To get through difficult times, Pyramid is more narrowly targeting its production toward a niche market that demands a smaller, high-end board used for remodeling projects, bookcases and cabinets, said Pyramid controller Loren Rose.
"We're flowing against the current because we are adding shifts and adding people and producing a product that is not reliant on a robust housing market," Rose said.
Stimson Lumber Co. announced recently that it will close its Bonner mill for at least a month and curtail operations at two of its plants in Idaho. The Stolz Lumber mill in Columbia Falls has gone to a four-day work week, and Plum Creek Timber's mill in Pablo is temporarily laying off 37 workers beginning next week.
Since last summer, Pyramid has steered away from producing traditional-sized boards from fir trees. That's a luxury most stud mills don't have, Rose said. Instead, the plant will focus on 1-by-4-inch boards using lodgepole and ponderosa pine.
Pyramid has diversified its lumber production since the 1970s, but now the company hopes to ramp up its efforts.
"It's an interesting strategy to take," said Todd Morgan, director of forestry research at the University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research. "It represents forward thinking and trying to become more efficient and produce a variety of products. They are not stuck in the commodity lumber pigeonhole, and that is definitely where things are being hit hard."
The plan may not be the most profitable when the housing market is healthy, but it's consistent in down times, Rose said.
The lumber company plans to ask the state to loan them some of its highly competitive Community Development Block Grant money and for Big Sky Trust Fund dollars to help pay for the new jobs. It is working with the Missoula Area Economic Development Corp. and Missoula County to apply for the grants.
If approved by the state, the company is obligated to pay back the money.
County grant writers and economic professionals are still ironing the details, such as how much money is needed, but all information will be available at a public hearing scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13, at Seeley Lake Elementary School.
The meeting will help the Board of County Commissioners decide whether to support a grant application to the state.
"We are very excited about what Pyramid has done to find a niche market," said Dick King, president and CEO of MAEDC. "They were hit by something they had no control over."
Pyramid, in part, is capitalizing on Canada's supply shortfalls because of an invasion of mountain pine beetles in recent years, Rose said. Lumber companies such as Pyramid – which are flexible enough to alter their operations – are capitalizing on Canada's woes to get through their own, he said.
In March 2007, with the lumber market in a downturn, Pyramid cut employees' wages by 10 percent across the board. May and June proved especially hard, with the mill producing about a third of what it was used to.
For six days last summer, as the Jocko Lakes wildfire raged close to Seeley Lake, Pyramid was forced to shut down its operations. It couldn't have come at a worse time, Rose said.
But Pyramid purchased new machines earlier in 2007 to more efficiently process smaller logs. Although installation of the upgraded equipment took longer than expected and cost overruns on the project were "something very difficult to overcome," Rose said the company will now rely on the new equipment to get through bad times.
Pyramid now has 145 employees. In July, it was down to 115.
The lumber mill has not raised wages back to where they were a year ago and it's unknown when they may return, Rose said. No one likes cutting back wages, but the alternative was potentially shutting down the mill sporadically – like other nearby lumber mills have done.
Should the housing market change – many predict that won't happen until possibly late in 2009 – Pyramid can start processing stud boards again, he said.
"We are encouraged because we have something we can do and we can push hard for production right now," Rose said. "If you can get through this time, there will be some very good times coming."
Reporter Chelsi Moy can be reached at 523-5260 or at chelsi.moy@missoulian.com .
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)