Glen Oak Lumber & Milling builds career opportunities along with another Somerset facility

April 22, 2002: A continuing success story in Somerset-Pulaski County’s industrial development history, Glen Oak Lumber & Milling is again providing local job seekers with welcome news. For the fourth time in six years, since the Wisconsin Corporation set up shop in Somerset’s Lake Cumberland Commerce Complex, the large lumber and millwork manufacturer is undertaking a major multi-phase facilities expansion, with the last phase scheduled to be completed by October 1.

Monday’s 2 p.m. ceremonial ground-breaking for a new 45,000 square-foot building is about more than earth-moving and construction. For area residents hit hard by other manufacturers’ plant closures, it’s about creating new jobs and long-term career opportunities in a growing business and industry.

“We anticipate adding 30 new employees between now and August,” says Glen Oak President Bo Smith. “We’ll be hiring and training supervisors, skilled moulder and rip saw operators, and unskilled manual labor. Twenty additional jobs will be created the following year.

“Our incredible growth over the last six years is due, in large part, to the quality of our workers—several of whom came to us when their former employers’ local operations shut down. Our maintenance manager, Dan Pfieffer, used to work for Tecumseh (Products Company). Dan quickly adapted to our industry and began a new career with Glen Oak,” Smith relates. “We have many great personnel stories associated with Glen Oak’s Somerset branch,” Smith continues, “including office staff and mill managers who started in entry-level mill positions.* We need more good people like them who are interested in growing with us, into long-term career opportunities.”

Glen Oak’s success is also fostered by a national boom in new construction and remodeling, and by increasing demand for its high-quality Prime Poplar™ mouldings, boards and jambs and Arrow-Straight F.J.™ shutter components—all manufactured in Kentucky. New Glen Oak facilities in Atlanta, Georgia and Naples, Florida facilitate distribution of these products to the company’s growing customer base, including home center retail giant Home Depot.

Applications for the new job opportunities at Glen Oak’s Kentucky mills can be obtained at 339 Arthur Drive, Somerset, in the Lake Cumberland Commerce Complex between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, or via the manufacturer’s web site: www.glenoaklumber.com.


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