In 1978, Gailyn Messersmith built a sawdust burner for his family’s home using a rotating hopper 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 of 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 1983, Messersmith Manufacturing, Inc. began installing the Messersmith Industrial Biomass Boiler Systems in schools. By the end of 2016, Messersmith Manufacturing, Inc. had installed over 130 Messersmith Industrial Biomass Boiler Systems in 17 different states from Maine to Alaska. Customers include educational facilities, medical facilities, greenhouses, and forest products plants.

In 2016, Gailyn and Valerie were pleased to announce that Messersmith Manufacturing, Inc. 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, Inc. Gailyn and Valerie will be staying with the company for up to two years to help Matt and Jeremy maintain the high level of service Messersmith customers have come to enjoy. Gailyn and Valerie want to thank their customers for the trust and loyalty given to Messersmith Manufacturing, Inc. over the past three decades.

Matt has been with the company since 2011 doing service work and installations across the U.S. Prior to that time, he did service work on Messersmith systems for several years while part of Gazogen, a service contractor for Messersmith. He was trained as a service person for Caterpillar’s large equipment and did that work for several years before his association with Messersmith systems. Matt grew up in Vermont and has lived there most of his life. He and his wife Louise recently became the proud parents of a baby boy. Matt has a thorough understanding of the operation and maintenance of biomass combustion systems. He has directed project installations for the past several years in his position of Project Manager.

Jeremy came to Messersmith Manufacturing, Inc. in 2013 as a mechanical engineer. Prior to coming to Messersmith, Jeremy was a calibration & test engineer at Chrysler. 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, Michigan. He is familiar with all phases of the design and construction process and interacts constantly with the employees in our manufacturing facility. He communicates with project engineers and architects to obtain the best layout for each project.

Messersmith - Belt Conveyor