Sean C. Morgan
The owners of a Eugene-area wood products company have chosen to relocate their business in Sweet Home in the building last owned and operated by Overhead Door and previously by Smurfit.
McCool Millworks, Inc. manufactures custom wood products, Douglas fir flooring, paneling, moulding, interior trim and millwork.
“Currently we’re in Goshen (east of Eugene),” said owner Scott McCool. “I’ve been there almost 16 years now. We’ve been leasing the facility.”
The property recently sold, and the new owner has different plans for the facility, he said. “We started looking back in May of this year.”
McCool discovered the Sweet Home property when he was driving through to see his sister-in-law, Debra Roberts, who lives in the Foster area. He noticed a “for sale” sign, and he quickly made an offer.
“I went through an SBA (small business administration) loan to secure the property,” McCool said. The loan process finished in November, and now he owns the property.
The property is located on the northwest corner of the intersection of 18th and Main streets, wrapping around two properties at the intersection, All-Star Auto, formerly Bentley Auto Repair, and the old Chevron station, now a Goodwill donation drop. Overhead Door ceased operations there in 2008.
McCool said his business doesn’t carry any inventory or lumber. Customers send the lumber to his business to be made into whatever custom product they desire.
Most of the time, McCool Millworks works with Douglas fir, hemlock and western red cedar, although it sometimes works with other species, he said.
“I’ve been in the industry 45 years now,” McCool said. His family’s background in wood products started with his grandfather. He spent 25 years working at a family-owned mill in northern California. He then spent eight years at Contact Clear Pine Lumber in Prineville working as operations manager.
McCool went to China on a contract to build a sawmill moulding facility, he said. He stayed there for three years and moved to Seattle, where he was president of sales for three years selling production from that plant.
He moved to the Eugene area, he said. “I was on a contract basis to help shut down a facility that had gone bankrupt.”
He started custom milling on the side, and it took off, McCool said. Today, he owns it with his wife, Valerie, and son, Mike, who lives in Albany. Mike has been in the business since 1996. Another son, Andy, is a lieutenant with Oregon State Police.
Currently, McCool Millworks has 12 employees, McCool said. The business has been reducing its size by attrition in preparation for the move. Some of the current employees won’t be coming with the mill. He expects to bring a core of about eight staff and to hire additional help locally.
In 2016, he expects to expand to 20 to 25 employees, he said. McCool said he has an open-door policy – to anyone. Anyone with questions is invited to drop by and see him.
The property will take advantage of the Sweet Home enterprise zone, which provides a property tax exemption for up to three years.
It’ll be the first time the program has been used in the past 18 years, said City Manager Craig Martin.
The McCools own a home in Eugene, Scott McCool said. “Ultimately, I plan on moving to this area.”
He wants to find the right property first, he said, because he intends to retire there.
“I can’t say enough about how friendly and welcoming everyone is,” McCool said. “It’s really nice to have that.
“It’s half the reason we’re out of Lane County,” said Valerie McCool. “Sweet Home is pro-business, and it’s a big influence on our decision.”
She noted that they had several choices, and they liked the local government here.
They like the atmosphere here, Scott McCool said. “It’s an easy bunch of people to work with. We’re excited and hopefully we’ll have some operations up and running by mid-January.”