KELLY H. FERGUSONis editor of Pulp & Paper magazine.

FROM THE EDITORS

The Monday after Stora Port Hawkesbury Ltd. held an inauguration ceremony for its C$750 million PM2 project (see profile this issue), all the dignitaries, Canadian press, and trade media representatives had gone home, and the banners that had hung throughout the mill had been removed. It was time to get down to business.

But as I drove around the Nova Scotia town on that June 1, there seemed to be some reluctance on the part of the community to let go of the moment. “Congratulations Stora” trumpeted banners hanging from business awnings or placed around the town. Tri-MAC Toyota had one, as did competitor Canso Ford Sales. Most of the major local contractors, restaurants, and hotels visually showed their appreciation. One fast food joint, instead of touting the latest meal deal, had “Hats Off to Stora” on its changeable sign.

INDUSTRY LOST. The forest products industry, and particularly the 36-year-old Stora mill, is obviously important to the area surrounding Port Hawkesbury. For example, the Cape Breton region of Nova Scotia (which encompasses Port Hawkesbury) averaged about 20%+ unemployment in the past five years or so, and the mill is a major employer (approximately 850 employees). And in addition to paper, two of the area’s other large industrial employers have forest industry ties, with both Georgia-Pacific and USG tapping the rich gypsum mines in the region.

So it’s not surprising that the community would celebrate the mill’s expansion. But the triumph that community leaders and businesses feel for industrial growth goes much deeper than that. There was a time in the community’s recent past, in fact, when such a celebration would have been unthinkable.

In mid-1993, community leaders got the word that Stora was contemplating pulling out of Port Hawkesbury. The markets for the mill’s products—sulfite market pulp and newsprint—were at rock bottom, and at the same time the mill was faced with the requirement to add a secondary treatment plant at a cost of about C$70 million—not a good formula for financial success.

The reaction from the community was to lobby the Canadian government for a delay on the treatment plant investment and to lobby Stora’s decision-makers that the community was the right place to be doing business.

INDUSTRY REGAINED. While the treatment plant requirement didn’t receive any significant delay, the community feels like it at least bought some time. And in the ensuing months of late 1993 and early 1994, something good began to happen—the markets for pulp and paper began their meteoric rise, followed by a just-as-rapid fall. But by the time the downside came, Stora had made the decision to stay.

In 1995, the treatment plant had started up, and in December of that year the announcement was made that the company would be adding a highly modern publication papers line to its Port Hawkesbury operations. The investment seems to seal the company’s commitment to the area, a fact that certainly isn’t lost on Port Hawkesbury’s citizenry.

Such a “feel good” story of community commitment to a pulp and paper mill—or to most any traditional manufacturing facility—is hard to come by in the U.S. these days. “Manufacturing” has become a dirty word in the minds of many, replaced instead by the seeming desire to be part of the “service” sector. Mills in the U.S. and Canada walk a fine line these days between support and disdain for “smokestack” industries that have many times been the lifeblood of communities.

But even dependence on manufacturing alone can be detrimental, witnessed by the fact that the town of Port Hawkesbury could have easily become a paper mill “ghost town.” In a special Stora Port Hawkesbury supplement published by the local newspaper The Reporter, Editor Dave MacNeil concluded an editorial (aptly titled “Vital lesson learned”) by writing:

“We must take the lesson learned over the past five years and build an economy which complements the tremendous confidence Stora has shown in the region. The Stora expansion is certainly something to be celebrated. But it is also something we must build upon to ensure that the future of this region is never again threatened by forces over which we have little influence.”

Congratulations, Port Hawkesbury! And good luck.