NEWBERG, Ore. — In 1976, three Oregon hazelnut farmers — John Newell, Dick Birkemeier and Ben Mitchell Jr. — partnered to form Willamette Hazelnut.

“They were concerned about the financial direction of the co-op that was processing their crops,” current Chief Executive Officer Michael Severeid said, “so they decided to do it themselves.”

Together, the trio built a hazelnut processing facility, including a dryer. And as the emerging hazelnut industry grew, the farmers’ upstart business grew with it.

“Initially, it was just for their own crops,” Severeid said, “but then they started doing it for the neighbors.”

Nearly 50 years later, descendants of the three original partners still own Willamette Hazelnut.

The company now supplies hazelnut-based industries in Europe, China and around the United States.

“That’s how it is with a lot of these businesses,” Severeid said. “They start small and, if they work, they grow over time.”

It’s safe to say, Willamette Hazelnut worked. Last year, Willamette Hazelnut processed hazelnut crops for more than 100 growers in Oregon and Washington. The company contracts five receiving locations in Saint Paul, McMinnville, Mount Angel and Aurora, where crops are delivered, washed, dried and stored. As the seasonal demand increases, the hazelnuts are shelled at the company’s headquarters on Tangen Road in Newberg.

“The market draw is level for about nine months out of the year,” Severeid said.

Peak demand for shelled hazelnuts spikes each year around Christmas and the Chinese New Year. The rest of the year, the company supplies international and domestic kernel markets for use in confection and snacking products.

Severeid has been with Willamette Hazelnuts since 2011. He married into the Mitchell family, of Newberg. At that time, he was working in information technology in the Netherlands for a U.S.-based firm.

“I got word that my father in law (then-CEO Ben Mitchell III) was interested in having me came back and work with him,” he said. “That was in 2010. It took us about a year to make the transition back (to Oregon).”

Severeid didn’t grow up in a farming family, or even a farming community. He learned the field skills of a hazelnut grower as he went. But now, his more than a decade of experience with the company is paired with his background in international business. It has made for a smooth transition to his role as CEO.

Under Severeid’s tenure, Willamette Hazelnut has continued to keep pace with the ever-growing international demand for Oregon hazelnuts into its third generation. It has also maintained the longstanding reputation, earned by the Mitchell family and partners, as a well-run company.

As for the previous generation, Ben Mitchell III retired in 2012. But he is, Severeid said, “still very much in the loop.”

“He’s out at the farm (doing field work) most days,” he added. “Just because he likes the work.”