Boucher Bros. Lumber Ltd. | Nampa, AB
Operating since 1979, the Boucher brothers of Boucher Bros. Lumber Ltd. have always looked for new and improved ways to provide high quality lumber products and quicker production times for their loyal clients and customers.
Most recently, the family-owned company made two important decisions.
Co-Owners Bertin, Brian and Jason Boucher would like to officially welcome Kee Tas Kee Now Sawmills Ltd. (KSL Sawmills) as new ownership partners of Boucher Bros. Lumber Ltd.
KSL Sawmills is a business formed by four local First Nations communities—
Woodland Cree First Nation #474, Lubicon Lake Band #453, Loon River First Nation #476 and Whitefish Lake First Nation #459.
“We’re excited to have KSL Sawmills onboard, and we look forward to the future with them,” said the Bouchers.
The second important decision was to update all the equipment at their planer mill and expand their operations by 30,000 sq. ft. with three new buildings.
The reason for updating the equipment is to increase production volumes, so they can produce the same amount of product as their sawmill.
The Bouchers are excited to work through these new changes, and they expect the company will see many positive outcomes as a result.
“We’re in the tuning stages of this project, but we know once we work through the small issues, we’ll be setting new production records,” said Jason. “We’re looking forward to selling higher-quality, finished products, and of course, more of them.”
In the three new buildings, Boucher Bros. installed D02 Transfer Rolls, a D02 Tilthoist, a D02 Stick and Donage System, a Wolftek Tensioning System for board feeding, a Stetson Ross Planer Mill, an H&R Blower System, a USNR Lumber Grading System, and a D02 Lumber Sorter, Stacker and Transfer System.
The use of these new systems and equipment will not only benefit the company; they will benefit the people and communities Boucher Bros. serves.
“Customers will benefit by being able to purchase higher quality product and more of it,” said Jason. “Our lumber is sold in several surrounding communities, so they’ll have the opportunity to receive better product to distribute as well.”
The expansion and updates were part of a five-year plan and were completed to ensure Boucher Bros. could finish all processing directly onsite.
“We have eliminated labour-intensive positions making jobs much more desirable here. These positions are all indoors now, making outdoor winter work a non-issue for us,” said Jason.
The Bouchers look forward to creating new goals.
“We started upgrades at the sawmill and worked our way through the site with the planer being the last project,” said Jason. “Moving forward, our new goals will be to increase efficiencies on our current upgrades.”
Bertin, Brian and Jason are excited about the new updates.
“We’ve completed a plan that involved a lot of moving parts. This is something we are very proud of,” said the Bouchers.
Not stopping there, Boucher Bros. Ltd. is finding new ways to improve their company. They are constantly exploring different strategies to help them stay on top.
“We are always looking for opportunities to enhance our business, so it’s a constantly moving target,” said the Bouchers.
The latest project would not have been possible without the help of the company’s dedicated group of employees.
“Our people have logged many extra hours,” said Jason.
It has been a team effort. So many Boucher Bros. employees played a vital role in making the recent updates a reality.
“We would like to thank our staff for their incredible work and effort throughout this project. We couldn’t have done this without them,” said the Bouchers.
In addition to being Co-Owner, Bertin Boucher is the Capital Projects Manager and has overseen the expansions for the past five years. With his knowledge and expertise, Brian, Jason and the Boucher team have been grateful to have him every step of the way.
“Bertin’s commitment and dedication have not gone unnoticed. From the planning stages to the implementation of each project, he has been an integral part of the success of each new plan,” said Jason. “We can’t thank him enough!”
The number of people and businesses involved in Boucher Bros.’ latest improvements are too many to list here—though some key companies are mentioned above.
“We feel incredibly grateful to have so many businesses supporting another local business and making this goal of ours come to life,” said the Bouchers.
The partners would like to thank the following businesses for making this project possible:
D02 Mechanical/Control, Wolftek Industries, Summit Electric, Fraser Construction, McLean Contracting, ATCO Electric, Karves Construction Ltd., H&R Sheet and Fab, LaPrairie Crane, Falcon Equipment Rental, Rentco Equipment, United Rentals, Boucher Welding Ltd., G‘N’Q Welding Ventures Ltd., DWD Pre-Eng Services Ltd., USNR, EECOL, Nampa Bumper to Bumper, Nampa Farmers Restaurant, Fehr Building Materials Ltd. and Knelsen Concrete.