SmartLam Opens Manufacturing Facility in Columbia Falls Mt. at Former Plum Creek Sawmill

SmartLam, the cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturer is starting up production at the former Columbia Falls, Montana, facility that Plum Creek Timber Co., and Weyerhaeuser had once called home for more than 50 years. The manufacturing site of course looks much different than when Plum Creek opened it 1964. “It’s a pretty technical operation,” SmartLam founder and CEO Casey Malmquist said during a grand opening event Tuesday as he pointed out specialized equipment. The Columbia Falls facility created 40 new jobs in the plant, and Malmquist pointed out local lumber manufacturing is responsible for the creation of numerous indirect positions as well, in areas like harvesting the wood and marketing the products. With the company’s recent reorganization as SmartLam North America and expansion into Columbia Falls and Dothan, Alabama, SmartLam is now the country’s largest producer of the innovative wood product.