Boise-based Thomas Forest Products acquires former Croman mill

JM Thomas Forest Products, which distributes building materials to retail lumber yards, has purchased and occupied the former Croman Corp. sawmill property on Yamhill Road in east Boise.

Thomas parent company, Utah-based JMT Properties, acquired the 14-acre site and its three buildings from Croman. Croman stopped production at its Boise mill about two years ago but remains in the timber business, primarily in Oregon.

Shawn Batis, general manager of the JM Thomas Forest Products’ Boise Division, said the division recently occupied two warehouse buildings and an office building on the site, off Federal Way.

“We have an agreement with Croman that, once they take apart their mill, we will renovate the buildings and add on,” he said. The building renovation and expansion project is expected in the next two years.

Thomas started the Boise division in June 2002 in part of the Louisiana Pacific composite decking plant on West Franklin Road in Meridian. Thomas is the base distributor for LP engineered wood products in Idaho and eastern Oregon.

“Business was very good … it worked out better than we thought,” Batis said. “We wanted to have our own facility, with plenty of room to support the business for the future.”

Moving from the Meridian location also gives Louisiana Pacific room to expand its production of composite decking, he added.

In Boise, the company is packaging and warehousing various building materials products for about 40 lumber yards in Idaho and eastern Oregon. Employees can load trucks and rail cars on the site, which has access to a rail spur.

Products that Thomas distributes are “moving very well,” Batis said. “The Boise market is a very growing market, especially for residential construction.”

The division will add to its staff of seven as demand warrants, he said.

J. Matthew Thomas of Park City, Utah, owns JM Thomas Forest Products, which is based in Ogden and also has divisions in Salt Lake City and Albuquerque, N.M. The company, founded in 1981, anticipates $70 million in revenue this year.

Most of its products come from the Pacific Northwest. The Boise site gives the company a place to drop off inventory for the Idaho and eastern Oregon lumber yards, which previously received most of their products from Utah, Batis said. Eventually, the Boise division will service customers in Montana, he added.

A purchase price for the Boise property was not released.