Ken Sheppard Appointed To State Forestry Commission Board

Vidalia businessman Ken Sheppard has been appointed to the Georgia Forestry Commission’s Board of Directors. Sheppard was among 25 Georgians recently named to various state boards by Governor Brian Kemp. Sheppard is owner of KS Harvesters, Inc., a wood supplier and logging company that buys, cuts and harvests timber; Sheppard Farms, LLC, a logistics and trucking operation; and KSH Contracting Services, LLC, which runs a timber wet yard for continued from page

Rayonier Advanced Materials in Collins. All three companies are based in Vidalia.

Sheppard has been in the timber business for 40 years with 31 of those years as owner of his own companies. He employs 29 workers among all three of his current businesses.

A native of Vidalia, Sheppard has lived in Tattnall, Toombs and Montgomery counties. A graduate of Reidsville High School, he received an American Farmer Degree in 1984 through the National FFA. He was named 2010 Georgia Logger of the Year by the Southeastern Wood Producers Association and served on the board of directors for that organization from 2011 until this year.

He was a member of the Higgston City Council from 2002 until 2011, serving a portion of that time as mayor pro tem. He also served as a member of the Georgia Army National Guard from 1980 until 1986.

Sheppard is a member of Milliken’s Creek Masonic Lodge in Cedar Crossing and a member of New Corinth Baptist Church. He has a daughter and two grandsons and he and his wife, Susan, live in Vidalia.

Another area resident appointed to the seven-member GFC board is Benjamin Gillis, CEO/COO/CFO for Gillis Ag & Timber in Soperton. The business is responsible for providing timber procurement throughout Georgia and South Carolina. He is a board member of the Georgia Forestry Association and has been a tree farmer since 1990. He and his wife, Robin, have two children, and reside in Dublin.

The GFC, with its headquarters in Dry Branch, provides leadership, services, and educational resources for landowners, communities, and other agencies across Georgia, the number one forestry state in the nation. The GFC was created in 1949 by the Georgia Legislature.