Jim Blight, General Manager of local Domtar mill, provided the club with an overview of the current Domtar operations and their future plans to transition to local operations.
 
In 2007, Domtar bought Dryden’s fine paper mill operation which was one of a number of mills in Canada.
 
 
Throughout the past 10 years, the company has focused on growth through acquisitions (AHP - Associated Hygiene Products, EAM Corporation, and Attends Healthcare), targeted investments, and organic growth.
 
During last twelve months, Domtar’s revenue comes from communication papers (52%), market pulp (19%), personal care (17%) and specialty papers (12%). The growth trend is down for communication papers and up for the remainder.
 
The Dryden mill presently has about 350 employees of which 122 new hires, since 2014. One hundred and thirty-eight (138) employees are eligible to retire in next 4 years.
 
Domtar is, therefore, transitioning itself from a strictly pulp and paper company to a sustainable pulp, paper, and personal-care operation.