Efficiency helps lumber mill in Grangeville, Idaho turn a profit

Idaho’s wood-products industry employs about 15,000 people, down from nearly 23,000 in 1979. But anyone who thinks the industry is yesterday’s news should see what’s happening in Grangeville.

More than 20 legislators, legislative candidates, state employees and others did that Friday as part of a two-day tour to learn about Idaho’s forests and forestry businesses. The tour was led by the Idaho Forest Products Commission, a state agency funded by taxes on the industry.

The final stop was a 2-year-old, $40 million lumber mill built and owned by Bennett Forest Industries, a family business that also owns mills in Princeton (north of Moscow) and Clarkston, Wash., across the Snake River from Lewiston.

Full Story: http://www.idahostatesman.com/business/story/503322.html