Woodgrain’s loss leaves Prineville reeling – again

Nearly a year after heavy snow and rain collapsed the roof over much of Woodgrain Millwork’s Prineville factory, the Idaho company announced Friday it will close the mill’s remaining operations and lay off the 55 workers still employed there, starting three days after Christmas.

The Dislocated Workers Unit of the state’s Office of Community College and Workforce Development received the required 90-day notice of layoffs that will begin around Dec. 28. The permanent closure takes effect Jan. 31.

The news comes nearly a year after the Nov. 14 collapse of a large part of the roof at the facility due to heavy rain and snowfall. There were no injuries, but the company later told workers, “After analyzing the situation and the available options, the company has decided to cease many of the operations at the Prineville location for the foreseeable future.”

That meant the initial layoff late last year of about 200 employees — then, as now, the company is offering jobs at its other locations around the country to workers willing to move elsewhere.

The news the company wasn’t going to repair the facility brought shock, as the mill, under various names and owners, has been operating in Prineville since the 1950s and was as recently as last year its third-largest employer.

The company had said last November that it would “continue to be part of the Prineville community,” operating its pellet mill and fibreboard facilities that were not affected by the roof collapse.

But in a letter Friday to the state agency, a Woodgrain official said, “Unfortunately, due to the recent loss of significant sales volume, the operation is no longer financially viable.”

Judy Toholsky told the state the exterior door frame work that was done in Prineville will move to a facility in Fruitland, Idaho, where the company is based.

It’s another blow to Crook County, which has lost many mill jobs in recent decades and saw its population shrink by more than 2,000 when it was hit by the state’s highest jobless rate during the recession., now back down below 9 percent.

Leah Kenville, a Prineville resident. told NewsChannel 21 Friday afternoon the lost jobs will have a tremendous impact on her community.

“We’ve always been a mill town, it’s just a disgrace, it’s just terrible,” Kenville said.

The city and county have welcomed big data centers built in Prineville by Facebook and Apple, though they have provided much more in construction employment than ongoing workers to oversee the many computers inside them. Both giant companies have expansion plans in the works.

As Regional Economist Damon Runberg put it: “Crook County’s economy is struggling to gain momentum. It seems every piece of good news is followed by another layoff event.”

Prineville Mayor Betty Roppe said the city will look into attracting some more companies to the area.

“We would like to keep the jobs diversified, and if we can get more timber jobs in here, we will try to do that,” Roppe said.