Uncertain future for some at Plum Creek

As Plum Creek merges with Weyerhaeuser in the coming weeks, staff at the company’s Columbia Falls “cedar palace” offices could face an uncertain future, but workers at the manufacturing facilities will retain their positions and the plants will continue to operate, the company announced.

“Manufacturing will continue just as it is,” Tom Ray, Plum Creek’s vice president of Northwest Manufacturing and Resources said last Friday.

That’s good news for the roughly 650 employees who work at the company’s plants and mills in Columbia Falls and Kalispell.

The company also announced it will maintain its open access policy for its lands in Montana. Plum Creek has allowed open access to its lands, but Weyerhaeuser charges a user fee for most of its current holdings in the Pacific Northwest and South, either through leases or fees for use permits. Plum Creek owns 770,000 acres of land in Montana, most of it is in the Salish Range from Kalispell to Libby, currently a free hunting and camping ground for thousands of people.

But employees in the company’s human resources, administrative, accounting and IT departments face a more uncertain future, as Weyerhaeuser will transition some positions to its Seattle offices, Ray said.

Employees in Columbia Falls will have an opportunity to apply for those jobs in new locations and those that don’t will be offered severance packages, Ray noted. But he couldn’t speak to how many jobs will actually be affected. There’s roughly 100 employees at the Columbia Falls offices.

Ray said it would take awhile, up to two years, to determine the actual job restructuring.

Shareholders voted in favor of the merger last Friday. In order to meet dividend obligations, the deal has to be completed by March 8, though Ray said it could happen sooner. Once the merger is complete, he said he expected the re-branding of the properties to begin immediately to include the Weyerhaeuser logo and name.

Ray’s own future with the company remains in doubt. He said he was not offered a position in the manufacturing division of Weyerhaeuser, though he may seek a job in another sector of the company. Ray has been with the company since 2001 and became vice president of Northwest Manufacturing and Resources in 2009. The company last year invested $10 million into the Columbia Falls plant.

John Raschleigh, who is currently the product line manager for plywood in Columbia Falls, will oversee the manufacturing plants here under Weyerhaeuser.

The manufacturing segment of Plum Creek had $32 million in operating income in 2015, according to the company’s year-end report, down about $10 million from the previous year, due to the decrease in profitability in the lumber markets.