Good for you, Robbie Tozer!
Times have been tough here lately economically, really tough, but Robbie Tozer, the president of Atcon Group, hasn’t been sitting on his backside as the walls fell in around us on the river.
He’s been busy getting his ducks in a row for big projects that will provide much needed jobs to the Miramichi economy and literally build bridges to connect this great nation.
The province of New Brunswick announced last Wednesday that it will be providing a $7.5-million loan to the Atcon Group to establish a steel fabrication plant, which is expected to provide 150 jobs for Miramichi.
That’s great news for people on the river.
"This is a beginning and it's important today to note that," New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham told reporters last week. "Miramichi is going through difficult times, as is many regions in the province with the downturn in the forest industry."
That’s one way of putting it.
The shutdown of several paper mills putting more 800 people out of work in the Miramichi area alone for an indefinite period of time would be another.
But it’s good to see some light at the end of the tunnel, even better to know that light is coming from the efforts of one of our own.
As a businessman, Tozer’s no lightweight. His companies employ more than 2,000 people in the forestry and manufacturing sector around the globe. And the steel fabrication plant is really just the tip of the iceberg. Tozer’s also secured a $150-million project from the government of the Northwest Territories to build a bridge across the Mackenzie River about 300 kilometres southwest of Yellowknife, which will provide year-round land connection between the NWT and the southern provinces.
This is an important advancement for the territory. Right now, the MacKenzie River is crossed using a ferry system and ice roads. During the spring break up, crossing can be closed for as long as a month. Tack on another month-or-so long shutdown in the fall due to low water and you can see the problem with moving people and goods around the territory. That’s why a bridge there so important.
Business New Brunswick Minister Greg Byrne told reporters the Deh Cho bridge deal is a showcase achievement for the Miramichi and the province.
"This is a historic project that they've undertaken in Canada. For over 25 years there has been interest in building a bridge across the Mackenzie River," Byrne said.
"To date there had been no firm that had the engineering technological capability to do so."
None but Atcon, that is. Atcon, on the good old Miramichi.
Byrne told reporters the bridge project will draw attention to New Brunswick on a national and international scale.
"I think this project is of such a magnitude that it is going to make people across the country stand up and take notice."
I’m more than a little bit proud to know a local businessman, one of our own, is doing something so important.
Not only is he working on literally bridging a divide between the Northwest Territories and the rest of this great country, he’s working on providing even more much-needed paycheques to families on this river and has taken a huge step towards putting the Miramichi on the map as a place to go to get a manufacturing job done right.
Good for Mr. Tozer. Good for you.
He’s been busy getting his ducks in a row for big projects that will provide much needed jobs to the Miramichi economy and literally build bridges to connect this great nation.
The province of New Brunswick announced last Wednesday that it will be providing a $7.5-million loan to the Atcon Group to establish a steel fabrication plant, which is expected to provide 150 jobs for Miramichi.
That’s great news for people on the river.
"This is a beginning and it's important today to note that," New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham told reporters last week. "Miramichi is going through difficult times, as is many regions in the province with the downturn in the forest industry."
That’s one way of putting it.
The shutdown of several paper mills putting more 800 people out of work in the Miramichi area alone for an indefinite period of time would be another.
But it’s good to see some light at the end of the tunnel, even better to know that light is coming from the efforts of one of our own.
As a businessman, Tozer’s no lightweight. His companies employ more than 2,000 people in the forestry and manufacturing sector around the globe. And the steel fabrication plant is really just the tip of the iceberg. Tozer’s also secured a $150-million project from the government of the Northwest Territories to build a bridge across the Mackenzie River about 300 kilometres southwest of Yellowknife, which will provide year-round land connection between the NWT and the southern provinces.
This is an important advancement for the territory. Right now, the MacKenzie River is crossed using a ferry system and ice roads. During the spring break up, crossing can be closed for as long as a month. Tack on another month-or-so long shutdown in the fall due to low water and you can see the problem with moving people and goods around the territory. That’s why a bridge there so important.
Business New Brunswick Minister Greg Byrne told reporters the Deh Cho bridge deal is a showcase achievement for the Miramichi and the province.
"This is a historic project that they've undertaken in Canada. For over 25 years there has been interest in building a bridge across the Mackenzie River," Byrne said.
"To date there had been no firm that had the engineering technological capability to do so."
None but Atcon, that is. Atcon, on the good old Miramichi.
Byrne told reporters the bridge project will draw attention to New Brunswick on a national and international scale.
"I think this project is of such a magnitude that it is going to make people across the country stand up and take notice."
I’m more than a little bit proud to know a local businessman, one of our own, is doing something so important.
Not only is he working on literally bridging a divide between the Northwest Territories and the rest of this great country, he’s working on providing even more much-needed paycheques to families on this river and has taken a huge step towards putting the Miramichi on the map as a place to go to get a manufacturing job done right.
Good for Mr. Tozer. Good for you.
posted by Street Wise Guy | 7:29 AM
<< Home