Business | Owners of W&R Gillespie Ltd. meet with 60-plus employees

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By MICHAEL STAPLES
staples.michael@dailygleaner.com

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Tough economic conditions are forcing a Fredericton-area logging and trucking company to take a cautious business approach.

Bill Gillespie, who co-owns Harvey-based W&R Gillespie Ltd. with his brother Ronnie, said a meeting was held with the company's 60-plus employees Wednesday. Issues such as safety and watching costs were stressed.

"We are just trying to emphasize to them to put out a good quality product and do it safely and cost-effectively," Gillespie said in an interview. "We haven't laid anybody off yet, and we don't want to, but we can't afford to lose money, either."

The logging, trucking and chipping company also makes biomass, a woody material used to produce steam for electricity or heat.

A depressed housing market in the U.S. and a high Canadian dollar earlier this year has made life difficult for many pulp and saw mills in the province and forced the closure of some businesses.

"Our plan is to go forward, but some things go beyond my control," Gillespie said. "Our goal is to keep everybody working. We'll have to take it one day at a time."

He said everything has gone downhill fast over the last couple of months.

"About a month and a half ago, we were working full tilt and then, just all of a sudden, three of our chippers got shut down in the same week. It was quite a scramble to switch around and keep everybody working.

"The next week, another plant went down ... It's just one thing after another. We switched over and started doing other products but, at the same time, it takes a while to get an inventory of those products."

Aside from this, the weather has been so wet this fall that it's making it difficult to get anything out of the woods, Gillespie said.

He said his company had contracts with one firm that should have lasted into next spring, but those contracts have been cancelled and six-to-seven months of work have been lost.

All the markets are tight, Gillespie said, noting that mill yards are full and demand for products isn't there.

David Palmer, general manager of the York Sunbury Charlotte Forest Products Marketing Board, said the global economic downturn has trickled into New Brunswick and is making matters worse for a number of companies that have been hanging on for some time.

"For the next little while, it is probably going to be pretty rough," Palmer said.

The secret to turning things around is for people to get confidence back, he said.

Palmer said the wet fall has also made the situation worse.

"Everybody is in the same situation. By the time you get it out, the mills you are going to sell it to are not buying wood any more. It really is tough."