Truemors
There are smiles around the breakfast tables of mill workers this morning. News came out last night that the offer to purchase Harmac mill out of receivership was accepted. A consortium of the mill workers, managers and investors came up with the money to purchase the mill.
Robert Barron, Daily NewsPublished: Thursday, July 31, 2008Nanaimo's Harmac pulp mill has been given another lease on life.
After four postponements, B.C. Supreme Court justice Donald Brenner decided on Wednesday to allow Nanaimo Forest Products to take possession of the idle mill for $13.2 million.
NFP, comprised of the mill's workers, managers and three private investors, was also required to eliminate the potential liability for outstanding vacation pay owed to Harmac employees, estimated to be about $6 million.
Harmac has been an important employer and taxpayer in Nanaimo since the early '50s when it injected millions of dollars into the local economy. The closure of the mill along with other forest related jobs in the area, had the job situation looking pretty bleak.
We're obviously very happy with Brenner's decision after all the work we've done for the past three months," said NFP spokesman Arnie Bercov after the court hearing. "It's a great day for us and Nanaimo, but we've still got a lot of work ahead of us to get the mill up and running again."
More than 350 of Harmac's workers have agreed to invest up to $25,000 each as part of NFP's bid.
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