Plummer Forest Products to be sold

Plummer Forest Products, one of three Inland Northwest sawmills specializing in the processing of small diameter logs, is being sold to Portland-based Stimson Lumber Co.

The sale is expected to close later this month. With the exception of a few top management positions, all of the mill’s 110 workers will keep their jobs, said Andrew Miller, Stimson’s chief executive officer.

Plummer Forest Products was founded in 2001 by Todd Brinkmeyer, who spent $5 million building the plant on the site of a former Rayonier sawmill razed by fire. The mill turns logs that taper down to 4 inches in diameter into framing lumber.

Over the past five years, Plummer Forest Products developed a reputation for quality products and good relationships with log suppliers, according to Miller. Brinkmeyer could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

Miller said the sawmill, located in Plummer, Idaho, was a natural fit for his company’s portfolio, because it sells 2-by-4s to some of the same customers who also buy from Stimson. Stimson also supplies small-diameter logs to the mill from its Inland Northwest timberlands.

“It’s a very efficient small stud mill,” Miller said, “and studs are our core business.”

Stimson has sawmills in Coeur d’Alene, Priest River and Arden, Wash. The firm also operates a finger-joint plant in Hauser. Terms of the Plummer sale were not disclosed.