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

Frontier Mayor Brady Berg says you just need to look at the local curling rink or golf course to see how Honey Bee Manufacturing is intertwined with the southwest Saskatchewan village.

"Everything has a Honey Bee sign on it because they've donated to or they sponsor everything," Berg said in an interview.

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

Honey Bee builds headers for combines and swathers at its 120,000 square-foot facility just outside Frontier, a village about 25 kilometres north of the U.S. border. Last week, the company announced it's cutting dozens of jobs.

"About a third of our population probably works at Honey Bee," said Berg, who estimates 30 to 40 residents were laid off.

Honey Bee Manufacturing CEO and general manager Jamie Pegg declined to provide the number of employees affected, only saying it's around a 25 per cent reduction in a workforce of 170 to 180 people.

Pegg said U.S. tariffs are just one factor in the decision to cut jobs. Inflation, low commodity prices and world events dating back to the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war created difficult market conditions, he said.

"When you go through things like this, especially when you have an ownership group that's been very employee friendly, it's hard when you can't respond with more," Peg said.

"But there's things in the economy, there's things in the world that go beyond your own control, and you have to recognize that."

Brothers Greg and Glenn Honey founded Honey Bee Manufacturing in 1979 and moved production to Frontier in 1987, settling into a factory and warehouse complex left empty when Flexi-Coil, which previously bought local cultivator manufacturer Friggstad, moved its operations elsewhere.

The Honey family still owns the private company, known for its draper platforms like the Grain Belt Header, and sells worldwide from Frontier.

Frontier has always been proud of its relationship with the company and any other similar-sized Saskatchewan community "would kill to have a Honey Bee Manufacturing sitting on the edge of it and employing people," Berg said.

"We're not close to anything. We're not close to the CP rail main line. We're not close to the Trans-Canada [Highway]. Everything here has to get shipped in and shipped out. So we're very fortunate."

The village is still assessing the fallout, Berg said, adding that about a year ago the village couldn't find enough homes for everyone looking.

"My biggest fear is people leaving town," he said. "Honey Bee being our largest employer. We're a factory town.… When employment starts getting a little bit unpredictable, people tend to leave, right?"

Berg said fewer people means a smaller tax base, which affects services and amenities.

"If families have to leave, are their kids going to have to leave the school? Is our grocery store going to be as supported? If even 20 people have to quit shopping there or at our local businesses, those are the things I think about."

Statistics Canada reported a 1.6 per cent decline in manufacturing jobs across the country in April compared to the previous month, citing "uncertainty related to tariffs on exports to the United States" as a cause. In Saskatchewan, manufacturing employment rose 3.2 per cent in April.

"There's lots of things that can change the marketplace, but I think the most important thing is commodity prices return," Pegg said.

"Our goal is to call back any employees that were laid off during this time. That's what our committed goal was to the employees."

Pegg said Honey Bee has actually increased it's market share, but the market as a whole shrunk at the same time. He cited national market data showing declining domestic and international sales of large farm equipment.

"It's just that the world economy has taken on a different shape," Pegg said, adding that similar companies have cut jobs in the past year, but Honey Bee held off to see if it could retool parts of the business to weather a downturn in the economy.

"We're just eight months later doing something than everybody else has already done."