The mayor of 100 Mile House says his community is disappointed but not surprised Norbord has permanently closed down its mill.

The oriented strand board mill was indefinitely closed down in August of 2019, before a permanent closure was announced yesterday.

Mayor Mitch Campsall says the closure of one its biggest employers comes after back-to-back years of wildfires in 2017 and 2018.

“I don’t know if I would say I was shocked about it. I think in all and all, I think the community, of course we always hoped and wished they would come back. But reality is, I think we kind of figured it wasn’t going to come back. Again, this is a business decision,” he says.

Despite posted its “best quarter ever” between July and September with profits of $204 million. Nonetheless, it says its mill in 100 Mile was the most expensive mill to operate out of its 19 mills worldwide, and says shrinking supply of fibre for the mill has made it less economically viable.

“I always try to understand, how can a business close its doors when it’s getting the best profits it’s ever had? It’s disappointing… it’s too bad for our community,” Campsall says.

“One thing I do know is our community will bounce back. We’ve had three years of unbelievable disaster, I would call it. And yet we still come back. We still work hard as a community. And again, it’s the community as a whole working together. And that’s the only way we’re going to get through this.”

Norbord employed 160 people in 100 Mile House, and many workers have already moved on to new jobs.

Campsall says the district is working hard to find other industries to move in.

“We’ve been having discussions with other businesses and other companies coming into our community, and we’ll continue to have that. We’ve got some pretty good leads. But again, nothing is guaranteed until they start spending their money. We’ve got a lot of promises and a lot of people wanting to do stuff here. But again, until the money’s dropped and they start doing it, you kind of keep it as a hope, a wish,” he says.

“We’re open for business; there isn’t a bigger invite than what our council has for businesses coming to our community.”