Kronospan investing over $300 million in Oxford, bringing over 100 jobs

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - The Oxford City Council approved tax abatements for Kronospan’s new Oriented Strand Board (OSB) manufacturing plant on its 460-acre site in Oxford at Thursday morning’s council meeting.

This $350 million investment will create 125 new jobs. Once completed, Kronospan will employ approximately 600 people with a total investment of over $1 billion since beginning operations in 2008.

“We’re very pleased to announce the next project at our Oxford site,” says Hans Obermaier, CEO of Kronospan’s North American companies. “This is not only an opportunity to further expand our portfolio of wood panel products in the United States but also meets our customers growing need for high-quality construction materials. Just like the other plants on our site, the OSB plant will be constructed with our sustainability principles in mind and will further enhance our negative carbon footprint status.”

Spokeswoman Lorie Denton says this level of commitment and expansion in the community is one of the best compliments a city can receive.

Kronospan is one of the largest producers of wood panel products, with its main headquarters in Oxford.

They’ve invested $89 million in capital projects in the last six months. Denton says they’ve also worked with local schools to recruit employees.

“They’re doing all the things that we’re telling them that they need to do to be successful in recruiting a workforce pipeline,” says Denton. “They were instrumental in working with Oxford City Schools to create a forklift training program last year that was the first of its kind across Alabama. They just completed another year of that program, and all of those students, around 20 last, year about the same this year. All those students graduated with forklift certifications and were offered jobs with Kronospan.”

They will break ground for the new facility later this year.

Get news alerts in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store or subscribe to our email newsletter here.

Copyright 2023 WBRC. All rights reserved.