COLUMBIA FALLS — The Kalispell Chamber of Commerce is hosting a manufacturing month which allows the community to see the behind-the-scenes action of manufacturing companies across the Flathead Valley.
Stoltze Land and Lumber Company — has been logging and producing lumber in the Flathead for 112 years — held a tour on Tuesday to show exactly how lumber is produced.
As one of the last surviving lumber mills in Montana, Stoltze opened its doors to the community during Manufacturing Month to show the people behind the product.
“We participate to try to get it out to the community, not only about what we do here, but what we're about as a company, and talk a little bit about our family, you know, that owns it. And how proud we are of being in the Flathead Valley, and what we can offer people as jobs,” said F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Company plant manager Trevor Kjensrud.
While a lot of lumber companies across Montana have been closing, Stoltze is thriving with about 120 employees and producing around 60 million board feet of lumber per year.
“You know, it's sad that these other mills are going down and shutting down. It's heart-wrenching, you know, not just for the family, but for the community,” said Kjensrud.
But Stoltze has no plans to close its doors and continues to upgrade its machinery and technology to make a more efficient and profitable mill.
“So it's just an ongoing process of how to become more efficient. And more efficiency means less cost. And that's the name of the game. That's how you can be here 112 years,” said Kjensrud.
Stoltze also uses the waste from lumber production to produce power for 2,500 homes in the Flathead.
“Everything that comes into this plant site, from a log standpoint, we use, or is used one way, shape or form,” said Kjensrud.
They do this by burning the wood waste to heat water and create steam.
“The steam we use to heat our sawmill, the steam we use to dry lumber in our dry kilns, and then the rest of the steam we power a generator, and that generator creates electricity that sends it out to the grid,” said Kjensrud.
While power production is a cool way to recycle wood waste it’s really all about the lumber.
“We're making a good, quality product. We have stress grade lumber, which people love. It's growing those relationships and extending those hands and helping out and trying new things and not being afraid to try new things. That is why Stoltz is still here,” said Kjensrud.
Many more Manufacturing Month tours are happening through the end of October. You can go here. Click here to view a schedule of the remaining tours.
