Ontario government is investing $5.5 million over five years in Ben Hokum & Son Ltd sawmill, helping the lumber producer protect over 100 jobs, create at least five new jobs and purchase new technologies to optimize its business. These investments are expected to result in a significant jump in domestic sales as well as exports.

“Ben Hokum & Son Ltd is an Ontario success story and I am pleased to see how this business supports local employment and the economy,” said John Yakabuski, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. “When an independent sawmill is succeeding, so do the harvesters it buys from and the manufacturers it sells by-products to. This was not just an investment in Ben Hokum & Son Ltd, but an investment in this community and the forestry sector as a whole.”

“This is truly an investment in our people, to provide more opportunities for our youth, and all those in rural eastern Ontario who are involved in the forestry industry in one way or another,” said Dean Felhaber, President of Ben Hokum & Son Ltd.

Ben Hokum & Son Ltd was established in 1956 and is now one of eastern Ontario’s largest lumber producers, and the largest pine producer in the province.

Main Photo: Dean Felhaber, President of Ben Hokum & Son Ltd

Photo above: John Yakabuski, Ontairio Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry