production worker

millwright

maintenance technician

grader

safety specialist

Stimson Lumber Company

It's a decent job depending on where you work in the mill. I'll do my best to give the run down on what I know. Starts off at $17/hr. Pretty much set schedule unless the random OT shift needed to catch up but it's rare. 

Hardboard-
Working in HB can be pretty stressful or it could be just sitting in one place for hours. Like most, if not all jobs, it can be stressful or easy money. This area can be messy when cleaning. You might find yourself crawling through molding pulp (used for making hardboard) and then your soaked for the remainder of the shift. In the summer time it can be well over 100 degrees in your work area so unless you like heat.. good luck. Most of employees are really cool to work with. Overall I would rate HB 3 out of 5 stars.
Not the best.. not the worst 

Stud mill-
My work experience at the stud mill is brief but I hear alot of chatter. Stud mill is a very physically demanding part of the mill that may involve setting stickers for 10 hours which hurts the back, knees and hands. You may also find yourself picking edges and unless you like destroying your body, this isnt a good gig. The employees are decent but keep in mind.. no one can really keep a secret.
I would rate Stud Mill a 2.5 out 5 stars.
I wouldn't recommend it

Barker-
Unless you doing Barker clean up ( if your new you probably are) its actually not a bad area to work in. Rumor has it the 988 drivers have it good. But I won't honestly know how much stress they have. Clean up can be done in a witching a couple hours then you just keep hitting the areas over and over to maintain. Keep in mind your cleaning up in the elements and not inside a building really. So if its freezing.. your freezing. 
I would rate Barker 4 out 5 stars.

Planer-
All and all I feel the planer is the safest bet. The people are really cool to work with and it's a pretty decent area. Their are one or two jobs that can be physical but even clean up is in my opinion... cake. The only downfall about the planer is your working pretty much outside. It may look like a building but it has zero insulation, the main heat source is the machines.
I would rate the planer 4.5 out of 5 stars.
 
Milwrights-
No communication, staff seems kinda low, lots of work since most of the equipment came off of WW2 ships it feels like. Can be messy and stressful with time periods. I cant give a rating cause this is what I hear and witnessed. I'm sure it's not as bad as the make it sound considering they're still working there lol.

Management usually keeps to them selves and supervisors are normally pretty chill. We do have some poor supervisors but what place doesn't?
The pay starts at $17/hr and overtime seems to be always available if you want it. They say you make what you put into it. So if you bounce around and learn alot of stuff your pay wont really change lol but! If one of the jobs becomes available and you know it pays more.. then you pretty much have it in the bag.

So if you dont mind the cold winters and hot summers.. I would recommend it. But please keep in mind, it's a saw mill.. it can be dangerous

The coworkers you'll have are great, real chill and typical blue collar funny, favorite part about this job. The work itself is difficult due to production speed requirements and build up of byproduct materials like sawdust and broken logs, so you have to work hard to keep your area clean and safe while still producing. When a machine goes down, hurry up and tidy your area or it starts to get in the way. Management is under lots of pressure to nearly double production and minimize downtime, so sometimes morale is a bit harsh, but that's understandable, nobody is perfect under stress. If you want to work here, be prepared to work hard and don't hesitate to ask for help, management and your coworkers want you to perform well and are usually willing to help when possible. The new mill manager is on a mission and strict, but he does his best to listen, the mill supervisor is the same in terms of willing to listen and is reasonable. Just don't get caught standing around, nobody here likes that, us production guys included. There's a little bit of favoritism but you can still move up just fine. Learn your job to perform it really well, then ask for an opportunity to move up, they'll try you out for a while and if you do well, you'll stay there, if not, you likely will be back one step until you're ready to try again. The pay is kinda lowish considering the workload, but it goes up as time goes on and they give raises as best they can based on performance. In this town, there's few high paying opportunities for people at entry level, here is a good bet. Every job has their bad apples and here is no exception, it's hard, you'll get sick of it, then something will change and you'll be alright for a while. If you're stuck in Tillamook, work here, if not, look around a bit more. If you aren't in shape or strong, working here is gonna be hard until you get used to it. This isn't a job for slow workers or stressers, which I've learned by being both. I built my grit here and I'm proud to have worked with them. Not rich or super happy about it all, but proud.

i worked for stimson for over 5 years. the first few months were fine, kind of enjoyed being there. pay was ok for me at the time being i was right out of high school. but as the months went on it became a living nightmare. day after day of being talked to like i wasnt as good as they (management) were. The management team also picks favorites, such as their relatives, or the people that kiss butt the most. The good, hard workers are always the ones to be treated unfairly, and they end up quitting or getting fired because they dont smile and wave everytime they see anyone on the management team. Seriously, what is so bad about a guy just wanting to work hard, make money, then go home to his family at the end of the day? management is a joke, they WILL NOT update the machines in the mill so that they are able to operate efficiently, but they expect perfection. I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND any of my friends or family work here. they cater to the lazy guys as long as they kiss butt, but the hard workers get the shaft because they show respect, but dont suck up to the bosses. COMPLETE BS.

