News & Events

USNR Acquires Coe Newnes/McGehee

Woodland, Washington – USNR is pleased to announce its acquisition of Coe Newnes/McGehee. The solid wood business unit will continue to operate out of Salmon Arm, British Columbia, as Newnes-McGehee, a division of USNR. The engineered wood products business units will continue to operate independently out of Painesville, Ohio, as Coe Manufacturing Company.

George Van Hoomissen, USNR’s President and CEO, commented: “We see tremendous potential in both the Newnes-McGehee and Coe Manufacturing businesses. For many years, both companies have employed some of the industry's most qualified personnel and offered some of the best products on the market. Now those people and products will be backed by the financial stability of USNR. We believe this will prove to be a winning combination – first and foremost for our customers, but also for our suppliers and our employees.”

“This offers customers far more options when planning a project.” commented Chris Blomquist, Vice President of USNR. “By combining our product lines and our service and support operations, customers will be able to design the solution that best meets their needs.”

Mr. Blomquist further emphasized that USNR is committed to supporting all previously-installed Newnes-McGehee systems: “We now have a larger pool of talented technical resources to do just that.” He went on to say, “I am extremely gratified by the positive comments we have been hearing from Newnes-McGehee employees, suppliers, and customers. They are very pleased this company will go forward with the support of an experienced industry leader like USNR.”

Mike Parkes, former Coe Newnes/McGehee Sales Manager for solid wood products and now a part of the newly combined USNR and Newnes-McGehee sales team, remarked, “It is great to see these organizations that were so recently competitors, pull together so quickly. This is a very positive outcome.”

Mark Maleta, former Optimization Business Development Manager for CNM and now another member of the combined sales team, commented, “USNR’s financial stability is significant to Newnes-McGehee customers because it ensures that their investments in our equipment will be supported.” Mr. Maleta continued, “Collaboration between our engineering teams will make for better products and allow us to bring them to market faster.”

“With USNR’s support we are moving toward a more streamlined organization that will be able to deliver projects in an efficient manner,” said Rob Seaman, formerly CNM’s Sawmill Optimization Manager, now in the role of Project Manager. “USNR truly understands this industry, and that’s what we need to be successful.”

Shirley Lawrence, Parts Sales Manager at USNR, commented on aftermarket support. “As we integrate the two businesses we are anticipating that our even larger network of warehousing and logistics resources will allow us to deliver replacement parts to all of our customers faster and more economically.”

Newnes-McGehee has a long history in the wood processing industry as a major supplier of stand-alone machinery as well as integrated mechanical, optimization and controls systems. Product successes include the Linear High Grader (LHG®) automated grade optimizer, Sawmill BioScan™ transverse defect optimizer, McGehee curve sawing Gang system, SL2500 Small Log Processing system and linear RoboGuide™ Edger system. For more information about Newnes-McGehee and its products, please visit www.newnes-mcgehee.com.

Coe Manufacturing Company’s history dates back more than 150 years, primarily as a supplier of equipment and systems to the plywood and panel markets. Product successes include the BlockPLUS™ Lathe Charger Scanning system, Rotary Lathe system, and Veneer Dryer system. For more information about Coe Manufacturing and its products, please visit www.coemfg.com.

These acquisitions firmly establish USNR as one of the largest suppliers of wood processing equipment in the world, offering state-of-the-art machinery, controls and optimization to both solid wood and engineered wood products sectors. Headquartered in Woodland, Washington, USNR also operates facilities in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Oregon, British Columbia, and Quebec. For more information about USNR and its products, please visit www.usnr.com.

Return to Top