Pekka Mik­ko­nen, reci­pient of the Einari Award, belie­ves that in the forest mac­hi­nery sec­tor, impact is not mea­su­red by the size of the com­pany, but by the qua­lity of work, the capacity for coo­pe­ra­tion, and the drive to deve­lop the industry. Based in Hei­nä­vesi, the family busi­ness has built its posi­tion through long-term dedica­tion, making an impact on the whole sec­tor that goes far bey­ond its size.

Met­sä­ko­neu­ra­kointi P. Mik­ko­nen Oy has been cont­rac­ting for Stora Enso since 1986. For the last 15 years, the cont­rac­tual rela­tions­hip has officially run through Koh­man­sa­lon Met­sä­kul­je­tus Oy, which ope­ra­tes as a Stora Enso “Star Cont­rac­tor”. In prac­tice, howe­ver, the tim­ber has kept flowing in the same direc­tion as always. That is why Pekka Mik­ko­nen still often refers to “the com­pany” and “the mill”, mea­ning Stora Enso.

“I was cer­tainly wor­ried 15 years ago when the direct cont­rac­tual rela­tions­hip with Stora Enso came to an end,” Mik­ko­nen says.

“Many view subcont­rac­ting or part­ners­hip as a swear word, but for us, this model has wor­ked well, “he says. “Full cre­dit for that goes to the main cont­rac­tor and the com­pany: we have been able to deve­lop the coo­pe­ra­tion toget­her, and as a subcont­rac­tor, you can focus on the actual work wit­hout a heavy mana­ge­ment struc­ture.”

‘”You also have the power to shape the coo­pe­ra­tion your­self. Too often people look at others, when some­ti­mes they should be loo­king in the mir­ror. You have to be able to speak directly and handle mat­ters pro­fes­sio­nally – that is the core of this job.”

“It works for us, even if the model isn’t equally success­ful in every case.”

The company’s work­si­tes are loca­ted around Hei­nä­vesi, wit­hin a radius of about 25 kilo­met­res from their base. This is an excep­tio­nally good situa­tion, as many har­ves­ting com­pa­nies have to move mac­hi­nery long dis­tances between har­ves­ting sites, which also inc­rea­ses the ope­ra­tors’ com­mu­ting dis­tances.

Met­sä­ko­neu­ra­kointi P. Mik­ko­nen har­vests tim­ber with a single mac­hi­nery chain, and the annual volu­mes vary. In addi­tion to Pekka, the ope­ra­tors are son Lauri Mik­ko­nen and a few exter­nal ope­ra­tors.

“My son and I ope­rate the har­ves­ter as nee­ded. When things get busy, the mac­hine runs prac­tically around the clock, six and a half days a week. For a small com­pany ope­ra­ting with its own small team, flexi­bi­lity is at the very core of pro­fi­ta­bi­lity. Lauri has also taken res­pon­si­bi­lity for main­te­nance.”

Trust and family sup­port as the dri­ving force

Pekka Mik­ko­nen star­ted forest mac­hi­nery cont­rac­ting in 1983, straight after comple­ting compre­hen­sive school.

“For two years, I drove my father’s trac­tor, and then in 1985, I purc­ha­sed my first mac­hine of my own. That first win­ter, I drove a Val­met 502 with a tim­ber sledge, where a Patu 1800 ser­ved as the loa­der. I bought a two-wheel drive Mas­sey myself, but my fat­her let me drive a four-wheel drive Val­met 604.”

“During the first few years, before I even had my dri­ving licence, I towed a cara­van with the trac­tor and lived at the log­ging site during the week. There were no pho­nes, and there was no cal­ling home.”

“Times have cer­tainly chan­ged. When we were wor­king furt­her away, we might leave on a Mon­day mor­ning by bus, and the super­vi­sor would take us to the site. There was plenty of work, and you had to find your place. Loo­king back, I really have to take my hat off to the mana­ge­ment – I was only 15 myself, but they had so much faith in me.”

Along­side the trust of the mana­ge­ment, the sup­port of his family – his fat­her, mot­her and Jaana – has also been essen­tial. Pekka and Jaana star­ted dating back when they were in the ninth grade.

