According to a report this past week by The Advertiser (Grand Falls, N.B., Canada), a public meeting was held yesterday (June 15) to discuss a study looking for a practical use for Grand Falls-Windsor’s richest commercial resource - forestry.

 

Forestry has been latent since the closure of the local pulp and paper mill seven years ago, but thanks to a new $50,000 grant from the provincial government and support by the Forestry and Agrifoods Agency, Center for Forest Science and Innovation, a study is now taking place to find new technology, products, and market pathways to a sustainable future for the forestry resource.

The Forest Diversification Strategy will identify potential opportunities for the forest industry in Grand Falls-Windsor in place of the mill.

The closure of the mill had a devastating impact on the town of Grand Falls-Windsor but, "even though the mill was in town it supported the region, not just Grand Falls-Windsor," said Grand Falls-Windsor Councilor Peggy Bartlett.

The key now is to identify what opportunities there are through looking at what new technologies are out there and the demographics of the workforce in the region compared with what jobs can be provided by tapping into the forestry resource.

"if we all say this won't work in a negative way, nothing will ever work... When you do a feasibility study, it doesn’t guarantee success, it just says that we’re looking at it," Bartlett added.