Mike McGarry, Urban Lumber

About this episode

Mike McGarry discusses the evolution of Urban Lumber and the challenges of working with diseased urban trees.

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger welcomes back returning guest Mike McGarry of Urban Lumber in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. What started as a one-man pilot project to prove to three levels of government that diseased urban trees could be safely salvaged has grown into what may be one of the largest urban tree recycling and hardwood production operations in the country, processing three to four thousand trees per year with a team of eleven employees. Mike walks through the early days of navigating government roadblocks, building chain of custody tracking, and developing disease mitigation protocols for working with Dutch elm disease wood. He explains how the elm bark beetle carries the fungal spores, why getting the bark off within five days is critical, and how Winnipeg's brutal winters actually work in his favor. The conversation shifts to how Urban Lumber evolved from a sawmill operation selling raw lumber into a fully vertically integrated company. Today, ninety percent of the lumber they produce stays in-house for custom furniture, architectural millwork, boardroom tables, and floating shelves sold online across Canada. Mike talks about the…

People in this episode

Host: Jennifer Alger

Guest: Mike McGarry

Topics covered

• urban lumber
• tree recycling
• hardwood production
• business evolution
• disease mitigation
• furniture making

Keywords

• urban lumber
• tree recycling
• hardwood production
• Dutch elm disease
• furniture
• Winnipeg
• business

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Urban Lumber

Places: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

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