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Key Sectors in the Miramichi Area

Value-added Manufacturing

There are two subsets of value-added manufacturing:

a) those activities that tie directly to the natural resource base (primarily wood) and have to do with adding value to the raw materials prior to export from the region;

and

b) all other manufacturing and processing. The two groups serve both internal markets and those outside the Miramichi area.

The region has good representation of secondary wood and wood related businesses. This Miramichi sector is comprised of ten firms, consisting of sawmills, wood preservation operations, veneer, plywood, engineered wood products and pulp and paper mills.

The industry has its strengths, including world-class facilities (plants), and there are future opportunities. There is also a cluster of companies with export potential and the availability of some raw material for value-added. He industry is also in the early stages of formalizing a Forest Cluster to build on its strengths and take advantage of economies of scale where possible.

According to a recent provincial government document (Advanced Manufacturing Framework), the Miramichi has - in addition to its resource-based firms - a small but respectable base of manufacturing companies in the areas of:

a) metal industries - 14 companies, employing a maximum of 337 workers (4.2% of provincial total for this sub sector);

b) plastic industries – 3 companies, employing a maximum of 10 people (.6% of provincial total); and

c) electronics industry, 1 company employing a maximum of 4 people (.6% of provincial total). As well, the region has manufacturing companies in boat building, food processing and other sectors. The sector consists of 16 businesses that employ some 740 people.

The region has many blue-collar workers that can be trained to meet the specific needs of a variety of manufacturers. Relative proximity to the northeastern US, competitive operating costs, and favorable currency exchange rates are positive indices for such manufacturing opportunities.

With shifting trade patterns, the Miramichi region is in a relatively favorable position vis-à-vis the rest of Atlantic Canada to take advantage of the largest marketplace in the world. New Brunswick manufacturers (metals, plastics, rubber, electronics) have traditionally concentrated on the custom fabrication requirements or “jobbing” for pulp mills, mines, fishing, aquaculture and the ship building industries, with historically few value-added and exportable products.

This pattern is changing as the traditional resource industries are now mature or declining. Currently, more than 95% of the NB companies in these industries are jobbers.

EMPLOYMENT BY SAMPLE REGIONS

(# of metal industry companies - jobs - % of metal industry jobs in Region)