Georgia-Pacific recently broke ground at the site of their new, state-of-the-art lumber production facility in Albany, Georgia with Georgia-Pacific executives and local leaders from the City of Albany and Dougherty County. The event took place on Tuesday at the Albany-Dougherty Industrial Park located on Sylvester Road.

“Our research told us we needed to be in South Georgia. When we were shown this industrial park we simply stopped looking. Due to the foresight of Albany/Dougherty county leadership to invest in an industrial park like this we found a site that was perfect for our needs,” said Georgia-Pacific's vice president of lumber, Fritz Mason.

More than 170 community leaders, guests and Georgia-Pacific employees gathered for the groundbreaking ceremony, which included greetings from the City of Albany’s Mayor Dorothy Hubbard and the Dougherty County Chairman Chris Cohilas.

Speaking on the excitement of the new industry locating in Albany, the Albany Dougherty Economic Development President Justin Strickland says, “We are very excited to be home to Georgia-Pacific’s newest lumber production facility. GP is a great industrial leader for the State of Georgia and we look forward to continuing to build a strong and vital partnership with them in our community.”

The $150 million, 320,000 square foot advanced technology lumber facility plans to be fully operational by this fall. Once operational the facility will employ more than 130 full time employees with an estimated $5 million in annual payroll.

“The technology in this mill is pretty amazing. This site is capable of delivering more than double the output of a similar size facility 20 years ago. The efficiency combined with the area’s forest resources will make these new mills globally competitive for decades to come. In fact, each one produces enough lumber to build 20 thousand new homes a year,” said Mason.

Since 2012, Georgia-Pacific has invested approximately $1 billon in additional capital and acquisitions in Georgia and currently employs more than 7,100 employees at 17 facilities in Georgia.