WINNERS OF THE 2021 ATLANTIC OUTSTANDING
FORESTRY CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR AWARDS

LAURÉATS DU PRIX DE L’ENTREPRENEUR FORESTIER
DE L’ANNÉE 2021 DANS L’ATLANTIQUE

The Canadian Woodlands Forum has been introducing our nominees over the summer & fall, featuring their respective businesses in a company profiles and are now pleased to announce and congratulate our

PROVINCIAL WINNERS
for the 2021 Atlantic Outstanding Logging Contractor of the Year Award!

John Goodwin of A.K. Goodwin Enterprises Inc. as Nova Scotia's
Logging Contractor of the Year and

Steve Landry of STAO Foresterie Ltée as our New Brunswick
Logging Contractor of the Year for 2021.

Following a comprehensive evaluation and on-site visit of each nominee’s operations, we are pleased to introduce and congratulate our

REGIONAL LOGGING CONTRACTOR WINNER! 
John Goodwin of A.K. Goodwin Enterprises Inc.,
nominated by Great Northern Timber (GNT)

We are also pleased to introduce and congratulate our

REGIONAL TRUCKING CONTRACTOR WINNER!
Steve Gosson of Gosson Enterprises Ltd.,
nominated by J.D. Irving, Woodlands

Congratulations and thanks to all winners and nominees; the forest industry congratulates you and your employees for a job well done, and wishes you continued success in your logging businesses. Many thanks to everyone who assisted in delivery & supported the program in any way.

Le Forum canadien des opérations forestières a présenté les candidats au cours de l’été et de l’automne, en décrivant leur entreprise respective dans un profil; nous sommes maintenant heureux d’annoncer et de féliciter nos gagnants provinciaux pour le Prix de l’entrepreneur forestier de l’année 2021 dans l’Atlantique!  

John Goodwin, d’A.K. Goodwin Enterprises Inc., entrepreneur forestier de l’année 2021 en Nouvelle-Écosse et Steve Landry, de STAO Foresterie Ltée, entrepreneur forestier de l’année 2021 au Nouveau-Brunswick.

Après une évaluation complète et une visite sur place des opérations de chaque candidat, nous avons le plaisir
de présenter et de féliciter notre lauréat régional pour
les opérations forestières 2021!

John Goodwin, d’A.K. Goodwin Enterprises Inc., mis en nomination par Great Northern Timber (GNT)

Nous sommes aussi ravis de présenter et de féliciter notre lauréat régional 2021 pour le volet camionnage!

Steve Gosson, de Gosson Enterprises Ltd., mis en nomination par la division forestière de J.D. Irving

Félicitations et merci aux lauréats et à tous les candidats;
l’industrie forestière vous félicite, ainsi que vos employés, pour votre bon travail et vous souhaite le meilleur des succès
dans votre entreprise forestière.

Mille mercis à tous ceux qui ont contribué au programme
et apporté leur soutien d’une façon ou d’une autre.

Announcing the Provincial winners for the 2021 Atlantic Outstanding Logging Contractor of the Year Award!
Voici les lauréats provinciaux pour le Prix de l’entrepreneur forestier de l’année 2021 dans l’Atlantique!

Over the last number of weeks, we have been introducing & counting down the nominees for the 2021 Forestry Contractor of the Year Program, and we are excited to introduce our two provincial winners for the Logging Contractor of the Year Award.

Even following a comprehensive evaluation and on-site visit of each nominee's operation, selecting the winner is not an easy task but we've narrowed it down from the five nominations received, and we are pleased to recognize...

John Goodwin of A.K. Goodwin Enterprises Inc. as Nova Scotia's Logging Contractor of the Year, and Steve Landry of STAO Foresterie Ltee as our New Brunswick Logging Contractor of the Year for 2021.

                                  ___________________________________

Dans les dernières semaines, nous vous avons présenté les nominations dans le cadre du programme de l’entrepreneur forestier de l’année 2021 et nous sommes heureux de vous dévoiler nos deux lauréats provinciaux.

Même après une évaluation complète et une visite sur le terrain de chacun des candidats, il n’est pas facile de désigner un gagnant. Mais nous avons fait un choix parmi les cinq nominations reçues et nous avons le plaisir d’annoncer que...

John Goodwin, de A.K. Goodwin Enterprises Inc., est l’entrepreneur forestier de l’année en Nouvelle-Écosse et que Steve Landry, de STAO Foresterie Ltée, est l’entrepreneur forestier de l’année au Nouveau-Brunswick pour 2021.

On behalf of the Canadian Woodlands Forum and the entire sector, congratulations and thanks to you and your employees for a job well done, and we certainly wish you continued success in your logging business.

