Bowater Forest Products
Encyclopedia
Bowater Forest Products is an AbitibiBowater
owned paper mill in Thunder Bay
, Ontario
. It began as Great Lakes Forest Products
in 1898. Investments by American entrepreneur
s from Chicago
and Minneapolis created one of the largest paper mill
s in the world on the northern shore of the Kaministiquia River
. The mill was built just outside city limits of Fort William
to take advantage of the lower rural tax rates, but still allow usage of urban manufacturing labour.
By the early 1970s Bowater Forest Products had become the world's largest paper mill, and employed over 4,000 people. But within 10 years mechanisation processes imported from Finland
began to drastically reduce the workforce necessary to operate the mill. Today, the mill produces 234,000 metric tonnes of newsprint, 330,000 metric tonnes of market pulp and 85,000 metric tonnes of specialty paper. As of 2006, it employs approximately 1,460 people.
AbitibiBowater
Resolute Forest Products , formerly known as AbitibiBowater Inc. is a pulp and paper manufacturer headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, formed by the merger of Bowater and Abitibi-Consolidated, which was announced 29 January 2007...
owned paper mill in Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay
-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of three places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. It began as Great Lakes Forest Products
Great Lakes Paper
The Great Lakes Paper Company was the operator of the largest and most modern pulp and paper manufacturing facility in the world. The Company employed over 4,000 in Northern Ontario, starting in 1924 as a pulp mill at Fort William, Ontario...
in 1898. Investments by American entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
s from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and Minneapolis created one of the largest paper mill
Paper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...
s in the world on the northern shore of the Kaministiquia River
Kaministiquia River
The Kaministiquia River is a river which empties into western Lake Superior at the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Kaministiquia is an Ojibwe word meaning " with islands" due to two large islands at the mouth of the river...
. The mill was built just outside city limits of Fort William
Fort William, Ontario
Fort William was a city in Northern Ontario, located on the Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to Lake Superior. It amalgamated with Port Arthur and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Ever since then it has been the largest city in Northwestern...
to take advantage of the lower rural tax rates, but still allow usage of urban manufacturing labour.
By the early 1970s Bowater Forest Products had become the world's largest paper mill, and employed over 4,000 people. But within 10 years mechanisation processes imported from Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
began to drastically reduce the workforce necessary to operate the mill. Today, the mill produces 234,000 metric tonnes of newsprint, 330,000 metric tonnes of market pulp and 85,000 metric tonnes of specialty paper. As of 2006, it employs approximately 1,460 people.