LOUISIANA-PACIFIC CORP.
2706 US Highway 421 N., Wilmington 

No. of Employees: 138
 
Year founded locally: 1985
 
Top local official: James Waddell, plant manager
 
Company description: Louisiana- Pacific Corp. (LP) is a building solutions company that invents, manufactures and delivers engineered building products. LP has operations in the United States, Canada, Chile and Brazil. Founded in 1973, LP is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under LPX.
 
Products made locally: LP SolidStart Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) is a framing product, which can be used in place of traditional lumber for consistency and design flexibility. LP’s Wilmington facility has the annual capacity to produce 4.6 million cubic feet of LVL. LP does not release actual production numbers.
 
Places of product distribution: LP’s Wilmington location ships directly to dealers and distributors across the Eastern U.S.
 
What made the company decide to make its goods locally?  Waddell: “A skilled workforce, easy access to resources and access to major transportation routes via roads, rail and water. We’ve been here for almost 35 years, and our operation is second to none.”
 
What’s your target market?  Waddell: “New residential construction for the eastern half of the U.S. That includes houses, apartments, hotels and lowrise commercial structures.”
 
What’s planned next?  Waddell: “Hurricane Florence damaged the mill in September 2018. Thankfully, no one was injured, but production was down for almost 3 months while we repaired the damage. We brought the mill back online right after Christmas. Our focus, now that everything is up and running again, is on making up for lost production.”