KALISPELL — Montana Gov. Steve Bullock visited the grand opening of SmartLam’s new engineered wood manufacturing facility Tuesday in Columbia Falls.
Founded in 2012, SmartLam is the first producer of cross laminated timber in the United States. SmartLam’s structural wood products help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, creating new markets for timber that help address forest management.
SmartLam CEO Casey Malmquist said the company’s goal is to re-purpose, reuse and recycle. He said they have been working on the new facility since 2018.
Malmquist says his cross laminated timber is used anywhere from residential product to multistory high-rise buildings. Bullock said SmartLam’s cross laminated timber is a success story for Montana businesses.
“I remember probably six years ago going to his old production facility, and to see this is certainly important to the company, but it’s important to our entire state,” Bullock said.
Malmquist said the new facility will start running continual production next week. He says SmartLam now has the largest cross laminated timber production capacity in North America.
The new facility in Columbia Falls is 145,000 square feet.
