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Zac Ziegler: I’m Zac Ziegler, and you’re listening to Oregon Rainmakers from KLCC. On this edition, I talk with Sean Smith, the CEO of Starfire Lumber in Cottage Grove.
Oregon has been a top state for lumber production for most of its history, and while it isn’t the end-all be-all of the state’s economy anymore, state reports show that it still employs about the same number of Oregonians as the federal government. Those jobs come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from those who actually cut down the trees to people who make products using the lumber that comes after the process. One place that adds to the totals is Cottage Grove’s Starfire Lumber, the sawmill specializes in specialty size cuts of lumber making the most of large trees that stood in our forest for sometimes hundreds of years. When I arrived at Starfire, I was greeted by CEO Sean Smith and his one year old black lab Rhino. We started with a tour of the company’s new offices, which are made largely of wood cut by the company.…