Jim Paul/Daily News photos Shamco Lumber co-owner Jon Richter shows one of the saws that has quadrupled production at the facility in Iron River.

IRON RIVER — Shamco Lumber Inc. recently had the grand opening of its $4 million expansion that gives the business the ability to produce railroad ties and quadruple overall production.

The expansion at 106 Homer Road in Iron River included additions to the building and several new pieces of machinery, such as a debarker, head saw and edger. The facility is now state of the art, the machinery optimized with cameras and scanners to maximize output, according to the company.

Shamco Lumber is a division of Shamco Inc., owned by brothers Todd, Scott, Eric and Ryan Shamion along with partner Jon Richter. Shamco Inc. is a full-service logging, timber harvesting and trucking company.

The Shamions have been in the timber industry for more than 80 years and three generations.

The brothers’ grandfather, Stanley Shamion, first started working in the woods, establishing Shamion Logging Company in 1944. He later was joined by his sons until his retirement in 1971; he died in 2003. Their father, Jerry Shamion, carried on the business as Shamion Brothers with siblings Ron and Richard until it reformed in 1997 as Shamco, with Jerry and sons Todd and Eric.

Shamco harvests about 100,000 cords annually in lumber within roughly a 60-mile radius of Iron River. Half of their work is in federal forests, 30% on state land and 20% on private property. Roughly 60% of their harvest is hardwoods, 30% aspen/poplar and 10% softwoods.

The Shamco logging operation only supplies Shamco Lumber with 20% of the logs they consume — a majority of the logs are delivered to the mill from major property owners in Upper Michigan who are managing their timber lands.

Co-owner Richter said he has been around sawmills practically since he could walk, working with his father across the Midwest marking timber and managing veneer

Shamco Lumber can trace its roots back more than 20 years, when Richter and his wife, Kate, started J&K Lumber, which Richter called a “mom and pop” operation.

In 2018, looking to take his operation to the next level and not wanting to do it alone, Richter approached Shamco and within a matter of two months Shamco Lumber was formed.

Richter’s extensive knowledge of the lumber business paired well with the Shamions’ business expertise, he said.

“Partnering with Shamco enabled us to have more ideas, the right ideas and get more people involved,” Richter said. “Two-and-a-half years ago we started the big mill and the value we all see has made it worth it.”

Shamco Lumber underwent its first major expansion in 2021, when new equipment from Cleereman Industries of Newald, Wis., was installed. The upgrade was done in a matter of months with no contractor, just the mill’s four employees at the time and the Cleereman crew.

Shamco Lumber produces grade lumber that is used in making cabinets, furniture, flooring and molding. In addition, the business offers wood used for pallets — a good market, Richter said, as virtually all goods are shipped on pallets.

Shamco Lumber is shipped to buyers who dry it in a kiln, rip and resaw it to various sizes, then resell it.

With the latest expansion, Shamco Lumber is now a full-dimensional mill, even producing railroad ties that are used worldwide.

“The market has been around for a while and we wanted to make the investment to have the equipment versus doing it by hand,” Richter said.

New machinery automatically stacks the railroad ties, saving employees having to manually lift the ties, which weigh more than 300 pounds each.

Another benefit of the upgrades is Shamco is able to cut hardwoods such as maple the whole year. Smaller mills, he explained, struggle to do cutting in the winter when the wood is frozen.

The number of people Shamco Lumber employs increased from four before the expansion to 12.

Of all the challenges faced, Richter said finding good employees was not one of them — he boasts of having a great crew that can crank out more than 40,000 board feet of lumber every day.

“With the expansion, we produce most of the same lumber as before, just a lot more of it,” Richter said.

Jim Paul can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 229, or jpaul@ironmountaindailynews.com.