Government, DEW announce 165 jobs for Miramichi
Published Wednesday December 3rd, 2008
MIRAMICHI - Santa arrived in Miramichi a little early this year with 165 jobs packed into his light armoured vehicle.
The provincial government announced Wednesday it is providing DEW Engineering with up to $600,000 in forgivable loans through Business New Brunswick and the Miramichi Economic Development Fund.
The money will be used by the company to expand its local facility and purchase new equipment to fulfill contracts with the United States Department of Defense.
Company president Tim Dear said there are three components to the work the company will be doing.
"The nature of the work is really in three programs. One of them is in a vehicle re-life, re-roll program and the other two are in armour programs," he said.
The armour program will produce armour ceramic armour for the Stryker, an eight-wheeled light armour vehicle in the same family of vehicles as the Canadian Bison light armoured vehicle.
The other armour program is for the RG31, a multi-purpose mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle.
The work will be done at the company's 9,600 square metre facility on General Manson Way. The new employees will join the existing 160 employees already employed locally by the company.
Dear said he is consistently impressed by Miramichi workers.
"The Miramichi people are quick learners, they've got great common sense and they're ready to adapt to new ways to do things," he said.
DEW is a military contractor that makes armour by assembling steel plates with plastics, rubber or ceramics to protect soldiers in the combat areas. Of particular concern to militaries in Iraq and Afghanistan are improvised explosive devices (IEDs) which means demands for these products will grow, allowing the company to gain further contracts.
Business New Brunswick Minister Greg Byrne said the forgivable loan shows the province's commitment to economic development in the region.
"We recognize that the Miramichi has faced many challenges and I can tell you that my colleagues, your representatives here on the Miramichi, are very focused on bringing more opportunities to this region," Byrne said.
"And we're not throwing money at companies that would set up shop and leave. We're focusing on those investments with companies that have solid track records in growing industries," he added.
Miramichi-Bay du Vin MLA Bill Fraser echoed those thoughts.
"It's everybody working together that makes projects like this so successful and our premier stated many times that Miramichi is a priority and Minster Byrne stated the same, that Miramichi is a priority and today's announcement is proof of that priority," he said.
Fraser also said this announcement helps the Miramichi economy diversify, rather than placing all their eggs in one basket.
"It's crucial to diversify. In the past we were so focused on the forest industry and everybody is aware of what happened. We lost a tremendous amount of jobs. It's very important that moving forward we do diversify the economy and we find different industries."
Miramichi Mayor Gerry Cormier said he was happy to see more jobs coming to Miramichi.
"I'm excited. It's good news. It's long overdue and for me it's like a Christmas present, just coming early," he said.
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The revolving door at DEW continues.
Did you expect Bill Fraser to say that this is terrible news for the Miramichi? With respect to the low paying jobs comment; were you hoping that a fortune 500 company would roll in and offer every Miramichier an executive position with weekend access to the private jet?
Give your head a shake. Unlike yourself, there are families on the river who will appreciate the increased income that thse jobs will provide, when the other option is social assistance or unemployment insurance.
You seem to have it all fugured out though, so feel free to educate us all with your economic musings.