Many businesses around Nova Scotia and all of the Atlantic provinces will be nervously awaiting the provincial governments’ decision on the Boat Harbour Act and essentially the fate of the Northern Pulp facility.
Harry Freeman and Sons Limited is according to one of their owners, Richard Freeman “A small mom and pop mill” they also are the single largest employer in all of Greenfield. They employ 150 full-time staff in addition to part-time workers and contractors.
Freeman knows that his company plays a vital role in his community, similar to many other mills around the Maritimes and fears for what Fridays’ announcement could mean.
“We’ve got 150 full-time, direct employees, we spend a million dollars in the local economy every week. That goes to landowners who sell us private wood, the people who work for us and that goes to different contractors that help us with our business. All of that is in jeopardy.”
A facility of Northern Pulps’ size can often represent the largest client for mills like Freeman and Sons, in their case they are the biggest client according to Mr. Freeman.
“Northern Pulp purchases 100 per cent of the sawmill chips we produce, that’s 130,000 green metric tonnes a year. They’re our biggest customer by far and we cannot operate without a customer for those chips.”
Premier Stephen McNeil announced in a release earlier this week his government would make a decision on the Boat Harbour Act this Friday.
