TERRACE — With many peo- ple wondering who the real win- ner will be when the new Skeena Cellulose ‘sawmill goes into design manager Jim Davis speaks of the $26 million project with both pride and confidence and says that both the company and Terrace can look forward to stability. - “The new mill should supply most markets with certainty for the next 20 years,’’ said Davis. “‘And that has to have an impact on the economy of the North- west.”’ “Let’s face it, The ‘economic base in Terrace is lumber,’’ he added. ‘‘There is no other in- dustry that impacts it like lumber. ‘And if the economy is look- ing good in Terrace, it’s because the lumber industry is doing well,”’ Other than the obvious benefit of the mill burner dis- appearing next May, the benefit to the city seems relatively small at first glance, with the city realizing only. about $60,000 for a building: permit and about $139,000 annually in property taxes. ‘But according to Davis, guar- anteed job stability in an in- dustry which seems to have very - little future only five years ago, - means potential “growth and prosperity for the community. Although he admitted the pro- ject would put 40 to 45 mill workers out of work in Terrace, Davis said, ‘In the long term, it provides stability for the 160 people still working, and they will work 250 days a year for at least the next 20 years.’’ He added that the payroll for those mill workers will amount to about $10 million annually, and the payroll in the woodlands division will be even greater. Davis described the recent history of the lumber industry in the area as a near-disaster, with at least one of the two local mills going out of business. He said during the period from 1982 to 1984 both mills were struggling to survive. Ac- cording to Davis,.in 1982 the in- dustry was shut down complete- ly and in 1983 the mills worked at half speed for only six months. He explained that the 22-year- old Pohle mill had ‘‘come to the end of its economic lifetime’’ and wasm't expected to survive the eighties. down and this would have been a one-mill town,’’ said Davis. He said the mill will continue to:use about the same number of logs as it had in the recent past. There won’t be any boom in the logging industry, but Davis said because of Repap’s $65 million investment in general efficiency and environmental upgrading in its Port Edward pulp mill, 150 direct jobs were created in the ‘ mill, increasing the demand for pulp logs. “That impacted all the way down the line, right to there are going to be more pulp ‘ Jogs taken out of the bush and more trucking jobs.’’ He said an added bonus to the trucking industry is that when 2 Terrace Review — Wednesday, September 30, 1987 - Manager assesses long term impact of new - high-output mill operation in Terrace next May, at least 20 years of economic _ **It- could have been shut. Smithers,” he said. “‘As aresult, the burner at the Terrace mill is torn down hog fuel -will be trucked to Port Edward to fuel the pulp mill. ‘‘There could be up to 14 trucks a day rolling down the highway,’’ he said, According to Davis, the com- bined efficiency of the two mills means dollars for the company and the community. ‘‘Better efficiency means higher production,” he said. COMMUNITY IMPACT . DURING CONSTRUCTION. INDICATES POSITIVE — . GROWTH — Davis predicted construction of the new mill will give the com- munity a major economic boost with about 50 percent of an es-. timated 80 to 100-man labor force working on site during the © five month period from January to the end of April, 1988. The 50 percent of the work force from out of town will be living and spending their money in. Ter- race, he added. “I don’t know if it’s just the times, but all around town you can see businesses expanding; Coast Tractor putting in a plant, cafes expanding “— there are all kinds of things happening,” said Davis. “Part of it may be the interest rates, but I’m sure that because forestry is the major industry in the area, and people can see some stability: in that industry, they have the confidence to in- vest in other activities.’ Davis explained that since the project began about seven weeks ago half the total cost of the mill had already been spent on major pieces of equipment that couldn’t be purchased locally. “Other major components such as log decks and conveyors. have also gone out to tender and we have asked local businesses to bid.on those sections. So far, they have been successful on about 50 percent of those,”” he said. Companies with major con- tracts at the present time include E.B. Horsman & Son Ltd. of Terrace for the installation of a 100-foot steel pole yard light, Twin River Electric & Heating Ltd. of Terrace to install a log § handling area dust control system, Columbia Pacific Indus- tries of Prince George for the debarker outfeed decks, and Dynamic Fabricating & Machine Ltd. of Penticton to build the log deck and install waste con- veyors in the wood preparation area. ‘‘As we get into the major in- stallations of sawmill building and sawmill machinery, we'll go out to tender again to major contractors and I would say that roughly 50 percent would come from out of town because of union agreements, and I believe - J the other 50 percent will be local,’’ said Davis. He said that on the present construction phase of the pro- ject, 12 of the 15 workers on site are local workers, and all of the trucking, grading and scraping contracts are being done by local contractors. FEWER JOBS MEAN GREATER STABILITY - Davis estimated that by the time. the new mill begins opera- tion, more than 40 of the 200 people currently employed atthe | - sudden have to go looking for _work. ‘that the mill had to modernize proud of both the company and mill will lose their ‘jobs, but he. said it is a necessary trade-off in ‘order to insure the- stability of -| ‘the company and provide 160 secure jobs for the next 20 years. . “That’s a big impact on their : personal lives,’ he said of those being laid off. “People with up to three years seniority all of a “But in the early 1980’s the old mill was struggling to sur- vive, and it was obvious then and reduce staff, or go under,” he said. ‘‘So I think those people have been aware for a long time that there wasn’t a full time job here forever.’’ - In what is probably a model of corporate responsibility and union maturity Davis said he is union for the way it -was hand- ling both lay-offs and retraining, “Assistance given to those people being laid off and the re- training of our employees for the new mill have both been at- tacked through one committee, the Industrial Adjustment Com- mittee, where we sit down with various levels of government and the Plant Committee and do the formal job of planning both of those areas. “‘About once a month, they plan out just how many people are going to lose their jobs and what kind of assistance they. will require to find new jobs. Whether it’s helping them write resumes, taking their resumes A Skeleton Start Skeena Cellulose Design Manager Jim Davis says that when the new $26 miilion mill project is completed in Terrace, both the company and the com- munity can look forward to at least 20 years of economic stability. and sending them all-over the province to different forest com- panies, or finding out if they even want to work in the forest industry — they’re assisting them to find the right contacts. ~ “We're not guaranteeing that we will find them a job,’” he ex- plained, however, ‘‘They still have. to go out and find a job, the same as they would if the _ cont'd. on page 17 TERRACE DINING GUIDE Let everyone know about your delicious Culsine _. : Re Dinner Specialities! This spot could be. for only $4.50 per week! ! y AF aT yours s Polly s Cafe y. Chinese & Western Cuisine Mon. —Thurs. 10:30 a.m. — - midnight Fri. & Sat. 10:30 a.m. — 1 am. 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