Jake Power

Second-generation entrepreneur Jake Power believes in the province’s vision for a value-added future for British Columbia’s forestry industry, but needs to get past the problem of where the timber for his specialty mill in Agassiz is going to come from.  Tmber for the operation, which he and his partners invested $26 million in relocating from Surrey in 2019, has become increasingly scarce and expensive due to a confluence of events including government’s announcement last fall on logging deferrals in 2,600 square kilometres of critical old-growth forests.  “A lot of hesitation happened going into the winter, and then we had major weather events, so there’s literally nothing for us to buy (now),” said Power, co-owner and general manager.  So PowerWood Corp. made the decision to spend money it would have devoted to a planned expansion on securing an inventory of raw material to operate with.