Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 2, Issue 9

165 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 2, ISSUE 9 KAPUSKAS ING, ONTAR IO Kapuskasing Mayor, Dave Plourde explains, “We are celebrating our 100th anniversary this year. When the province wanted to develop lands to the north, settlers were brought in, and Kimberly-Clark and Company developed the community. We were a planned community with a civic center, which houses all our municipal facilities today, and the company also built the hospital and housing for the workers.” Kimberly- Clark, who owned the Spruce Falls Company, imported people to settle in Kapuskasing and work in their paper and lumber operations. With the Trans-Canada Highway, freight rail running through town, and an airport with a runway long enough to land a 747, Kapuskasing has a lot to offer. “For anybody wanting to set up in Kapuskasing, we have all the necessary transportation links for them,” says Plourde. “We have land that is fairly priced. We are just the perfect community for anybody wanting to establish anything in Northern Ontario, who want to get out of the hustle and bustle of the big center and really benefit from being close to where you work and enjoy life.” Green First Forest Products is Kapuskasing’s main employer, with 600 employees in their newsprint mill, sawmill and wood chip operations, and forest resource management group. The company produces two-by-four lumber, wasting nothing during the process. Plourde explains, “The unique part is that they use every part of the log. They produce a two- by-four, then take whatever’s left of that log and produce paper from it – the Toronto Star newspaper is produced on paper that comes from Kapuskasing. Whatever is left after that, they use to fuel the mill.” Another Kapuskasing employer, General Motors Cold Weather Development Center uses their 272-acre facility to test vehicles in harsh winter conditions before they are introduced to market. Agrium Mines was a major source of employment for the region, as one of the only