Photo Story

For many of the past few years the state of Oregon has ranked number one above all other states in the production of softwood, sitting around at 16% of the entire country's production. Back in 2017 Oregon's softwood lumber output was nearly 5.4 billion board feet! That number is just absolutely insane when you think about how long that is! Sometimes as humans I find that we tend to look over things like this and how we got there. Not only that but more importantly who got us there. For my Photo Story I decided dive into the lumber industry and show some appreciation to our blue collard mill workers. My goal for this assignment was to capture them in their natural work setting while getting a deeper dive into their personal lives and the industry.

Originated in Portland Oregon in 1915, now relocated in 2016 to Philomath Oregon, the Patrick Lumber Company has always found its home here in the great state of Oregon. Patrick Lumber is a secondary manufacturer and exporter for wood products. The big reason for the relocation to Philomath was largely due to the dry kiln facility "There's not a lot of people around that dry lumber anymore."..."because of the kiln facility we're able to process our own lumber"- Bill Johnson.

Amanda Erdei is the only female on the job site and she carries that with pride. She's been employed with Patrick Lumber for the last two and a half years and has steadily climbed up the job rankings. Starting out on the bottom, Amanda has now earn the new job title "Mill Two Lead" one of the highest positions on the entire worksite. She says that one of the biggest benefits on being the only female on the site is, "Male's tend to be more cautious when working around me, as a female they make sure I don't get injured."- Amanda. One of her biggest negatives from the job comes from the "Pulling Station". Most of her co-workers don't want her pulling because it's the most labor intensive and physical job on the site, it's really demanding and they lookout for her. Yet, on the other hand her bosses don't mind putting her there. That being said, there's a bit of conflict when she gets placed on that station.  

Jefferey Belfore has been working at Patrick Lumber for a little over a year. He does a variety of different jobs throughout the mill but his personal favorite is the “Pull Station”. On this station you are constantly on your feet pulling lumber off the cable belt and restacking them onto separate piles. What he enjoys about the station is that it’s thoughtless work. He loves the physical aspect of it because it’s constantly forcing him to exercise. Jeffery favorite thing to do in his free time is to spend it with his kids. “Something I’ve always enjoyed doing growing up was going out and camping. Any time I got some extra time off of work I love to be out in nature camping with my kiddos.”…“Another thing I love to do outside of work is go watch their games whenever they’re in sports.”- Jefferey Belford

Jim Lewis has been apart of the Patrick Lumber family for nearly 2 and a half years. Jim's job title is  "Upper Mill Manager". One of his duties as Upper Mill Manager has been setting up the resaw line. His favorite part about his job has actually setting up the resaw line and just seeing it run smoothly. “Once you get it set up and it’s running and everything’s coming out smoothly. There’s just some gratification to that” he said. Jim is the is a huge fan of the University of Oregon’s football team and loves to watch them throughout the entire season. Often betting on games with his friends and co workers. His favorite thing to do outside of work is “golf and get a cold one with my buddies.”

Marcelino Avalos has been working in the lumber industry for the past 25 years. He's been employed by Patrick Lumber for the last two years. His favorite part about the company is the way they treat their employees. Patrick Lumber provides its employees with monthly bonuses, free health insurance, low-cost health coverage on family members, and food truck catering. His primary job is to drive forklift and organized units but he is often being pulled to help out in other areas due to his experience with all the machinery. Outside of work Marcelino likes to spend time riding bikes and watch football games. He's a huge fan of Aaron Rodgers and dreams to see him play one day.

Huge special thank you for Bill Johnson for taking time out of his day multiple times to walk me around and photograph the site. The worksites only location is 33417 Noon Rd Philomath, OR. Phone Number 541-238-7721.