SEELEY LAKE — Production of new lumber products at the Pyramid Mountain Lumber mill in Seeley Lake has officially stopped. What remains now is getting the last of the product shipped out and prepping the mill for auction.
“I think we're in the final two, you know, shutting off the logs in March, the sawmill done in late June, early July. All the, the lumber that we cut out of the sawmill is now, you know, the third phase was processing all that lumber into finished lumber, graded lumber, ready to be loaded on trucks," explained Pyramid Mountain Lumber president and owner Todd Johnson. "So we're through three of the five right now. So we're headed into the, the last two which the auction we're preparing for an auction."
Pyramid Mountain Lumber first announced it was closing in early April, stating that a lack of labor and lumber costs were the main reasons for the closure.
Since that announcement, about 40 employees have been laid off and left to search for new jobs. However, the government has offered help in searching for a new job as well as offering unemployment benefits for the majority of them.
The ending of operations didn’t stop the remaining 55 employees from giving it their all.
“We broke two production records in the last week we ran and I think that's, it's really a testament to our employees. It really is. They went out with pride and cared about their job and I was very frank in the press release, letting people know that I think that's the reason why we were still here and why we're still the last sawmill...in Missoula County is that our employees have always made the difference and they showed that," Johnson told MTN.
The operations at Pyramid Mountain Lumber are winding down but support from the local community is continuing.
