A northwestern Ontario sawmill officially re-opened Tuesday after being shuttered for more than five years, said CBC.
The Eacom Timber Corporation has spent the last several months retrofitting the mill in Ear Falls, ON.
By the middle of the month, more than 50 people will be working on the first shift, general manager Harrison Wicks said. Over 150 people applied for the jobs.
Wicks said there will be another round of hiring for a second shift that he expects to start early next year. That will bring the number of sawmill workers to about 100.
When the mill closed five years ago, the effects were devastating. Some former workers are now returning to the mill.
Wicks noted the mill has been retrofitted to be more efficient, so it’s meant to “withstand the lowest … prices in the downturn.”
If the economy or the price of lumber goes down, the mill is expected to be “a low-cost producer,” he said.
The mill will produce dimensional two-by-fours, two-by-sixes, and two-by-threes.
