Eacom has invested $16.6 million to equip its Elk Lake, Ontario and Matagami, Quebec sawmills with new, state-of-the art, continuous dry kilns (CDK).
Both are expected to be fully operational by early fall. The Elk Lake dry kiln was supplied by Wellons and the Matagami dry kiln was supplied by DelTech.
Eacom says that the CDKs will allow for continuous drying of lumber as well as reduced production bottlenecks and energy consumption.
In Elk Lake, the new CDK will eliminate the use of both diesel fuel and propane, which is currently being used as part of the energy mix for heating the buildings on site and two kilns. Going forward, all building heat and the new CDK will be exclusively powered by direct-fired natural gas.
In Matagami, the new CDK install will allow the sawmill to dry lumber 24 hours a day, without interruption, directly at the facility.
Since 2016, Eacom has invested nearly $100 million across its nine facilities to maintain and upgrade equipment. Between the two sawmills, Eacom employs 220 workers directly and another 450 in support operations.
The Brandt Group of Companies has announced plans to make a major investment in staffing and will hire more than 1,000 new employees by the end of 2021.
The new positions will span the Regina-based company’s 100+ location international network, focusing on roles in Canada and the U.S.
“There’s no question that our people are the foundation of our success. In spite of some challenging times for the global economy, an incredible team effort has enabled us to sustain our business and weather the storm successfully,” says Shaun Semple, Brandt Group of Companies CEO.
“Looking ahead, the growth trend for Brandt is strong, so the timing is ideal to make a major investment in our team,” added Semple.
In the past 10 years, Brandt has expanded their employee base by 140 per cent to more than 3,400, with the pace of growth continuing to accelerate steadily. The newly announced hiring initiative will see the company’s workforce grow by 30 per cent overall with the largest individual gains occurring in the company’s Regina, Saskatoon, and Hudson, Ilinois locations. Half of these hires will occur in the company’s Saskatchewan locations with 40 per cent more spread out across Canada and the balance in the U.S.
The new hires will bolster Brandt’s existing operations in industries from construction, forestry, and agriculture to rail, mining, and steel. The positions will include skilled trades, sales, finance, marketing, customer support, IT, and more as the company expands its support team to meet the needs of a rapidly growing customer base.
Interested applicants can view a current listing of the company’s career opportunities and apply online at www.brandtjobs.com.
The Brandt Group of Companies includes Brandt Tractor Ltd., the world’s largest privately-owned John Deere Construction & Forestry equipment dealer.
After 28 years of representing world-leading Swedish companies in the forest and construction industries, Gerry Mallory and Rick Gordon have decided to retire.
Hultdins Inc. was established in 1993, and also represented Indexator Rotators from the beginning. Olofsfors Tracks were the next Swedish product to be represented in 1995, followed by Rototilt Tiltrotators in 1999.
In 2008, Mallory Gordon Management (also known as MGM) was established to set up and manage three independent and dedicated North American companies for Hultdins, Olofsfors, and Rototilt. Today, all three companies have dedicated facilities and organizations located in Brantford, Ontario.
“It has been an interesting journey to develop markets from nothing to the industry standard in North America for all the Swedish products we have worked with,” says Mallory. “It has also been very rewarding to establish three independent and very successful North American companies that I am sure will continue to grow.”
Strongco has started construction on a new building at its Kitchener, Ontario branch with completion slated for the end of this summer.
The new facility is purpose-built to support sales, rentals, parts and service. It will have new and modern service bays along with a large parts warehouse in support of the Volvo Construction Equipment, Sennebogen and EcoLog Forestry products they distribute.
“This sends a strong message to our customers and the competition. It shows that Strongco is committed and ready to grow in the Tri-City area,” says Oliver Nachevski, Strongco president and CEO.
The company has approximately 500 employees serving customers from 25 branches in Canada.
On the Cover:
New Brunswick logger Marco Caron knows that business success in harvest contracting depends on basics: a well-motivated team, keen business skills and good equipment. In that last area, Caron’s harvesting equipment includes two Ponsse Scorpions. In fact, Caron was so impressed with his 2017 Scorpion harvester that he added a second 2018 Scorpion model to his operation. (Cover photo by George Fullerton).
Spotlight
Big things are happening at GreenFirst Forest Products—the company has bought six sawmills in Ontario and Quebec from Rayonier. We get the scoop on what’s going on at the company, with an interview with its new CEO—and lumber industry veteran—Rick Doman.
New sawmill investments by Resolute Forest Products
A look at recent sawmill investments by Resolute Forest Products, as it works hard to generate more production in super-hot lumber markets.
Innovative logger meets innovative iron
VanNatta Brothers Logging is seeing solid success with the first Quadco 4400 (QB4400) feller head in North America, which is now manufactured in B.C.
New Hampshire mill gets new Canadian technology
The upgrade of the Milan Lumber sawmill involved a fair bit of Canadian mill equipment, including i-DNA species identification technology from Autolog.
Delivering gains at Downie Timber
Downie Timber of Revelstoke, B.C., is investing to upgrade its edger line with USNR’s BioVision technology, to deliver the utmost in recovery, with New West Mill Installations as the contractor assigned to deliver the finished product during challenging COVID times.
Successful logging formula
New Brunswick logger Marco Caron’s formula for business success includes family involvement, solid equipment operators, and logging iron that delivers day-in, day-out in the bush.
Tech Update: Dry Kiln Suppliers
We take a look at the new features and technology among Dry Kiln Suppliers in this issue.
The EDGE
Included in this edition of The Edge, Canada’s leading publication on research in the forest industry, are stories from the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre (CWFC) and FPInnovations.
The Last Word
In spite of the COVID-19 virus, the forest industry is buckling down and—as it always has—is getting the job done, says Jim Stirling.
DEPARTMENTS
