Ag manufacturer Honey Bee cuts jobs in 'factory town' Frontier, Sask.

Jeremy Warren · CBC News

· Posted: May 13, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Frontier Mayor Brady Berg says you conscionable request to look astatine the section curling rink oregon play people to spot however Honey Bee Manufacturing is intertwined with the southwest Saskatchewan village.

"Everything has a Honey Bee motion connected it due to the fact that they've donated to oregon they sponsor everything," Berg said successful an interview.

"You can't person Frontier the mode it is, the mode everyone knows it, without Honey Bee."

Honey Bee builds headers for combines and swathers astatine its 120,000 square-foot installation conscionable extracurricular Frontier, a colony astir 25 kilometres northbound of the U.S. border. Last week, the institution announced it's cutting dozens of jobs.

"About a 3rd of our colonisation astir apt works astatine Honey Bee," said Berg, who estimates 30 to 40 residents were laid off.

Honey Bee Manufacturing CEO and wide manager Jamie Pegg declined to supply the fig of employees affected, lone saying it's astir a 25 per cent simplification successful a workforce of 170 to 180 people.

Pegg said U.S. tariffs are conscionable 1 origin successful the determination to chopped jobs. Inflation, debased commodity prices and satellite events dating backmost to the opening of the Russia-Ukraine warfare created hard marketplace conditions, helium said.

"When you spell done things similar this, particularly erstwhile you person an ownership radical that's been precise worker friendly, it's hard erstwhile you can't respond with more," Peg said.

"But there's things successful the economy, there's things successful the satellite that spell beyond your ain control, and you person to admit that."

Brothers Greg and Glenn Honey founded Honey Bee Manufacturing successful 1979 and moved accumulation to Frontier successful 1987, settling into a mill and warehouse analyzable near bare erstwhile Flexi-Coil, which antecedently bought section cultivator shaper Friggstad, moved its operations elsewhere.

The Honey household inactive owns the backstage company, known for its draper platforms similar the Grain Belt Header, and sells worldwide from Frontier.

Frontier has ever been arrogant of its narration with the institution and immoderate different similar-sized Saskatchewan assemblage "would termination to person a Honey Bee Manufacturing sitting connected the borderline of it and employing people," Berg said.

"We're not adjacent to anything. We're not adjacent to the CP obstruction main line. We're not adjacent to the Trans-Canada [Highway]. Everything present has to get shipped successful and shipped out. So we're precise fortunate."

The colony is inactive assessing the fallout, Berg said, adding that astir a twelvemonth agone the colony couldn't find capable homes for everyone looking.

"My biggest fearfulness is radical leaving town," helium said. "Honey Bee being our largest employer. We're a mill town.… When employment starts getting a small spot unpredictable, radical thin to leave, right?"

Berg said less radical means a smaller taxation base, which affects services and amenities.

"If families person to leave, are their kids going to person to permission the school? Is our market store going to beryllium arsenic supported? If adjacent 20 radical person to discontinue buying determination oregon astatine our section businesses, those are the things I deliberation about."

Statistics Canada reported a 1.6 per cent diminution successful manufacturing jobs crossed the state successful April compared to the erstwhile month, citing "uncertainty related to tariffs connected exports to the United States" arsenic a cause. In Saskatchewan, manufacturing employment roseate 3.2 per cent successful April.

"There's tons of things that tin alteration the marketplace, but I deliberation the astir important happening is commodity prices return," Pegg said.

"Our extremity is to telephone backmost immoderate employees that were laid disconnected during this time. That's what our committed extremity was to the employees."

Pegg said Honey Bee has really accrued it's marketplace share, but the marketplace arsenic a whole shrunk astatine the aforesaid time. He cited nationalist marketplace information showing declining home and planetary income of ample workplace equipment.

"It's conscionable that the satellite system has taken connected a antithetic shape," Pegg said, adding that akin companies person chopped jobs successful the past year, but Honey Bee held disconnected to spot if it could retool parts of the concern to upwind a downturn successful the economy.

"We're conscionable 8 months aboriginal doing thing than everybody other has already done."