Canadian wood products were hit with a 50% tariff on Aug. 19, but it proved too little, too late for Montrose Forest Products, Colorado’s largest lumber mill.
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Owner Neiman Enterprises informed the mill’s 90 employees on Tuesday that operations would wind down once the timber supply runs out in the next few weeks.
“For months, we searched for a buyer who could continue operating the mill in Montrose, but we were unable to secure one,” Jim Neiman, president of Neiman Enterprises, said in a news release.
Neiman said the company, which is based in Hulett, Wyo., is evaluating all available options. None of them currently point to the mill remaining open.
As a result, the company filed a notice with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment on Tuesday under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires 60 days’ notice before a business or plant closes.
Layoffs will occur between Sept. 8 and Nov. 6, according to a letter filed with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
Neiman emphasized that the closure does not reflect a lack of effort on the part of the company, employees or contractors.
The Neiman family, which owns mills across the Rocky Mountain region, purchased the Montrose facility in 2012 and has invested more than $60 million in upgrades.
The company has also worked closely with government officials, nonprofit organizations and conservation groups to address ongoing timber-supply shortfalls and economic challenges.
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Those efforts did boost supply in the past year, but were not expected to provide the volume the mill needed long-term. That shortfall, combined with higher operating costs, especially for fuel, made it difficult to continue.
“My heart is with our employees, contractors and their families,” Neiman said. “Many have dedicated decades of their lives to this mill and have stood beside us through some very difficult years.”
Montrose Forest Products contributed an estimated $157 million to the local economy last year, with $73 million tied to payrolls, according to a study from the Montrose Economic Development Corporation.
Besides its 90 direct employees, the mill’s operations contributed another 84 indirect jobs. Another 232 jobs with a payroll of $23.7 million resulted from logging operations that supplied the mill.
One concern is that local forestry and logging expertise, built over decades, will move to other locations, in particular the Southeast and Pacific Northwest, as the country tries to rebuild its domestic lumber industry.
Besides economic losses, a mill closure, especially one that large, will have impacts on the management and health of surrounding forests.
Montrose Forest Products was one of only three commercial-scale mills left in a state that has seen its mill count fall from 87 to 33 since 1987.
Although Colorado ranks sixth among U.S. states for its acres of forest, it ranks in the bottom half for lumber production. Colorado imports nearly 90% of the wood used for consumer and commercial products.
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