Oxford, AL –Lorie Denton Spokesperson in the Office of Community and Economic Development and the City of Oxford shared that the Oxford City Council approved tax reductions for Kronospan’s brand new Oriented Strand Board (OSB) manufacturing facility on its 460-acre property in Oxford at the council’s Thursday morning meeting. The $350 million investment will create 125 jobs. After completion, Kronospan will employ approximately 600 employees, with an overall investment of $1 billion since it began operations here in the year 2008. The official opening ceremony on the construction site is scheduled to take place later in the year. This year, the Calhoun County Commission is expected to vote on their portion of tax exemptions at the commission’s meeting this week.
“We’re extremely pleased to announce the next venture on the Oxford location,” says Hans Obermaier the CEO of Kronospan’s North American companies. “This isn’t just an opportunity to increase our wood panel products sold in the United States but also meets our customers ‘ growing demands for top-quality construction materials. Like the other plants we have on our site The OSB facility will also be built with sustainability in mind. It will also improve our carbon footprint and negative position.”
Oxford Mayor Alton Craft has said, “This latest investment by Kronospan has them above 1 billion dollars which is a testament to the dedication and professionalism of the company to the Oxford community. We’re completely with them as they expand their capabilities. We are thankful that they have decided to do this right in Oxford. They have a unique approach to working with local schools to create a talent pipeline to help recruit their workforce.
They have launched the only to offer a forklift-training program this kind in the region. As they continue to see the successes in areas like their training for forklifts, the FAME program as well as regional classroom partnerships and developing relationships with communities We are confident that the initiatives undertaken by our city as well as our local schools working in tandem with our industry is steadily building a robust, skilled workforce in the east of Alabama. We have been delighted to collaborate with Kronospan as well as The Economic Development Council to make sure that we keep providing decent quality jobs for this region.”
Capital projects worth more than $89 million dollars have taken place within the last six months or are underway in the Oxford site. They show a determination for Calhoun County and the surrounding region by the wood panel manufacturer.
“Kronospan is extremely satisfied with our dedication to creating jobs within Calhoun County and East Alabama,” says John Connell director of Human Resources at Kronospan. “As we expand its operations across America, U.S., we are extremely aware of the impacts on the local communities we serve and adhere to our ethos of ensuring a sustainable future for the generations to come.”
Don Hopper is the executive director of the Calhoun County Economic Development Council and was the key figure in the first recruitment process for Kronospan. “These Industrial expansions about relationships. In this instance, it’s all about our long-term relationship with Kronospan. The people who are behind these numbers are family members who reside in the community, and it’s humbling for me to know that the majority of them are now people I consider my friends. I believe that the most significant reward a community can get is when a corporation decides every time to build their operations within our own back yard,” says Hopper. “Kronospan could have decided to expand at several other locations across the globe however they decided to do it again here within Calhoun County. We believe this is largely because of the connections that we’ve developed with them. We would like to thank our wonderful partners, and the State of Alabama as well as The city of Oxford as well as Calhoun County for continuing to support our efforts through incentives for industrial growth.”
About Kronospan:
Kronospan is the largest manufacturer of wood panel products.
Kronospan’s Oxford, Alabama facility is the largest and vertically integrated wood product site within North America. Oxford has a variety of products facility that includes MDF, Particleboard, Laminate Flooring, TFL, Paper Impregnation, Resin, Formalin and Electrical energy generation capability. The Kronospan Clarion, Pennsylvania site is an integrated vertically MDand HDF along with a Laminate flooring factory. Learn more at www.kronospan-worldwide.com.
