Lumber Company Plans June Closure Top Okanogan County Employer Likely To Dump All 465 Workers

The largest private employer in Okanogan County told workers on Tuesday that it likely will close this June.

Omak Wood Products, which filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization last March, could not recover because of poor lumber market conditions, company president Jim Aher said.

“Frankly, it is a miracle we’re still operating,” Aher said Tuesday.

He said all 465 employees are likely to lose their jobs, at least temporarily. There have already been 140 layoffs.

Aher said he expects the company will be sold, and that lumber or sawmill manufacturing will continue at the location, where a lumber facility has existed since 1921.

Omak Wood Products took over operation in 1988, he said.

“We have an offer on the table, and we’re hoping to get others,” Aher said. “I think there will be some kind of manufacturing business here in the future.”

While the facility shutdown is not definite, the company mailed a notice to employees and others Tuesday to give official notice as required by the Worker Adjustment and Notification Act of 1988.

The company anticipates closure between June 1 and June 14.

For the past several months, Omak Wood Products has struggled to stay alive, according to a press release.