possible. This business model has led to RoyOMartin’s growth as a leading supplier in the wood products industry.”
Based in Alexandria, La., RoyOMartin’s existing manufacturing facilities employ 1,100 in Oakdale, La. (OSB) and Chopin, La. (plywood).
The new plant brings RoyOMartin closer to some of its best OSB markets in Texas and builds capacity to meet the growing demand in major metro areas, where the product is used primarily in residential construction. An indicator of the Texas housing boom is the state’s prominence on Forbes’ list of where to invest in housing in 2017, the 20 best U.S. markets. Dallas topped the list, Fort Worth ranked ninth and San Antonio ranked 20th.
Named 2016 Manufacturer of the Year by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, RoyOMartin has also received accolades for its employee-development programs, including WoodWorks, a program in local high schools that trains students for careers in the wood-products industry, and RoyOMartin University, a comprehensive on-site training program that gives employees a broad perspective on the business and prepares them for advancement within the company. It also aims to teach behaviors and instill principles that make its graduates valued participants in their communities.
Addressing the need for a skilled labor force, Roy O. Martin III, president CEO and CFO of RoyOMartin said, “We will be working closely with the Corrigan-Camden Independent School District and Angelina College to develop a committed, competent workforce. He added, “We’ll extend our philosophy of being ‘employer of choice’ and ‘vendor of choice’ to this region, while maintaining the stability of a well-established, family-held company committed to its stakeholders.” Terry Secrest, Vice President of the Oriented Strand Board Business, states “the expansion of our business in Corrigan requires hiring 165 team members. This inclusive process matches applicant skills with job requirements. To date we have hired a very diverse group of men and women many with prior manufacturing experience and excellent job skills.”
While increased production leads to increased use of natural resources, Scott Poole, senior vice president and COO of RoyOMartin, explained, “We look forward to extending our pride and dedication to sustainable forestry practices through additional foresters and loggers. With this expansion, we will continue to be good stewards of our forests, while delivering a full line of wood products across the country and world.”
All of Martco L.L.C.Louisianawood products are available Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certified.
Partnering with the Polk County Economic Development Corporation, Entergy was involved in the site search for RoyOMartin’s new OSB plant in 2013. At that early stage of the project, Entergy did not even know the name of the company due to confidentiality agreements but did know that the power requirements were significant enough to rule out some of the available sites. The team quickly identified several suitable sites, and the one that RoyOMartin selected was identified through Entergy’s relationship with Timberland Investment Resources.
Once the Corrigan location was selected, Entergy helped RoyOMartin work through the process of getting a tax abatement and connected them to resources for the impact analysis.
From day one of Entergy’s partnership in planning a new industrial facility for a company, that company becomes a customer. Entergy immediately assigned RoyOMartin an account manager and formed a dedicated team of experts through its project management group called Large Project Services. Entergy is one of the only utilities in the U.S. to offer this customized, expedited service approach for large industries building or expanding their facilities.
The Entergy Large Project Services team working on the RoyOMartin project included design experts experienced in substation, transmission, relaying, environmental and right-of-way, as well as experts in transmission construction, project management, legal and account management. Members of the team representing all these critical disciplines developed a detailed execution plan to meet the customer’s electrical needs and timeframe.
Entergy brings its highest level of expertise to the very beginning of a project because this has a positive impact on a customer’s short- and long-term business profitability. Using this approach, Entergy devised several different energy solutions for RoyOMartin to align with their business priorities.
Since an adequate, reliable electrical supply is critical for the success of RoyOMartin’s new manufacturing plant, they chose to have their power supplied by two of Entergy’s 138,000 Volt transmission lines.
To help RoyOMartin manage the costs of establishing their energy infrastructure, Entergy is applying the Entergy Electric Extension Policy so that the customer’s upfront costs to build a new substation will be offset or refunded to them based on Entergy’s non-fuel revenue over 48 months.
One of the advantages of the Large Project Services approach, which concentrates resources early in the planning phase, is efficiency in cost management and scheduling. As a result, this project came in under budget and ahead of schedule. By February 20, 2017, Entergy’s facilities were energized and ready to serve the customer, well in advance of the April 1 date the customer had requested.
