McGuinty Government Creating 130 Jobs For
Oliver Paipoonge Township
by Scott A. Sumner
www.thunderbaybusiness.ca
A new manufacturing plant in Thunder Bay will be home to 130 new jobs, and will help diversify the local wood market and bring new opportunities for economic development.
With assistance from the province, Global Sticks will switch from sourcing products from China to manufacturing products at a new, state-of-the art facility in Thunder Bay that created 50 construction jobs. The new plant will produce a variety of wooden sticks used for ice cream bars, corn dogs, and tongue depressors for doctors and nurses, and paint paddles.
Making infrastructure improvements in Northern Ontario communities is a key component of the plan laid out in Ontario's 2011 Budget - Turning the Corner, to create and support 10,000 new and existing jobs for Ontario families and to strengthen local economies.
QUICK FACTS
Ontario is investing $1.32 million in the new Global Sticks plan through the NOHFC. In its Growth Plan for Northern Ontario released March 4, the Province identifies the need to support diversity and growth in the region's traditional resource-based economy.In 2010, Global Sticks planned to create over 8 billion ice cream sticks.
In 2009, Ontario provided Global Sticks with a $787,000 grant through the Forest Sector Prosperity Fund and another $2.9 million through the Forest Sector Loan Guarantee Program.
"These new facilities have helped with the creation of 50 construction jobs currently at the site, will be home to approximately 130 permanent jobs for Northerners right here in the Thunder Bay area. Global Sticks represents a diversification of the wood products industry in Northwestern Ontario, and will provide tax base support to the residents of Oliver Paipoonge."
This project represents jobs. We are taking underutilized wood and creating employment here.
– Bill Mauro
MPP for Thunder Bay-Atikokan
"I'm delighted that our government has helped Global Sticks find a home in Northern Ontario. The new Thunder Bay plant will manufacture products that were previously out-sourced from China, bringing those jobs and opportunities to our region."
“ We are very excited about this day. This is the definition of a value added forest product.”
– Michael Gravelle
Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry, and chair of the NOHFC "The support provided to Global Sticks by the McGuinty government and its ministries has been vital to the start up of Global Sticks production. Global Sticks and its value added manufacturing process
would continue to make investments and further expansion at the new plant and the region of Northern Ontario."
Opening Speeches
“ Today we celebrate the opening of the newest and most environmentally wooden stick manufacturing plant. This 60,000 square foot facility will produce 6 billion wooden sticks per year. This project demonstrates we can produce things, value added products. Thunder Bay was chosen for its proximity to the best wood supply of birch and its proximity to our markets. Once we arrived in Thunder Bay, Michael Gravelle, Bill Mauro and Steve Demmings wouldn’t let us go. It won’t be long before we ship our first container of product to China saying made in Canada with our famous maple leaf. This is our starting line and we are celebrating. We are not a company that has endless amount of cash. We needed support and had lots of no’s at the start. In China you sort sticks by hand with thousands of employees in warehouses. Here in Canada we have the skilled workers and the best of technology. On June 1st we will hire for our second shift. We intend to run 24 hours a 7 days a week making 6 billion sticks or 600,000 cases and 300 truck loads. Our product will be ice creams sticks, paint paddles or corn dog. White birch is a great wood and seen as healthy. We want to be as close to our wood supply as possible and buy the birch on the open market right now.”
“ Today we are at a $15 million investment and a have a few more million to go to $ 20 million. We are talking about a company that will do sales over $40 million. It has been a long journey to get open. I have aged quit a bit in the last three year but you surround yourself with the best people you can and go for it. Don’t give up. We heard a million no’s and it takes years to make it work but you keep going. We have been in the stick business for 50 years and have many customers. We are not the biggest player in North America but we will have our own
share.” – Reggie Nukovic
Global Sticks President
“ The driver in this deal is white birch. Today we have two new companies Global Sticks and Store Max. The facility is now 85,000 square feet. We work with partners like the NOHFC to bring new value added forest companies to Thunder Bay. It has been 1137 days since the start of this project and the first enquiry came to our office. The plant has been extremely complex to put together. Components arrived on 15 box cars from 3 different continents and had to be assembled here in Thunder Bay. There have been some bumps in the road, maybe even
craters, but under the watch full eye of Global Sticks we navigated some sticky situations to this day.”
Steve Demmings, President CEDC
