Header: Header: Header:

Woodgrain Millwork Buys Idaho Sawmill

Woodgrain Millwork Inc., which makes doors, mouldings and windows, announced Thursday that it bought the sawmill from Gem Forest Products. Woodgrain Millwork gained control of the equipment and lumber on the site as part of the purchase. Other details about the transaction were not disclosed.

The mill closed last month, said Lt. Gov. Brad Little. In February, Woodgrain Millwork employees will begin two to three months of work processing the mill’s existing inventory, the company said in a news release. Crews will take several more months renovating the mill before it begins operating permanently later in the year. “This is great news for Idaho and particularly for my little home town,” Little said.

The mill has had a tumultuous history since 2009, when Montana timber entrepreneur Dick Vinson bought the property and cobbled together its equipment under the name Emerald Forest Products. The mill cost $4 million in federal stimulus money and at least $7 million of Vinson’s own money. But it never operated efficiently enough to be profitable, and the mill closed until 2014, when Gem Forest Products bought the foreclosed property.

A mill employee lost his arm at the shoulder last July while operating equipment. The sawmill is on property where Boise Cascade Co. once operated a larger sawmill. Its closing caused hundreds of employees to leave Emmett to seek work elsewhere. Woodgrain Millwork plans to use the Emmett mill to supply lumber to its Fruitland mill.

From the Idaho Statesman: idahostatesman.com.

Latest News

Polish Glulam, German CLT Projects Pick Minda

As a specialist in engineered wood production lines, Minda has been a perfect partner for green and brownfield projects for more than 40 years. One of the last brownfield projects was the extension of a glulam line in Poland for Andrewex Construction, the biggest manufacturer of glulam in Poland with more than 30 years of experience…

Lumber Quality Workshops Announced

Terry Brown and the Lumber Quality Institute will again offer two lumber quality-related workshops in Salem, Ore. for the sawmill industry in November 2023. The Lumber Quality and Process Control Workshop will be held November 6-7, and the Lumber Quality Leadership Workshop will be held November 8-9…

BID Group Starts Apprenticeship Program

In a significant development for the local community, BID Group has collaborated with the Dept. of Labor and Apprenticeship Carolina to launch a groundbreaking apprenticeship program in its Fabrication Shop. The program provides valuable opportunities for aspiring professionals in the manufacturing sector…

U.S. Housing Starts Fall While Building Permits Rise

U.S. housing starts fell in August from July, at a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.283 million, down 11.3%. Single-family starts were at a rate of 941,000, 4.3% below July, while multi-family starts were the primary culprit at 334,000, down 26.3%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development monthly new residential construction report…

Find Us On Social

Newsletter

The monthly Timber Processing Industry Newsletter reaches over 4,000 mill owners and supervisors.

 

Subscribe/Renew

Timber Processing is delivered 10 times per year to subscribers who represent sawmill ownership, management and supervisory personnel and corporate executives. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.

Advertise

Complete the online form so we can direct you to the appropriate Sales Representative.