Parker: Cochrane's Spray Lake Sawmills being acquired by B.C. lumber large West Fraser Timber

Spray Lake Sawmills has been manufacturing forest merchandise to be used all through Canada and overseas since 1943

Article content material

West Fraser Timber has entered into an settlement to amass Spray Lake Sawmills, the family-owned forest merchandise firm in Cochrane.

Headquartered in Vancouver, West Fraser was launched by three Ketcham brothers in 1955 as a small planning mill in Quesnell, B.C. At this time it has grown to be the most important lumber producer in North America. Following completion of Canadian regulatory critiques and satisfaction of customary situations, it’s anticipated the transaction will shut by year-end.

Commercial 2

Article content material

Article content material

“We’re excited to welcome Spray Lake Sawmills to the West Fraser household,” mentioned Ray Ferris, president and CEO of West Fraser. “It has an skilled, devoted group of workers who we’ll look to additional the legacy of this proud mill. With its stable efficiency, and deal with sustainability and neighborhood, the mill is a perfect match for West Fraser.”

It at present employs round 300 folks from Cochrane and the encompassing space.

Spray Lake Sawmills has been manufacturing forest merchandise to be used all through Canada and overseas since 1943.

Based by brothers Chester and Lloyd Mjolsness, who started their enterprise within the Fifties utilizing crosscut saws and skids pulled by horses within the Spray Lakes space, the corporate regarded for a everlasting location and selected Cochrane in 1969. The everlasting facility was inbuilt 1974, and with its presence within the coronary heart of the city, which grew up round it, the mill centered on a excessive precedence of security and environmental sensitivity.

Chester’s son, Barry Mjolsness, turned president and sole proprietor of the corporate in 1989. Underneath his management, the sawmill grew its product line to incorporate dimension lumbers, fence posts, handled wooden merchandise, livestock bedding, wooden chips and bark mulch for agricultural and panorama functions. From the start it has labored towards 100 per cent utilization of a tree — there is no such thing as a waste. Caring for the setting in a accountable method has at all times been a key driver.

Article content material

Commercial 3

Article content material

Mjolsness has additionally ensured his firm is a eager and proud supporter of the neighborhood it resides in. It has given again to organizations corresponding to Boys and Women Golf equipment and Scouts Canada, together with its funding within the Spray Lake Sawmills Centre, a 325,000-square-foot multi-use recreation facility that does a lot to advertise well being and wellness locally.

Notes:

• Completed non-profit chief Jung-Suk Ryu has been appointed the brand new CEO of Spirit North, the charitable group led for the previous six years by two-time Olympic medallist and Officer of the Order of Canada Beckie Scott. Ryu is former president and CEO of the Nationwide accessArts Centre, the place he led the profitable merger of three incapacity arts corporations and created the nation’s first multidisciplinary arts group. Earlier than becoming a member of the NaAC, Ryu held senior roles throughout a broad vary of sectors, together with director of exterior relations at The Banff Centre and director of public affairs with the Canadian Nationwide Institute for the Blind. “Ryu is a dynamic, passionate and decisive chief who’s a confirmed performer,” says Larry Greer, chair of the Spirit North board of administrators. “It was essential to the board to discover a chief who can construct on the sturdy basis and momentum created by Beckie and the crew, whereas working alongside faculties, communities and our beneficiant companions throughout the nation. Spirit North is a nationwide charitable group devoted to bettering well being, wellness and schooling outcomes for Indigenous youngsters and youth by way of the remodeling energy of sport and play. Ryu will succeed Scott on Jan. 2, 2024, when she is going to proceed her assist in a founder function of Spirit North.

Commercial 4

Article content material

• Calgary-based communications company Worthington PR & Story has launched an company inside an company known as North Arrow, a brand new idea serving not-for-profit organizations and charities. Founder and president Paula Worthington says Noble Arrow will assist empower charities, non-profits and changemakers to strengthen their impression by supporting them with important communications, PR and digital media companies, regardless of their measurement or geographic location. “There may be a lot nice work taking place in Canada’s non-profit sector however it usually doesn’t obtain the notice or impression it deserves,” says Worthington. “They’re usually neglected or really feel that company companies are out of attain. We’re getting down to change that.”

David Parker seems commonly within the Herald. Learn his columns on-line at calgaryherald.com/enterprise. He might be reached at 403-830-4622 or by e-mail at [email protected]

Article content material