Au nom du Forum canadien des opérations forestières et de tout le secteur, félicitations et merci à vous et à vos employés pour votre excellent travail; nous vous souhaitons beaucoup de succès dans votre entreprise pour l’avenir.

John Goodwin of A.K. Goodwin Enterprises Inc.

Steve Landry, de STAO Foresterie Ltée

Watch in the coming week who is awarded the regional award and recipient of the prestigious peavey!

C’est dans la prochaine semaine que nous révélerons qui mérite le prix régional et le prestigieux tourne-billes!

2021 Outstanding forestry Contractor of the Year nominees

Cliquez pour le français

The Canadian Woodlands Forum would like to congratulate all forestry contractors and their staff who were nominated for this award! Having been nominated recognizes your commitment to responsible environmental performance, employee safety and training, and professional business practices.

The 2021 nominees are:

The CWF is proud to support today’s forestry professionals!

STAO Foresterie Ltée

Steve Landry, St-Joseph de Madawaska, Edmundston, NB

Nominated by Acadian Timber

Based in St. Joseph de Madawaska, STAO Foresterie Ltee contracts full time for Acadian Timber, primarily in the Green River district of New Brunswick. Owner Steve Landry shared that going to the woods was not in his plan when he left school, and it was only some years later that he decided to join his father’s forestry business in 1999 as an operator/mechanic, and later as supervisor. With a decade’s experience and his family backing the decision, Steve bought his father’s business in 2010. His father still works part time as a machine operator and Steve’s spouse looks after the books.

Today, STAO employs six full time and one part time operator running double shift on a 110 hours per week schedule, harvesting 75,000 cubic meters per annum with two harvesters equipped with top saws and two forwarders (one full time and one part time). Prior to 2017, they worked primarily in softwood stands, but given the opportunity for a change, Steve shifted his equipment mix, developing an expertise in conducting hardwood and mixed wood stand prescriptions over the past four years. Acadian Timber is responsible for block layout and providing the prescription criteria which are communicated to the machine operators; most operations are ribbon-less with the operators utilizing GPS navigation on tablets in the harvesters and forwarders.

When visited, STAO was operating in a hardwood block with 25 to 35% slopes, conducting an overstory removal on the lower side of the road and a group selection on the upper side. A total of 14 different products were being produced, excluding softwood pulp. To ensure safety and efficiency, Steve walks the blocks ahead of the machines, communicating any issues to his operators. Considering the complexity of species, sorts and treatments, the level of communication and in-house training to achieve top quality and top production is critical.

Steve is very hands-on and on the job-site six days a week; he operates with the philosophy that his role is primarily to support his operators in achieving their quality and production targets. Half the operators can run both harvester and forwarder making system balance easier. Consistent with other successful contractors, Steve provides above average compensation via wages and benefits, and travel is supplied via company crew cabs from home base. Those who work with him describe Steve as a true ‘gentleman’, treating all with respect.

When it comes to safety and environmental performance, Steve emphasizes that there is ‘no taking short-cuts’ in this business. His focus on safety shows, with many years without a lost time accident! With an experienced, skilled crew, supported by a rigorous scheduled maintenance program and a very well-organized service truck, production loss due to breakdowns is minimized. Bulk purchase of consumables helps to control costs. Having developed his own system to track in detail, production and deliveries, preventative maintenance and repair, allows him to manage for profitability – he knows his numbers.

Steve also trucks most of his production using sub-contracted self-loading trucks to ensure production is getting to customers in a timely manner.

A visit to his operation and you can see the pride in all aspects of his business. Steve maintains that the outlook for the industry is positive and sustainable, with plenty of opportunity to grow, but this will depend on the industry’s ability to attract and retain a skilled workforce.

Kelcro Logging Limited

Kelly Crosthwaite, Boundary Creek, NB

Nominated by J.D. Irving Woodlands

For a guy under 40, Kelly Crosthwaite has a wealth of experience in the forest industry. As a long-time JD Irving (JDI) contractor, Kelcro Logging Ltd. started with a grapple skidder in 2000 and added harvesting capacity with a buncher in 2003. In 2007, he made a major shift in the operation by investing in a new flail chipper, and this has been the main stay of his operation since then. Today, he runs a buncher, two large grapples, and two flail chippers – one in the woods full time and one at the JDI Sussex yard on a part time basis. Other than a float truck, Kelcro Logging Ltd. leaves trucking to other contractors.

Kelly is clearly a hands-on manager and can be found on the job site everyday. Family members make up almost half of the 13 employees. The business office is managed by Kelly’s mother and sister who are both involved in tracking costs and deliveries, along with payroll and bookkeeping. Two nephews are full time lead hands, one focused on maintenance and the other a ‘jack’ of all trades. Kelly’s father, although mostly retired helps with data management & analytics. Processing over 180,000 tonnes a year, there is plenty to manage.

