A new billboard at the side of the highway into Red Rock, Ont., might be a sign of progress for a small town struggling to survive.

The old mill with the new sign - gates open and flag flying. (Submitted by Mike Shusterman)Red letters on a small white board announce that Red Rock Mills Inc. has arrived in this remote community on Lake Superior's north shore. After two years of layoffs and uncertainty, the prospect of a new company, and new jobs, has some Red Rock locals thinking there may be hope for their quiet forestry town, after all.

"Who'd have thought one tiny little sign could mean so much?" asks long-time Red Rock resident and former mayor Doug Mowat.

The 'shutdowns'

It's been nearly two years since Norampac shuttered the pulp and paper mill around which Red Rock was built. On Nov. 23, 2006, Norampac announced that the mill was closing permanently, leaving 399 people out of work.

Only a few months later, area residents watched helplessly as a fire ripped through the plywood mill in neighbouring Nipigon, leaving another 150 people without a job.

"I don't think anybody was really prepared for the shutdowns," says Mowat, who worked at the pulp mill in Red Rock for 36 years. "It was hard to believe that the job that you've worked on for 20 or 30 years would just end forever. It was easier to say that will never happen, because we really had nothing else."

Founded by fur traders and small farmers, Red Rock grew up around the forestry industry that sustained it. At its peak, the pulp mill was running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, generating hundreds of jobs and supporting over 1,000 residents.

But by 2005, sky-high electricity bills, a soaring Canadian dollar and slumping demand from the U.S. were making the mill a very expensive operation. Planned upgrades were delayed, machines were idled and shifts were cut.

After the 2006 closure, many locals worried the shutdowns would mean more than just the end of the mill; they worried that it could be the end of their community.

"People here were just used to having a mill to go to," says Marilyn Young, a librarian at the local elementary school. "It was a secure future, and it was taken for granted."

The costs

Residents weren't the only ones who took the mill for granted. The Norampac mill accounted for 65 per cent of Red Rock's municipal tax base. In a town with only 1,063 residents, people are already feeling the pinch.

'The worst thing you can do is go into survival mode. You have to be in attack mode: aggressively going after industry, going after tourism, going after jobs. Some people have the opinion that the death nail is going in the coffin. I don't agree with that.'—Richard Harvey, mayor of Nipigon

Residential property taxes increased by seven per cent last year despite the tumbling values of many local homes. Even the town community centre is feeling the cuts, with reduced hours set to begin this fall.

In the local minor hockey league, some age groups have seen registration numbers plummet so low that there aren't enough players to make a line, let alone a full team.

Denise Krawchuk, the co-ordinator of the Live From the Rock Folk Festival, agrees the town is going through tough times.

"I've seen it go from feast to famine," says Krawchuk, who's been in Red Rock for nearly 14 years. "But I am definitely seeing a bit of rejuvenation now."

Two towns, one mill

Many locals are hoping that a new venture at the local mill will help push that renewal forward. Red Rock Mills Inc. has already started dismantling the old pulp mill. A small crew of workers are taking apart all the old equipment, packing it up and shipping the parts to China.

Mike Shusterman, vice-president of operations and business development at Red Rock Mills, says the company plans on replacing the old equipment with everything they need to build a state-of-the-art plywood plant.

The owners of Red Rock Mills Inc. decided to replace pulp production with plywood because they wanted to avoid the volatile pulp markets and saw more potential in engineered wood products.

When Nipigon announced it would not rebuild its mill after the fire, Red Rock Mills moved in and bought the rights to produce the "multiply" brand of wood the Nipigon mill had been successfully producing for years.

Instead of rebuilding in Nipigon, the new company plans on retrofitting Red Rock's pulp mill and producing the plywood products there. "The new project will essentially resurrect Nipigon's plywood plant within the pulp mill facilities in Red Rock," says Shusterman.

New technology and new standards

The project will be the first plywood plant built in North America since 1996, and according to The sign on the way into town. (Submitted by Mike Shusterman)Shusterman, the facility will use the latest computerized technology and robotics to keep costs down.

"People who used to work at the plywood plant in Nipigon won't even recognize it," he said.

But the technological innovations that Shusterman hopes will keep the new mill competitive also mean fewer jobs will be created. The company estimates the project will create about 100 permanent jobs in the community. A major help for a struggling community but a fraction of the more than 500 jobs the region lost in 2006.

And with both Red Rock and Nipigon's production bundled into one new facility, workers from both communities will be competing for the new jobs.

Back to school

New safety standards have created another hurdle for many of the unemployed mill workers hoping to work at the new plant. The new rules require mill employees to have at least a Grade 12 education or the equivalent to work on site.

According to statistics from the Red Rock Job Action Centre, at least 40 per cent of the workers who lost their jobs when the mills closed didn't finish high school. Red Rock Mills says it will help support applicants through the upgrading process, but Shelley Boudreau, a co-ordinator at the centre, says many people find the GED (General Educational Development) and education-upgrading programs intimidating.

"A lot of these guys were close to retirement," says Boudreau. "They never imagined they'd have to go head back into a classroom."

Looking forward…

Despite the problems and the unanswered questions, there's no question the new mill will provide a much-needed boost for Red Rock.

Nevertheless, the town that never expected to lose the industry it relied on is no longer willing to tie its Red Rock lookout. (Submitted by Ginger Randle)future to the forest that surrounds it. Since the shutdown, the town has been working hard to find new industries, promoting eco-tourism, a busy folk festival and a revitalized waterfront as possible employers.

A new adventure travel company, Nipigon River Adventures, has set up in the old Quebec Lodge, and the Red Rock Inn is offering new tourist packages. A town beautification committee has put in new parks and plants. This summer, Red Rock will welcome back hundreds of former residents when it celebrates the 50th anniversary of the local high school.

The hope is that a new image of the city as a tourist destination rather than an industrial town will create some new employment. These new businesses are essential since it will be at least six months to a year before the mill is even ready to start production.

"We'd certainly like to see the new mill running," says Richard Harvey, the mayor of neighbouring Nipigon, which is getting ready to start on a $4.6 million downtown revitalization plan. "But people understand now that one mill is not something we can rely on — all it takes is one little spark in the wrong place."