$110 million Bossier Parish sawmill to create 125 direct jobs

Work has started on a $110 million sawmill in Bossier Parish that will create 125 direct jobs.

The Teal Jones Group is building a southern yellow pine lumber plant on a 235-acre site in Plain Dealing. The sawmill will have average annual salaries of $47,000, plus benefits. LED estimates the project would also support at least 369 indirect jobs. Up to 120 construction jobs would be created at the height of construction.

The plant, which will be completed in summer 2023, will have a production capacity of 300 million board feet per year – enough wood to build 18,315 single family homes. The plant will produce fiber products, such as chips and sawdust, that it will sell to pulp and pellet plants.

Teal Jones is a 70-year-old, family-owned company based in British Columbia, Canada. The company is the largest privately held forest products company operating on the western coast of Canada and operates four U.S. southern yellow pine mills, including one in Liberty, Mississippi. But while the company bought those sawmills, this is the first U.S. location it is building from the ground up.

The company announced in December it was considering building a plant in Plain Dealing.

The state provided an incentive package to land the plant, including the services of the LED FastStart workforce development program. Teal Jones is expected to utilize the Quality Jobs program and pursue a payment in lieu of taxing agreement with Bossier Parish taxing bodies.