February 16, 2024

Freres Wood plans new storage building, plant upgrades, in 2024

Photo courtesy of Freres Engineered Wood [enlarge]

Freres operates six plants in Oregon’s Santiam Canyon.

Manufacturer of mass ply veneer-based wood products Freres Engineered Wood is planning a host of upgrades and innovations at its Oregon plants in 2024.

Freres currently operates six plants across three sites in the Santiam Canyon – in Lyons, Mill City and at Cedar Mill Road.

Planned work includes a new 58,000-square-foot storage building, and the installation of new veneer composing machinery at the company's plywood sheathing mill, at its Mill City site.

The upgrades are spearheaded by the company's president Rob Freres in the context of continued recovery from Oregon's Labor Day wildfires in 2020, which Freres says disproportionately burned private lands where mills receive over 90% of their supply, and in anticipation of new timber supply challenges resultant of recent legislation.

On Jan. 1, a new Private Forestry Accord went into effect that is estimated to reduce land available for harvest by 15%. The Oregon Department of Forestry is also entering into a Habitat Conservation Plan to reduce harvests on state lands by 34%.

“The future log supply issue is challenging, and I expect to see a dozen or so local mills close this year,” Freres reflected but told the DJC that he believes innovation will be key to his company's continued success and enable the production of a broader inventory of high-value engineered wood products even from a limited timber supply.

One of those new products to debut this year will be 9-to-10-foot mass ply panels. The company will also be widening the openings in one of its plywood presses to create thicker products and further diversify its mix of offerings.

Those products will be warehoused at the new storage building which will replace an old structure at the Mill City site. The new building will be built with Freres mass ply product. The company is working with John Bradford of Crow Engineering on the design of that space, which should be completed in the second or third quarter of this year.

Photo via oWOW [enlarge]

Freres’ mass ply panels comprise the structural floors at this forthcoming mass timber tower in Oakland.

Planned innovations also center on supporting Freres employees. The manufacturer is currently in the process of making the switch from hydraulic to robotic electric systems in its plants. Freres said he expects to see 19 new robots in the plants by year's end. The company will also this month pilot a shuttle transfer service for employees living in Salem and Albany. The vanpool program is a partnership with Commute Enterprise and is supported by a grant subsidy from Cherriots Transportation.

In addition, Freres says company lands will be more intensively managed. The plan is to thin younger strands and fertilize to accelerate growth. “We never stop innovating, if you're not ahead you're falling behind,” Freres said.

2024 is also set to be a showcase year for the company's product. Nine acres of Freres engineered wood comprise the signature roof at the soon-to-open new main terminal building at Portland International Airport. The roof was fully assembled this summer and the new terminal is slated to open in May. Freres products will also be used to build out concession spaces at the new terminal.

Over in Oakland, California, the company's mass ply panels make up the structural floors at 1510 Webster – a 19-story mass timber tower developed by oWOW. 1510 Webster should also open this year. Closer to home, Freres' wares are on display on the exterior of the new Redmond Senior and Community Center which is epected to open at 15670 N.E. 85th St. in May.