EUGENE, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aaron Jones, owner and founder of 60-year-old Seneca Sawmill Company, has transitioned leadership of the Seneca Family of Companies to his three daughters, Becky, Jody and Kathy. The three women have worked in a variety of positions at the company, from forestry to mill design to management, over the last 25 years. They will continue to work closely with Rick Re, CEO of Seneca Family of Companies, who continues to run day-to-day operations of the companies.
“Our father built one of the strongest and technologically-advanced sawmill and timber companies in the U.S., and we are honored to continue his legacy,” said Jody Jones. “He had the strategic foresight to bring all of us into the company many years ago for today’s seamless transition. Becky, Kathy and I are committed to Seneca’s tradition of producing efficiently-made, quality lumber utilizing nearly 100 percent of harvested timber while maintaining industry-leading sustainable yield forestry management practices and drastically reducing fire danger.”
“We are excited about the opportunity to broadly share our collective information about world-class forest management. Wide-spread knowledge about how our forests are managed will protect this renewable resource for the future. Being at the helm of this great company allows us to begin this initiative.”
Jones began preparing his daughters to take the helm in the 1980s with a unique succession plan. As an active University of Oregon alumni, Jones hired professors from the Lundquist School of Business to teach the three women all aspects of Seneca’s business processes and management. Today, the Seneca Family of Companies employs more than 375 workers and manages more than 165,000 acres of Oregon forestland, implementing sustainable forestry management.
About the Seneca Family of Companies
The Seneca Family of Companies, consisting of Seneca Sawmill Company, Seneca Jones Timber Company, Seneca Sustainable Energy and Seneca Noti, has grown into one of the largest-producing single-location timber and sawmill companies in the United States, managing more than 165,000 acres of Oregon forestland and producing 485 million board feet of lumber per year. Founded by Aaron Jones in 1953, Seneca is dedicated to superior management practices that meet and exceed the regulations of the SFI and the Oregon Forest Practices Act. Seneca’s commitment to sustainable forest management includes measures to protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat and species at risk, and forests with exceptional conservation value. As an industry leader, Seneca maintains a research and development program that has been awarded more than 25 patents for sawmill technology that helps the company produce the best lumber available, consume less raw materials and utilize virtually 100 percent of each log.