Ruis, partners, team up with SmartLam on expansion project

The former Weyerhaeuser sawmill in Columbia Falls will soon gain a new tenant as developer Mick Ruis and partners have made another significant investment in Columbia Falls.

SmartLam LLC, a local manufacturer of cross-laminated timber, plans to move into the mill by the end of this year, as part of an expansion from 20,000 cubic feet of production per year to 80,000 cubic feet per year. The company plans to add 75 jobs at the facility by the end of 2019. It will lease a portion of the facility from Ruis and a business partner, who bought the old sawmill and other property.

Last year, Weyerhaeuser closed its Columbia Falls sawmill and plywood plant and eliminated 72 positions there, along with about 100 administrative jobs at the Cedar Palace after Weyerhaeuser merged with Plum Creek, who had run the mills since the company was founded. All told, the old mills employed about 230 people, but some were offered jobs in the company’s Evergreen plant.

This purchase includes the sawmill and Grenier Park, a pleasant park to the east of the Cedar Palace. City leaders said Monday the partners were considering donating the parkland to the city. The old mill is the only part of the complex in the city limits, so it could help city finances as it’s developed.

Weyerhaueser did not sell the old plywood plant — it continues to use that facility, just not for plywood production.

In 2012, SmartLam began manufacturing a new building material. Cross-laminated timber consists of several dimensional pieces of wood stacked and glued together, forming structural panels.

“Because of CLT’s amazing strength, rigidity and stability,” SmartLam says on its website, “It is a cost-competitive replacement for the traditional structural materials like steel, concrete and masonry.”

The material has seen use in Europe for over 20 years, but SmartLam was the first to commercially produce it in the U.S. By mid-decade, the firm was supplying projects across North America and looking to expand.

Weyerhaeuser’s closure opened up a large facility close to home. Last month, Columbia Falls-based Ruis Holdings and Stargazer Land and Cattle purchased the 40-acre property. SmartLam signed a long-term lease to occupy part of it.

Stargazer is owned by Sherry Lesar. Her husband, Dave, is president and chief executive officer of Halliburton Energy Services. The two are part-time Whitefish residents, according to a recent feature in the Daily Inter Lake.

“It has a number of things that we’re looking for,” SmartLam president and general manager Casey Malmquist said, explaining that the former mill had good rail and highway access, and that it had several of the facilities needed for large-scale wood processing.

“About a year ago, we ordered a new equipment line, and now we can begin” production.

Ruis did not immediately return calls and messages on the new development.

Malmquist said that this new line will be largely automated, so many of the 75 hires will be in design, engineering, sales, and logistics. “These will be good, high-quality jobs.”

Others could follow, says Kim Morisaki, marketing and business development director at Montana West Economic Development.

“I do think that there is a place and opportunity for technology-driven companies that make products” in Columbia Falls, she said.

Despite its recent hardships, Morisaki says that the town still has several traits that tomorrow’s employers will seek: a strong work ethic, good schools, outdoors recreation opportunities, and access to the Chicago-Seattle rail line.

“It takes all these pieces to attract businesses, and that’s an economic developer’s dream.”

Malmquist said the company received an employment grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, and that “we have a good working relationship with the community of Columbia Falls...We look forward to working with the city to fulfill the requirements of being a good neighbor.”

Columbia Falls Mayor Don Barnhart was pleased by the announcement

“Obviously it’s great news,” Barnhart said. “We’ve been looking for SmartLam to expand. If they could put 50 to 75 people to work, that’d be wonderful.”

Weyerhaeuser also commented on the deal.

“We are pleased to see the site being repurposed and wish SmartLam success with the growth,” said spokesman Tom Ray.

SmartLam’s facilities are currently housed in a plant behind Super 1 Foods.