PORT ANGELES — The “bulldog” persistence of Josh Renshaw to get Peninsula Plywood up and running was the theme of a grand opening ceremony that drew about 200 people Saturday morning.

Mill controller Lena Washke worked with Port of Port Angeles President George Schoenfeld to present the “Bulldog Award” to Renshaw, Peninsula Plywood president, from the mill employees during the ceremony, commending his dedication to reopening the mill.

“A lot of people helped make this happen — but the one critical person, the real hero today, is the bulldog who just would not back down and wouldn’t let it go,” Schoenfeldt said.

Renshaw once was a sales manager for KPly, the name of the mill at 439 Marine Drive when it was owned by Klukwan, an Alaskan native corporation.

After Klukwan permanently laid off the work force of 132 in April 2008, Renshaw worked to reopen the shuttered plant under a new but old name. Peninsula Plywood was the mill’s name when it first opened 69 years ago.

Production at the newly reopened mill, with 124 employees on board, began at the beginning of the month.

Renshaw ‘relentless’

“Josh wouldn’t let any of us forget about the mill,” Schoenfeldt said. “He was relentless.”

Washke said that, like a bulldog, Renshaw was stubborn, protective and “brave to the extreme.”

“Even though some might question their [bulldogs’] intelligence — they are wrong,” she said, drawing laughter from the crowd.

She then presented the award to Renshaw, calling him a “cockeyed optimist.”

“The last couple years have been pretty tough, with Wall Street and people cutting jobs and here we are creating jobs,” Renshaw said.

“I wish I could take credit, but it really was a lot of people coming together.”

Gregoire busy

Gov. Chris Gregoire had planned to attend but was unable to make it because of demands on her time working with the state Legislature on the supplemental budget, said Schulyer Hoss, the Southwest Washington public liaison officer who appeared on Gregoire’s behalf at the ceremony.

Hoss said the reopening was all about confidence of the investors, of the business and of workers.

“You are going to move forward with the innovation, determination and the can-do attitude of the community,” he said.

He also said Gregoire had sent her regrets.

“No one wishes more than the governor that she could be here today,” he said.

“She just cannot say enough good things about Josh, and those words are very sincere.”

Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, came down with pneumonia, and Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, was working as an emergency medical technician at Clallam County Fire District No. 3 — so both were unable to make it — Renshaw said.

State Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, was also unable to attend, Renshaw said.

Renshaw tipped his hat to the third 24th District legislators, as well as to Gregoire, all of whom helped make getting the mill going possible, he said.

He also commended his employees.

“This is the best work force I have ever been associated with,” he said.

“We brought back a lot of people and brought in a lot of new people, but all of them are really the best.”

Investors in Peninsula Plywood Group include Grant Munro, former Port Angeles City Council member, and Wilmer Possinger Jr.

The company has a lease with the Port of Port Angeles, which owns the 19-acre site where the mill is located. It acquired the mill’s equipment from Sterling Savings Bank.

The Rural Development Program provided backing through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act — known commonly as the stimulus act — for two loans for PenPly, allowing them to get the funding they needed to reopen.

“This is exactly the type of business our president and the leaders of our nation were thinking of when they created the Recovery Act,” said Mario Villanueva state director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Program.

Laurie Stewart, president of Sound Community Bank who provided the loans for PenPly, said she has been excited since the beginning for the mill’s potential.

“Some of my employees just couldn’t understand why my eyes were wide and I was excited about this opportunity,” Stewart said.

“But I was born and raised in this community, and my family has a history in logging.”

She said both her grandmother and grandfather as well as her father were in the logging business.

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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.