Art Massif Structure de Bois Inc. Receives $70,000 in Funding From Government of Canada to Purchase Modern Manufacturing Equipment

SAINT-JEAN-PORT-JOLI, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - March 18, 2011) - Acting on behalf of the Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of State for Canada Economic Development, Bernard Généreux, Member of Parliament for Montmagny–L'Islet–Kamouraska–Rivière-du-Loup, today announced the awarding of $70,000 in repayable funding to Art Massif Structure de Bois Inc. through the Temporary Initiative for the Strengthening of Quebec's Forest Economies (TISQFE) for the acquisition of leading-edge equipment.

"The Government of Canada sees Art Massif's project as a priority in that it will help strengthen the economic health of the L'Islet Regional County Municipality while furthering the economic diversification of the region," explained Bernard Généreux.

Art Massif used this financial assistance to purchase a state-of-the-art machine for the manufacture of glulam beams. This acquisition will enable the enterprise to mechanize a portion of its manufacturing processes and thereby bolster production.

About the TISQFE

Brought into force last June, the Temporary Initiative for the Strengthening of Quebec's Forest Economies was established to help communities affected by the forestry crisis diversify their economies in order to secure their development and create and maintain employment. The measure's aim is also to support the viability and sustainable growth of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in these communities.

This measure is one of many put in place by the Government of Canada in recent months to counteract the effects of the forest crisis. Others include, for example, the Community Adjustment Fund, with its $1 billion budget over two years to mitigate the impacts of the crisis, the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program, toward which $1 billion has been granted to help enterprises carry out environmentally-friendly projects, and the investment of $230 million in collaboration with the Government of Quebec for silvicultural work and the restoration of bridges and culverts on multi-use forest roads. Workers have also benefited from their fair share of support, with the Government of Canada introducing some of the most generous measures in history to help them through the economic crisis.

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