History
Willamette Industries was founded in Dallas, Oregon, in 1906 as the Willamette Valley Lumber Company. Louis Gerlinger, Sr. was president of the new company and H.L. Pittock, vice president. George T. Gerlinger served as secretary and manager while F.W. Leadbetter was treasurer. George Cone served as director and mill superintendent.
In 1967, this company and several others merged to become Willamette Industries. The next year the company went public. The company continued to grow through acqusistions, including purchasing Bohemia, Inc. in 1991, which at the time was one of the largest lumber companies in Oregon. By 1999 it had grown to 14,000 employees with $4 billion in annual revenues and more than 100 facilities across the United States.
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