Swanson Brothers Lumber Company began as Swanson & May Lumber Company in January, 1937 and was founded by H. R. Swanson, Walt Swanson and E. E. (Bill) May. When May retired in 1945, the company name changed to Swanson Brothers Lumber Co., Inc. H.R.’s son Ray, and M. B. Marsh, the logging superintendent, joined the company in 1949.
Over the next two decades the firm grew and added more timberlands each year. In the late 1950’s both H.R. Swanson and M. B. Marsh retired from ownership, leaving Ray Swanson as sole proprietor in 1968 following Walt Swanson’s death. Later, John Nail, the office manager, and Sam Konnie, the timber manager became shareholders, and in 1986, after John Nail retired, Sam and Ray split the company, with Ray taking the bulk of the timberlands and Sam taking over the sawmill.
In 1991, Larry Konnie, Sam Konnie’s son, became a shareholder and Vice President, and in 1997, Jay Christiansen, Sales Manager (retired 2013), Mike Randall, Timber Manager (retired 2015) and Ronda Shankle, Office Manager (retired 2018) also became shareholders. They are part of the Swanson team, taking the company into the 21st century.
