PASSADUMKEAG, Maine – Graduates of Maine’s only college training program for operators of mechanized logging and forest trucking equipment were recognized Nov. 9 at the site where they have spent recent weeks completing the final, trucking stage of the program after months harvesting timber using sophisticated state-of-the-art machines like those they will encounter in the logging industry.
Family members, friends, and many supporters of the 20-week Mechanized Logging Operations and Forest Trucking Program joined students at the afternoon event at Madden Timberlands on Diamond Lumber Road.
The graduates include Jarrett Dubord of Windsor; Dave Elvers of Lincoln; Caden Foster of Houlton; Cole Gagnon of Hampden; Lucas Gustin of Corinth; Dylan Hooper of Blue Hill; Adam Meng of New Sharon; Dominick Olsen of Charleston; Lauren Robinson of Guilford; Tobias Sarrio of Hancock; Cole Sillanpaa of Industry; and Arthur Unobskey of Brewer.
Will Cole, president of the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast, noted the program is now in its seventh year and said the role it is playing in bringing a new generation with new ideas into the industry is critical as that industry evolves and the current workforce ages.
“Nothing remains the same, change is something that forces innovation and moves us away from our comfort zone, and as this happens we make use of what worked in the past and implement innovation into the process, but oftentimes opportunities are not fully realized or missed altogether simply because of generational gaps from the past to the future,” Cole said.
The program was created in 2017 by three Maine community colleges, the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine (now the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast), and industry partners. Dozens of graduates of the program currently work in the industry, and demand for additional logging and forest trucking operators in Maine is high and projected to remain so for the foreseeable future.
The students spent this summer and early fall harvesting timber at an active job site in Summit Township, gaining hands-on timber harvesting experience and benefiting from the guidance of veteran logging instructors for an educational experience that is unmatched by any other timber harvesting and hauling training program in Maine and neighboring states. Students then moved to Passadumkeag for more weeks of hands-on experience operating commercial trucks, loading log trailers, and gaining knowledge critical to forest trucking.
This year’s class is the first to have the opportunity to earn a CDL-A permit and receive preparation for the state driving exam. This significant addition to the program was made possible thanks to a grant from the Harold Alfond Center of Advancement for Maine’s Workforce, and the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan through Maine Quality Centers funding.
The program is administered by Northern Maine Community College and includes a strong emphasis on safety as well as giving students an understanding of the variables of timber growth, tree species, and markets. Students pay no tuition or fees, and the program provides all personal protective equipment and scholarships from Skowhegan Savings to assist with living expenses.
Timothy Crowley, president of NMCC, said partnerships between Maine’s community college system, the PLC, Maine legislators, industry supporters, and Maine Quality Centers, to name a few, have been key to the program’s success.
This year as in past years, the majority of students already have jobs waiting for them after graduation, and the addition of trucking to the program is welcomed by Maine’s logging industry, where demand for both drivers and logging operators exceeds supply.
Since the program began there have been nearly 100 graduates, and 60 percent are still working in the industry. In 2024 the program is expected to begin in April and run twice in the central Maine region.
Although consistently ranked as one of the most satisfying careers in the United States, logging is a challenging and demanding profession, and in Maine and elsewhere aging of the workforce and the costs of training new operators are threats to its future, making programs like MLOFT critical to meeting workforce demands.
In the Northeast, logging provides rural jobs and revenue for local and state governments as well as state and national forests. In Maine alone, the industry contributed an estimated $582 million to the state economy in 2021.
Founded in Maine in 1995 by a handful of loggers who were concerned about the future of the logging and forest trucking industry, the PLC has grown steadily to become a regional trade association which provides independent logging contractors and truckers in the Northeast a voice in the rapidly changing forest products industry. Board membership consists of only loggers, making it an organization that is run by loggers on behalf of loggers.
Learn more about the PLC at www.plcloggers.org.
