Strawboard plant sold to Burley man-Plummer plant may be up and running by Oct. 1

Coeur d’Alene _ A defunct strawboard plant in Plummer
has been sold to a Burley, Idaho, man, who plans to reopen
the plant by Oct. 1.

Becky Kramer
Spokesman-Review Staff writer

Del Loney will produce a structurally engineered panel
from Kentucky bluegrass stubble for use in residential and
commercial construction.

"What was once smoke in the sky can now be new
houses," Loney said Wednesday.

Loney purchased the plant from the Coeur d’Alene Tribe
and seven grass growers for an undisclosed sum. The tribe
and the growers sold it after 21/2 years of losses in the
strawboard business.

"We needed something with a profitable bottom line,
instead of continuing to run in the red," said Tom Dashiell,
a Rockford-area grass grower who was president of the
former company.

The tribe and the growers recruited Loney as a buyer,
figuring his product would have a better chance of
success.

Before the plant closed in April, it made strawboard from
bluegrass residue that Washington growers have been
prohibited from burning since 1998.

The $6.5 million facility opened amid tremendous
expectations. The tribe hoped to encourage an
environmentally friendly alternative to field burning on the
Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation, while growers hoped to
create a commercially viable product from the straw.

But the strawboard had difficulty competing with wood
particle board, which is cheaper to produce.

Loney’s hope for success lies in creating a finished
product, instead of a board that competes in the cutthroat
commodity market. NewCo Building System is the name
of his operation.

Loney, a retired law enforcement officer with a master’s in
business administration and a longstanding interest in
construction, spent 11 years developing the structural
panel.

"It’s going to be very competitive against the wood
industry," he said.

The panels take the place of wood framing during
construction. They consist of two outside sheets
connected by an interior interlocking matrix of boards.
Loney created the first panels in Burley with oriented
strand boards. He plans to substitute strawboard for the
interior, and eventually make the entire panel out of
strawboard.

So far, the product is earning enthusiastic reviews from
contractors.

Some of the first shipments from the plant will go to
Gordon Gregg, a Lynnwood, Wash., contractor and
partner in Environmental Homes Northwest Inc.

Gregg worked with the panels last year during the
construction of Habitat for Humanity homes in Western
Washington. He currently has two foundations poured, and
is waiting for the panels so he can finish the houses.

"They’re much more energy-efficient and stronger, and
they actually go up quicker," said Gregg, who estimates
that using the panels shaves about three to four weeks off
a construction timeline.

The environmentally friendly aspect also appeals to him.

"My goal is to have less impact on the Earth and still
provide housing," he said. "I feel this is one of the most
innovative products I’ve seen in 25 years."

Doug Woodland, a Burley contractor, used the panels to
build a shop, a residence and an addition to a house last
year.

"They’re less expensive than stick framing, they come
insulated and there’s less labor involved," Woodland said.

"It’s very simple for the end user," Loney said. "You don’t
have to be a contractor or a journeyman carpenter to put
this process together."

He anticipates hiring 10 workers, with the potential to
expand. Loney also hopes to fulfill some of the early
expectations for the plant.

One bale of straw provides the raw material for 22 sheets
of strawboard, he said. Manufacturing a panel requires
three sheets of strawboard. And a typical house would use
125 to 150 panels.

"That’s a lot of straw," Loney said.

• Becky Kramer can be reached at (208) 765-7122 or by
e-mail at [email protected].

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=082202&ID=s1203488&cat=section.business