A wood veneer mill in Roseburg announced Friday that it’s shutting down after 72 years in business.
Nordic Veneer, located along Umpqua Highway, had its final day of production last Thursday, July 2.
Plant Manager Bayley Adams said the company has now cut all of its employees, except for a few office workers who will stay on to finish up clerical work.
Adams, whose great-grandfather started the company, said Nordic had roughly 55 employees before this year’s layoffs began. He said some of them have been there for decades.
“To look folks in the eye that have worked for your family's company longer than you've been alive and tell them that they don't have a job—it's awful,” said Adams. “It's gutting, because we're like family at this point.”
Adams said in recent years, Nordic has faced tough international competition, as its products aren’t included in U.S. tariffs against Canada.
He said there’s also high demand for the available wood supply on private land, which is driving up prices.
Adam said Nordic is particularly vulnerable to shifts in the market, because the company creates a product that’s largely sold to other manufacturers, rather than directly to consumers.
In April, Adams said one of the mill’s closest partners and primary buyers, Roseburg Forest Products, completely stopped purchasing its veneer products.
“That was a huge change,” said Adams, “because we were basically coupled at the hip with them.”
Adams said the company can now either sell the facility or simply wait for a better moment to try again. He said there are buyers who’ve expressed interest, but he couldn’t share more details.
In a statement posted on Facebook on Friday, the Adams family shared appreciation for the people of Roseburg and Douglas County for their longstanding partnerships.
“We would like to thank our dedicated employees over the last 72 years, the community who has stood beside us every step of the way,” read the statement, “and most of all the Creator of it all, who sustained our business and family and blessed us beyond anything we could have imagined.”
