Province Helps Lumber Company Modernize

The province is lending a Queens County business $1.5 million to help it complete modernization and maintain its workforce.

N.F. Douglas Lumber Ltd. is updating equipment to continue to produce high-quality lumber and remain competitive in today's marketplace.

"To say N. F. Douglas is a cornerstone of the economy in this area of Western Nova Scotia is not an understatement," said Economic Development Minister Richard Hurlburt of the Caledonia, Queens Co., company. "This is a great example of how government is working with our traditional manufacturing industries in rural manufacturing areas to create the winning conditions that make Nova Scotia a better place to invest and do business, as well as supporting families and communities."

N.F. Douglas primarily exports its trademark Caledonia Pine (Eastern White Pine), used to make items such as furniture and mouldings, to Europe. In 2006, the company began modernizing to improve efficiency and quality. It plans to construct two additional wood-fired kilns so its production volume can provide the dried pine the market demands.

"This company has helped develop the Queens County lumber industry while cultivating environmentally sound practices," said Blair Douglas, president of N.F. Douglas. "We recently replaced an oil-fired system with a wood-waste system for our kiln burner so we can use our own bark, sawdust and shavings to fuel the dry kilns."

The company, which employs 40 full-time workers and supports an equal number of spinoff jobs for loggers and truckers, produces about eight million board feet of white pine annually, as well as some hemlock and red pine.

The loan is provided by the Industrial Expansion Fund and is repayable at the end of two years. The fund offers a variety of financial assistance to help the province's economy. Over the past two years, it has helped create or maintain more than 3,000 jobs in the province and has a return on investment of three dollars for every dollar spent.