http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/Industry-News/forestry/2014/09/Biodiesel-entrepreneur-buys-Mattawa-sawmill.aspx
Biodiesel entrepreneur buys Mattawa sawmill
By: Ian Ross
A shuttered former Tembec sawmill in Mattawa has been sold to a southern
Ontario green-tech startup company.
The Mattawa-Bonfield Economic Development Corporation (MBEDC) announced
that the BioNorth Technology Group led by Frank Benincasa, a former
construction executive who’s dived into the biodiesel sector, acquired
the 187-acre mill property in August.
“It’s a very experienced team that’s multi-faceted in different
industries including engineering and business management,” said economic
development director Jeff McGirr, who announced the news at the Canadian
Bioenergy Association’s annual conference in Thunder Bay, Sept. 10.
An MBEDC press release stated BioNorth plans to establish a “range of
related businesses” on the property and develop partnerships with other
companies and organizations for an “integrated symbiotic approach.”
McGirr was reluctant to get into detail on the company’s vision for the
property, the timelines involved, or how the development will come
together since there are a number of moving parts involved.
“There isn’t much I can say publicly at this point. We’re being pretty
careful not to make any large commitments about exactly what will
happen. There are a number of different components that are in the works
right now.”
Talks are underway with other companies and more news will be
forthcoming this fall, he said.
Whether or not Benincasa has a biodiesel refinery in mind, his company
needs a minimum of 50,000 cubic metres of fibre annually, said McGirr,
particularly softwood.
The fibre allotment from area forest management units that was once
attached to the Tembec mill was redistributed to other users through the
province’s Crown wood competition.
“However, it’s our priority to create jobs and to see that allocation
returned to the community,” which was one of the reasons behind
attending the CanBio conference, featuring a who’s who of public and
private sector players in the bioeconomy, said McGirr.
McGirr said he’s been led to believe that a significant amount of fibre
remains unused on the nearby Nipissing unit.
The property located on Highway 17, just west of Mattawa, contains
80,000 square feet of covered manufacturing space that, McGirr said, is
in “relatively good shape” with a maintenance garage, an intact sawmill,
and a weigh scale.
Some cleanup and prep work is already taking place at the site.
Hopefully, the arrival of BioNorth will produce a much better result
than the failure associated with the mill’s previous owner, BioSila.
After Tembec ceased operations in 2008, the MBEDC purchased the mill for
$1 and later flipped it to BioSila, a Toronto wood pellet proponent, in
2010 with ambitious plans to sell a biomass product to U.S. customers
for power generation. But BioSila couldn’t secure any Crown wood from
the province. The company went bankrupt and the property went into
receivership two years ago.
The EDC has been heavily marketing the property ever since until
BioNorth contacted them six months ago.
McGirr said the company had been scoping out a number of other abandoned
or closed mill properties in Northern Ontario before settling on Mattawa.
He added it’s too early to talk about jobs, but the company will utilize
the area’s experienced labour pool in fibre manufacturing and will need
some highly skilled professional talent as well.
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