Wood-Mizer’s portable sawmills were a completely new product on the market in the 1980s, and as a result, a new niche industry formed. With a portable sawmill, small quantities of what many large commercial sawmills deemed as “low value logs” could be converted into valuable timber safely by one-person. Sawmillers could efficiently and affordably travel to customers and process logs into timber on-site, creating an opportunity for small local businesses to develop.
Over the last three decades, the once niche industry of thin-kerf sawmilling has grown dramatically. Many find that a sawmill allows them to begin a new business, live more independently, and have a closer connection with work in the outdoors – improving their quality of life. Wood-Mizer sawmills generally function as the basis for small and medium-sized businesses, processing local timber for local end users, while employing local workers. This is a perfect example of sustainable development at the local level, which has a positive impact on the larger regional or country-wide economy.
Many places in the world do not have access to affordable timber for normal construction or wood industries. It’s in these places that Wood-Mizer sawmills have had a huge impact – only harvesting what is needed and building local industry. From the depths of Papua New Guinea to the dense jungles of the Congo, missionaries have led the way by using small Wood-Mizer sawmills to develop local industry for communities with very few options.
BUILDING CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA
ONE SMALL SAWMILL CREATES POSITIVE CHANGE IN THE CONGO JUNGLE