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Steve Killgore, president of Cascade Structural Laminators, supports the industry through positions on the APA Board of Trustees, APA Marketing Committee and APA Glulam Advisory Committee.
Cascade Structural Laminators Strives to Be The Best

Eugene, Ore.–Almost three years ago, Steve Killgore, president of Cascade Structural Laminators, and business partner, Andy Storment, seized the opportunity to purchase a recently idled glulam plant. With careful planning and bringing together a core management team of seasoned engineered wood professionals, Cascade Structural Laminators (CSL) hit the ground running. With over one million dollars in production improvements at the Chehalis, Washington glulam plant and the recent addition of dry kilns, planing mill, grading facilities and rail shipping at its Fort Hill, Ore. operations, CSL has hardly had time to look back.

Key management people at CSL, who shaped their careers at Bohemia, Inc. and Willamette Industries, have blended those cultures into the business philosophy at Cascade. As Steve Killgore fully understands, “At Bohemia, the mantra was ‘Not Biggest, But Best,' so it was always stressed that being the Biggest wasn’t as important as striving to be the Best. At Willamette, the mission was developing strong relationships and excellent customer service. Those have been powerful forces in the shaping of Cascade’s customer driven culture.” As a result, Cascade may not be the biggest, but it is the best in product mix, customer service and technical support – your “one stop shop” for all your glulam needs.
Jim Weber, Cascade’s general manager, brings extensive engineered wood experience to sales and production.

“Seasoned professionals” starts with Steve Killgore, who brings over 30 years of experience in the forest products industry to Cascade. Having started as a production worker at a Southwest Forest Industries plywood mill while attending college, Steve later entered management at Bohemia, Inc., working his way to general sales and marketing manager. He was general sales manager of the Building Materials Group at Willamette Industries. After completing his transition assignment with the Weyerhaeuser acquisition of Willamette, Steve purchased an interest in McKenzie Forest Products, a specialty plywood manufacturer.  Over the past three years, Steve has simultaneously managed both McKenzie and Cascade Structural Laminators. Steve recently sold McKenzie Forest Products to the Swanson Group, Inc of Grants Pass, Oregon. As stated by Steve,  “I am looking forward to focusing my attention on Cascade. We have made significant progress these past few years and continue to see opportunity for improvement and growth.”

Jeff Morrison, plant manager, handles day to day operations at Chehalis and Fort Hill operations.
At the sales/administration office in Eugene, Jim Weber is Cascade’s general manager of sales and production; Larry Miller and Ronda Harris handle sales; and John Killgore is the traffic and inventory control specialist. Jim started with Bohemia in 1984 and managed the installation of the Vaughn Lam II plant in 1988. Later, he oversaw the installation of Willlamette Industries’ Simsboro, Louisiana glulam plant. Jim moved into engineered wood sales at Willamette prior to joining Cascade Structural Laminators.

Ronda Harris started in sales support at Bohemia in 1979, later working in the same position at Willamette Industries before joining Cascade as custom glulam specialist. Larry Miller, who focuses on stock glulams, entered engineered wood sales in 1995 at Willamette. John Killgore joined Cascade Structural Laminators in 2004, coordinating inventory control and traffic.

Cascade Structural Laminators is small enough to know you and big enough to take care of you. As Jim Weber states it, “We rapidly became known for our outstanding custom glulam production, but what we really take pride in is our stock glulam capabilities with annual capacity of 40 mmbf. We maintain about 3 mmbf of stock glulams at any time for just-in-time shipment to meet customer demands. As new technologies emerge, we will be right there to improv
Larry Miller’s specialty is stock glulam sales and marketing.
e production, such as our recent upgrade of our finger-jointing line. The more efficient we are, the more competitive our products are in the market.”

Albert Putnam manages the engineering support department for all Cascade products. He is a licensed engineer and also brings technical expertise from his time at Willamette Industries. Call 866-504-8994 during business hours, Pacific Time, with your technical questions, to reach an engineer.
 
Cascade Structural Laminators’ glulams are APA and JAS certified. Not only are CSL glulams an environmentally responsible use of forest resources, but CSL is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified as a SmartWood Chain-of-Custody company.

Glulams are the only engineered beams that retain the beauty of solid-sawn wood and are capable of being produced in curves, making them the preferred engineered beams for exposed applications where architectural appearance is desired. Ease of handling and installation make glulams ideal for headers, such as windows and garage doors. Cascade Structural Laminators’ product line includes:

Ronda Harris, custom glulam specialist, pulls all the criteria together on custom sizes and curved beams.
CSL STOCK BEAM
is a stock 24F-V4 Douglas-Fir glulam produced in an Architectural finish. The CSL beams have voids filled and finish sanded; the faces are planed; and the edges are eased. Widths are available in 3 1/8” through 8 3/4”. They are typically available in 1 1/2” depth increments starting at 6” up to 25 1/2”, stocked in lengths to 70’.

CSL HEADER is a stock 24F-1.8E framing and industrial glulam that is generally used for concealed headers and beams, or where appearance is not an issue. The beam is “hit and miss” sanded to remove excess glue and even the faces of the beam. This results in widths to match nominal 4”, 6” and 8” wall framing. CSL Headers are manufactured in pre-cut lengths and lengths to 70’.

CSL CUSTOM glulam beams are customer designed with various shapes and sizes in depths to 70 inches and lengths to 90 feet. Beams are available in industrial, architectural smooth or rough-sawn finishes with profiles and details provided in our fabrication shop. Various species are available, including Douglas Fir, Southern Yellow Pine, and Alaskan Yellow Cedar.

Ken Aitken, production supervisor at Chehalis, tracks custom glulams during production.

CSL IMPORT
beams are manufactured in partnership with Kaufmann Holz GmbH of Austria to complement Cascade’s domestic production with a complete range of high-strength Norway Spruce glulams. The Norway Spruce beams are certified by the WCLIB for the U.S. market to conform to American National Standard, ANSI A 190.1-2002. Widths are from 3 1/8" through 10 3/4". They are available in 1 1/2” depth increments starting at 6” and going up to 27”. CSL Import are stocked in lengths to 60’.

CSL CURVES are customer specified glulam beams in compound, tight curves, and dramatic arches. Lengths to 90 feet are available. Beams are available in standard finishes with profiles and details available. Various species are available, including Douglas Fir, Southern Yellow Pine, and Alaskan Yellow Cedar.

Call Cascade Structural Laminators at Toll Free 866-504-8994 or visit us at CascadeSL.com for your single-source glulam producer.
 
Allen Kimmel, production supervisor at Fort Hill, shows a stack of kiln-dried lam stock before entering the planer.



Inventory and traffic specialist, John Killgore’s top priority is customer satisfaction in shipping and making on time delivery.





















 
 
 
     
 
 

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