R-Y Timber Entertains Potential Buyers
Author: John Carroll, Livingston Enterprise Managing Editor
R-Y Timber Entertains Potential Buyers John Carroll, Livingston Enterprise Managing Editor This article originally ran in the Livingston Express and is reprinted here courtesy of the Livingston Express.
At R-Y timber in Livingston—it ain’t over ‘til it’s over. Forced to close its lumber-manufacturing plant in mid-February and terminate employees after back-to-back structural fires, the company appears to have life again as multiple potential buyers have emerged who “all want to see the mill running again in Livingston,” said Dan Richards, general manager of R-Y Timber, on Monday.
“The people who are looking at it are very interested in buying the plant,” said Richards. “We have not come to any conclusions yet. But I believe it (an acquisition) is definitely going to happen. There’s that much interest.”
Richards said there were several suitors of R-Y Timber, including one local investment group, but could not disclose names.
“Yes, there is local interest and they are waiting to invest,” said Richards. But it’s still up in the air.”
The general manager said prospective buyers have come and looked at the plant and property and have asked for and been given the company’s financials.
In business in Livingston since 1996, R-Y Timber occupies 77 acres of land between U.S. Highway 89 and the Yellowstone River in Park County where it stores 9 million feet of logs and 4.5 million board feet of uncut lumber, and manufactures studs for the construction industry in its roughly 40,000-square-foot building complex.
Two of those buildings have suffered severe fire damage over the last eight months. On Sept. 12, the 6,000-square- foot building that houses planar operations – a machine-fed process that trims, smooths and finishes lumber- burned to the ground after a dust explosion ignited a massive fire.
On Feb. 7, another fire erupted in the 17,000-square-foot mill building and severely damaged the facility. The point of ignition of the second fire is “suspected to be from a new natural gas heater,” Richards said.
Efforts to rebuild from the September fire were underway as a new $ 1.25 million planar machine was purchased and being installed in another building on the property.
But a week after the Feb. 7 fire destroyed the roof of the sawmill building, R-Y Timber officials confirmed they were closing the lumber-making business and terminating some employees.
R-Y Timber employed about 78 people before the mill inferno in February, according to Richards. On Monday, Richards said R-Y Timber still had about 40-45 employees on the company’s payroll. The reduction in workforce came via layoffs, early retirements and voluntary attrition. “Some guys just went and found new Jobs,” said Richards. Many of the current workers who still have jobs are “cleaning up in the mill,” said Richards.
“We need a new roof for the mill,” said Richards. “No, we are not making lumber right now.”
On Monday, contractors returned to R-Y Timber to resume assembling the company’s new planar machine that was purchased for $ 1.25 million from a Canadian firm.
The planar machine is being installed in an existing 18,000-square-foot building on the property that was being used to store “lower grade” lumber, said Richards. Columbia Construction of Columbia Falls, Montana, which specializes in sawmills, is leading the effort to get planar operations up and running again, a process that could take another six to eight weeks to complete, said Richards.
R-Y Timber is owned by Linda Yanke and her son-in-law Bryan Norby, two entrepreneurs who live in Boise, Idaho. The company was named after Linda’s husband Ron Yanke who died nearly two decades ago.
Richards said the owners are ready to sell the company and want to see the mill running again. He’s “hopeful” a decision can be made on the new buyers within the next three weeks.
A real estate expert told Richards recently that the land itself that R-Y Timber might sell for. “It’s worth a lot of money,” said Richards. “I believe it (the sale price) will be a negotiated effort.”
The company’s profit margins fluctuate with volatile lumber prices, according to Richards, 67, who has lived in Park County for more than 50 years, and worked as a general manager of R-Y Timber for more than three years. “Some years we made a ton of money,” said the lumber executive. “Other years profit has been marginal. It’s all based on the price of lumber going up and down. That’s the sawmill business”.
R-Y Timber processes timber, primarily Douglas Fir, and produces more than 60 million feet of board each year, primarily for the construction industry.
Richards believes a new owner will invest in the business, get the company back on its feet and start hiring workers again. “This is very good news for the community,” said Richards. “I am 100% confident that it (an acquisition) will go forward. But there’s a lot of ins and outs in getting employees back.”
