Amador County – Sierra Pacific Industries announced last week that it has begun production at its Sonora sawmill with 100 new employees hired, and it also expanded its mill at Chinese Camp, creating 26 new jobs.

Sierra Pacific Industries and the Tuolumne County Economic Development Authority released a joint announcement July 7 saying that “production has begun on SPI’s retooled Sonora sawmill – employing 100 workers. A second shift is expected to be begin later this summer – adding approximately another 30 jobs.”

In addition, “SPI’s Chinese Camp fencing mill is expanding its operations and has created 26 new jobs bringing total employment there to 115.”

SPI area manager Ryan Land said SPI continues to “invest in the future of our community, our forests and mills. Our multi-species forests include pine, fir, and cedar and are sorted and processed by either our Chinese Camp fencing mill or at our new state-of-the-art facility in Sonora.”

Land said the “unique ability to utilize a variety of wood species and log sizes has allowed SPI to retool and expand here in Tuolumne County.”

SPI spokesman Mark Luster said: “Retooling this mill will help California meet its own demand for wood products, rather than importing lumber from faraway places with lower environmental standards. The time has come when more of the lumber needed in this state can be produced in California’s mills.”

According to Larry Cope, Director of Economic Development at Tuolumne Economic Development Authority, “the creation of 126 full-time family-wage jobs will bring the total of SPI employees at Standard and Chinese Camp to around 215.”

Cope said “even bigger news is that these 215 full-time mill jobs will increase peripheral jobs in areas such as logging, trucking, and supplier firms. By using an industry standard multiplier, these new jobs will have a total economic effect of 1,000 to 1,200 new jobs.”

Luster said SPI “is a third-generation family-owned forest products company based in Anderson, Calif. The firm owns and manages nearly 1.9 million acres of timberland in California and Washington, and is the second largest lumber producer in the United States.”

SPI is “committed to managing its lands in a responsible and sustainable manner to protect the environment,” Luster said, “while providing quality wood products and renewable power for consumers.”

Cope said the Tuolumne County Economic Development Authority promotes Tuolumne County, including the city of Sonora, “as a dynamic business location and provides business with essential information needed when locating or expanding business in the Sierra-Mother Lode Area of California.”

He said the Authority’s “mission is to facilitate a local economy that is innovative, resilient and diverse, by assisting in business formation, developing a skilled workforce, supporting local businesses, and attracting innovative companies to Tuolumne County.”

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.