I moved my family to Saint Maries and was told what I wanted to hear. "great workplace with good safe culture and good pay" Pay was not good at all. I made more than most but still was not enough even to survive. Had all kinds of issues with Medical insurance, corporate was not helpful at all.  Safety culture was the worst I have ever seen and Management did nothing about it. I wrote many work orders about machines missing guards, water that would poor into MCC breakers for so long it had rotten them away.  I am very surprised that the plant has not been shut down by OSHA!! I would not wish anyone even my worst enemy to work here. I hope This helps people into deciding to stay away from STIMSON LUMBER. They are not good to there employees but many stay because they don't know anything else but Saint Maries.

Finally one statement that a boss told me that it cost nothing to change actions and there was no money to have safety equipment to prevent personnel and equipment from damage. He basically told me that it was worth the risk of my safety than it was to spend $45.

A typical day at stimsons was fast paced and fun because the job I had was like a game in my mind. I learned team building, safety and communication skills from both management and fellow co workers who both were both well respected by me and each other ( Hard working fellows). The most difficult part of the job in my opinion was when was we were working with a higher grade of wood or bigger size like 2x6's or 10 footers because they were heavier and more difficult to manipulate.  The guys I worked with made the job a lot of fun, the job itself was a blast because you were manipulating two by fours at a fast pace and if you had the radio going a long with a song that had a great beat you were pretty much dancing throughout your shift.

When I was first hired to work as a Boiler Assistant my supervisor told me that the one thing he could promise me was that the CoGen was never the same thing day after day. I continued to tell this to other employees as they started working with me as assistants. Being a Boiler Operator was a very rewarding job, the daily challenge of being proactive and reactive to the different conditions that could happen with a BioFuel boiler was mentally and physically taxing. When I walked out at the end of the day, I walked out with my head held high, knowing that I had done my best.
My main reason for leaving was that I wanted to move back to California so that I could be closer to my family, they are all in the northern part of the state.

I would recommend working at Stimson. The pay is good for the work and the people very nice and are cool to work with. The work isn't that hard and its a pretty relaxed vibe from the management at least in the maintenance department. Some of the more experienced millwrights are willing to teach you some skills and give you more fun projects to work on. Staff are always making funny jokes and are trying to have a good time which is nice. The downsides would be that it is a somewhat unstable industry so you could potentially get laid off and also that its hard to promote or get more advanced training. Overall I would recommend.

Unfortunately I never received enough personal compensation to stay happy at my job. I would put in 60 hour weeks to get the work needed to be completed with one other employee for months at a time. My body hurts so much at times it took all I had to get through the shift! After all I put myself through, finally they hired more trainees. As the new hires came and went, people were undermining my credibility and started doing whatever they wanted. Putting themselves in danger by entering areas not Locked Out with moving equipment.

 I was 18 with a newborn baby. All I needed was a good job with a boss that cared about my family and I. I am a very hardworking person and eager to learn. I gave all my effort to make myself successful in this position. Instead I got treated so poorly i fell into a depression. Coworkers were telling me I was too slow on my first week, managers talking bad about me to regular employees… the work environment is so awful. Safety also isn’t a priority here. Everyone I started with ended up quitting not long after I. I highly DO NOT suggest Stimson Lumber Company in Priest River. 

I worked here briefly a few years ago.  I did sticker setter (horrible job, very boring and have to see DB operator all day and help him when he jams lumber.) and edger picker. Long days, debilitating work (rocking side to side flipping boards affecting my healthy acls), management that loves sycophants.
Glad they fired me, at the time I just stubbornly went to work for a couple months until they finally said that I wasn't getting it yet he couldn't say exactly what that was. Anyways, a horrible environment with depressing co-workers.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Production worker 33 salaries reported	$25.24 per hour
Millwright 14 salaries reported	$42.46 per hour
Maintenance technician 23 salaries reported	$22.00 per hour
Grader 2 salaries reported	$29.44 per hour
Safety specialist 18 salaries reported	$27.00 per hour

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