Province provides cash for Tolko mill expansion in Heffley Creek

$8M for sawmill expansion

Photo: KTW file

Tolko's Mill in Heffley Creek

More jobs are going to be added at Tolko's Kamloops sawmill thanks to millions of dollars in government cash for the facility to expand its operations.

In a news release, the province announced it will give Tolko $8 million from the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund to help build a new facility at the Kamloops-area mill to house a new Heffley Creek Engineered Wood Division.

The capital project is meant to diversify the mill's current production beyond commodity plywood to include specialty, industrial and engineered wood products, and create 20 new jobs while maintaining 250 others at the mill.

Pino Pucci, chief operating officer of Tolko Industries, said the expansion will allow the company to build on its existing suite of value-added wood products.

“We're developing products that not only support new home construction but commercial and non-residential, furniture, millwork and door and window systems as well,” Pucci said.

In addition to this funding, the province is also providing nearly $46,000 in funding to support Tolko's Lake Country Division to explore the use of robotics in the production of non-residential, made-in-B.C. wood products, the government press release stated.

That funding is part of a series of programs aligned with the industrial blueprint the province has implemented to support sustainability in B.C.'s forestry sector.