Kruger celebrates Corner Brook paper mill's 100th anniversary with $700M investment plan
New operation plan will shift priorities to lumber production
The only pulp and paper mill in Newfoundland and Labrador is celebrating its centennial this week, opening its doors to some residents for the very first time.
The Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Mill began operating in 1925 and is intertwined with the history of its home city, which was originally developed to house its employees. The project cost a whopping $45 million then.
"The mill itself … was a part of the beginnings of Corner Brook," said Darren Pelley, vice-president of special projects with Kruger Inc., the company that owns the mill.
He described a sense of pride he felt from the community that found their livelihoods in the mill.
"It's exciting now to open the doors [and let] people come in, see the operation as we get ready to embark upon the next phase of our future," Pelley continued to tell CBC News during an open house on Friday.
Some Corner Brook residents, like Sherry George, were in awe at the tour.
"I mean, Corner Brook exists because of this mill," she said. "And 100 years in operation is amazing considering it's a newsprint mill."
Modernizing the future
Not all of those 100 years have been easy.
The demand for newsprint continues to dwindle, and Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Ltd. has seen the effects of tariffs, several shutdowns, and had to be bailed out by the provincial government more than once in recent years.
Kruger has a power purchase agreement with the province, and is still paying back a $110-million loan it signed with the government in 2014.
The company announced Thursday that it plans to invest $700 million in stabilizing the mill. Pelley says that investment puts Kruger in a position to pay back the loan and to finance an ambitious three-year vision.
"This will really change everything from our forest operations all the way through to our paper making," said Pelley.
That will look like changing gears to focus on lumber production to provide to sawmills in the province, and replacing the log-filled wood yard with chips.
The pulp and paper mill employs about 400 people, but future developments open the door to more jobs and training in existing positions, according to Pelley.
Pelley also said Kruger plans on developing a wind farm to power the mill. All of those changes can start after environmental assessments are done.
"We'll still be papermakers, but we're going to have a lot of change to make us more agile and nimble," said Pelley.
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With files from Colleen Connors