Photo by Jason Sethre
In January 2025, the Fillmore County Journal published a story in the annual Progress Edition titled “Root River Hardwoods’ 46-year Journey,” celebrating the growth of the company from humble beginnings.
Right after the story appeared in the newspaper, it was announced that Root River Hardwoods, with locations in Preston, Minn., and Albert Lea, Minn., was sold to a company based out of the United Kingdom known as Vast Ventures, Inc., led by Ryan Pasco and Adrian Johnson.
Today … the sawmill out on County Highway 17, northeast of Preston, is quiet.
We reached out to CEO Jon Summers regarding the status of the sawmill. He said, “No comment.”
According to a former employee, on January 7, 2026, just after lunch, 15 employees working at the sawmill were told that the facility would be closed and they would be out of a job.
Sources shared that when the transition of ownership took place in January 2025, there were approximately 27 employees – 15 at the sawmill and 12 at the store on the hillside facing Highway 52. Now there are nine employees left at the board store. The sawmill has been ghosted.
What the future holds for the once bustling Preston sawmill remains unclear.
Root River Hardwoods has had a lot of customers dependent upon the byproducts of the sawmill. Farmers used the sawdust for bedding. Landscapers used the bark for landscaping. Nick Sargent, owner of Sargent’s Landscape Nursery, Inc., based in Rochester, Minn., said he has historically ordered around 60 semi-truck loads of bark from Root River Hardwoods each year. Now, he is scrambling to find other options. He’s looking at purchasing his bark from multiple sources and he’ll have to travel further to acquire it – which adds to the expense.
In August 2025, Vast Ventures, Inc. also acquired Bennett Hardwoods in Prairie du Chien, Wis., which shares a similar family-owned history as Root River Hardwoods.
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