Skip to content

Nova expansion gives reason for optimism

The ripples are already being felt locally after Nova Chemicals announced on Thursday it was planning the biggest expansion at its Joffre site in more than a decade.

The ripples are already being felt locally after Nova Chemicals announced on Thursday it was planning the biggest expansion at its Joffre site in more than a decade.

For now, optimism is the biggest offshoot of the project to add a third polyethylene reactor that could cost up to $900 million and provide work for 500 tradespeople during peak construction and 40 to 60 staff and contract positions once complete.

But if the project gets the final go ahead from Nova Chemicals and clears all regulatory hurdles, the benefits will be more concrete, say local municipal and business leaders.

“I think the spinoffs are going to be huge in terms of job creation and new people moving into the area, especially during the construction period,” said Red Deer Chamber of Commerce president Maureen McMurtrie.

“Definitely I think it’s going to have a great multiplier effect in the local job market and people moving to town.”

Some of those workers will choose to stay, she predicts. “I think when people get a taste of Central Alberta they don’t want to leave.

The project also signals the regional economy is returning to full strength. “We’re certainly seeing it turning the corner and I think this announcement is going to be a good boon.”

Blackfalds Mayor Melodie Stol credits a major expansion at the Joffre site a little over a decade ago with kick-starting a growth spurt in the community that continues to this day.

“I’m quite sure we’ll see more (growth) again,” she said.

“When these big projects come, workers come, and I think they will settle down in Central Alberta and they continue on.”

Other businesses will benefit because new arrivals will need housing, food and the use of local services.

“I think it’s a good opportunity for other businesses in the supply chain.”

Howard Thompson, who has more than 20 years of economic experience with the City of Red Deer, said whenever Nova has expanded in the past, it’s spurred on direct and indirect investment locally.

“More importantly, what I’ve observed in the past is that when there’s a major announcement like this it has a very positive psychological impact on the economy,” he said.

That has shown up as new business start-ups and higher building permit activity. “People just have that more positive outlook on the economy and start making those investments.”

Thompson said when Joffre expanded last it marked the beginning of a period of strong economic growth that lasted for years.

“I’m hoping that this same trend will transpire,” he said.

Lacombe County stands to reap somewhere in the range of $2 million in additional taxes once the expansion is complete, on top of the $10 million that already comes in from Nova, by far the county’s biggest taxpayer.

Reeve Ken Wigmore said additional tax revenue is always good news and he expects the construction period will provide an economic boost to the area.

Nova’s investment also signals commitment to the future of the complex.

“I think it just adds to the viability of the plant.”

Nova’s Joffre site leader Rick Van Hemmen told Lacombe County that Nova’s Joffre operations already contribute $170 million to the area economy, including $84 million in salaries, $75 million in goods and services, and $11 million in municipal taxes.

Over the four-year build of the new polyethylene plant, the workforce is expected to average 150 to 250 workers.

Once complete, the plant will create up to 35 staff and 25 contract positions.

The nearly $1 billion that could be potentially spent on the latest project is the biggest initiative since a massive $1.8-billion project was begun in the late 1990s to add a third ethylene plant and a second polyethylene plant and a co-generation facility. The plants built by Nova and other partners came on line in 2000.

The workforce peaked at 5,000 in the fall of 1999 and a housing camp on site had more residents than many small towns.

Nova Chemicals is owned by the International Petroleum Investment Co. of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com