By IAN ROSS
Jim Webb and the 21 employees at Black Loon Millworks International need no lessons on value-added forestry.
Rescued last year out of the remnants of the shuttered Michigan Maple Ltd., the reborn maker of hardwood countertops and cutting boards has aggressive plans and renewed confidence to expand into Canadian and international markets with niche products.
Last spring, the Industrial Park Crescent company quietly began shipping product and showcasing samples to buyers, hoping to win back customers who were snapped up by United States (U.S.) competitors when Michigan Maple closed in 2006.
"Business is building, but not as quickly as we would like," says Webb, Black Loon's general manager, who estimates they're running at 50 per cent manufacturing capacity.
It's not easy with the Canadian dollar on par with the U.S. greenback. Where once Michigan Maple relied on stateside exports, Black Loon is concentrating on Canadian and overseas customers, targeting high-end residential and commercial markets in southern Ontario and Western Canada.
There are discussions underway with some Israeli interests and they're hoping to make headway with an incoming Portuguese trade mission.
Black Loon is a one-of-a-kind mill with a line-up of products ranging from maple cutting boards and butcher blocks, to walnut countertops for contractors and distributors in the kitchen and bath design.
They're also delving into specialty items such as laboratory countertops, conference boardroom tables, and cribbage and shuffleboard tops.
Webb says they're not afraid to experiment. In a tour of their warehouse he shows some end- and edge-grained samples of more exotic species of cherry, teak, mahogany, iroko and jatoba into their product mix.
"Everything is getting attention, but the strong point is the very customized countertops."
Webb's old workplace, the Michigan Maple factory on North Street had been a fixture since the 1930s, attached to the lumberyard of the Soo Mill, its parent company.
But its downtown residential location became a problem. Airborne emissions from its wood-fired boiler were an environmental issue. Homeowners complained and the Ministry of Environment issued a clean-up order.
Although a profitable business, it didn't make much sense for the Hollingsworth family to spend millions to retrofit an old post and beam building . With the surging Canadian dollar affecting everyone in manufacturing, the decision was made to shut down in June 2006, leaving 23 workers jobless.
Luckily Webb, the mill manager and a 35-year employee, wasn't out of work for long.
Local industrial contractor, Mike Moore, bought the machinery and went searching for replacement space.
Now with a 65,000-square foot showroom and shop in a north-end industrial park, Webb and some co-workers have found new life with plenty of room to grow.
They moved in their production line optimizing the saws, planers, sanders and glue presses, then added a laser machine for customized logos and photo engravings for wood panel inserts.
Ironically, the spacious digs they moved into, the former Arc Tubes building, was a fellow 2006 manufacturing casualty when that company's Michigan auto parts parent laid off 65 locals.
Re-christened as Black Loon, there's all kinds of big plans brewing for global sales and new markets including pursuing a television personality to promote their kitchen products of cutting boards and butcher blocks on the Food Network.
The Ontario government and MPP David Orazietti liked their idea, sinking $500,000 into the $5 million operation.
Another promising part of the business is institutional work.
New customized and epoxy-finished laboratory tops will be installed in a nearby Ontario Provincial Police forensics building now under construction. New counters are going into a local hotel and bank renovations. Tops and shelving are headed for a school in Sudbury, while another shipment is going to Hawaii.
The restaurant side is quite promising with an order of finished tabletops earmarked for the Applebee's chain.
"The Canadian dollar is having a big effect on us and we continue to find different niches," says Webb.
Currently, American exports make up about 25 per cent of production, but Webb says there's greater emphasis on expanding Canadian sales and attracting customers with web sales.