With this type of equipment mix, one might expect this to be just a typical clearcut operation, however, single tree, group selection and strip cuts are commonplace as well. Weather impacts his operation more than a typical roundwood operation – both getting wood to the chipper and making sure trucks are at the (chipper) spout. The buncher operator makes the call if the site is too soft to operate, so in order to support the grapple skidders, either bunches have to get smaller, or the operation comes to a full stop until the area can be cut when dry or frozen. Sorting is the primary job of the buncher, and although its productivity is reduced, the skidders and flail can be optimized. Flail debris is moved back onto the site. All the off-road machines have a tablet on board showing GPS location and all the important details of the site.

Keeping trucks moving is key, so knife changes and flail changes are done when there is a break between trucks or at end of shift. Production averages 85 loads of chips a week, plus all of the other roundwood products to roadside. Maintenance is kept in house, with a focus on ‘out of shift’ service (Friday and Sunday afternoons), or between trucks to keep utilization maximized; fuel is delivered from their shop in large slip tanks.

Kelly’s crew ranges in age from 18 to 25; unusual these days for the woods. Plenty of on-the-job communication keeps safety, environment, and production on everyone’s minds. New employees are introduced to the operation in a progression – “they have to understand all the moving parts” - first through observing, then part time on a machine, transitioning to full time. Most operators are cross trained and everyone travels from the shop to the job sites in company vehicles.

With a focus of cost control and preventive maintenance, Kelcro Logging Ltd. sets a high bar on all aspects of their operation.

Hudson Harvesting Inc.

Dan Hudson, Penniac, NB

Nominated by J.D. Irving Woodlands

Dan Hudson of Hudson Harvesting Inc. is based out of Penniac, NB. Dan gained experience with equipment having grown up on a farm and working on the family woodlot. He took a different path to becoming a harvesting contractor where he studied forestry at UNB, worked in silviculture for three years, and then served as a supervisor from 2012 to 2014 with J.D. Irving Woodlands. Commercial thinning (CT) was expanding at that time, and he saw it as an opportunity to become a thinning contractor as a means to follow the desire to own his own business. He purchased his first harvester, a Komatsu 901, in 2014, adding a second harvester in 2016 and a forwarder in 2019, working for JD Irving primarily in the Chipman area.

Dan is passionate about making his operation a success. He knows his numbers and keeps his crew informed by way of daily ‘tailgate meetings’. Safety is always number one, with no ‘loss-time’ accidents in seven years of operating. He is on the job every day, and still sits in the seat three hours a day.

He has developed a unique approach to operating all three machines on multi-shift schedules in order to achieve maximum utilization. One harvester is scheduled 9 + 10 + his 3 hours, where the second harvester runs 3 shifts (6 am to 2 pm, the next overlapping 1 to 9 pm, and nightshift from 9 pm to 6 am. The forwarder runs 5 am to 3 pm and another 10 hours at night, starting anywhere from 3 to 7 pm. The operators also prefer to stay on their assigned day or night shifts rather than switch every week or two. The multi-shift approach allows the operators family time and running 8 to 10 scheduled machine hours leads to high productivity.

In addition to the multi-shift scheduling, the operation provides above average wages, a bonus payment system for achieving quality and productivity targets, sick pay, an OT policy, and supplied travel to the job site, all contributing to minimal operator turnover. Regular refresher training helps operators meet productivity targets consistently.

Dan’s spouse is also involved in the business as bookkeeper, tracking costs, monitoring the financials, and delivering parts when needed. Their machines are typically replaced every three years in order to maximize machine utilization and keep maintenance costs under control.

Maintenance is kept in house as much as possible, with all operators having regular service tasks. The operation is supported by a well-equipped service trailer with the necessary tools and inventory of fast-moving parts.

Commercial thinning operations are challenging due to tree size, especially with fluctuating softwood pulpwood markets. When visiting their active operation, in order to help forwarder production, the harvester operators were building larger piles when possible.

Dan Hudson’s operation shows what teamwork, a focus on work-life balance, determination and smart management can achieve over a short number of years in operation.

Gosson Enterprises Ltd.

Steve Gosson, Saint John, NB

Nominated by J.D. Irving Woodlands

Steve Gosson has been hauling out of the woods for the past nine years, but he is no debutant to the transportation industry. He grew up around his father’s trucking business in Saint John. With that inspiration and ambition, he spent the next 20 years hauling B train tankers with Irving Oil and another 10 years with Day & Ross, providing him the experience and ‘tricks of the trade’ of running a successful trucking business.

Then in 2012 he saw an ad for hauling from the woods with J.D. Irving Woodlands (JDI) and made the business decision to switch to on/off highway hauling. Starting with a single quad semi chip van, he started hauling from JDI’s flail chippers in southern NB and from northern Nova Scotia on occasion. Where there was plenty to learn about woods hauling, and as Steve’s knowledge and comfort level increased, he added a second unit in 2015 and a third unit to the fleet in 2020 as part of a planned progression.

