Canadian Sawmill Equipment And Engineering Company Expands Into U.S.
The BID Group of Companies, started two generations ago in Vanderhoof, has grown to be a conglomerate of companies still based primarily in the hometown of the founding Fehr family, although it also has significant holdings in Prince George.
Its various branches include equipment and engineering firms and they primarily do business building and maintaining sawmills and energy plants. In spring of this year, BID became a national company when it purchased Quebec-based Comact Equipment Inc.
This past week, BID-Comact crossed the border to do some heavy industry shopping. The company cut the ribbon on a sprawling warehouse complex in St. George, South Carolina that will act as its base of operations on the Eastern Seaboard. BID bought the property in late summer and it is now doing business as a manufacturing center for the sawmilling industry, a staple part of the eastern U.S.’s economy.
BID CEO Brian Fehr said the location has good proximity to existing mills and the price was affordable. “This allows us the ability to sell more volume from all shops as this gets us more customer base,” he said.
BID officials likened St. George to Vanderhoof, a small town of 2,100 with a strong grasp on industry. Its economy suffered heavily during the global fiscal crisis but, said mayor Ann Johnston, the BID-Comact investment of about $3 million was a sign of turning fortunes. Johnston called the arrival of BID-Comact there “a silver lining, a light for us at the end of an economic downturn and certainly a dawn of a new day in St. George and the entire area.”
From The Prince George Citizen: princegeorgecitizen.com.
RELATED ARTICLES
BID Will Upgrade Carolina Facility
BID Group To Modernize In Vanderhoof, BC
Latest News
B.C. Invests $150M To Promote Lumber As Canada-U.S. Negotiations Continue
The provincial government is moving ahead with a new plan to “enhance the competitiveness” of B.C.’s forest industry at a time when Canada and the U.S. are still at loggerheads over reaching a new softwood…
Destination Portland
Through the years, Timber Processing has actively sought to serve key roles in the lumber industry: As the top information source for sawmill owners, managers, supervisors and others on the front lines of lumber production,…
Oregon’s Hampton Lumber Acquires Banks Lumber Mill
Hampton Lumber has acquired the assets of the Banks Lumber Mill, just months after the Washington County mill had laid off its employees and ceased operations. Portland-based Hampton plans to upgrade the mill “to improve…
Find Us On Social
Newsletter
The monthly Timber Processing Industry Newsletter reaches over 4,000 mill owners and supervisors.
Subscribe/Renew
Timber Processing is delivered 10 times per year to subscribers who represent sawmill ownership, management and supervisory personnel and corporate executives. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.
Advertise
Complete the online form so we can direct you to the appropriate Sales Representative.