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An Iron River sawmill will receive a $100,000 grant through the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to help it process wood more efficiently.
The award to S&L Lumber Co. LLC was announced last week during the Upper Peninsula State Fair in Escanaba -- one of six projects supported in the U.P.
MDARD Director Tim Boring said the grants will support businesses whose growth will create economic opportunities and increase demand for local farm and forest products.
S&L Lumber plans to modernize its sawmill's primary breakdown line--the part of the operation that transforms logs into boards and other materials. According to MDARD, the investment is expected to increase throughput, reduce downtime and improve accuracy.
Other grants for U.P. businesses included:
-- BigGoat Farm, Houghton, $100,000 to help open the Keweenaw Peninsula's first licensed Grade A goat dairy. The new dairy will serve as a production hub and visitor destination.
-- First Catch LLC, L'Anse, $100,000 to help design, prepare and install a fully functional, self-contained refrigerated fish processing facility on tribal land to support year-round commercial fishing, value-added processing and direct retail sales.
-- Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Baraga, $100,000 to help acquire refrigerated transportation and improve food distribution capabilities across the U.P.
-- Peace Pie Company, Marquette, $84,753 to support bakehouse improvements that will boost production, expand product range and increase procurement of Michigan-made ingredients.
-- Superior Culture LLC, Marquette, $100,000 to help construct an addition to the taproom that will consolidate all production operations at a single site while expanding food and beverage service capacity.
In mid-Michigan, Devereaux Sawmill Inc. of Pewamo received $100,000. The company will use the funding to install a fully integrated production line capable of continuously processing logs from debarking through packaging. The project is designed to eliminate production interruptions and reduce the need for manual transfers between stages of the operation.
Twenty grants were announced in all, with 14 impacting the state's northern region.
Since fiscal year 2019, MDARD has awarded more than $276 million in grants to help Michigan businesses and communities invest in local food production, build infrastructure and strengthen the state's food, agriculture and forestry economy, Boring said.