PRESQUE ISLE COUNTY, Mich,. (WPBN/WGTU)- – A northern Michigan manufacturer is investing $12 million a new facility, and the state of Michigan says this will create 18 new jobs.
The new jobs will be a sizable addition to Onaway’s manufacturing workforce.
While Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the jobs, precision hardwoods says most of the capital was their own.
“Right now, we’re producing a little over 1.5 million board feet [of wood] and we’re going to go to 7.5-8 million board feet with the new facility,” said Roger Nash, Precision Hardwoods.
The company has had flashy projects, like college basketball courts, but precision hardwoods mainly sells industrial lumber to clients nationwide.
“Pellet materials, pellet stock, pellet wood. Some grain lumber that goes into furniture making, cabinets, that kind of stuff. Apple crate companies are some of our big customers,” said Nash.
The new facility started construction in May 2024.
Nash says once production starts in the spring.
Modern equipment will help the company get more out of every log.
“Before it gets to the saw, it actually goes through a computer system that scans the log and it turns the log to position it into the best cut lines, so you can get the most board footage out of the log. After it passes through, the saw adjusts itself to the size of the material you’re putting through,” said Nash.
The news is a delight for the volunteers of Onaway’s chamber of commerce, several of whom also work for the Michigan Works! branch in town.
“We’re here to help them as much as we can with that expansion, with marketing and trying to find him valuable and qualified workers,” said Yolanda Romel, Onaway Chamber of Commerce. “18 jobs mean 18 more wages, that people are able to buy and live in our community.”
The Michigan strategic fund pitched in with a $130,000 grant.
The governor’s office says the average wage will be almost $22 per hour, almost four dollars over the regional median.