Johnson Brothers Lumber completes expansion in Canastota

CANASTOTA, N.Y. — Johnson Brothers Lumber Company has finished work on a 20,000-square-foot lumber-production facility in Canastota.

The company invested more than $1.7 million and exceeded its commitment to create at least 10 new jobs, Empire State Development said in a Friday news release announcing completion of the company expansion.

Johnson Brothers Lumber is a Cazenovia–based supplier of hardwood for the furniture industry.

The company’s expansion is a “priority” project that the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council (CNYREDC) endorsed, according to ESD. As a result, ESD awarded Johnson Brothers Lumber a capital grant of $150,000 for the nearly $2 million project.

Besides construction of a 20,000-square-foot lumber production facility in Canastota, the project also included the installation of about 3,700 square-feet of drying kilns.

Johnson Brothers Lumber has access to more than 500,000 acres of timber within a 25-mile radius of its facility. The plant processes wood and ships more than 750 truckloads of lumber to customers around the world, according to its website.

The firm services customers in the furniture, flooring and cabinetry industries.

The recently completed expansion of its lumber-production facilities and drying kilns will result in “increased” production and has already generated new jobs.

Johnson Brothers Lumber will use excess methane gas from the Madison County landfill in the town of Lincoln to fuel the drying kilns, according to ESD.

The new dry kilns allow the company to “maximize” its production and have “helped grow” its overall output by more than 50 percent, Michael Johnson, VP of Johnson Brothers Lumber, said in the ESD release.

“We have created new jobs to help process the extra production. The Central New York regional economic-development council’s endorsement and Empire State Development’s $150,000 grant toward this project helped give us the confidence to move forward with the expansion and shows New York State cares about Upstate small businesses,” said Johnson.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com