Building Healthy, Prosperous Communities
Innovative Creativity Keeps Pioneer Cut Stock Moving Ahead
Surviving in Oregon’s wood products industry is not an easy proposition. Whether it’s increased global competition, environmental and regulatory changes or just the ups and downs of consumer spending trends, each year brings a new challenge.
Pioneer Cut Stock, Inc. of Prineville, Oregon has survived and thrived, through a nifty combination of hard work, innovation and a commitment to quality. This has kept Pioneer Cut Stock going for thirty years, as a family owned and operated secondary wood products facility. Pioneer Cut Stock started in 1986 with one building and a small wood products cut line. Today, their operations are spread out over a 15 acre complex with five separate production facilities. They are recognized as a leading supplier for premier window and door manufacturers.
“It’s a pretty interesting story behind the company’s continued success,” says Martha Davenport, Pioneer Cut Stock’s CFO. “We take what once was literally burned as slag waste in those big old wigwam burners and transform it into stock for some of the more high-end door and window components you’ll find in homes.”
Pioneer Cut Stock essentially remanufactures random length wood products whose original primary sources could have been Ponderosa Pine, Eastern White Pine, Fir, Hemlock and Douglas fir. The company has the capacity to inbound around 20,000,000 board feet of lumber a year. They then turn it into a wide range of solid, molded, laminated and finger-jointed products.
Pioneer Cut Stock hasn’t just survived through thrifty innovation, literally carving a niche out of what once was an opportunity that went up in smoke. They succeed through their commitment to quality and to the people who work for them.
“We have a company credo that pretty much sums up what we’re all about as a company,” says Davenport. “Pride in Quality – Pride in People. It means exactly that: integrity, honesty and teamwork. These are standards that are incorporated into the daily operations…from the CEO to the newest employee.”
It’s a credo that extends to who Pioneer Cut Stock does business with as well as the organizations it supports. It’s one reason why they rely on support from SAIF OBI CompSAFE group workers’ compensation insurance. While many things have changed in the thirty years since Pioneer Cut Stock launched its business, the need for diligence in safety hasn’t. The wood products industry is still a highly challenging sector when it comes to creating safe work environments and reducing jobsite accidents.
“There are a lot of positives we get from the CompSAFE program, and safety support is a very important one,” says Davenport. “Our SAIF representatives are an excellent resource for our own ongoing safety program. They offer updated information, safety inspection support, they’ve even made periodic visits to our plants to offer suggestions on making our workplace safer.”
It certainly has had an impact. Pioneer Cut Stock consistently ranks as one of the safest companies operating in Oregon, and not just in the wood products industry. The company has been a longtime supporter of OSHA’s Safety Health Awareness and Recognition Program or SHARP. It’s a program that recognizes small business employers who have used OSHA’s onsite consultation program services and operate an exemplary injury and illness prevention program. Acceptance of a worksite into SHARP from OSHA is an achievement of status that singles a company out among business peers as a model for worksite safety and health. Pioneer Cut Stock has been so consistent in its safety efforts, Oregon-OSHA has permanently “graduated” them into SHARP program status. The company is also a member of the Oregon SHARP Alliance.
“Creating a safe work environment is just an extension of our company’s commitment to pride,” says Davenport. “We want all of our employees to feel safe and fulfilled in their work.”
That pride doesn’t stop at the plant door either. Pioneer Cut Stock stays involved with its surrounding community by supporting many local and regional organizations and non-profit charities. They also routinely encourage their 60-plus employees to come forward with worthy causes and community events the company can lend its support to.
“I think we’ve done a good job of establishing ourselves as a good neighbor,” says Davenport. “We enjoy the support and commitment of our employees and our clients and we want to do all we can to return the favor to our community.”
It’s a formula for success that should keep Pioneer Cut Stock going for another 30 years.