MRC asks for Trebio assets to remain here

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Allyson Beauregard

LITCHFIELD – Six years after Trebio Inc., a wood pellet producer,

Allyson Beauregard

LITCHFIELD – Six years after Trebio Inc., a wood pellet producer,
first moved into the Pontiac Industrial Park, their main creditor, Investissement Quebec (IQ) is liquidating some of the business’ assets which include a wood drying system and pellet production line. Contrary to other media reports, according to Chantal Corbeil, IQ Media Relations Officer, Trebio has not claimed bankruptcy. “IQ is trying to find buyers to restart production,” she added.
A call to tender was launched for the equipment by trustee Raymond Chabot Inc., but it was withdrawn due to a technicality; it is expected to be reissued in the near future.
In a letter to Investissement Quebec, MRC Pontiac Warden Raymond Durocher stressed the importance of Trebio’s equipment to the MRC’s proposed Biomass Conversion Centre (BCC) and asked IQ to take this into account when selling the equipment and finding a buyer. “Trebio was an
integral part of this future project and it’s essential that the sale of its assets be directed towards an enterprise that wants to continue activities in the Pontiac,” said the letter.
“The MRC wants to keep the equipment in the Pontiac, to be used in the Pontiac. We can move forward with the project without the equipment, but it’s a very important part of the process,” stressed Durocher.
According to Danielle Belec, MRC Pontiac Strategic Communi-cations Officer, Trebio’s assets also play a very important role in a Strategic Development Plan the MRC will unveil in the near future. “We have a plan to restart the forestry industry in the Pontiac, and the pellet mill is a very important part of that strategy,” she said, adding that IQ received the MRC’s letter and their “request was received favourably”.
Durocher said it is now a waiting game to see what IQ is going to do. “It’s all in their hands now,” he concluded.
Trebio is one of three companies occupying the Pontiac Industrial Park, owned by Green Investment Group Inc. and its affiliate SSPM, L.P; they purchase and redevelop abandoned or under-utilized industrial or commercial sites throughout North America. Trebio was the first company to set up operations at the site, formerly occupied by Smurfit Stone with loans obtained from both the federal
($3.5 million) and provincial ($9 million) governments as well as the SADC Pontiac ($500,000). When Trebio first moved to the Park, it was expected to create up to 150 jobs when it reached full operation.