The harvesting phase of operations is what creates most of the other opportunities. Raleigh Falls Timber started as a stump-to-dump business in the mid 1990's. The original harvest function began as a partnership with Louie Ricci and Alan Pessola. As the business matured, Louie became sole proprietor and organizer.

Under his leadership the business has grown from a 150,000 m3 producer to more than 1,000,000 m3 harvested and processed annually. The primary product today is Chips although there has always been a Roundwood component to Raleigh Falls Timber.

The chips are all generated from Peterson Pacific Mobile Chippers. Raleigh Falls Timber presently incorporate six mobile chippers into its processing functions. The roundwood products are produced by Hornet processors and are usually in 8 foot lengths, either softwood or hardwood.

The felling capacity is supplied by 8 company owned feller bunchers and from 1 to 5 subcontractor feller buncher units. All felled wood is moved with 12 companies owned wheeled skidders with the occasional subcontractor contributing up to 2 other units when necessary.

This is a fast paced and dynamic work environment. Much emphasis is aimed at developing and maintaining safe, productive and efficient worksites. The operations work almost around-the-clock, 6 days a week for 300 scheduled workdays per year. People are the key to success-both from staff and operating personnal. Raleigh Falls Timber emplys from 90-130 staff and hourly employees, depending on product demand.

An operation of this nature and complexity requires lots of planning- all of which contributes to the bottom line. Raleigh Falls Timber staffs are not afraid to question the "status quo" and are constantly on the lockout for improvements and effciencies. The business relies on qualified operators who are given the freedom to make the best decisions throughout the course of the day. A prerequisite to this philosophy is to hire the best employees for the job, both hourly and staff.

The company was founded on highly developed and experienced personnal; however, with the growth and expansion of the company, many new and less experienced employees have been added to RFT's (Raleigh Falls Timber) roster. As a result of the normal attrition processs, opportunities will always exist for the right people.