Employment plans with a twist for Watson Island

They may not be making pulp at Watson Island anymore, but for the moment the forestry industry still has a place on the industrial lands just outside of Port Edward.

The Daily News featured a front page story on Friday about plans from the Lax Kw'alaams band, who have joined in with Northern Pacific Transload to develop a container stuffing operation on the island.

Lax Kw'alaams which also operates Coast Tsimshian Resources hopes that the operation will work nicely with its logging operations on the coast.

They will load the containers at Watson island for shipment through the Fairview Container Terminal. The project should hire somewhere around 20 and the plans are for it to be in operation by the new year.

WATSON ISLAND TO BE NEW HUB FOR FORESTRY OPERATION

By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, November 16, 2007

Pages one and five

The Lax Kw'alaams band has entered into a joint venture with Northern Pacific Transload to open a container-stuffing facility on Watson Island.

Captain Peter Jaskiewicz, of Northern Pacific Transload, said the integrated facility will handle multiple products from around the region for stuffing into containers outbound through the Fairview Container Terminal.

"Our company is very excited to enter into a partnership with the Lax Kw'alaams Band, which will see us bring our individual expertise to the venture as well as promoting capacity development and employment for the Lax Kw'alaams Band members," he said.

The facility is expected to operate out of existing warehouse space at the Watson Island pulp mill site and will open early in the new year, possibly even earlier if customers are ready to use the facility, said Jaskiewicz.

Gary Reece, chief councilor for Lax Kw'alaams said they are pleased to be moving forward with the venture, which also dovetails with the band's forestry enterprises.

"We will be creating more than 20 new positions and have taken the lead in developing sustainable business opportunities as a result of the port expansion," said Reece.

Lax Kw'alaams also operates Coast Tsimshian Resources, a forestry company that owns Tree Farm Licence 1 and an additional licence in the Terrace area. The new facility will allow Coast Tsimshian Resources to handle log scaling, sorting and chipping as well as container stuffing, broadening the markets for its products.

"Our forest company has been working hard to diversify its log markets and this news is a welcome and complementary addition to our corporate structure that will enable us to increase our log sales into new markets," said Andy Tait, Robbie Hughes and Victor Kelly, councillors who sit on the board of Coast Tsimshian Resources.

Councillor Jerry Lawson, chair of the Lax Kw'alaams Economic Development Committee and Captain Jaskiewicz both spoke of the potential to increase container-loading operations to include products from around the Northwest, such as car parts or forestry products.

In addition, Lawson said they would be looking at value-added log production on the site.
"This will increase employment opportunity to our members, which is one of our primary goals of entering into this partnership with Northern Pacific Transload," said Lawson.

Captain Jaskiewicz brings a lifetime of experience in the shipping and container-handling industry to the project, not only as the former CEO of Fraser Surrey Docks, a container-handling operation in Vancouver, but as a captain who has travelled in and out of Prince Rupert many times.

Reece said they are extremely excited about the opportunities out there as a result of the port expansion and are aggressively pursuing new opportunities.

"Our goal is to develop new businesses, complementing our core business that will provide sustainable employment opportunities for our membership," he said.