Forestry continues as town's mainstay.

The forest industry continues to be a mainstay of Hearst, but mining could someday be a close second, says the general manager of the Nord-Aski Non-Profit Development Corporation.

"We know the forest industry is sort of at a standstill right now," John Candie says. "We have a few mining projects on the go that, down the line, five years from now, we would see having a significant impact on the economy."

MCK Mining Corp., a Canadian mining company, is involved in a phosphate mineral exploration project, 30 kilometres west of Hearst. Although the project is still in its initial exploration stages, findings to date suggest the phosphate deposit is one of the biggest ones in Ontario, Candie says. The project entails the development of a fertilization chemical plant to process the phosphate. The phosphate deposit, if developed into a mine, is estimated to have a life expectancy of over 20 years, he adds.

Considering its size, and distance from larger centres, Hearst, located about 260 kiometres west of Timmins, has much to offer business owners and families, says Candie.

"Even though we are a small community (with a population of about 6,000) we have all of the amenities of larger centres, and the infrastructure," Candie says. "We also have fibre optics into the community, high-speed Internet access, cell phone (towers), basically all of the new technological amenities. One would have no problem setting up an e-business in Hearst."

In 1988, four communities in northeastern Ontario situated along Highways 11 and 631 joined forces to work on community economic development. These included Hearst and its area villages, the community of Mattice-val Cote, Constance Lake First Nation and Hornepayne. Together these four places make up the Nord-Aski region. Nord-Aski is a FedNor community futures development corporation offering strategic community planning, business development services, and small-business investment.

Currently there are 400 established businesses in Hearst and 200 more in the surrounding communities.

The town's largest employer is the American-based Columbia Forest Products, with 400 employees. The company is North America's largest manufacturer of hardwood veneer, hardwood plywood and laminated products sold through a network of wholesale distributors, mass merchandisers and major OEMs.

Currently in Hearst there are three saw mills, one plywood plant and one particle board plant. Other initiatives, such as a finger-joint mill, are also being pursued, says Candle.

In addition to being on the Trans-Canada Highway, Hearst is serviced by both the Algoma Central Railway and the Ontario Northlander. The town also has an airport. Educational opportunities in Hearst include a campus of College Boreal and luniversite d'Hearst, which is affiliated with Laurentian University in Sudbury, and offers french language arts and business degrees at the undergraduate level.

Surrounding the area are a number of private campgrounds, provincial parks and resorts, offering an abundance of opportunities for boating, fishing, golfing and hiking.

Hearst began as a farming community, but as farmers began subsidizing their incomes by cutting wood for railroad companies and other industries, lumber became a mainstay of Hearst's economy and remains that way to this day.

Hearst
POPULATION       6,000
MAIN EMPLOYER    Columbia Forest Products
NEAREST CITY     Timmins - 260 kilometres
INDUSTRIAL PARK  Serviced
MUNICIPAL TAXES  Commercial occupied
                 0.25010, vacant- 0.17507