“We’ve been toget­her ever since. We star­ted from scratch and built eve­ryt­hing toget­her. None of this would have been pos­sible wit­hout a life part­ner like her. I’m at work prac­tically all the time, and Jaana looks after the home and the yard.” Jaana also runs the vil­lage shop in Sar­vi­kumpu. Next year will mark 40 years since they bought the vil­lage shop pro­perty from the local co-ope­ra­tive. The family home has been built around the old shop buil­ding, and in 1995 a mac­hi­nery hall was added to the grounds.

Taking pride in your work

Met­sä­ko­neu­ra­kointi P. Mik­ko­nen has ope­ra­ted in the Hei­nä­vesi area since the 1980s, giving the com­pany a strong unders­tan­ding of local con­di­tions. Local forest owners have become fami­liar faces, and on some esta­tes the forests are now being mana­ged by a third gene­ra­tion. Trust is equally essen­tial in dea­lings with lan­dow­ners.

“A lan­dow­ner may ask about a thin­ning and whet­her I would do the same in my own forest. It all comes down to trust and the qua­lity of the work. The har­ves­ting qua­lity has to be first-class – there’s no leeway for taking shortcuts. You have to work preci­sely, fol­low the rules, and never com­pro­mise on envi­ron­men­tal values.”

“You must always be able to say, “I did that”. And if you can’t say that, it’s time to stop. You also need the back­bone to admit your mis­ta­kes rat­her than slip away from them. If the weat­her chan­ges, you some­ti­mes have to leave the site unfi­nis­hed and return once the con­di­tions are right.”

A job well done rewards its maker, especially when the forest owner also recog­ni­ses the qua­lity of the work.

“It really does feel good when you’ve done the right kind of thin­ning and can see the results for your­self. And it feels even bet­ter when you return five to ten years later and see how the forest has deve­lo­ped. That’s when you can say, “I did this”.”

Posi­tive feed­back goes a long way

“It’s also the best fee­ling for young ope­ra­tors when someone more expe­rienced ope­ra­tor comes by and prai­ses the qua­lity of their work. You can see straight away how much it lifts their pos­ture and self-con­fi­dence.”

“Too often, feed­back is only given when somet­hing has gone wrong. Young people also need posi­tive feed­back – it sup­ports their self‑esteem, resi­lience and pro­fes­sio­nal growth. Eve­ry­one knows what cons­tant nega­ti­vity does to people.”

“When a young ope­ra­tor gets it right and you tell them they’ve made the right call, it gives them the con­fi­dence and cou­rage to take on this work.”

Strongly invol­ved in the deve­lop­ment of the forest mac­hi­nery sec­tor

Deve­lo­ping the sec­tor requi­res open discus­sion and the abi­lity to lis­ten to dif­fe­rent pers­pec­ti­ves. A recent example of this is a mee­ting Mik­ko­nen con­ve­ned, brin­ging toget­her repre­sen­ta­ti­ves of the main cont­rac­tor, the com­pany and the mac­hine manu­fac­tu­rer.

“There were more than a dozen people around the table at the same time. We had a con­struc­tive discus­sion about deve­lop­ment on all sides, and we also went into the forest to look at the new tech­no­logy. For many, it came as a surprise just how much the tech­no­logy has advanced.”

“When the discus­sion is open and good‑natured, it beco­mes easier for eve­ry­one to ask ques­tions going forward.”

“What mat­ters is the spi­rit in which things are hand­led. Too often, people only come toget­her when somet­hing has gone wrong. On this occa­sion, we were deve­lo­ping, not fixing, and that’s exactly how things should be taken forward.”

Mik­ko­nen has long expe­rience in har­ves­ting and a strong desire to share his insights to help deve­lop the sec­tor. That’s why his views are rea­dily sought, and over the years he has taken part in many pro­jects.

“Deve­lop­ment is impor­tant, and it has been great to see how the tech­no­logy and ergo­no­mics of forest mac­hi­nes have impro­ved. Wor­king con­di­tions have chan­ged enor­mously: today’s mac­hi­nes are genui­nely good workplaces.”

“At the same time, the sec­tor has chan­ged a great deal, and there is no shor­tage of chal­len­ges. You can’t do this work half‑heartedly – if you want to succeed, you have to do it pro­perly.”