TWO BROTHERS, ONE BIG FAMILY

Iam going to start this one like I always do—by talking about myself and my family. Stay with me. I am the Person of the Year specialist. I love these stories. I love talking about why a person does what they do. How they help their community in big ways and in small ones. I often wonder how many tball teams are out there with “Such And Such Lumber” proudly displayed on the front of their jerseys. This story each year reminds me why I love this industry. After I pulled out of the Pleasant River Lumber Enfield (Maine) location, I immediately voice dialed my mother.

My mom, whose sole understanding of the lumber industry comes from me and an annual dinner with my fellow editors Rich Donnell and Dan Shell when we are in all in Atlanta for various trade shows, had sent me a text while I was interviewing the brothers Brochu (Chris and Jason), our Timber Processing 2023 Person(s) of the Year. “Hi. Hope Maine is going well. I know you love this story and this family,” she wrote. See, this was my third time to visit the Brochus, the third in the middle of winter, because it’s been well documented how stupid I am when it comes to reading weather forecasts. And she remembered how much I’ve enjoyed their facilities, interviews and whom they are. It will probably embarrass him, but I am going to tell the story anyway (sorry Chris!) of when I realized these two brothers needed to be our Person(s) of the Year. And the time when my respect for them as humans skyrocketed.

Jason, left, Adrian, and Chris, right

Last year, I was sitting down with Chris and Burley Higgins, Head Of Sawmill Operations, discussing the COVID-era installation of the first Valutec continuous dry kiln in North America. Chris excused himself from the conversation and then returned with a burbling bundle in the form of Edith Brochu, the youngest of his brood at under a year. As a working mother with little ones at home, the idea that this man would feel comfortable enough to just go about his day while also parenting was like receiving an IV of oxygen, motivation and happiness all at once. Chris didn’t miss a beat as he bounced Edith up and down while talking to me about the finer points of installing new technology via remote startup. Just to see with my own eyes, this big, powerful man whose company employs 800 in the state he loves so much to humanize himself was a powerful sight.

I often babble on about the families of our Persons of the Year. I worry that our magazine by default loses too much of the human element to machinery installation. Sure it is important to note that over the last five years the Brochu brothers have put more than $100 million in capital expenditures into their multiple sawmills. But there’s much more than that. Between the two, they are in the trenches of parenting nine children in ages ranging from 16 down to baby Edith.

Halfway through our recent conversation about the Brochu growth strategy, Chris checked his phone and excitedly told his older brother, “She got fifth!” and turned to me, explaining his daughter, Ella, was in a ski race that afternoon. He was proud. Then, we grabbed some hardhats and headed to look at the new MoCo stacker.

Contact Jessica Johnson, ph: 334-834-1170; fax 334-834-4525; e-mail: jessica@hattonbrown.com