What's N.E.W.
A Brief History of Nordic Engineered Wood
1960: Lucien Filion founds Chantiers Chibougamau, with 5 employees
and a portable sawmill, to provide mining timbers to the local industry. Annual
capacity: 2 million board feet.
1970’s: Chantiers Chibougamau establishes automated production
systems, installs dry kilns, and changes its focus to concentrate on export
markets.
1990’s: Computerized optimization and process controls usher
in a new era for the mill, maximizing recovery and reducing waste. Implementation
of curve-saw technology improves output by reducing warp in the finished product.
1994: Chantiers Chibougamau begins fingerjointing operations to improve
yield and offer superior finished product quality studs in response to customer
demand.
1999: Now comprising over 500 full-time employees, Chantiers Chibougamau
installs its first horizontal-use fingerjoint line capable of 50 million linear
feet of flange material for I-joist production.
2000: Nordic Engineered Wood founded. Nordic I-joists begin entering
the US market. Nordic installs a second fingerjoint line, and installs a glulam
line, beginning to produce Black Spruce glulam beams and headers.
2001: Chantiers Chibougamau initiate the establishment of an ISO-14001
Environmental management system. Nordic opens Montreal, QC sales office, followed
by two US regional offices in Atlanta, GA and Albany, NY. Nordic I’s
and glulams are now sold as far south as Alabama, and as far west as Kansas.
2002: Nordic’s R&D department develops 
technology, optimizing high value fiber and improving yield. Nordic develops
Ultra beam line, achieving 30Fb, 2.2E values in addition to the pre-existing
Value and Select lines. Nordic opens a new regional sales office in the Midwest
market. Nordic products begin shipping to the UK.
2003: Nordic expands sales and engineering support staff, adding a
regional office in Toronto, ON. Expansion of manufacturing facility begins
with addition of new I-joist and glulam assembly lines. Nordic Engineered
Wood is featured as one of the Top 100 requested products by Qualified Remodeler
and Design/Build magazines.
