Third Generation Electrician Develops Sawmilling Business in Ohio

Located in Cincinnati, Ohio, Paul Gangloff went from electrician to sawyer, opening his own sawmilling business, Riverside Logging and Sawmill. Paul's new company developed and grew a long-standing family business and brought his family together.

 From Electrician to Sawyer 

Paul is an electrician in the 3rd generation. "My grandfather established a company, Riverside Electric, in 1945," Paul says.

However, Paul learned that he has a passion for working with wood. Thus, Paul decided to open his own logging and sawmilling business.

"We just decided to keep the Riverside brand, the Riverside name, and went forward with that when we named our company Riverside Logging and Sawmill." However, Riverside Electric Incorporated is still part of his family, as his daughter, Christa, now runs the company.

"Riverside Logging and Sawmill started by heading up and down the highway on I-74," says Paul. "Passing the Wood-Mizer just outside of Batesville, I was intrigued by what they did there. I've always loved messing with wood; if I had to do it all over again, I probably would have been a carpenter if I wasn't born into an electrical contracting family cause I love working with wood."

Paul discussed the opportunity of buying a Wood-Mizer sawmill with his wife. "My wife said, 'Look, I know you enough to know you'll want to buy the smallest available unit. Please, don't do that. Buy big enough to where it'll take you into the future because you're probably going to want a bigger one pretty soon.”

Taking her advice, Paul went ahead and bought an LT15 portable sawmill. "However, the LT15GO was great, and it worked for about 2 weeks, and then I just had tree trimming start dropping off logs that would not fit in the LT15GO," says Paul. He returned to his wife and explained that he would need a bigger mill. "She said, 'I knew it! I knew you were going to do that." They purchased the LT50 Super Hydraulic sawmill, and later, Paul added a WM1000 industrial sawmill capable of cutting extra-large logs up to 67" in diameter.

 Expanding Riverside 

With two sawmills, the business began to proliferate. "I was still very involved in the electrical part of the family business and always needed getting somebody in here full time to mill." This new addition to Riverside was Richie. "Richie is here now; he has been here probably over a year. He's doing a great job," says Paul.

In the short time Paul and Richie have spent together, they have formed a strong team. "Paul reminds me of my father, who's passed away now. I really enjoy working with him, and we're learning together," says Richie.

Every day at Riverside is different. "My day-to-day working here can vary greatly. Some days, we have a bunch of logs out in our yard, and we'll pick certain logs, and I'll slab them how I want. On other days, we will have customers here that want dimensional lumber. Some days, I can be on the SlabMizer; other days, I can be on the big saw WM1000 doing a 56" wide tree," explains Richie.

"We're a job shop, very much a job shop, and then in between jobs, we just mill our own wood for our own purposes and just to have it on inventory," comments Paul.

The main focus at Riverside is to utilize trees that typically go to waste. "As a company, we're not actively sawing down live trees. We are taking things that are already down. We like to look at it like we are repurposing it here to make something cool. Rather than have wood that's down and going to rot or turn it into mulch. We have fun with it and appreciate every piece we cut." says Paul.

Utilizing their Wood-Mizer equipment allowed Riverside to go above and beyond just milling their lumber. "We have an edger and a planer, which we just recently purchased within the last year. So, we are excited because we can do way more than just milling now. We can actually process and finish," says Paul.

"Luke 19:10 says, 'For the Son of man came to seek and save that which was lost.' Seek and save really came from that scripture; you know it's got dual meaning, and it's an important part of what we do here."

 The Future of Sawmilling 

Wood-Mizer also contacted them about a particular project because of the wisdom and expertise that Paul and Riverside offer. "Wood-Mizer, a local guy who lives right up the hill in Blue Ash, visited us and looked around at our operation one day. We got to talking, and he asked if we would be interested in demoing a new piece of equipment," explains Paul. This mill was the LT15WIDE battery-powered portable sawmill - an industry first.

"When it first came, I looked at the batteries and just kind of laughed, 'Really, this is going to cut wood?' But when I cut my first log on it, it was incredible. This thing had the power. After the first few cuts, we were fascinated; since then, I've fallen in love with it. It's a great machine," says Richie.

"The LT15 is a beast, we love it. It's a really great unit. It will definitely be our next purchase," explains Paul.

 Family and Sawmilling 

Paul's sawmilling extends past his work life and into his family life. He continues to be grateful for how the sawmill has brought his family together. "Because of the family business I've always been involved with my whole life, I relish the opportunity to come into work and hug my daughter every day; many people don't get to do that. I'm a family man; I love my family, children, and grandchildren." 

Recently, Paul got an idea to build a treehouse near their creek as his grandchildren love to play in that area whenever they visit. "Usually, I get more of the stuff done in the fall and winter when there's not much else doing on. It's a 20 ft. by 40ft, so it's about an 800-square-foot platform, of which the treehouse takes up about 700 square feet. We got the Cedar siding on it; it's exciting. It's going to be neat when it's done."