In 1978, Gailyn Messersmith built a sawdust burner for his family’s home using a rotating drum with a central auger to deliver sawdust into a small boiler. As local interest grew for the unit, Gailyn patented the design which was called the Messersmith Conversion Burner. As sales of the unit increased and interest grew across the U.S., Messersmith Manufacturing Inc. was incorporated in February 1982.
Demand for heat for larger businesses using biomass fuels created the design of the Messersmith Industrial Conversion Burner. Beginning with a local school in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 1983, Messersmith Manufacturing began installing Industrial Biomass Boiler Systems in schools. To transfer fuel from a storage bin to the wood combustion system, Gailyn designed a traveling auger system for unloading a fuel bin. The traveling auger system continues to be a highly sought after industry standard design. There are now Messersmith industrial biomass boiler systems and material handling equipment installed in 26 states throughout the U.S. from Maine to Alaska and in Provinces of Canada. We pride ourselves on having excellent customer service. Our customer list includes public and private schools & universities, hospitals, state office facilities, greenhouses, and forest product facilities.
In 2016, Gailyn and Valerie Messersmith were pleased to announce Messersmith Manufacturing had taken the final step to bring new leadership to the company. After considerable planning, the company was purchased by Matthew Colburn and Jeremy Mortl, employees of Messersmith Manufacturing.
Matt has been with the company since 2011 and started out doing service work and field installations. Prior to Messersmith, Matt worked for Caterpillar servicing their heavy equipment out of the Milton, VT facility near where he grew up. He and his wife Louise have one son and continue to live in Vermont. Matt has a thorough understanding of the operation and maintenance of biomass combustion systems and continues to manage new project installations.
Jeremy came to the Messersmith team in 2013 as a mechanical engineer. Prior to Messersmith, Jeremy was a calibration and test engineer at Chrysler in Auburn Hills, MI. He grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and graduated from Michigan Technological University. Jeremy and his wife Nicole have two children and live in Iron Mountain, MI.
In 2017, Messersmith Manufacturing was looking for opportunities to expand its product and service offerings and acquired Biomass Combustion Systems which was based out of Worcester, Massachusetts. Biomass Combustion Systems has a 25 year history in the biomass boiler system industry selling primarily to sawmills and private sector companies. Manufacturing of the BCS equipment was brought in-house to Messersmiths manufacturing facility in Bark River, MI where the tradition of great quality and customer service will continue for the line of BCS products.
Messersmith Manufacturing will continue to offer the best customer service, value, and dedication to product quality and satisfaction in the industry. If you would like to join our list of happy customers, please contact us.