Most of the hauling is from the woods, with sawmill runs as required and coordinated by JDI’s dispatch system. All three units run on five days - 24 hours and with Steve’s approach to equipment replacement purchases (replaces tractors every 2 years and trailers every 3 years), it results in the potential for very high truck utilization.

There is also a strong focus on ‘smart spec’ing’ of his tractors and trailers which lead to low tare weights and components that meet the challenges of chip hauling from the woods. Steve has introduced and shared more than one idea that has eventually been adopted by the rest of the flail hauling fleet.

To achieve high utilization of his trucks, Steve maintains a strong focus on preventative maintenance, with major services and repairs completed at the dealers including tire work which is done at tire shops in Saint John and Sussex. To manage his overhead and not wanting the cost of running a shop, all the minor maintenance and repair is done out of the back of his half ton with additional spare parts out of his home garage.

Talking to Steve, you soon appreciate that he is truly passionate about the trucking business. He sets clear expectations for his drivers in all aspects of the business, from safety, to production, to cost control. Attention to his business numbers and detail is his forte. He sees his job as one of supporting his employees, communicating regularly with all of them.

Six regular drivers plus one part time and himself keep the trucks moving year-round. Employee turnover is minimal, in part due to offering a full health plan, sick day policy and RSP sharing, as well as a weekly bonus system. Working the typical 12 hour shift common to the business, all are home every day. His spouse maintains the books along with tracking the business costs.

In-house (Gosson Enterprises) safety meetings are held every three months, including a refresher in putting on tire chains before the winter hits. This focus on communication and safety, in addition to JDI courses and spring meetings have led to an excellent safety record with no lost time accidents! The operations are well run and meet stringent compliance requirements i.e. overweight, no small feat hauling from a ‘blow in the back’ flail chipper.

As a successful forest trucking contractor, Steve Gosson sets a high bar for himself, yet is willing to share all that he has learned to help others in the sector, as well as supporting his local community.

Mira Forestry Development Ltd.

Gary Reginato, Albert Bridge, NS

Nominated by Port Hawkesbury Paper

Gary grew up around woods equipment operated by his father, and in 1986, Gary and his wife Dale established Mira Forestry Development. In the early years, they focussed on private land silviculture and harvesting in eastern Cape Breton, starting out as a manual trail cutting operation. In the early 2000’s, they purchased their first harvester, allowing them to expand the harvesting operation to supply pulpwood to Port Hawkesbury Paper, softwood studs and logs, and hardwood for their own sizeable firewood operation.

Clearly having an entrepreneurial spirit, they were in the hardwood flooring business in the early 2000’s, shipping to Germany, and most recently, they have moved boldly into the wood heat business – designing, building and operating wood chip heating systems for two large schools in the CBRM area.

Today, Gary and Dale are joined by their two sons, Ryan and Landon in the business where they look after the trucking and firewood operations and the wood chip heating operation respectively. Even though it is very competitive for labour in the area, Mira’s workforce is very stable, with most employees having over 17 years of service. The company has 13 employees – five operators and three at the woodyard, one forest technician who does all the planning and layout and four family members involved in managing the business.

The move into chipping for heating, a dream of Gary’s going back 30 years, has opened up some unique opportunities for their private land harvesting operation. Often challenged by mixed wood stands with a high ratio of unmerchantable stems, there is now a cost-effective outlet for hardwood tops less suitable for firewood, as well as full tree stems of unmerchantable diameter softwood and hardwood.

Operating exclusively on small non-industrial private lands and on one shift, their current equipment-mix fits well; this includes one feller-buncher doing the initial sort for two processors, all of which are on JD 753 carriers. All products are moved roadside by two older 1010 forwarders where both softwood roundwood and higher value hardwood are trucked right away; hardwood firewood five inches and up is moved to the firewood processor as needed. The tops and small full trees will dry at roadside where it will be chipped by a new truck mounted Mus-MAX drum chipper, blowing into a live floor trailer for direct delivery to the two heating plants.

To support their operations, they build approximately six to eight km of road per year using a company owned excavator. Rather than extending the road network, the excavator is often used to upgrade forwarding trails to increase productivity.

The new harvesting method also means less maintenance on harvesting heads where those rough Cape Breton hardwood limbs and tops are now destined for the chipper. The harvesting site that was visited is being managed under the Cape Breton Private Land Partnership and having only the limbs and softwood tops to deal with, is now ideal for follow up treatments – i.e. planting - even without site prep in most cases.

Being very community minded, Mira Forestry are long time supporters of local school teams and the Vince Ryan Hockey tournament.