Marketing, supply, transportation of wood products being studied

When the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity began studying ways to bolster industrial clusters in the state, it was only natural to include value-added wood products, an industry with Western Montana roots dating at least back to the 1930s.

By Alan Choate
The Daily Inter Lake

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A survey found the western third of the state to be choked with workers, craftspeople and manufacturers specializing in this diverse cluster, which includes logging and wood mills, log home builders, wood parts and products (such as doors and cabinets), furniture, and pulp and paper.

But the industry also tends toward fragmentation and disorganization and isn’t well situated for the kind of expansion that could bring sustained job and economic growth — at least, not yet.

Efforts are under way to change that, with a group of wood products businesspeople focusing on marketing, wood supply and transportation issues.

"It’s slow," said Dave Gibson, chief business officer in the governor’s economic office. "It’s hard to get businesses to think about collaboration rather than competing with each other all the time."

The wood products cluster is the state’s strongest manufacturing sector, according to a report prepared for Gibson’s department. It says 358 companies in Montana make products out of wood, with the fastest growth occurring among companies that make prefabricated log homes or other log products.

The report makes several recommendations, such as establishing a technical assistance center for the industry, funding research and creating a brand name for Montana-made products.

"None of this is big bang, silver bullet stuff," Gibson said. "But in three to five years, we should have some good organizations working with each other."

One idea that’s getting a lot of attention, Gibson said, is "bundling." For instance, log home builders could collaborate with makers of fence materials, doors or furniture to sell a package of wood goods.

"There ought to be a way to pack these things up so you have synergistic sales," he said.

Another area for group effort is market research and marketing, said Steve Anderson, chief executive officer of Artisans Doors of Montana. Doing it individually would be prohibitively expensive and would duplicate too much effort, he said.

"Most of us are building products that can be marketed all over the country, or the world," Anderson said. "Yet we can’t market it ourselves. It would take all our profits."

Dennis Konopatzke, who owns Woodtech Trading Co. in Columbia Falls, said he appreciates the idea of getting businesses with a common denominator — in this case, wood — to work together on issues like work-force training and technological innovation. But he’s also not sure the report’s authors fully understand this diverse cluster.

For example, a recent marketing presentation on the subject seemed to assume that wood products are a commodity in need of marketing and distribution support, and "it just didn’t apply to my business," he said.

His company manufactures custom wood doors, usually for commercial projects such as hotels and office buildings. To help a business like his grow, he said, policy makers could address issues such as rising costs for worker’s compensation, health insurance and electricity.

There’s also the work force. Woodtech employs between 40 and 50 people, and Konopatzke says so far he’s had little trouble finding good, skilled workers. But the labor pool isn’t that deep and wood manufacturing companies looking to relocate or expand here would take that into account.

"I think they can grow some businesses like mine in the market, but there are constraints because of limitations in the work force," he said.

Anderson agreed, lamenting that many of the available workers are transient, drawn to seasonal construction or resort work.

"I’m being held back in growth because I can’t find enough good people," Anderson said. "I have to go through three to get one."

Reporter Alan Choate may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at [email protected]