Abenaki Timber Corporation Promotes Parker Dukas To Sales Manager
Abenaki Timber, located in Epping, NH, and Belington, WV, recently announced that Parker Dukas has been promoted to sales manager.
Abenaki is a concentration yard that purchases 15 million board feet annually to ship globally. They offer Northern Red and White Oak, Yellow Birch, Hard and Soft Maple, Northern and Appalachian Cherry, White Ash, Yellow Poplar and American and European Beech.
Abenaki’s facility is equipped with a Newman high speed helical planer, on site Hardwood lumber inspection services, container loading, custom sorting and packaging, warehousing and storage options as well as package tallies with bar coding capabilities.
Dukas has been with Abenaki for five years and spent three years as the sales coordinator and an export salesman for Europe and Asia before being promoted to sales manager. He also has experience as a lumber grader. While this is his first job in the forest products industry, he has a lifetime of experience in Maple syrup production in Northern Vermont.
Dukas went to Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans, VT and the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH, where he earned a degree in the studies of marketing and entrepreneurship. He also attended the National Hardwood Lumber Association ITSEF school.
In his spare time, Dukas enjoys golf, water skiing, running and Maple syrup. He is engaged to Mariah Ouellette.
Abenaki is a member of National Hardwood Lumber Association, Hardwood Manufacturers Association, Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Inc., Penn-York Lumbermen’s Club, American Hardwood Export Council, Hardwood Federation, New England Lumbermen’s and Canadian Hardwood Bureau.
For more information, call Dukas at 603-702-5004, email parker@abenakitimber.com or visit www.abenakitimber.com.
TS Manufacturing Installs New Dry Hardwood Sorting And Stacking Line
TS Manufacturing, located in Lindsay, ON, announced that the Baillie Group recently started up a new Dry Hardwood Sorting and Stacking line at their Smyrna, NY, concentration yard. The line replaces a pull chain where packs were manually stacked.
The project consists of a 60 Bin Sorter with TS AccuTally sorter controls, an Automated Course Makeup System, Servo Electric Package Maker, Auto Strapping and an in line Vision Tally system. The system automates the entire process of making up finished packs with a minimal amount of labor.
The process begins after grading and trimming. The TS AccuTally software and controls take over from there, assigning boards to the proper bin. Auto Bin Haulout feature manages the discharge of lumber from the bins and the flow of lumber from the sorter to the stacker based on user assigned priorities. The lumber is singulated by a TS unscrambler and loaded on lugs via the Versa Cam Lug Loader. It is then scanned and based on that information is transferred to one of several trays where boards are dealt in order to maximize both the course width efficiency and the appearance of the finished pack. When a course is finished, it is released to the TS Electric Servo Package Maker with a Continuous Hoist to eliminate time lost waiting for a pack to discharge. When discharged from the stacker the pack is conveyed to an Auto Strapper with end bump and side squeeze functions and dunnage placement. Once strapped it conveys to a Vision Tally system.
Working with the customer during the design phase TS was able to position the line so most of the machinery could be installed while the old line was running, minimizing downtime for installation and commissioning.
TS Manufacturing offers a complete line of machinery, controls and software to fit their customers’ mills.
For more information on their complete line of sawmill and planer mill offerings, contact TS at sales@tsman.com or 705-324-3762.
Cleereman Industries Welcomes Fourth Generation
Cleereman Industries recently announced the newest member of their team, Trevor Cleereman. “As a family-run business, we take great pride in introducing Trevor, the fourth generation of Cleeremans to contribute to Cleereman Industries,” said Paul Cleereman, vice president of Cleereman Industries. Trevor’s lineage traces back to his great-grandfather, Francis Cleereman Sr., the visionary inventor of the Cleereman carriage. Now, Trevor joins his father, Paul, and his grandfather, Fran.
Trevor recently transitioned to a full-time role with the company. He was valedictorian of his high school class and graduating in the top 10 percent of his college class with a bachelor’s degree in engineering technology from the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Trevor is based at the company’s Crandon, WI, location where he specializes in edger design along with many other Cleereman engineering projects.
Having immersed himself in Cleereman Industries shop environment from a young age, Trevor has long been a familiar presence at the company. Over the past eight years, he has worked part-time during his high school and college years. He has been involved in multiple installations and startups of mill projects over the last several years for both Cleereman Industries and Cleereman Controls. This hands-on experience has allowed Trevor to gain experience and understanding of the industry and the company.
Trevor enjoys hunting and spending time with his girlfriend, Maddi, and their two-year-old son, Hudson. He also enjoys going to church and spending time with his grandfather Fran.
Cleereman Industries is known for its production of carriages, carriage drives, track frames, debarkers, chop saws, stave mills, edgers, operator cabs, linear and proportional control systems, setting industry standards for innovation and quality.
For more information, visit www.cleereman.com.
