North Pacific Joins Forces With Royomartin to Market FSC Certified OSB in Northern California
PRESS RELEASE CONTACT INFORMATION
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Monique Bauer, MBA |
Raymond Peters, SPHR |
NORTH PACIFIC JOINS FORCES WITH ROYOMARTIN TO MARKET FSC-CERTIFIED OSB IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Portland, Oregon (September 9, 2008) – Today, RoyOMartin (a.k.a. Martco) and North Pacific
announced a joint production and marketing program. In this partnership, North Pacific’s Northern
California distribution center, located in Napa, will have available Oriented Strand Board (OSB), certified
under the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) program, from RoyOMartin’s recently-constructed OSB
mill in Oakdale, Louisiana. These products contain no urea formaldehyde and are categorized as Low-
Emitting Materials – Composite Wood under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design(LEED®) Green Building Rating System™. North Pacific’s distribution center will be stocking
RoyOMartin’s FSC-certified Tuff Strand®, StrucWall, StructWall XL and The Grid® brands, ready for next-
day delivery to dealers and distributors in the Northern California region.
RoyOMartin’s fully-automated OSB mill is one of the largest in the world, and one of the only mills
producing FSC-certified OSB. RoyOMartin’s advantage lies in the fact they own the FSC-certified raw
material from their forests and can control the entire process from the forest to their production facility.
From there, the product has to be distributed through FSC chain-of-custody facilities to be in compliance
with FSC standards.
FSC Certification is one of two forestry certification systems available in the U.S. that encourage
responsible forest management. Two parts of the FSC system include Forest Management and Chain of
Custody certification. Forest Management certification ensures that landowners manage the forest to high
standards covering social, environmental and economic issues. Chain of Custody certification traces the
wood from those forests through all stages of the processing and distribution. Both RoyOMartin and
North Pacific are certified under the FSC program.
“We, at RoyOMartin, made the decision to certify our timberlands and processes via FSC because we felt
this was truly a third-party process with teeth,” commented Scott Poole, chief operating officer at
RoyOMartin. He found the process lengthy, but rewarding. “FSC provided an avenue that ensured our
adherence to sustainability in growth and removals, social and environmental awareness in the
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landscapes in which we work and a sound economic foundation on which to build future landholdings and
manufacturing opportunities.”
Gregg Wilkinson, senior vice president of commodities at North Pacific, provided insight into North
Pacific’s decision to move towards FSC. “North Pacific has recently taken a strong position to distribute
more environmentally-responsible products to the marketplace due to the demands placed on us by our
retail customers. Their purchasing decisions many times include green products, so we are constantly
looking for suppliers that have the best green product options.”
North Pacific currently has FSC chain-of-custody certification in half of its nineteen distribution centers
located throughout the U.S. and that number is increasing all the time. Steve Fischer, general manager of
the Northern California distribution center, made the decision to become FSC-certified to support the
green building in his region. “Northern California is the heart of the green building movement,” said Steve.
“In the past year, we have seen increased demand for FSC-certified wood building components. The time
has come to have a FSC-certified structural OSB product line stocked and ready for next-day delivery
throughout Northern California. We just needed a strong, respected manufacturer to help us and we’ve
found that in Martco.”
The decision for RoyOMartin to partner with North Pacific was an easy one for Bobby Byrd, OSB sales
manager for RoyOMartin. He was impressed with the capabilities of the sales team at North Pacific’s
Napa office. “North Pacific and RoyOMartin have a long-standing working relationship,” commented Byrd.
“Wholesale distribution of FSC-certified products was a missing link in the traditional supply chain and
North Pacific recognized the importance of filling that need in the marketplace. When I met the Napa
team, their motivation, energy and knowledge convinced me that North Pacific was the right choice for a
FSC-certified OSB distributor in Northern California.”
North Pacific will be exhibiting their new FSC-certified OSB product along with other eco-friendly products
at the West Coast Green Show in the San Jose Convention Center, San Jose, California from September
25 to 27, 2008.
About North Pacific
Founded in 1948, North Pacific is an employee-owned, privately held wholesale distributor of building
materials, industrial and hardwood products and other specialty products. North Pacific is one of the
largest distributors in the U.S., with over $1 billion in sales annually.
North Pacific produces, acquires, imports and exports building products, wood, poles, and agricultural
products throughout the 50 states and internationally. The company serves building products retailers,
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dealers and distributors, furniture and cabinet manufacturers, utility companies, food manufacturers, farm
supply retailers and more. North Pacific operates with over 30 distribution locations nationally.
For more information on North Pacific products, visit http://www.northpacific.com.
About RoyOMartin
RoyOMartin is the brand name of Martin Companies, L.L.C., a group of family-owned, professionally
managed forest products and forestland management companies based in Alexandria, Louisiana.
Founded in 1923 as Roy O. Martin Lumber, the company now operates four manufacturing facilities in
Central Louisiana and Alabama: an OSB plant in Oakdale, LA; a plywood plant in Chopin, LA; a timber
mill in Mexia, AL; and a utility pole fabrication and treating facility in Pineville, LA. In addition, the
company has a pole yard in Leola, AR. RoyOMartin also owns and manages nearly 580,000 acres of
hardwood and softwood forestland in Louisiana, making it one of the largest private landowners in the
state. All of RoyOMartin’s family-owned forestlands have been certified as well-managed according to the
principles and criteria of the Forest Stewardship Council, an independent, not-for-profit conservation
organization.
For more information on RoyOMartin’s products, visit royomartin.com.
