Two short years ago Governor John Bel Edwards announced the construction of a $110 million sawmill in Bossier Parish, now it's almost ready to begin production. Teal Jones Group is a Canadian-based forestry company that began talks to build a facility in Bossier Parish at the start of 2022.

The last update given on the project came earlier this year in May when a public statement was made following a restructuring that happened at a higher level within Teal Jones Group. The statement shared by the Bossier Parish Police Jury assured that construction of the sawmill would continue, "Teal Jones-PLain Dealing, LLC has confirmed that the Plain Dealing Sawmill is fully funded and in possession of all funds needed to complete construction and operate the sawmill."

See the New Job Listings Here

Just earlier this week Teal-Jones Group posted new job listings to their recruiting website.

The listed positions include:

• Sawmill Production/Laborer (Stated as an entry-level position)
• Sawmill Supervisor
• Industrial Electrician
• Industrial Millwright
• Senior IT Administrator

Originally the project was slated for completion in Q3 of 2023 but was pushed back in May when the announcement was made that operations are planned to begin in Summer of 2024 and should be fully operational by Fall of the same year. At this time it does seem that they will meet that revised schedule. The plant is expected to produce standard dimensional lumber and specialized lumber products like wood chips, sawdust, and wood pellets.

In the original announcement made by the Louisiana Economic Development agency, the project was expected to create 125 new jobs at the facility, with an estimated 369 jobs indirectly from the economic impact of the sawmill.