Province adds $425K to speed production of new Huntsville wood panels

What happened

• The government approved an additional $425,000 from the Forest Biomass Program to help Daiken North America accelerate production of a new laminated wood panel at its Huntsville plant.

By the numbers

• Additional provincial funding: $425,000
• Earlier provincial contribution to the project: $10,000,000
• Total announced provincial support for this project: $10,425,000
• Project investment planned by Daiken: $70,000,000
• Jobs: 10 new positions and 128 existing positions protected
• Wood market impact: establishes demand for 100,000 cubic metres of underutilized wood (as stated in the release)

Why it matters

• Speeds a first-of-its-kind, Ontario-made panel to market for uses such as flooring, RVs and modular housing.
• Aims to improve regional manufacturing capacity, strengthen supply chains, and open domestic and international markets for Ontario forest products.

Next steps / timeline

• The Huntsville facility is set to begin manufacturing this summer (the release cites July as the startup month).