Mackenzie, B.C. – “There is a renewed sense of pride in the community” says Mackenzie Mayor Stephanie Killam as the reopening of the Mackenzie Pulp Mill was celebrated this afternoon. “We have turned the corner, but there is still a lot of work to do"

On hand for the official opening of the Mackenzie Mill were  workers,  their families, all ready for the bar b-q that had been set up to mark the official  reopening of the mill.

Some 220 workers are back on the job now that the Mackenzie Pulp Mill Corporation,  owned by Paper Excellence, a subsidiary of Sinar Mas, is up and running.

While the mill has a potential to employ 250 people directly, the number of spin-off jobs is twice that.

Premier Gordon Campbell offered thanks to the new owners for making the investment in the community and the region, and offered thanks to the entire community, the McLeod Lake Indian Band and his Minister of Forests and Range Pat Bell “ for working together to ensure working families in this region have an opportunity to build a bright future right here in Northern British Columbia.”

The McLeod Lake Band is securing the fibre source for the mill. ( at right,  Premier Gordon Campbell  beats the drum  given to him as a gift from the people of the region)

The mill closed about two years ago when Pope and Talbot went bankrupt. It was purchased by the Worthington Group out of Alberta, but never did get up and running again. Instead, there was an environmental concern in January of 2009  which prompted the Province to step in and take over the maintenance of the facility until it was warm enough to   remove waste materials and prepare the mill for a   safe shut down to carry it through the winter of’09-’10.

Sinar Mas subsidiary Paper Excellence purchased the mill this spring and has spent between $30 and $40 million dollars on upgrades. The mill has the capacity to produce 222,000 metric tons of pulp per year. Paper Excellence plans to ship 80% of the pulp produced to Asia.

“Today represents the spirit, will ,strength and tenacity of the people of Mackenzie” said the Premier.