First Nation sawmill operation eyes expansion: Lac Seul lumber mill studies value-added, bigger markets.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: FORESTRY

A northwestern Ontario First Nation is exploring avenues on how to expand its thriving sawmill operation and delve into more value-added manufacturing.

A small four-employee multidimensional lumber mill on the large reserve, north and west of Sioux Lookout, has been busy serving needs of the community, nearby Sioux Lookout, and many area tourism outfitter camps.

"The rough sawn lumber is going out the door fast," said Bert Hennessey, general manager of Obishikokaang Resources Corporation (ORC). "It's just the (operating) margins aren't the best."

The corporation is shepherding along a plan to expand into a two-sawmill operation offering a wider array of forest product offerings.

"People are excited about the facility," said Hennessey, based on the volume of walk-in visitors asking for slabs and ordering products.

It's small but to be really successful in the future it's going to need funding to be more mechanized and efficient with new equipment.

ORC, which manages the Lac Seul Forest, oversees forest access road maintenance and silviculture programs while protecting culturally sensitive areas and animal habitat.

The fibre that comes out of the Lac Seul Forest, which lies within the community's traditional territory, has been fashioned into picnic tables, sheds, floating docks, saunas, cabins and very popular A-frame micro-homes.

The homes are being sold on the reserve and in Sioux Lookout, but the plan is to build them in components to be able to ship them by flatbed trailer to a broader market.

Over the summer, they implemented a marketing strategy with the launch of a sawmill website (lacseulsawmill.ca) allowing customers to see their catalogue of products.

Hennessey said while the sawmill is busy with orders, it's just a matter of fine-tuning the operation over time to install more mechanization to complete orders faster, achieve better efficiencies, and improve margins.

All that work has been done. It's a matter of packaging it into a business plan and applying for some capital funds to build another building to house another saw: mill in an area where they can do some value-added construction.

Over the next few months, Hennessey expects to make announcements on project capital funding as they roll out their business plan and concept.

Site engineering is taking place to dig into the nuts and bolts of constructing another mill over the next 12 months.

Recently, the Lac Seul Forest was certified under Sustainable Forest Initiative...