George F. Russell and Raymond F. Watson established Millard Lumber & Grain Company in 1948 after purchasing the business form William von Dohren. The business initially catered to a rural farming community of fewer than 400 people. Millard Lumber provided a center for the farmers to sell grain, buy coal and purchase lumber. As time passed, Russell shifted the focus of the business towards building materials and products that supplied both professional contractors and do-it-yourself homeowners. Millard Lumber was an early manufacturer of roof trusses, premanufactured wall sections and prehung doors and has stayed in the forefront of advanced building techniques since that time. Rick Russell, George Russell s son, and his management team run the family owned Millard Lumber business, along with more than 300 associates at locations in Omaha, Waverly and Lincoln, Neb., and Des Moines, Iowa.