Great Southern Wood Preserving is investing $22.5 million to expand the selection of wood treatments for residential, industrial and marine use produced at its Avoyelles Parish facility.
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In addition to its residential and marine use products, the expansion will allow the company to target new commercial and industrial markets in Louisiana.
Great Southern Wood Preserving is the lumber processing company best known for its YellaWood brand pressure-treated pine.
The company will retain 75 jobs and create 58 new direct jobs with an average annual salary of $42,200 plus benefits.
Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in 144 indirect jobs, for a total of more than 200 new jobs in Central Louisiana. At peak development, the company estimates the project will result in 300 construction jobs.
The Great Southern facility in Mansura, located on 35 acres, will be expanded to include a 187,500 square-foot warehouse to protect treated lumber, 112,500 square-foot manufacturing facility, office building and truck maintenance shop.
Construction on the expansion began in March and is expected to be complete by the end of 2023. Hiring for the new positions and early phases of operations at the expanded site will begin in early 2023.
To secure Great Southern’s expansion in Mansura, the State of Louisiana provided the company with a competitive incentive package that includes the services of LED FastStart, the No. 1 statewide workforce development program in the U.S. Great Southern is expected to participate in the state’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.
The company also will receive a $750,000 award from the state’s Retention and Modernization Tax Credit program, and $750,000 from the CLECO economic development fund established in 2017 as part of the public utility’s transition to private ownership.
The fund, which is administered by LED, was created to support job-creating projects across CLECO’s largely rural 24-parish service area. ■
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