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Felix and Walter Tommila founded Tommila Bros., Inc (TBL) in 1936.
Their honest hard work ethic was carried from logging and lumbering.
The company had it's start by logging with horses and pulling the
logs to a portable mill, which was moved from wood lot to wood lot.
The timber was cut, sawn into lumber and put on stickers for air-drying.
In the middle 1940's, the mill was moved to a permanent site on
Bowkerville Road in Fitzwilliam. Logs, specifically white pine,
were brought in from timber lots and sawn into lumber for the wooden
box industry. The company was mainly comprised of family members
with an average crew of seven or eight members.
By the late 1950's, the wood box industry was being replaced by
cheaper and lighter cardboard and plastic. Consequently, TBL switched
from producing Pine for the box industry the Pine for the furniture
industry because the trend for red knotty pine furniture was growing
in demand. The lumber was graded for its solid red knot structure,
and placed on sticks for air-drying before being shipped to furniture
makers within 100 miles of the mill.
In 1974, John Tommila purchased the company and continued producing
Pine for the furniture industry. In 1977, he installed its first
state of the art all aluminum dry kiln, manufactured in Germany.
Changes in market trends forced a realization that the philosophy
of the company would need to change from softwood to hardwood. In
1979 TBL extended into the export market establishing business in
Belgium, Netherlands and Germany where high quality Red Oak was
in demand.
A devastating fire leveled the mill in September 1983, and a new
start had to be made. A smaller more efficient mill was built and
a band resaw was added.
By the late 1980's, TBL was shipping hardwood lumber to the furniture,
cabinet, flooring, architectural millwork and casket industries,
exporting to Europe, Pacific Rim Countries, Saudia Arabia and Israel,
as well as all across the United States from Southern California
to Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver Canada.
Over the years, Tommila Brothers has become know for quality, service,
and accountability. We accept our responsibility to the environment
by being a good steward of the forest.
Having grown from a small family business of eight producing only
one product for one market, to a company of over thirty employees
producing multiple products identified by species, grade, thickness,
dryness, rough or planed, TBL is eager to accommodate customer specific
needs.
We have worked hard to establish a strong reputation in the quality
of our products and accountability and detail of our customer's
needs. The quality of our lumber reflects the pride and hard work
of our employees. While we may be "too big to be small" and "too
small to be big", we continue always to move forward, always to
improve.
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