The veneer mill in Rutherglen is reopening. The plant was closed down five years ago after a downturn in the forest products industry. Seventy employees lost their jobs. Columbia Forest Products is reinvesting about $1.5 million in the facility with plans to restart it in spring 2016.
The plant will be producing birch, maple and red oak hardwood veneer. Rutherglen is located just east of North Bay. It’s unclear if this will spark other investments into the forestry sector in the Northeast, such as towns like Iroquois Falls and Smooth Rock Falls which had two mills close in their communities.
(Written by Carleigh Bodrug)