Boreal Springboard a boost for forestry

By Sandi Krasowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal

The Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre has partnered with the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC), the Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy (CRIBE), Lakehead University and Confederation College to launch the Boreal Springboard, an innovative initiative aimed at strengthening and diversifying the forestry sector in Northwestern Ontario.

Graham Bracken, project co-ordinator at the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre, said the launch comes at a critical time for forestry in the region as recent U.S. tariff increases pose serious challenges for Northwestern Ontario’s highly integrated forest sector.

“The trade pressures were really the impetus to focus people’s minds,” Bracken said. “The sector is really integrated, and any threat to protection on the sawmill side weakens the rest of the sector. There’s a real drive to look to trade diversification and try and develop new value-added products that we can access other markets with.”

He said now they have everyone on the same page with what he called a whole collection of players, each one has their own objective of what they want to get out of the initiative.

“They found a common cause here with the two programs,” he explained. “The three-month accelerator program will support innovative startup companies that show potential to complement or integrate with Northwestern Ontario’s forestry sector. The second (soft landing) program will actively pursue and welcome new investments from established companies across Canada and around the world.”

Bracken says these investors will bring skills, technologies, and solutions that can be adapted to strengthen and grow the sector.

“It invites investment from elsewhere in Canada and in the world, of established companies who see an opportunity in our forest,” he said. “We have a lot of underutilized fibres, whether it’s softwood or hardwood, and there are a lot of product lines you can develop out of those, which we currently aren’t accessing. We’re hoping that we can solicit investments from elsewhere and help them set up shop in our neck of the woods.”

Bracken noted: “It’s not that there’s anything wrong with our sector the way it’s running right now. It’s great, but we can take the opportunity to develop these products that help us access the markets and help buffer us a bit from the trade winds.”

CEDC chief executive officer Jamie Taylor said they are looking at anybody who has a use for wood, from a wood insulation company to bigger biomass projects.

“The industry is going through some hard times currently, but that doesn’t mean that we need to turn away from the industry. That means that we need to strengthen it,” Taylor said.

She added they wanted to be able to focus on building an ecosystem, having more people and companies working in wood manufacturing.

“There are a lot of different wood applications and they touch all different industries. It’s an opportunity to support wood-based products across the spectrum,” she said.

Scott Jackson, chief executive officer of CRIBE, said they will play a key role in advancing research and innovation partnerships that connect local industry with cutting-edge technologies.

“This collaborative endeavour will support ongoing efforts to attract investment to the region,” he said. “It will also support local entrepreneurs in realizing commercial success, both of which are fundamental to the evolution of our forest-based bio-economy.”

Visit http://www.borealspringboard.ca for more information or to submit an expression of interest.