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Luvian Saha Oy is supporting the journey of young champions

26.6.2025 Jarkko Männistö

Luvian Saha Oy is supporting the journey of young champions

26.06.2025

For years, Luvian Saha Oy has been involved in supporting children and youth in their sports activities in many ways. The support has particularly focused on children’s and youth team sports, where there are several supported groups in the company’s operating area each year. The range of sports consists of different sports such as baseball, ice hockey, floorball, swimming, track and field, orienteering and skiing.

” As a company, we have seen it important to be involved in supporting local sports opportunities for children and young people. The importance of exercise in everyday life is becoming even more important. By supporting team sports in many different ways, we give our contribution to many children and young people and their families every year”, says CEO Veli-Matti Puuska. “Unfortunately, we are unable to respond positively to all support applications, as we receive several dozens of them every year. What is especially important to us is locality and that we share common values with the target group’’, adds Puuska.

Luvian Saha has also been involved in supporting two talented young individual athletes in the 2024-2025 season. These two young athletes have several common traits: passion, uncompromising attitude and a goal-oriented approach to developing into better athletes and individuals. Company´s slogan, “Getting better every day”, describes both champion athletes well, skier and ski orienteer Amanda Yli-Futka (21) from Harjavalta and skier Anni Rohila (16) from Rauma.

The young athletes at Luvian Saha (on the left Anni Rohila and on the right Amanda Yli-Futka)

Amanda Yli-Futka; For the love of skiing and forestry

Amanda Yli-Futka, who has been skiing and orienteering since she was little, is a farm-raised girl from Harjavalta. “It means a lot to me that I get to do what I love, even if it’s not easy, fun and enjoyable every day. I love sports, challenging myself and feeling like I’m improving. Results and doing well in competitions motivate me. I wouldn’t be at this point if I didn’t really like it”, says Amanda Yli-Futka.

The Yli-Futka family’s positive experiences in working with Luvian Saha Oy in the wood trade led Amanda to ask Luvian Saha to join her in supporting her journey towards her athletic goals. “We have only had positive experiences with Luvian Saha Oy’s operations as a wood trade partner. Everything has always gone well and our forestry values meet – our forest is always used in the best possible way. It has been great to have a local forestry operator as a supporter with whom our mutual values also meet,” says Amanda.

“The importance of sponsors is especially important for young individual athletes. Especially for young individual athletes, the importance of sponsors is emphasized. Many people’s sports careers will not take them to the top if there are not enough resources to train and go to the training camps. Competition and training trips abroad are long, with large deductibles. Without sponsors, it would not be possible to go on these trips,” continues Amanda.

“I feel a strong similarity between forestry and sports – regularity and perseverance are important in both. Professional sports are not always so nice and fun, but the activity still has to be long-term – your physical condition doesn’t necessarily improve all the time, but you can’t ruin it overnight either. The life of an endurance athlete could be summed up as train, eat, sleep and start again,” Amanda sums up.

Amanda’s first season in the adult series went brilliantly last winter. “In the junior ski orienteering series, I won practically every competition there was to win. In the adult competitions, I won European Championships medals (relay & individual). In addition, I also won two World Championships gold medals at the U23 Winter Universiade in Turin, Italy. I exceeded all the goals I set for my season,” Amanda rejoices.

Amanda’s coach is Paralympic and Olympic medalist Maija Järvelä.

Anni Rohila; summers on roller skis and winters on cross-country skis

Luvian Saha has been supporting the unyielding, decisive and determined Anni since 2021.

One of the young athlete’s most memorable achievements of the 2024-2025 season was the Ungdomsvasan 15–16-year olds’ 19 km victory in Sweden. In the summer of 2025, Anni will train and compete in the Alps in Northern Italy, touring the Roller Skiing World Cup from there and possibly some Italian Cup competitions – also this summer is going to be full of work.

Forest Owner’s Day at Luvia Sawmill 26.04.2025

9.5.2025 Jarkko Männistö

Forest Owners’ Day was held at Luvia Sawmill on Saturday 26.04.2025.

A large group of invited guests had a unique opportunity to get to know the factory’s operations and were able to see how the raw material growing in their forests is processed into sawn timber and finished exterior cladding products. The factory tours aroused a lot of interest among the participants and provided valuable information about the operations of Luvia Sawmill. In particular, visitor’s feedback emphasized industrial efficiency, safety and responsibility of operations of the modern industrial facility.

‘’For a long time the forest owners have been hoping for the opportunity to see how their valuable log material is processed. Among other things, the diverse log cutting options, such as the processing of our small logs into long-cycle end products, interested our visitors – after all, small log buyers are starting to be quite rare in the area. During the day, the groundwork for future wood purchases was laid between our procurement managers and forest owners – meetings were arranged for the very next week. It’s great that we were able to offer the opportunity to explore all the functions of our factory. This successful event supports the goals of our wood procurement organization, as we increase our wood procurement volumes in the future after our ongoing investment program,” says the Forest Director, Juho Honkela.

