News from Grants

Windsor Profile

We now have in stock the Windsor profile for picket fencing. Please contact us with any enquires

Feature Fencing

We now have a new product in stock for those looking for a timber picket fence, we have it in a Colonial shape and in the near future we will also be stocking a Windsor shaped picket.

Cypress is highly sought after for fencing and is very durable both above and below ground.

Mitchell Lewis finishes his apprenticeship in Wood Machining Cert 3 on the 15th December 2014.

Dylan Choy and Cameron Brown will be going into the second year of their apprenticeships in 2015.

Since we have been back from our Christmas break, we have been very busy getting stock to our customers.

We have Cameron Brown now completing his Certificate 111 in Heavy Commercial Vehicle Mechanical Technology, under Ben Grant who manages the Work Shop.

Dylan Choy has recently been employed at Grants in the Planing Shed and is completing Certificate 111 in Wood Machining. Dylan is being supervised by Barry Keaton and Dan Grant.

Jake Grant has been doing work experience in Grants office as he is completing a Bachelor of Business (Management), at CSU Wagga Wagga.

Richard Grant has just proudly become a first time Grandfather to a healthy baby boy born to his eldest daughter, Bec and her husband Sam.

Chain of Custody Certification

Grants have recently obtained Chain of Custody Certification which means that by using Grants cypress our customers are supporting sustainably managed timber harvesting and timber processing which is vital for the long term future of Australia’s forestry and wood products.

Daniel Grant has completed his apprenticeship in Certificate 111 in Wood Machining and has now become an important member of our team in the Dry Mill.

We now have our own workshop to carry out repairs and maintenance on our vehicles and machinery. Ben Grant is in charge of the workshop with Adam Grant assisting him as an apprentice in Automotive Technology (Specialising in heavy vehicle road transport).

Jenny Ingram and Melissa Kenna have become members of the office staff and they are both completing Certificate 111 in Business Administration.

Successful Narrandera businessman and benefactor Bob Grant of Grants Sawmilling Co was inducted into the Narrandera Business Awards Hall of Fame at the 2011 Narrandera Business Awards

Bob, as he prefers to be known, was born in Hillston in 1935, the son of a carpenter, and was introduced to wood at an early age. In his younger years he drove a truck and developed a love for them that he still possesses to this day. He now runs five trucks in total, with two of them being road trains. Very few truck drivers manage to get out of his yard without him asking “What have you got in her mate?”

Family and friends say Bob should have been an engineer because he has a great passion for developing new things.

His first innovation was called the preying mantis. This was a home engineered log loader which allowed a truck to carry two loads of logs a day to the mills as opposed to the previously accepted one load per day using the old loading methods. He designed and built the first log docking system used in the industry and was the first to introduce mechanical harvesting systems for logging cypress. Bob was also the first to introduce kilns for the drying of timber in the cypress industry.

He has had many other firsts and is recognised as an industry leader in the adoption and development of technologies. Grants Sawmilling Co started its first logging company at West Wyalong in the early 1960’s and bought their first sawmill in Lake Cargelligo in the mid-sixties.

Bob was a member of the Board of the Country Sawmillers Association. He bought the Narrandera sawmill in 1973 and it is operating on the original licence issued in 1918.

Condobolin Mill was purchased in the early 1980’s with further mill acquisitions at a later stage. This now sees the company logging and milling all cypress in the southern half of NSW. Grants Sawmills developed the market side of the business, starting with small local markets but now sells products all over Australia and Asia.

Bob says Japan has been, and continues to be, the best export market but the company continues to develop new products and markets to this day.

The business now employs 55 people and is growing. It runs logging operations, haulage operations, sawmilling, kiln drying, dry milling, glue laminating and a full range of garden products. The new small log kiln is about to commence operation that will allow Grants to further grow the business.

Bob was the captain of his high school rugby league team and a goal kicker of renown and has been a major sponsor and patron of rugby league in Narrandera for many years. He was a councillor on the Narrandera Shire Council at one stage and also held the position of Chairman of the Board at St Joseph’s School. Bob has been president of the Rotary Clubs of both Lake Cargelligo and Narrandera.

Many groups have been the beneficiary of his generous sponsorship and no publicity is sought for his generosity.

Throughout all of his business and community ventures Bob has had his business partner and wife June, beside him and they have worked very hard together to achieve the success that they have enjoyed. The couple have five children, all of whom reside in Narrandera. Two of their children are also involved in the business. “We are humble people not looking for accolades and with a genuine passion for what we do,” Bob said.

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Narrandera Rotary

has recently awarded our employee, Daniel Grant, with a Pride of Workmanship award. Daniel is currently a third year certificate III Wood Machining Apprentice.

This award is part of the Rotary Vocational Service that gives the sense of responsibility to do a job well and is one of the greatest assets in our community. The objective of Pride of Workmanship is to promote Vocational Service, encourage Pride of Workmanship in all vocations, provide employers with an opportunity to recognize employees who display the qualities worthy of an award, encourage favorable employer/employee relationships and a sense of community pride in individual achievement and provide an opportunity for Rotary to be involved in the community, particularly the business community.

Daniel attends the South Western Sydney Institution of TAFE for the provision of his off the job training. The National Training Manager for Tabma Workforce & Career Development provided a reference which quoted that Dan scored in the top five percent of all the Tabma employed both in NSW and across Australia. Through his exceptional behavior and effort he has the recommendations of his teachers, peers, host trainers and others that have interacted with Daniel over the period of his apprenticeship.

Well done, Dan!

During the month of November, Grants Sawmilling Co had two dedicated moustache-growing employees participate in the ‘Movember’ Foundation cause. Below are Wayne and Mick on the last day of ‘Movember’ before the big shave. Well done for a great cause!

Greg, employed at Grant’s Sawmilling Co Pty Limited as a sawyer, built his children a playground using Grants Cypress. A perfect choice for a safe and chemical free environment for his children to enjoy.

Grants Sawmill employees at Narrandera and Condobolin were thrilled with the announcement of the findings of the Natural Resources Commission final forest assessment.

The assessment ends months of uncertainty for Grants Sawmilling Co Pty Limited employees, suppliers and communities of Narrandera and Condobolin.

The State Government’s expected endorsement of the recommendations released recently will secure Grants Sawmilling Co’s existing 20 year wood supply agreement and maintain 86 percent of south western cypress forests as State forests.

Matthew and Richard would like to thank all those who supported Grants Sawmilling Co and the industry during this process. They look forward to continuing to support the local communities well into the future.

For more information on the full list of recommendations please visit the NRC website at www.nrc.nsw.gov.au.

The staff at Grants Sawmilling Co celebrated twenty years of service on 21 May 2010 for employee, Gary Knagge.

Gary is part of the bush crew and operates the forwarder in the forest. Pictured is Gary with Matthew Grant, Director/Logging Manager.

One of our employees, Mick, helped when it was time to build a cubby house for his grandson (using Grants Cypress of course!).

Materials included in the job were rusticated weatherboard, 90 x 20 KD decking and rough sawn timber. It was then completed with a stained finish.

Well done, Mick!

Tim Fisher started with Grants Sawmilling as a junior in October 1989

Over the twenty years that Tim has been employed by Grants he has worked his way up to become a key employee within the organisation.

Tim’s efforts were rewarded with a few drinks with his fellow workers and a presentation of a watch to mark this special milestone.

Natural. Chemical Free, Termite Resistant, Durable