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Valerie Johnson has a lot on her shoulders.

Since her father, Don R. Johnson, died in 2010, Valerie Johnson has teamed with her sister, Jodi Westbrooks, to oversee the family lumber mill 鈥� and its 110 employees 鈥� in tiny Riddle. They have paid millions of dollars to buy the only machinery in the nation certified to produce panels of cross-laminated timber (CLT). Then Johnson listened this month as Gov. Kate Brown told dozens of reporters that the mill would help lead a revolution in construction and green engineering, and bring back jobs to economically-depressed rural Oregon.

Now comes the hard part.

鈥淢y job isn’t to worry,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淢y job is to coach our team and get us ready for what can happen. We hope to be a big part of CLT. We’re cautious, but we’re confidently stepping into this.鈥�

CLT is an emerging wood product that supporters say could radically change the building industry. It’s made of panels of softwood, new-growth timber glued at right angles. In a sense, it’s a structurally-sound product made of lower-fiber wood from more juvenile trees. Among other applications, CLT has architects and engineers imagining a return of Oregon’s trademark export 鈥� wood 鈥� for high-rise construction.

鈥淐LT makes huge sense,鈥� said Jan Carl Willemse, managing partner at ZGF Architects. 鈥淚t’s definitely in Oregon’s future, and it’s definitely in ours. I see it not just as a trend, but the way forward.鈥�

Earlier this month, Brown, along with timber industry representatives and other experts, celebrated CLT at Portland’s BEST Fest clean tech conference. There she announced a $130,000 competition prize for designs utilizing CLT, and praised the early success of Johnson’s mill business 鈥� D.R. Johnson 鈥� which in April received the first certification from the American Plywood Association (which deals with all engineered wood) to manufacture CLT panels.

D.R. Johnson Lumber was established by Don R. Johnson in 1951. He had served in the Merchant Marines during the final year of World War II, and then returned to Oregon, where his father ran a mill in Veneta. Don R. Johnson wanted to start his own operation, but didn’t want to compete against his father, so he settled on Riddle 鈥� 100 miles away 鈥� according to Valerie.

Don R. Johnson and wife JoAnne had two daughters, Valerie and Jodi, 22 years apart. These days, the girls run the mill and JoAnne, 86, sits on the board of directors. With six kids to attend to, Jodi isn’t in the office as much as her sister. But both women have stepped up significantly to manage the mill since their father died, according to D.R. Johnson Chief Operating Officer John Redfield.

鈥淭hey’ve just taken over where he left off,鈥� said Redfield, who’s been with the company for 16 years. 鈥淭hey went through a very hard time 鈥� the whole industry did 鈥� and we’re now coming out the other end.

鈥淭hey’ve been positive and supportive, and a very good family to work for.鈥�

Valerie credits her father with being quick to jump on glu-lam beams, which the mill has been manufacturing now for more than 50 years. Making CLT is part of a natural progression, she said. The process even uses some of the same equipment.

鈥淚t’s very similar to what we’ve been doing for 50 years,鈥� Redfield said.

The mill designed a prototype CLT press in collaboration with wood products manufacturer USNR. Aided by autoCAD software, it can press a panel in about two hours. To add detail work to the pressed panels, the mill has ordered a $2 million CNC machine by Hundegger.

But unlike glu-lam beams, which can be cut and shaped at a job site, CLT panels must fit into place perfectly every time.

鈥淚t just ratchets up the responsibility on our part,鈥� Valerie Johnson said.

D.R. Johnson, like the rest of the timber industry, suffered greatly when the federal government began reducing timber sales in the early 1990s. The company hung on without conducting major layoffs until the Great Recession hit several years ago; then it closed two of its outlying mills.

In only the past few weeks, hundreds of news reports on CLT have come out. Oregon lawmakers have spoken in support of CLT, and said the state should take the lead. Michael Green, an architect in Vancouver, British Columbia, and a CLT evangelist, has spoken at a TED conference. Plans have been announced for tall wood projects in Sweden, Australia and British Columbia.

Meanwhile, Lever Architecture and the rest of the team behind the Framework building recently won a $1.5 million wood-framed design competition prize from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for聽the proposed聽12-story mixed-use structure in the Pearl District.聽The team, which includes Beneficial State Bancorp, real estate developer project^ and聽affordable housing investor Home Forward have set October 2016 as the end of its exploratory phase, with December 2017 completion anticipated.

Following the governor’s announcement at BEST Fest this month, Valerie Johnson was overcome with emotion. She said she wished her father was here, and that she hadn’t expected to get emotional.

鈥淭here are so many who helped us get to where we are now,鈥� she said.