Keith is a 20+ year veteran at Cass. He was trained as the backup sawyer (operates the cutting on the carriage mill) in 1995 and took over as head sawyer in 1998. Keith is one of the best and motivated employees at Cass. His length of service as Cass is well above the average years of service at the mill. The average years of service at Cass is ten years.

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Keith controls the carriage, the speed, and the cuts when the mill production starts and when it ends, and the quality of cuts made at the main saw. He sends each cut to the chipper for the unusable cut, to the edger for side lumber that need side trimming, or directly to the trim saws for the clean cut off of the piece. Keith starts work half an hour early to sharpen the saws (54" diameter main saw and 30" top saw) and adjusting the machine for proper tolerances.

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Of the two weekly production bonuses awarded to all hourly employees, Keith is the main driver for one of them. He balances production speed with quality.

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When Keith is not at Cass, he works on a list of home projects, has family time and does some wood work on a portable band saw.