Roseburg Forest Products, a forest products manufacturer, says it will create 137 new jobs in Halifax County by investing a total of $200 million to develop a sustainable high-tech sawmill operation in the Town of Weldon.
The new 375,000-sq.-ft. facility will be called Roanoke Valley Lumber on approximately 200 acres of land. Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2022, with startup scheduled for later in the year.
Roseburg has contracted with BID Group to design, build and equip the sawmill complex.
Roanoke Valley Lumber will be one of the highest-capacity sawmills on the East Coast, capable of producing as many as 400 million board feet of dimensional lumber per year.
Roseburg is already the largest private timberland owner in the Roanoke Valley area, following its 2017 purchase of 158,000 acres of timberland in North Carolina and Virginia. Once completed, the mill will also make Roseburg a significant employer in the area, with 137 new jobs anticipated over the first two years. The company currently has 14 manufacturing facilities in North America.