SEELEY LAKE, MO — Pyramid Mountain Lumber, which has provided jobs for 75 years in Missoula County, Montana, delivered the last load of logs through the mill to be processed on July 2nd.

“Yeah, it's, it's tough, you know, I'm 61 years old and I gotta look for another job. So that's not a fun thing to do at my age, but I mean, it'll work out” said Pyramid Mountain Lumber sawmill supervisor Manuel Kesterson.

Production through the planner and other processes is not expected to fully wrap up until mid-August. Shipping will continue through September. After August, the mill will be set up for auction.

During this time, the first large layoff has occurred. Several others have already left the mill in anticipation of the layoffs.

If the mill is sold, there would be several challenges that the new owners would face.

First, with their current schedule to wind down operations, they are not taking in any more logs and there would be a lapse in production by the time the mill is potentially sold. The new owners would have to purchase logs for up to two months without being able to make a sale.

With this, hiring employees back becomes difficult replacing the log inventory and bringing in revenue takes time. On top of the difficulty of hiring, 40% of the current workforce is 58 or older, pushing many into retirement.

Second, the new operation would have to run the mill more efficiently and with fewer employees to be profitable, something that has eluded Pyramid Mountain Lumber to date.

Missoula County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier stated that they would work with the new ownership to transfer existing permits - which would greatly help overcome a major hurdle with the purchase of the mill. Strohmaier also stated that they would expedite building permits for the new owners.

While Pyramid Mountain Lumber originally gave a deadline of May 15th for potential buyers, they are still willing to accept any offers that may come their way.