Omak plywood plant will close at the end of January, putting 217 out of work

More than 200 people will lose their jobs when an Omak plywood plant closes at the end of January.

Omak Forest Products has operated the plant since February through an agreement with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation’s tribal corporation, which owned the facility and sold logs to the plywood plant.

The plant lost about $1 million this year, which prompted the tribal corporation to end the log contract effective Jan. 29.

The plant’s workforce of 217 employees has been notified of the pending closure, said David Niessner, the general manager.

Omak Forest Products followed several other operators who struggled to bring the plant back into the black. A former operator, Atlas Holdings, ran the plant from late 2013 through 2015, but also lost money at the venture, Niessner said.

Omak Forest Products’ arrangement with the tribal corporation was intended to be temporary until investors could be found to pump money into upgrading the plant, Niessner said.

The plant was producing commodity plywood but had the potential to make higher value specialty plywood that could be used for siding, boat building and other applications, he said. The strengthening housing market also was a positive sign for the plant.

“We still think it’s a viable business,” he said. “With a few million of investment, we think we could move from a break-even operation into a very profitable operation.”

Omak Forest Products was able to locate investors but couldn’t reach an agreement with the tribal corporation over long-term log supply, Niessner said.

“Without the log supply agreement, this mill has no value,” he said. “There’s not enough wood harvested outside the Colville Reservation to make it a viable business.”

Officials from the tribal corporation could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.