New Richmond, Quebec, June 2, 2011
Madame Nicole Appleby, Mayor of the City of New Richmond in the province of Quebec, Canada, along with Green Investment Group, Inc. (GIGI) (www.greeninvgroup.com) and its affiliate company SSPM New Richmond L.P., are pleased to announce Fabrication Delta as the first new tenant at the site of the former Smurfit-Stone paper mill in the city of New Richmond, Quebec (www.villenewrichmond.com).
The lease agreement between GIGI and Fabrication Delta states that Fabrication Delta will occupy a warehouse (approximately 100,000 square feet) and a storage facility (approximately 20,400 square feet) for a term through April 30, 2015, with options to extend for additional five-year periods. Fabrication Delta’s investment in New Richmond is significant, approximately $6 million, and will ultimately result in the creation of 120 jobs.
Mayor Nicole Appleby commented, “The signing of the lease unambiguously confirms the process of realization of wind energy in New Richmond”.
The new facility will be the second Canadian location for Fabrication Delta, which is headquartered in Quebec and operates globally manufacturing large industrial parts for the wind, paper, mining, steel and forest industries. The company will focus solely on the production of posts to support wind turbine towers at its location in New Richmond. The site’s storage facility will be used to house finished products manufactured in the warehouse prior to shipment.
Deeply rooted in the Gaspe´ region, the company has succeeded throughout the years in securing the development through its involvement at all levels of production, thereby ensuring the delivery of the finished product’s project management, design and installation phases. The company currently boasts 40 employees and its head office is located in Saint-Simeon.
Raymond Stillwell, president of GIGI, adds, “This is a very positive development for the residents of New Richmond who are seeking new employment opportunities, and for the economic viability of the entire region. When Smurfit-Stone closed its doors in 2005, this site had quite a bleak future. When the opportunity was presented to purchase the site, we knew we could redevelop it in a way that would provide the most opportunity while complementing other local industries and the skills of the regional workforce.”
SSPM New Richmond, L.P., an affiliate of GIGI, purchased the former Smurfit-Stone paper mill in New Richmond, QC in January 2010. The New Richmond site is the third Smurfit-Stone plant purchased in Canada by GIGI, and the company’s seventh mill in North America. In addition to the New Richmond mill, GIGI has also purchased former Smurfit-Stone facilities in Alton, Ill., Carthage, Ind., Circleville, Ohio, Missoula, Mont., Portage-du-Fort, Quebec, New Richmond, Quebec, and Bathurst, New Brunswick.
GIGI’s initial investment in the New Richmond facility was in excess of $3 million. Phase I, which is currently in progress and involves the clean up, remediation, reconfiguration and reorganization of the site, will cost approximately $15 million. Phase I is scheduled for completion by the second quarter of 2011, at which time Phase II will commence with the repopulation of the site with new tenants. GIGI attributes much of the success of the project to municipal authorities, the local community, associations and businesses, as well as provincial and federal governments, who have been most willing to collaborate on the project.
Mayor Appleby added, “The availability and opening of GIGI to the industrial development of New Richmond is definitely an asset in achieving our economic development strategy”.
Green Investment Group was formed in 2005 for the specific purpose of acquiring and redeveloping Brownfield sites throughout North America. For more information about Green Investment Group, please visit www.greeninvgroup.com
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