Industry News News Wood Panels
Structurlam expands to US with $90M Arkansas plant in the works

Interior B.C. mass timber company Structurlam announced today its plans to expand manufacturing into the U.S. The company is spending $90 million to purchase, retrofit and equip a former steel plant in Conway, Ark.

Based in Penticton, B.C., Structurlam is one a handful of cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturers in Canada, and the first to bring the CLT product to market in North America. The company currently has three manufacturing facilities in B.C.

“The commercial and residential building industry is experiencing a revolution brought on by the rise of mass timber building solutions,” Structurlam CEO Hardy Wentzel said in a news release. “At Structurlam, we’re transforming wood, one of nature’s most renewable resources, into a greener, more cost-effective, and aesthetically-pleasing alternative to concrete and steel. We’re proud to establish roots in the great state of Arkansas and the City of Conway, and support Walmart as the exclusive supplier of mass timber products for its new home office campus.”

Structurlam CEO Hardy Wentzel. Photo by Structurlam.

According to Structurlam, the new Conway facility will meet growing demand for mass timber building products and industrial matting products in southern, central and eastern U.S., with lumber sourced from locally grown southern pine trees.

Walmart takes first orders

Structurlam’s first Conway customer is Walmart. The retailer plans to use more than 1.1 million cubic feet of mass timber in its new home office campus in Bentonville, Ark. – the largest mass timber campus project in North America, according to the news release.

“Structurlam is uniquely positioned to deliver its innovative approach to digital design collaboration and mass timber manufacturing to Walmart and the State of Arkansas,” Dan Bartlett, executive vice-president of Walmart Corporate Affairs, said in the release. “With their help we are able to realize our goal of connecting our associates with nature and the beauty of Arkansas through our new Home Office project.”

Conway’s proximity to Arkansas’ 19 million acres of sustainable forestland as well as key transportation corridors to southern and eastern U.S. markets made it an ideal location for the new facility, according to Structurlam. The facility is expected to create 130 new jobs.

RELATED: Structurlam adds 3 new executive team members