Bright Wood Blog
New Tracker Helps People Spot and Eliminate Hazards
[December 13, 2022] More Bright Wood people can see their workplaces with OSHA’s eyes thanks to a new application called the Hazard Tracker. “The tracker is a great teaching and training tool,” Jim Sanders, Madras Safety Manager, said. “You can see what issues OSHA will have. You can also learn how to abate hazards by seeing what other people did.”
More Managers Graduate from COCC’s Leadership Lab
[November 16, 2022] The second cohort of Bright Wood managers graduated from Central Oregon Community College’s (COCC) Leadership Lab on November 4. Thirty-one people have completed the seven-week leadership course this year, and another 16 will enter the program on February 3, 2023. The aim is to give new supervisors the foundational skills to build and manage teams that thrive.
Tip of the Hat to Veterans
[November 10, 2022] This Veterans Day, Bright Wood would like to thank the men and women who stepped up to protect and serve our country. We are safer because of you.
We are also grateful for the many veterans who brought their skills, integrity, and can-do attitude to Bright Wood. It is an honor to work beside you.
Please let us know via the Contact Us page if we are missing any veterans from this list. Include the individual’s name, site, and plant/department.
Bright Wood CFO to Speak at Business Forum
[October 7, 2022] Bright Wood’s Kevin Palmer, Chief Financial Officer, will be a keynote speaker at the First Annual 2022 Central Oregon Business Forum. The theme of the October 11 event in Bend, Oregon, is “Navigating 2023: Strategies for Turbulent Times.”
Kevin’s presentation is titled “Stop the Bleeding: Managing Cash Flow Challenges in Stagflation.”
“Stagflation is a period of generally rising prices (inflation) with low economic growth stagnation (or recession) and high unemployment,” Kevin said. “I’ll share Bright Wood’s best defensive cash flow management practices during challenging economic conditions like these.”
Introducing The New Madras Plant 1
[September 28, 2022] Madras Plant 1 was a shuttered manual rip and cut operation two years ago. Today Plant 1 is a first-of-its-kind optimizing cut plant, with two lines consisting of one USNR scanner feeding two high-speed Ultimizer cut-off saws.
In Memory of Gary Burtis
June 22, 1950 – July 24, 2022
[August 5, 2022] Gary Burtis joined Bright Wood in 1991, starting in the Madras moulding plants. We were sad to see him go when he retired as the lead buyer for the Purchasing Department in 2016.
“Gary was a really good fit as a buyer,” Troy Towers, Purchasing Manager, said at the time. “You must be steady and methodical but also able to react quickly and creatively to changing situations. Gary kept his cool, sense of humor, and focus on what was ethical and best for Bright Wood.”
Our hearts and prayers are with Gary’s wife, Carla, his three daughters, and the rest of his family as we all mourn the loss of an exceptional human being.
Bright Wood Contributes $1.36 Million to the 401(k) Savings and Profit Sharing Plan
[June 29, 2022] Bright Wood people have something extra to celebrate going into the 4th of July holiday. Dallas Stovall, CEO/President, announced on June 28 that Bright Wood is contributing $1.36 million to the Bright Wood 401(k) Savings and Profit Sharing Plan.
The funds will be distributed as a 401(k) match and a profit-sharing contribution.
401(k) Match: Plan participants who deferred a portion of their pay into the Plan received a matching contribution on June 15. “Fortunately, we have a 94 percent participation rate in the Plan,” Dallas said. Bright Wood kicked in 50 percent on the first 4 percent of each eligible participant’s payroll deferrals. Overall, Bright Wood handed out $760,000 in matching contributions.
Profit-Sharing: “In recognition of this year’s hard work and sacrifices, I am pleased to announce that the company will be making a $600,000 contribution to the Bright Wood 401(k) Savings and Profit-Sharing Plan,” Dallas said. “This is in addition to the 401(k) match.”
Profit-sharing contributions will be deposited into Plan members’ Empower accounts during the second quarter of 2022. To qualify, you must have opted into the Plan and have been employed by Bright Wood on December 30, 2021. The funds will be allocated according to each individual’s percentage of the overall payroll.
Bright Wood will have given over $2 million to associates in 2021 through bonuses, 401(k) matching, and profit-sharing contributions. “I want to thank everyone for a successful 2021,” Dallas said. “It was a rollercoaster ride, but thanks to everyone’s continued hard work, we finished with a solidly profitable year.”
Team Cuts a Hole in the Roof to Install Scanner Diverter
[June 10, 2022] Bright Wood installed the first of three scanner outfeed diverter systems in Madras Plant 11. Crews had to cut a hole in the plant’s roof to lower the 4,500-pound Ultimizer diverter into position.
The diverters are for three new USNR deep learning artificial intelligence scanners. One scanner is in, and the remaining two scanner/outfeed combinations will be installed within the next couple of months.
Our Longest Engineered Dimension Lumber Yet
[June 2, 2022] Big day at the Culver site. Today the engineered dimension lumber operation ran the longest product yet for Bright Wood. The 53’6” long Douglas fir 2" x 10" material is headed to Wisconsin, where it will be used for barn rafters.
