Manufacturing 2019 Manufacturing Week Bus Tour | Page 33

Vaagen Timbers
Colville
Vaagen Timbers just shipped its first shipment of cross-laminated timber (CLT) from a newly built facility in Colville that
opened over the summer. It uses small trees harvested during fire restoration and prevention work. It glues and presses them
into modular sections, which are shipped to construction sites and assembled like Lego sets, cutting build times dramatically.
Tyler Curtis grew up near Colville, but left for
Spokane to find work. “I always wanted to come
back to Colville, but I’d only come back for a
great opportunity,” he said. That opportunity
came up with the recent opening of Vaagen
Timbers. After getting married last year, he
and his wife want to have kids. “This is a good
trade. I could see myself being here for the next
20 years and raising a family,” Curtis said. “Russ
is a visionary. This is going to take off.”
Russ Vaagen broke ground in 2018 on his
cross-laminated timber plant. It’s across
the road from Vaagen Bros. Lumber,
founded by his grandpa and great-uncle.
He sees CLT as the next generation of
wood products: environmentally friendly
and highly functional. He’s already
shipping his product internationally. “This
is the tip of a very large iceberg,” he said.
“It’s fast, it’s safe, and it’s very high quality.”