The long-awaited restart of Kenora Forest Products received a cash injection courtesy from Ottawa.
Local MP Greg Rickford, the federal natural resources minster and FedNor czar, announced a $3 million loan to Prendiville Industries, the operation’s parent company, to assist in the Kenora stud sawmill’s September restart and expansion.
Manitoba-based Prendiville is investing millions to modernize the shuttered operation and install an additional sawline. Among the improvements include adding another dry kiln and constructing a new 340-foot long planer mill, outfitted with the latest technology, with plans to make machine stress-related lumber.
In a July 8 news release, Rickford said the funds will support the operation’s long-term competitiveness by modernizing the facilities and bringing jobs to his hometown.
The mill had been closed since April 2008 when the crash of the U.S. homebuilding market caused Prendiville to lay off 105 employees.
The company had been holding job fairs in Kenora to hire a similar number of workers.
Earlier this year, the union representing workers at the mill ratified a six-year collective agreement.
As a kicker to recruit and retain tradespeople, Unifor Local 324 and the company agreed to an immediate $5 per hour pay boost for all licensed trades.
Stephen Boon, Unifor’s national
representative, said by the final year of the current deal,
skilled trades at the mill will see their total pay rise by more than
58 per cent to $41.79/hour, near the top of Eastern Canada’s
sawmill
industry.
The unionized membership at Kenora Forest Products will reach 110 employees when the mill is operational this fall.
In late June, Rickford delivered $2 million to Domtar’s Dryden pulp mill to support a new technology that will develop new premium grades of pulp.
It’s being described as a first-of-its-kind, commercial-scale manufacturing facility for new grades of northern bleached softwood kraft pulp.
“The technology that’s going to be added to the process will improve the strength properties of the kraft that’s produced,” said Bonny Skene, Domtar’s regional affairs manager.
Possible markets and end users include the cement industry and companies working on fibreglass-based applications.
“Fibre-reinforced composites are maybe an opportunity depending on the results of the testing. We’ll work with existing customers to see if this brings any added value to them and start there,” said Skene.
Considered a proprietary technology of Domtar,, the $4-million unit will be installed in early 2016 with plant testing to run the remainder of the year.
“We’ve already done the trials. The purpose of this project is to develop it at a commercial scale.”