Culver’s long-length line has the capacity to run material up to 60’.
Thanks to Jesus Cohetzaltitla, Culver Site Manager, for the product photo and Marty Weimer for the two barn photos.
New CNC Torch: New Possibilities for Metal Fabrication
[May 17, 2022] Christmas came early for the Fabrication Department with the arrival of a brand new ShopSabre CNC plasma torch in May. They wasted no time putting it to good use building conveyor parts for a new line in Madras Plant 1.
Notice Anything Familiar in this Photo from the Early 1960s?
[Updated July 26, 2022] The building we know as Madras Plant 7 started as the Jefferson Plywood Company in 1957.
Built by Sam Johnson, it was the first Oregon plywood plant east of the Cascades. Johnson was the third generation of his family to be involved in the wood products industry, and he would go on to serve seven terms in the Oregon House of Representatives.
Unfortunately, the site closed in March 1966 after a pre-dawn fire destroyed the football-field-sized loading dock and over 400,000 board feet of lumber. According to one newspaper account, the fire was so large that people over 30 miles away in Prineville could see the glow.
Warm Springs Forest Product Industries, owners of Jefferson Plywood at the time of the fire, eventually moved the plant’s equipment to Warm Springs and constructed a new plywood operation near their sawmill.
Bright Wood purchased the old Jefferson Plywood site in 1987. The building became the home of our first dedicated lamination plant in 1988.
Today Plant 7 is one of Bright Wood’s busiest plants, shipping over 112 truckloads of engineered window and door components per month to some of the most prestigious manufacturers in the industry.
Flashback April 1993
[April 1, 2022] Bright Wood caused a stir when we published this newsletter article about a board stretcher in April 1993. Pete Hester was Bright Wood’s Research and Development Manager in the 1980s and early 1990s. His track record for wood innovations was such that anyone who skipped the last paragraph was VERY interested in the board stretcher.
Pete was also very interested when he read about “his idea” in the newsletter.
Here’s to our innovators … and our pranksters. You make Bright Wood one of a kind. Happy April Fools Day!
Bright Wood Announces 15 Percent Pay Increase for All Associates
[March 17, 2022] Bright Wood CEO/President Dallas Stovall announced a 15 percent pay increase for all Bright Wood associates on March 17.
People will see the change in their March 25 paycheck.
“Thanks for all you do,” Dallas said. “The last couple of years have been a reminder of how resilient, smart, and hardworking Bright Wood people are and all we can do together.”
New Documentary Explores Forestry and Wood Products Carbon Capturing Potential
[March 4, 2022] Watch a new 28-minute documentary called Capturing Carbon by the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) to learn about the vital role forestry management and wood products can play in sequestering and storing carbon.
As forests grow, trees absorb carbon. All the carbon captured over a tree’s lifetime remains locked inside the wood.
Wood products store carbon long term while also providing people with the jobs, homes, and goods they need to live well.
New Location Standards Make Perpetual Inventory Possible
[February 15, 2022] Today’s world-class companies are masters at collecting, sharing, protecting, and using data. They plan better, react faster, and operate more efficiently than competitors because they see the true, real-time picture of orders, inventory, production, the marketplace, and more.
The new Data Governance Council’s (DGC) job is to make Bright Wood world-class at getting the most value out of its data. It is a big job, so the DGC began with Bright Wood’s location data.
Compressed Air Audit Reveals Big Savings
[February 1, 2022] One Friday night in October, they shut everything off at the Redmond site, and everyone went home for the weekend. Sunday morning Redmond Maintenance Manager Robert Palmer and Slicing Supervisor Matt Bigness turned on the air compressors.
Then Robert and Matt went for a walkabout with Kelly Brown and Kevin Collins of the Strategic Energy Group to find air leaks.
“When you walk into a quiet building, you can hear the leaks,” Robert said. “You follow the sound.”
MADRAS PLANT 7 CLUB DELIVERS THANKSGIVING DINNER TO 40 FAMILIES
[November 23, 2021] Make a Difference (MAD), a club made up of Madras Plant 7 people and their family members, delivered Thanksgiving dinners to all 40 apartments in the Willow Creek Apartments on November 20. They raised the $1,300 needed to purchase turkeys and side dishes through donations and fundraising events.
How Bright Wood Responded to a 2017 OHSA Inspection
[November 2, 2021] Oregon OSHA safety compliance officer Jarrodd Bohn arrived unannounced at Bright Wood’s Redmond, Oregon facility on Nov. 20, 2017, to conduct the first comprehensive plant inspection in 20 years. Read what happened next in OSHA’s 2018 Grassroots Report.
Madras Plant 1 Reborn as an Optimizing Cross-Cutting Plant
[September 1, 2021] Madras Plant 1 is back as an optimizing cut plant. Crews gutted the old manual cut plant last year and extended the building. The new highly nimble cross-cutting operation removed their training wheels in June.