We thank everyone who participated in the Forest Owners’ Day for a successful event!

Long-term partner on cooperation with Luvian Saha: “Promises have always been kept”

6.10.2021 Jarkko Männistö

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Long-term partner on cooperation with Luvian Saha: “Promises have always been kept”

06.10.2021

Trust has always been the keyword, around which cooperation between Kuljetus A. Eklund and Luvian Saha has been built across generations.

It is 1984.

A curious little boy, who has just arrived at Luvian Saha for the first time in his life, is looking out from a timber lorry’s cabin.

The boy is Ari Eklund, aged 13. He has joined his father Altti Eklund who is picking up timber.

“One of my very first memories of Luvian Saha is a log sorter, shivering in the cold, trying to learn how to sort logs,” Ari Eklund says.

Little did Eklund know at the time that, nearly 40 years later, he would still be driving to Luvian Saha nearly every day.

Yet, here he is.

“Kuljetus A. Eklund has worked with Luvian Saha since 1984. We are the longest standing transport company working with Luvian Saha without any interruptions,” says Eklund.
“I must have driven through the gates of Luvian Saha at least a thousand times, but every time it’s a pleasure. Of course, there have been massive changes along the way: I’ve had front-row seats to watch how Luvian Saha has grown and developed.”

Kuljetus A. Eklund is a family-owned company, with its history dating back all the way to 1961.

That was when Altti Eklund started transporting timber in the Pori region. Cooperation with Luvian Saha started in 1984 when the rapidly growing exports of Finnish timber accelerated Luvian Saha’s operations.

Ari Eklund grew up transporting timber, while he was not able to help his father until in 1991 after he completed his military service.

Luvian Saha was a significant partner for a small transport company.

“We only had one lorry, which I shared with my father,” he says.
The world – and the world of logging – looked quite different at the beginning of the 1990s.
“Two things have remained unchanged: we mainly transport logs, and Luvian Saha has always stood in the same place. Everything else has changed since I started doing this,” he says.

Luvian Saha, a key partner, has grown and developed into a pioneer in its industry: uneven gravel yards have been paved smooth, and the sawmill has always deployed the most modern technologies.

For Eklund himself, the largest change has been the development of transport equipment, with the old and dangerous timber lorries having been replaced by modern vehicle combinations. Despite being larger, they are safer and more powerful and ecological.

The road network has also developed. After all, small forest roads used to be very narrow paths in poor condition, even inaccessible to heavy timber lorries.

The sawmill industry has evolved as a whole. Sustainability is an even more integral part of the daily activities of all forest industry operators.

At the same time, Eklund’s regular day at work has also undergone major changes.

“Before, I never knew what my day would be like. Quantity management wasn’t that accurate at logging sites: in winter, logs may have been stored here and there, and in spring, we drivers always had a thick folder in the cabin, in which log storage sites had been marked. We then drove from one site to the next to pick up timber. It’s quite difficult to imagine such a situation today, but then it was the normal way of working,” Eklund says.

Now, a tree cut today will be delivered to a sawmill in a matter of days.

Transport and unloading operations have precise schedules. Luvian Saha communicates with contractors using digital data management and transfer systems, allowing all partners to maintain contact without any interruptions.

Eklund says that he already knows how much timber he will transport next week.

“Everything has gone online, and transport operations are much more systematic, effective and ecological. The whole industry and Luvian Saha have undergone major changes, and we have lived through them side by side for a few decades now.”

The entire sawmill industry has experienced changes, requiring Luvian Saha and Kuljetus A. Eklund to adapt and learn.

Both have been able to do this.

“I believe that Luvian Saha has always been a well-run and forward-looking company, which has had the courage to change with the times. It’s always been great to work with them.”

During their nearly 40-year history together, both companies have also grown larger.

Ever since it was established, Luvian Saha has grown steadily through investments. This has also provided opportunities for its partners.

“We always aim to provide steady and stable employment for contractors, which also enables our partner companies to succeed,” says Juho Honkela, director of wood procurement at Luvian Saha.

Luvian Saha’s growth and the steady employment it provides have also helped the Eklund family business to grow. Currently, Kuljetus A. Eklund is a limited liability company which operates four vehicles and employs eight people.
Luvian Saha continues to play a significant part in the company’s business operations.

“I believe that trust has been the most important factor in our long-term relationship. Promises have always been kept – on both sides.”

This also lays the foundation on which the future can be built.

Currently, Eklund’s vehicles are driven through Luvian Saha’s gates by the third generation, with Ari Eklund’s son Sami Eklund having started in the timber transport business.

“I have strong faith in Luvian Saha’s future, and that of the sawmill industry as a whole,” says Eklund, who still drives a timber lorry every day.
“I hope that our partnership with Luvian Saha continues for the next 40 years as well.”

Article: Timo Riihentupa
Photo: Anssi Koskinen