Logger of the Year’ credits team effort
PHILOMATH — When he talks about being named thestate’s “Logger of the Year” by the Associated Oregon Loggers, Lee Miller talks in terms of “we”:
“This award isn’t about me. It’s about my guys,” said Miller, 55, of Philomath. “Without them, I’d be a broke logger.”
Miller, the owner of Miller Timber Services in Philomath, was recognized at the 41-year-old trade association’s annual convention this past month because of his exceptional work and leadership in the industry.
“It’s simply a recognition of performance above and beyond what you’d expect a small business person to do,” said AOL executive vice president Jim Geisinger.
Miller, an active member of the logging association, is on its board of directors for the National Wildfire Suppression Association. He also is a member of the Forest Research Lab Advisory Committee at Oregon State University College of Forestry.
“I always want to learn something I didn’t know,” Miller said. “I’m always looking for the technology that’s going to improve the way we do our job.”
The diversity of his company is a large reason that Miller was chosen as logger of the year. Since its inception in the 1980s, Miller Timber Services has done commercial thinning, clear cutting, reforestation and wild land firefighting.
“There is nobody else who does full-circle service like we do,” Miller said. “If you do it in the woods, we do it.”
And although the logging industry as a whole is now moving toward a more diversified model, Miller’s company offered the range of jobs earlier than most.
“He was one of the first loggers to diversify his business,” Geisinger said. “Every business has its own business model, but I think there are others that look to him as a very successful business.”
Miller said that no one job that his company performs is more important than the other.
“That’s like asking which kid is the best,” he said. “They’re all very integral to the organization and how it operates.”
Miller started his business in 1980 after borrowing some power saws from his dad and trading in his car for a pick-up.
“We just kept growing,” he said. What started with two employees — his friend Arnold Schaffer joined him during that year — grew into the 120- to 140-employee operation he runs there says.
Miller said that part of the reason he has become the owner of a successful logging business is because he owns a small wood lot of his own.
“I always approach a job from the land owner’s perspective,” he said. “I’m not thinking of how much money I’m going to make, but how can we make the most for our clients.”
Miller’s employees appreciate his easy-going leadership style.
“Lee is a good guy to work for,” Paul Bewley, the company’s head field mechanic. “I can go talk to him and there’s not the intimidation of a boss like in other companies.”
Bewley, 41, has worked for other logging companies he said he prefers Miller Timber Services. The regard runs both ways.
“Anytime your peers recognize you, it’s a cool thing,” he said. “But I don’t really need my back patted, it’s all about my guys.”
Emily Gillespie can be reached at 541-758-9548 or emily.gillespie@gazettetimes.com.