A small town in northern Nova Scotia is counting on a company that makes board games to jump-start the local economy with 1,500 new jobs.

Headz Gamez International, which produces sports-themed games, recently announced plans to move its offices to Parrsboro, on the northern shore of the Minas Basin.

The company has already begun to renovate the old post office and has secured 17 acres of land in the town's industrial park for a factory.

Bill Perry, the company's head of operations, said hundreds of applications are starting to pile up for the jobs, which start at $12 an hour.

"The people that we are getting calls from are actually the people that used to live in Parrsboro and now have the opportunity to move back, like myself," said Perry.

Headz Gamez president Kerry Martens has said he first fell in love with Parrsboro when he was a teenager stationed in Halifax with the navy.

In addition, Perry said the executives decided it would be cheaper to work out of the Nova Scotia town than the current headquarters in Richmond, B.C.

Headz Gamez is not looking for any government grants or tax breaks, he added.

Parrsboro Mayor Doug Robinson said the town is already feeling the buzz of the promise of 1,500 jobs over two years.

"We've always said that although we cannot drag a company here, what we can do is create an environment in Parrsboro which makes it good for a company to come here," Robinson said.

Parrsboro has a population of about 1,200. About 5,000 people live in the surrounding area.

Headz Gamez expects to have its factory ready by 2008.