History

In August of 1977, James and Jacquelyn Hodgson and Ted and Jeanne Mann together bought 4,000 feet of kiln dried oak and cherry and headed west with it to determine its market value. After selling the wood to several small cabinet shops in Montana, they concluded their idea was workable and upon returning to Iowa, they organized their company.

Remembering that first sale in Big Timber, Montana and also that one of the most beautiful places they had visited was near there, they chose Big Timber as the name of their fledgling company. BIG TIMBER, INC. was therefore established in October 1977.

Two acres of land situated in the Hodgson's cornfield was purchased and constituted the site for the construction of the first sawmill building. This housed a manually-operated 1936 Crabb mill and provided space for the tiny business office. The Hodgsons and the Manns served as the company's officers and the board of directors, and for some time were the sole employees, with Jim and Ted doing the log loading, turning and sawing and Jeanne and Jacquie doing the off bearing, grading and stacking. The first log was sawn on January 3, 1978.

In 1981, three 50,000 board foot kilns were constructed. In 1984 a new 7' Salem band mill, head rig and computerized carriage were installed and the sawmill building was expanded. Big Timber has continued to grow and expand adding two additional kilns, and a 6' Salem resaw. Big Timber now has an annual drying capacity of 7 million BF to compliment its large sawing capacity.

In the spring of 2005 Big Timber was purchased by James and Nancy Ulring of Decorah, Iowa. James Ulring is the CEO of the company and Nancy Ulring is the vice president and treasurer. In May of 2005 the Ulrings hired Mike Vermace to manage mill operations and oversee lumber sales.

Big Timber presently buys logs from landowners and independent loggers and all lumber manufacturing is done at the sawmill location. Products manufactured include kiln-dried, green, and pallet lumber for international and domestic markets. Big Timber is also one of the largest producers of veneer logs in the Midwest and markets veneer worldwide. Additional products include wood chips for the paper and landscape industries, shredded bark, and bedding sawdust. Planing and straight-line sawing facilities allow lumber to be surfaced to wholesale and retail customer's specifications. Continued success has been due largely to the innovative talents found within it's own employees, now numbering over sixty.

To assure the continued existence of our beautiful forests and sustainability of the hardwood industry, Big Timber will continue to promote and support the wise and proper harvesting of timber, one our country's greatest renewable resources.