In an attempt to revitalize the forestry sector, a government-supported initiative has decided to do battle in a different way – one person at a time.
Two community future development corporations, Nord-Aski in Hearst and Lake of the Woods Business Incentive Corporation in Kenora, have assisted in administering the Northern Ontario Value-Added Initiative (NOVA).
The initiative has the support of local municipalities, First Nations, the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, the Ministry of Natural Resources, FedNor, Natural Resources Canada and Forintek Canada Corp.
A similar project in Quebec, the Brigade program, has had encouraging results: over $13 million has been invested in 35 new businesses, generating 240 new jobs.
The program has been running since April. The goal is to create and stimulate economic development opportunities in the value-added wood sector. Percy Champagne
(northwestern Ontario) and Stéphane Plamondon (northeastern Ontario) were hired as industry advisors while Forintek provincial co-ordinator Frank Laytner provides technical support.
Collectively, the three-year initiative will focus on value-added product development; optimization of manufacturing processes; and market access and potential.
In order to generate more interest in the value-added sector, the two representatives are in the process of visiting about 200 mills and secondary industry operations between them. During the visit, they introduce the NOVA program and the wood product technology currently available through Forintek.
They talk with managers to find out about research needs that can be brought back to the Forintek researchers. Depending upon the needs of the facility, three free days of technical support may be offered, aimed at improving the ratios of employment and profit per cubic metre of raw material. The expectation is to create upwards of 50 technical projects.
“A lot of times, people don’t realize they need help identifying markets,” Laytner says. “They have great products and process, but don’t have the skills required in going the next step.”
Within the year, two topical seminars will also take place in the different regions of Northern Ontario.
Once the information is “out there,” the next step of the project is the exploratory studies. The program’s administrators want to perform between eight and 15 studies (per representative) per year.
If an idea is brought to an advisor and it has validity, for example, he works with the person to make a one-page proposal. That proposal then goes to one of two technical committees (northwest or northeast), comprised of people from the municipalities and government agencies.
The proposal is reviewed and if it fits the mandate, NOVA will fund 55 per cent of the cost of the study while the entrepreneur puts up 45 per cent.
Laytner says there is a whole checklist the industry advisor works through with the entrepreneur. It is extremely detailed and attempts to cover every aspect of the project from beginning to the end.
“We are making sure all the bases are covered so when the exploratory study is complete, the entrepreneur can take that information and go to the next step of preparing the business plan,” Laytner says. “He’ll be able to go to a funding agency or bank with that information and apply for funding.”The studies are offered on a first come, first serve basis.
Based upon the results of Quebec’s Brigade program, Nord Aski general manager Adrien Veilleux says he sees this project as a way to help everyone in Northern Ontario.
Laytner says it is especially topical because of the struggles the primary forest industries are experiencing.
“We need to build a stronger economy based on secondary value-added industries,” he says.
“It’s best if communities are more self-sufficient. It could lead to different business models like co-operatives, or some sort of profit sharing within a community, as well.”