Cooper Machine Welcomes Chase Chiles
Cooper Machine Co. Inc, located in Wadley, GA, recently announced that Chase Chiles has joined their team as a sales representative. Chiles is a native of Mississippi and he has spent most of his career in heavy equipment sales with Pioneer Machine where he became sales manager of the material handling division. In 2014, he returned to his home state of Mississippi to work for Midsouth Machinery selling construction equipment. Chiles then did a two-year stint in North Dakota at West River Equipment before coming back South and joining Cooper Machine.
Cooper Machine is a third-generation sawmill equipment design and manufacturing company that was founded in 1965 by H.M. “Billy” Cooper and his wife, Mary Brown Cooper. The company sold its first Overhead Scragg mill in 1972, which today is run by Billy’s granddaughter, Frances Cooper, who has held the position of CEO since 2014.
For more information, visit www.coopermachine.com.
JoeScan Inc. Patents A Sawmill Scanners Line
JoeScan, a leading innovator in sawmill scanning technology, recently announced the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted a patent (US11924530B2) for its revolutionary JS-50 line of Sawmill Scanners. The patent recognizes JoeScan’s groundbreaking advancements in creating a robust scanning solution tailored specifically for the demanding environment of sawmills.
The newly patented technology addresses the inherent challenges faced by sawmill operators, including wide temperature ranges, moisture, vibration and dust. By ensuring thermal stability, JoeScan’s scanner offers precise and repeatable scanning capabilities, even in the harshest conditions, according to a company statement. The patent also covers features such as single-cable power over ethernet (PoE) connectors and global encoder timings to reduce the number of cables in a system. These innovations allow sawmills to maintain uninterrupted production without the need for frequent servicing of scanner systems.
JS-50 Sawmill Scanners utilize advanced optical systems housed within a specially designed enclosure. This enclosure not only protects the delicate internal components from environmental factors, but also maintains the accuracy and reliability of the scanning process. By incorporating multiple laser line beam zones, the scanner provides comprehensive 3D log profiles, enabling sawmill operators to optimize the utilization of each log.
“Reliability and simplicity through innovation has always been at the core of JoeScan’s mission. The issuance of this patent underscores our commitment to pushing the boundaries of sawmill scanning technology,” said Joey Nelson, founder and president of JoeScan. “Scanning systems play a critical role in sawmill efficiency and productivity, and our JS-50 family of scanners delivers a significant leap forward in addressing those requirements.”
The patent serves as a testament to JoeScan’s dedication to research and development in the field of sawmill scanners. By integrating cutting-edge technology with practical solutions, JoeScan continues to empower sawmill operators with the tools they need to thrive in today’s competitive market.
For more information about JoeScan and its range of scanning solutions, visit www.joescan.com.
King City Forwarding USA Welcomes Vicky Quiñones Simms
King City Forwarding USA Inc, based in Chesapeake, VA, is a freight forwarding company that recently welcomed Vicky Quiñones Simms. Simms, with her office based in Collierville, TN, is the business development manager and helps to promote King City within the U.S. forest products market.
Simms started in the forest products industry as the membership development manager at the National Hardwood Lumber Association, where she recruited new members and provided marketing solutions for members through advertising and sponsorship opportunities.
Simms earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of California in Riverside, CA.
For more information, call 901-581-2349 or visit www. kingcitynorthamerica.com.
Biden-Harris Administration Invests in Wood Products And Forests
Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Xochitl Torres Small announced that the Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is investing nearly $74 million to spark innovation, create new markets for wood products and renewable wood energy from sustainably sourced wood, and increase the capacity of wood processing facilities as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.
Made possible in part by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act – the largest climate investment in history — these investments fund 171 project proposals across 41 States and American Samoa and directly support forest health and the wood products economy.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to supporting innovation in the wood products and wood energy economies, which are at the heart of so many small towns, especially in Tribal and rural communities,” said Deputy Secretary Torres Small. “These investments will support good paying jobs for families and communities. It will increase the economy’s capacity to manufacture wood products. In turn, sustainably sourcing the wood used to manufacture these products will make our forests healthier and reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires.”
Sustainably sourcing materials for wood products directly supports efforts to improve forest health. Removing dead trees and overgrown vegetation reduces wildfire risk, improves forest health and creates wildlife habitat, all while supporting the forest products economy.
The Forest Service is awarding grants to entities across the public, private and non-profit sectors through its Wood Innovations Grant, Community Wood Grant and Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance Grant Programs. Grant funding will support proposals that increase demand and create new and innovative uses for sustainably sourced wood. Funded proposals include converting heating systems in schools to sustainable biomass boilers, installing cutting-edge equipment in sawmills and processing facilities to increase efficiency, supporting innovative housing using mass timber and more.
The Forest Service will also be providing more than $7 million to 10 project proposals from Tribes that will directly support Tribally owned businesses and project proposals from Tribal governments.
For more information, visit www.usda.gov.
