City forecasts growth with new plant in place. (Kendra-Dryden: Special Report).

Imagine a plant that sits on a 160-acre site and has an estimated area of 10 acres under roof. That is about the size of Kenora's new Trus Joist Weyerhaeuser TimberStrand (LSL) plant, according to Terry Brennan, the company's general manager.

The mill, now nearing the final stages of construction, is located about 12 kilometres from the City of Kenora and is two kilometres south of the Kenora bypass on Jones Road. It lies adjacent to the city's new industrial park.

Brennan says the mill's main product will be TimberStrand headers up to 64-foot lenghts for the residential market.

Brennan says Weyerhaeuser has hired all the "associates" or employees, all of whom are currently in training.

Many will be attending training sessions at Trus Joist Weyerhaeuser's two other TimberStrand mills in Kentucky and Minnesota.

The completion date for the construction of the plant is set for August, with production set to begin in November. Brennan says construction has gone quite smoothly.

The company has been tapping into industrial park services and has received "excellent co-operation from the city," Brennan says.

It was in 1999 that Thus Joist Weyerhaeuser was selected to manage the Kenora Forest Unit and build a new plant in area. Late in 2000, the company decided they would locate the mill the largest TimberStrand mill in the world - in Kenora. The estimated cost of the facility is $258 million. Grant Carlson, economic development officer with Lake of the Woods Business Incentive Corp. (LOWBIC) in Kenora, says the construction phase has been beneficial for the city.

TimberStrand (LSL) is made using Trus Joist Weyerhaeuser's own technology.

The laminated strands of lumber are used in place of dimensional lumber, especially in areas where structural building is being carried out. The mill is the largest of it's kind in the world and is the third TimberStrand mill for the company.

Carlson says one of the features of the mill is that the only wastewater is from employees.

He says the company's full complement of 236 employees includes the most recent ones hired in late May, and many management members on staff since 2000.

As many as 150 employees were hired locally, while the remainder were hired from outside of the community because of the experience prerequisites.

Carlson says the area should also see an increase in the amount of wood that is removed from the Kenora Forest Management Unit. The area was previously logged mainly for softwoods and though it is not actually contracted yet, the area will also supply hardwood to the new mill.

While Carlson says he expects the mill has helped decrease the number of unemployed in the area, it is hard to get an accurate number since their figures are lumped in with Thunder Bay and surrounding areas.

Carlson says many of the employees at the new plant have left other jobs creating backfilling for those positions.

Local tradespeople were hired when possible for the various construction phases, but specialized workers had to be brought in for some of the work. That made finding lodging in the area during the peak construction period virtually impossible with up to 900 construction workers on the job.

The pressure has eased a bit now that the number of construction workers has dropped to around 600. Although, finding rental houses, apartments and hotels is still difficult, Carlson says. But the shortage is short term and will ease up once the construction phase winds down.

Although there was a housing shortage, Carlson says the numbers of workers in the area benefitted the city, as well as other businesses as far away as Sioux Narrows, a one-hour drive away.

LOWBIC conducted a market survey and is just tabulating the results, but Carlson says indications are that most of the new employees are either planning to buy, or already have purchased, housing units.

LOWBIC is also hoping to complete a socio-economic impact study in late summer that will look at a variety of issues and areas.

While it is still in the early stages, Carlson says indications are that many local workers have moved up in pay levels and they expect to see movement in housing with those higher incomes.

"(The construction of the plant has) definitely had a positive impact on the retail industry as well, since people have higher discretionary incomes," he says.

While the mill is a huge boon to the area, Kenora is additionally bolstered by the large tourism industry, which includes an estimated 30,000 summer residences. A good retail base was already available because of those visitors and Carlson says they expect to see some increased retail opportunities as spending increases.

Like many northern communities, Carlson says one of the area's biggest challenges is in the area of medical care.