Forestry

The new local owners of St. Marys Paper have secured $43 million in private financing and were expecting production of super calendar paper to resume by late June. After a two-month shutdown at the 100-year-old Sault Ste.

With the forestry industry reeling from the high cost of energy, fibre and a strong dollar, a hidden cost of remaining competitive is the need to upgrade operational infrastructure.

As one of many forestry communities seeking to emerge from the pall hanging over the pulp and paper industry, Hearst has taken its first step towards a new economy with the first stage of its Bio-Com project.

Although the first iteration of the province’s Demand Response (DR) program is coming to a close in the coming weeks, its involvement with the forestry industry is being hailed as a success by at least one of the participants.

It started out as a way to promote their taxidermy business. The Manitoulin Island home of Rita and Terry Gordon has since evolved into a popular gathering place for campers, cyclists, hikers, stargazers and those who enjoy a good midnight wolf howl.

Onerous stumpage fees are being blamed for the indefinite shutdown of a Sault Ste. Marie hardwood mill. Boniferro Mill Works issued layoff notices to 41 employees, April 27.

Golfers hoping to take a swing at the annual Frog’s Breath Charity Golf Tournament and Social event will have to wait as this year’s has been cancelled.

A Chapleau Information Technology company is going green with a cedar sawmill project that could create value-added forestry jobs by year’s end. Cree-Tech Inc.

A new coating for wood products is being heralded by Grant Forest Products as a “big breakthrough” for the OSB (Oriented Strand Board) producer now ramping up production at its new $20-million coated structural board mill in Earleton.

While mill closures roll through the forestry sector, the Wilderness Group is diversifying and creating new jobs as a result of a $1 million loan from the provincial Northern Ontario Grow Bonds program.