LAKESTATE INDUSTRIES, INC. RECEIVES $3,000 PLUM CREEK FOUNDATION GRANT FOR ITS WOOD FURNACE PROJECT

ESCANABA, Mich.--Feb. 2, 2009--The Plum Creek Foundation recently awarded a $3,000 grant to Lakestate Industries, Inc. to help fund the replacement of the organization’s natural gas and water heater with a wood boiler.

Lakestate Industries, Inc. is a private, nonprofit vocational training facility that uses hard and soft wood cants to produce pallet stock for companies that produce pallets.  As such, the organization is left with a by-product that can be used as firewood, which it sells to the public.  The new wood boiler furnace would allow the organization to utilize its firewood by-product to heat its building and water supply while still having enough to sell to the public, and would save Lakestate nearly $6,000-$10,000 in annual heating costs. 

“We are proud to help provide all community members with the opportunity to work, and this project will allow us to more efficiently run our organization,” said Cheryl Ohman, executive director of Lakestate Industries.  “We appreciate Plum Creek’s support for this project, and we look forward to continuing to provide quality jobs to the community.”

Lakestate Industries, Inc. is dedicated to helping people recognize and maximize their abilities, overcome barriers, and support them in reaching their highest level of employment and community inclusion.

The mission of the Plum Creek Foundation is to provide philanthropic contributions to support and improve the general welfare of life in the communities that Plum Creek serves.  The Foundation board meets quarterly to review applications submitted from organizations in the company’s operating communities.  Visit the Community Involvement page on Plum Creek’s Web site at www.plumcreek.com to download an application.

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Plum Creek is the largest and most geographically diverse private landowner in the nation, with more than 7 million acres of timberlands in major timber producing regions of the United States and 10 wood products manufacturing facilities in the Northwest.  In Michigan, Plum Creek practices sustainable forestry on more than 600,000 acres of forestland in 13 counties throughout the state’s Upper Peninsula.  For more information, visit www.plumcreek.com.