Pole to pole: Kenora utility pole plant starts operation.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: FORESTRY

A Kenora utility pole peeling plant will start production this fall.

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Tannis Romaniuk, Win-crief Forestry Products executive operations manager, said operations began in September with test runs of the pole peeling equipment.

Commercial operations are anticipated to start in late October or early November, and the order book is looking good.

"The orders are in," said Roma-niux. "We have a request that anything we can make will be sold."

The company's buyer and broker is Trans Canada Utility Pole of In-nisfill.

Romaniuk can think of only two Canadian companies engaged in this specialty work. Neither of them are in central Canada.

"We think we can cover off this area and we also have interest from Bell Pole out of the U.S."

To mark the commercial startup, the company is inviting Natural Resources Minister Michael Gravelle to Kenora in early November as a gesture of thanks for the government's assistance in providing seed funding and Crown wood supply.

Romaniuk said the idea for the pole peeling operation goes back to 2007.

Moncrief Construction, one of the partners in Wincrief Forestry, found there were no utility pole suppliers in northwestern Ontario.

But during its harvesting and line-cutting work, it discovered a number of trees that would make good poles, which spurred a discussion and eventual feasibility study when Gravelle began pushing the concept of value-added forestry.

The company wisely tapped into the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund and the Forest Sector Prosperity Fund which provided more than $700,000 for this project and the company's modular home business. The province also provided a $500,000 loan.

The pole peeling equipment, which is similar to a debarker, was bought from the U.S., and represents a public and private investment of $2.5 million, said Roma-niuk.

Plant production is estimated at 15,000 red pine and jack pine poles a year, ranging in lengths between 45 and 60 feet.

The operation employs three full-time First Nation workers and will ramp up to at least 10 with harvesting, trucking and distribution positions.

Wincrief is a joint venture partnership between Moncrief Construction Ltd. and the Wabas-eemooong Independent Nation. Most of the workforce comes from the nearby First Nation communities of One Man Lake, Swan Lake and Whitedog.

Wincrief is also engaged in a modular home-building businesss. After a slow start almost two years ago, business is picking up.

"We've sold a number of houses...