Business View Civil & Municipal l November 2022

161 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 9 word of mouth. The company was able to hire new staff in the blink of an eye. Filling these roles quickly in a small town was because individuals from Southern Ontario were now making the town their new home. Companies like Green First Forest Products, working collaboratively with the local government, have significantly impacted the local economy. In the past, creating work that needed skilled labor was difficult. “Green First Forest Products has been great for the community; with only 8,300 people in town, adding 45 jobs is a huge deal. And we’re so glad that, working with the company and community partners, we were able to provide these opportunities,” says Nadeau. Adding this many jobs to a community has many spin-off opportunities in the area. More commercial markets, machine shops, and entrepreneurial possibilities mean more capital available for the locals. With a company the size of Green First Forest Products, it’s more than just the community of Kapuskasing benefiting, as surrounding areas also contribute to and benefit from the company. “The company uses the residual created from logging mills. And to the east and west of Kapuskasing are two more communities with sawmills. Which means the towns of Cochran and Hearst send their residual and chips to the company in our town,” says Dave Plourde,the Mayor of Kapuskasing. Kapuskasing and surrounding towns understand that their forests are their farmlands. You need to look after the land to reap the rewards. For every tree that is cut down, the lumber companies need to plant an additional three trees. This process has been ongoing for a hundred years. Without replacing trees, the paper and logging industry would not be sustainable. Sustaining these forests is not just crucial for the industry but for recreation and so much more. Kapuskasing locals love the trees, most of which are Black Spruce, and know the importance of looking after the forest. And with the migration north to Kapuskasing, demand for housing has spiked along with real estate pricing. “We used to have roughly 30 to 35 houses on the market at a time. In the last year and a half, the average has dropped to 10 to 15, which means we’re now able to invest in new construction projects,” says Nadeau. The town is undergoing a boom in development, with new houses being built, new renovations conducted on homes, an old age home in the works, developments by the local golf course, and fourplex developments. With the addition of the old age home, the local government hopes to create a comfortable, safe KAPUSKAS ING, ON