Owner Mike Halverson, right, gives Gov. Greg Gianforte, left, a tour of his business, Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company, on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
A stack of reclaimed lumber sits in the lumber yard at Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Owner Mike Halverson gives a tour of his business, Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company, on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Reclaimed lumber is stacked in piles at Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Reclaimed lumber is cut into siding at Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Gov. Greg Ginaforte receives a tour of Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Gov. Greg Ginaforte, Mike Halverson and Terry Degen discuss operations at Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Susan and Gov. Greg Gianforte listen to Mike Halverson discuss plans to expand his business, Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company, on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Gov. Greg Gianforte and Mike Halverson, owner of Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company, pose for a photo on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Owner Mike Halverson, right, gives Gov. Greg Gianforte, left, a tour of his business, Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company, on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
A stack of reclaimed lumber sits in the lumber yard at Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Owner Mike Halverson gives a tour of his business, Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company, on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Reclaimed lumber is stacked in piles at Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Reclaimed lumber is cut into siding at Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Gov. Greg Ginaforte receives a tour of Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Gov. Greg Ginaforte, Mike Halverson and Terry Degen discuss operations at Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Susan and Gov. Greg Gianforte listen to Mike Halverson discuss plans to expand his business, Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company, on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Gov. Greg Gianforte and Mike Halverson, owner of Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company, pose for a photo on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
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Gov. Greg Gianforte visited a lumber yard in Gallatin Gateway on Thursday to talk with the owner and a handful of employees about how the policies passed in his first year as governor have impacted businesses.
Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company in Gallatin Gateway recycles and reclaims lumber from across the nation, mainly industrial lumber from factories on the west coast and old agricultural buildings on the east coast, said owner Mike Halverson. About half of the lumber his company sells is reclaimed lumber packages for construction and homes in the Yellowstone Club resort and the Big Sky area.
Halverson said the Business Investment Grows Jobs Act, or the BIG Jobs Act, has been beneficial to his business.
The act cleared the Legislature in the form of House Bill 303 last spring and was signed into law by Gianforte in May. It increased the tax exemption on business equipment up to $300,000 from $100,000.
“Our goal in our administration is to eliminate the business equipment tax altogether,” Gianforte said. “ … The number one goal of this administration is to create good paying jobs.”
But, the governor acknowledged, the government doesn’t generally create jobs — so the goal is really to open the ability for businesses like Halverson’s to expand by cutting regulations and taxes on businesses.
Even with the BIG Jobs Act and other business-centric legislation like a tax credit to pay for up to $3,000 of training per employee, Halverson, like many business owners, can’t find employees to fill open positions.
Montana Reclaimed Lumber has just under 50 employees, and Halverson has been advertising open positions with the hope of adding at least 10 more people to the team.
“I need to find people,” Halverson told Gianforte.
That will be especially true after Montana Reclaimed Lumber finishes construction on its new facility across Gallatin Road from its current facility. That facility will include two 12,000-square-foot warehouses, a milhouse and a new kiln building for drying lumber after it’s washed in the new indoor wash house with a special heated machine.
Halverson said that will be a major investment, and will employ 45 people after construction concludes in about two-and-a-half years.
“This state made it possible to start this business,” Halverson told Gianforte shortly before giving the governor, his wife Susan Gianforte and a handful of others a tour of the Montana Reclaimed Lumber Company yard.
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Melissa Loveridge can be reached at mloveridge@dailychronicle.com or at (406) 582-2651.
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