Local sawmill to see big growth in hard times: little John Enterprises to double shop space.

• Author: Stewart, Nick
• Position: NEWS

Wandering through the yard of his Timmins sawmill, John Kapel Jr. leans over and picks up a double handful of bark and sawdust before letting it slip through his gloved fingers and onto the frozen ground.

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Within days, this space will be riddled with heavy equipment and construction crews due to begin work on the new multi-million-dollar expansion for Kapel's family firm, Little John Enterprises.

The 11,000-square-foot expansion will effectively double the size of the facility, adding onto existing 13,000-square-foot space.

It will also include the installation of a new saw line. Existing equipment, acquire 25 years prior and fixed throughout the years, will be replaced with high-strain bandsaws and 10 tractor-trailer loads of sawmilling equipment that have been sitting in the yard of Quebec-based Distribution Cardinal Inc, waiting for facility to be built.

The company will also handle installation of the material over the six-week construction period.

"You can only weld upon weld for so long," says family patriarch John Kapel Sr.

With a nod, kapel Jr. agrees, adding, "It was time to bite the bullet. This way, We'll be good for another 25 years."

Over the courses of a 40-days shutdown, the existing site will be stripped, allowing the construction crew to connect the former space with the new facility.

This renovation will bring the entire operation under a single roof, providing indoor space for work currently being performed outdoors, such as packaging.

The greater use of indoor space will also help productivity. A recent snowstorm led to the loss of a half-day's work as staff sought to clean the yard and lumber in preparation for milling. In the future, much of this material will be housed inside, helping to mitigate weather-related delays.

Although hesitant to release his production numbers, Kapel Jr. says the move will allow his 12-employee value-added mill to produce "substantially more" with the same resources and staff.

The move...