During a tour and roundtable meeting Thursday at Aspen Wood Products in Mancos, company President and CEO David Sitton appealed to U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert for help with the cost of employment benefits and of transportation on Forest Service roads.
Similar issues with health insurance premiums through the Affordable Care Act and hiring workforce continue to be raised regionally and nationally.
Aspen Wood Products specializes in aspen products, primarily excelsior – known as wood wool, slivers of wood fibers used for multiple purposes including erosion control, swamp cooler pads and crafts. Aspen Wood also manufactures shavings for animal bedding and wood pellets for stoves.
Sitton said one major problem the company experiences is finding employees. The company has had a recent uptake in applications, but many candidates who have been interviewed for a job don’t show up to work.
He’s not exactly sure why, but he speculates that it might be the insufficient benefits that Aspen Wood offers.
“We are now on the Affordable Care Act, which is not affordable at all,” he said. “We would love to provide benefits, but as an employer it’s a no-win deal for us.”
Sitton said the company’s primary concern is paying the mortgage, so it’s not viable for the company to spend a significant extra on other necessities. The company’s cost for health care premiums is about $40,000 per month, while penalties cost $100,000 per year. Boebert and Sitton both agreed that paying the penalties is more economical than paying premiums.
To counter the cost, employees will sign waivers stating that they will use their own personal health insurance.
The company also has considered establishing an H-2B, a government program that allows nonagricultural foreign nationals to temporarily work in the United States.
If the company did go that route, it likely would face questions about workforce housing, even though the housing would be on company property.
“Find a way for us to not be made criminal for when people find jobs with us,” Sutton said to Boebert.
The majority of aspens that AWP cuts year-round originate in the San Juan National Forest and the Grand Mesa and Uncompahgre National Forest.
When it comes to their contracts with the U.S. Forest Service, the company experiences difficulties with road access, especially during winter restrictions when they close the North Dolores Road, forcing them to travel through Slick Rock to Dove Creek or through Telluride and around Lizard Head Pass. This makes the drive for logging trucks even more out of the way than their normal route through Dolores on Colorado Highway 145.
Road-use restrictions are common and are a continuing issue for many Forest Service roads during winter. If the Forest Service wants to manage its forests through harvesting, preserving, thinning and mitigating forest plans, then roads are a big issue on the broader scale since they’re not maintained for log trucks.
Sitton said the Forest Service acknowledges this problem, but there needs to be more of a budget for road management and repairs if they’re going to actively manage the forest. As a result, Sitton said, the Forest Service has actively asked the company to participate in timber harvests as far north as Grand Mesa.
To help with costs, Sitton asked Boebert for grants or Forest Service funding to assist with transportation fees, since fuel energy prices are high and they have to travel far to manage aspen.
He also asked Boebert to help increase access on Forest Service roads and to expand funds to maintain and construct roads when appropriate.
Sitton said the assistance also would benefit forest management and usage.
Boebert thanked Aspen Wood for providing jobs and assured the company she would have more in-depth discussions soon.
Boebert and her staff also were scheduled to meet later Thursday with the Rico fire department and officials from the Region 9 Economic Development District about designating a firehouse. She also was scheduled to listen to the Forest Service about safety issues regarding FCC narrowbanding in highly remote Southwest Colorado areas.
