Equipment begins to arrive for Ketchikan veneer plant

KETCHIKAN (AP) -- Gateway Forest Products recently hoisted a $2.5 million wood lathe into position in preparation for construction of the building that will house the veneer mill at Ward Cove here.

Gateway plans to begin peeling veneer by mid-August or early September, company officials said Thursday.

The company hopes to run two shifts at the veneer mill and two at the Ketchikan Sawmill.

Gateway had more than 80 employees in November when it bought Louisiana-Pacific's assets at Ward Cove, spokesman Cliff Skillings said. The company employs more than 147 workers now, he said

Gateway's Allyn Hayes said the company plans to discontinue the practice of towing log rafts to the mill site.

The logs instead will arrive by barge or truck, depending upon where they were harvested, Hayes said.