By BETSY BLOOM

Managing Editor

TOWN OF FLORENCE, Wis. — Less than two years ago, Jay Glime looked at the charred remains of what had been his family’s sawmill and thought it might be time to move on.

He and his wife, Lori, had established the business in 2001, starting with a portable sawmill and learning how to cut and grade logs.

“I like seeing how things run, figuring out how to make things run faster,” Jay Glime said. “I really like my job a lot.”

But the fire in late January 2019 was the second they had gone through at the town of Fern location. This time, the building was deemed a total loss; they’d have to start over after almost two decades.

Their insurance did have the option to take the money and not rebuild, Jay Glime admitted, adding “I was sick of fires.”

But those who work in lumber and logging in the region are a supportive group. He credits Bob and Margaret Minerick of Florence Hardwoods LLC with persuading him to continue G&G Lumber Inc.

“If it wasn’t for them,” he said, “I don’t think I would have done it … they just helped me a lot after the fire.”

The Minericks had another incentive to offer as well: A spot near them at In-Comm industrial park on the east side of Florence.

So in early March, little more than a year after the fire, the Glimes opened a new 15,000-square-foot, all-steel sawmill facility in the park. Jay Glime estimates they sank more than $3 million into reviving the business.

“I wanted to rebuild the place and do it the right way,” he said. A commercial banking officer with mBank “was awesome” in encouraging what he had in mind, Jay Glime said.

The company specializes in taking hardwood logs — maple, oak, basswood — to produce high-quality raw lumber that is sent elsewhere to be kiln-dried, along with railroad ties, pallet lumber, specialty lumber, wood chips, sawdust, mulch and bark.

“Everything is utilized,” said Lori Glime, who manages the office at the business. “There’s no waste.”

Along with construction of the new building, major infrastructure work was planned to make the site more suitable for the lumber business. Florence County Economic Development went through a three-month process of applying for a Wisconsin Community Development Block Grant that helped cover the costs to build a new road and extended industrial park sewer and water to the property.

Florence County, Florence Utilities and the Town of Florence all provided matching funds and supervision to seek the grant, which the state approved in July 2019.

Ruotsala Construction from Ironwood in Michigan began excavation work in early September 2019 and had sewer, water and gravel road work completed by November. Florence Utilities supervised this portion of the project with assistance from Coleman Engineering of Iron Mountain and grant administrator MSA Professional Services.

The upgraded lines provide enough water pressure that having sprinklers in the new building didn’t require an expensive booster pump, Jay Glime said, adding that his brother runs an Illinois company that installs such systems.

Meanwhile, Florence Utilities constructed a system loop for both electric and natural gas systems, reducing service interruption if lines are breached in another section of the loop.

The new gravel road was allowed to settle over the winter. When the construction work bids came in lower than expected, the Town of Florence was able to seek bids for asphalt paving this past January.

Bacco Construction Co. of Iron Mountain completed the road grading, asphalt paving and shoulder work in early August, according to FCED.

The Glimes and their roughly dozen employees now have completely settled in at the new site. They were able to retain almost everyone on staff during construction, Lori Glime said.

“I have such good guys, it’s just great,” Jay Glime said.

“We’ve got a great crew of people. We’re family. We’re small, and we treat people as family,” Lori Glime said. “They’re second to none. Without them, we wouldn’t be here.”

Some bumps did emerge for the business while starting back up — their reopening at the new site came only weeks before closures and shutdowns began due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Customers became hesitant to order, not knowing what the future might hold, Lori Glime said.

They were dealt another COVID-19-related setback in August when several employees — and Jay Glime; “I probably got the sickest” — contracted the virus, forcing the business to cease operations for more than a week. During that time, logs developed staining from being left sitting too long, so had to be downgraded in quality, Jay Glime said.

All staff eventually recovered and they haven’t had a new case since September, he said.

October has seen G&G Lumber as busy as ever, Lori Glime said.

“It’s really going good for us, the last month or so, as far as customers wanting product from us,” she said.

It has reassured the couple they made the right decision in keeping the business alive.

“We’re 52 years old. We’re not ready to retire yet — too much desire to work,” Lori Glime said.

“They say it should be your passion,” Jay Glime said of his chosen profession. “After it burnt down, I really understood that.”

SOME OF THE people connected to G&G Lumber Inc.: from left are Sarah Martin, husband Lenny Martin, Kevin Hanttulla, Lori Glime, Jay Glime, Chris LaBlanc, Danny Kiefert, Greg Klose, Cody Sargent and Tom Lindow. Behind them is a truckload of lumber produced at the sawmill.

Betsy Bloom/Daily News photos
LORI AND JAY GLIME are the husband and wife team behind G&G Lumber Inc. at 5971 Sawmill Road in the In-Comm industrial park in Florence, Wis. Below is the exterior of their new, 15,000-square-foot log processing facility.