Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 7

71 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 7 GROUPE SAVOIE INC. N estled in the Appalachian Mountains and just 50 kilometers west of Mount Carleton, New Brunswick’s highest elevation point, is the charming town of Saint-Quentin. With a French-speaking population of just over 2000, the town is home to Groupe Savoie Inc., one of the largest hardwood companies in the province. Six hours to the southwest, in Nova Scotia, is the company’s Westville sawmill, the largest hardwood sawmill in the province and one of the group’s primary sources of hardwood lumber. Heading up the Westville sawmill are plant manager Andrew Watters and procurement manager, Jody Hamper. Groupe Savoie is a vertically integrated company that harvests and buys hardwood lumber in Westville and processes it into various end-user products at its Saint-Quentin plant. However, according to Watters, the company has big plans to increase its output and streamline its operations through strategic investments at the Westville sawmill. The Groupe Savoie story begins in 1978, when founder Hector Savoie and son, Jean-Claude, Investing in hardwood