The manager of a wood pellet plant on the Northern Peninsula says a 2014 government loan was necessary even though the plant didn’t operate.
Holson Forest Products owns the Roddickton plant, which was built in 2011 and was supposed to provide jobs for residents of the area.
Holson Forest Products owns the wood pellet plant in Roddickton, on Newfoundland’s Northern Peninsula. (Google Maps)
Four years later, the plant is still not producing pellets even though government loaned the operation nearly $200,000 last year.
Manager Todd May says the money was needed to develop a new business plan and to pay for insurance.
“We want to make sure that that asset is secure, not only for our sakes but for government’s sake,” he said.
“Also, for whoever else that would have security attached to that property — the insurance component is a must.”
Not quitting on the plant just yet
May said the company is still looking for a new partner, but there’s no timetable on when the plant will go into production.
Despite setbacks in getting the business off the ground, May still has no intention of giving up on the plant.
“Well, we’re still around,” he said.
“A failure, I think, is somebody who’s quit or gone away. We haven’t quit, we haven’t gone away, we haven’t washed our hands of it — and we don’t intend to.”