QUEBEC MILLS START-UP
Employees and management at Industries Parent in Quebec celebrated the re-opening of two of the company’s mills last week. The company invested $21.5 million in the two facilities, both of which have been closed for two years. Julie Boulet, Quebec’s Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity and Minister responsible for the Mauricie region was on hand for the event.
The capital invested in the mills, included a $12.75 million loan from Investissement Quebec and a $5.5 million loan from the Business Development Bank of Canada. The investment allowed approximately 300 employees to return to work, including 90 employees at the company’s Parent Sawmill, 40 employees at the company’s Trois-Rivieres finger joint mill and another 170 forestry workers.
Industries Parent was founded in 2011 when the assets of Kruger’s sawmill in Parent were merged with those of Industries Perron’s finger-joint mill in Trois-Rivieres. The company manufactures value-added lumber products, including finger-jointed lumber and lumber of varying lengths for several markets in Canada and the United States.
“All parties – the Government of Québec, Minister Julie Boulet, our financial partners, the Municipality of La Tuque, local development organizations, the union and workers – mobilized to reopen these mills. We would like to thank them for their support, which has translated into quality jobs for some 300 people in the region,” said Daniel Archambault, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Industrial Products Division of Kruger.
“We are proud of this innovative, solid business plan,” added, Claude Perron, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Industries Parent. “By capitalizing on the complementary nature of operations at the sawmill and the finger-joint mill, Industries Parent’s structure will provide us with maximum flexibility to expand our product lines and break into new markets in Canada and the United States.”
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