THE STORY
Meet PEC Wood Co. owner, Tom Mikel
Tom is an ISA Certified Arborist, a sawyer, and a woodworker. Raised on a dairy farm in Prince Edward County, his early influences were working with his family on the farm, where a deep connection to the land and in particular forests was instilled in him, and the importance of taking care of it.
As early as high school Tom fell in love with woodworking. Although he had intended to pursue a career in building, he fell in love with not only working with wood but working with trees in general. He completed a diploma in Forestry and then a Certificate in Arboriculture at Fleming College. Early in his career he saw the connection to trees he was removing as an arborist and the value the wood could provide as a woodworker. Tom began intercepting removed trees destined for burning or rotting and milling them into lumber.
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25 years later, he has struggled to accept that his tree climbing days are over. Tom now teaches at Fleming College in the Forestry and Arboriculture programs, while owning and operating PEC Wood Co.
ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY
Throughout Tom’s career sustainability and environmental awareness has been a core principle in his morals for how we conduct ourselves on the land. As Tom learned more through the lens of Indigenous perspectives with his work at Fleming College, he learned that reconciliation is not just with Indigenous People in Canada, but it also means to reconcile with the land and how we treat it, as we all are interconnected. To honour a tree that has been removed, using its resource as opposed to simply discarding it as waste, is one way to show respect and gratitude for what the land provides for us.
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Most lumber produced by PEC Wood Co. has been salvaged from urban wood waste, partnering with local tree care companies. In most cases the trees were removed for a reason: health, safety, storm damage, etc. and had to be removed. Many times wood like this is cut into firewood or even dumped to rot, with no other purpose than to decompose. When wood decomposes, it releases carbon into the atmosphere. This is a natural process, however in an age of climate change, we have emit too much carbon into the atmosphere. By salvaging this wood and repurposing it into wood products, it traps carbon in the lumber and keeps it from decomposing, thus, capturing carbon, making the lumber produced at PEC Wood Co. a more environmentally sustainable and greener solution.
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ABOUT PEC WOOD CO.
Despite Tom working with trees and wood for over 25 years, the PEC Wood Co. was launched as a business in 2024. It is a labour of love for Tom, sharing his knowledge and passion for trees and wood to repurpose logs into lumber, building heirlooms that continue to tell the story of each tree. PEC Wood Co. is a proud partner of Ontario Wood, ensuring we work with and offer local, sustainably sourced wood products. Contact us today to discuss your log, lumber or woodworking needs.