Two new Blackfalds operations will provide services for oil and heavy industries
By Harley Richards - Red Deer Advocate
Published: July 23, 2008 6:41 AM
BLACKFALDS — A pair of corporate heavyweights are preparing to set up shop in a new industrial park here, with more than 250 jobs and contract positions expected to result.
Cord WorleyParsons and Wajax Industries Ltd. have committed to locate operations in Blackfalds Industrial Park, which is northeast of the intersection of Hwy 2A and Secondary Hwy 597.
Cord WorleyParsons, which is a division of WorleyParsons Canada, has already constructed buildings on site and expects to start operations there on Aug. 1.
The modularization and fabrication facility will supply equipment to oilsands and other customers, said Brad Van de Veen, general manager with Cord WorleyParsons.
He said staff should reach about 150 in number, with another 50 to 75 contract workers on site.
Wajax Industries will operate out of a 31,000-square-foot building.
The Edmonton-based company, which distributes and services heavy equipment for a variety of industries, expects to initially employ about 50 at Blackfalds.
Shanna Small, Wajax’s national marketing manager, said a ground-breaking ceremony is planned for August, and construction should be completed by next spring.
Blackfalds Mayor Melodie Stol said this kind of industrial development is a welcome addition to the town.
“We’ve been really building ourselves as a family community, but we’ve also been trying to get to a place where people not only live here but they can work here, too.”
Stol added that a strong industrial base is also attractive from a property tax perspective.
“Industrial ratepayers assist with the overall tax burden across the community.”
Stol said the 65-acre Blackfalds Industrial Park, which is zoned heavy industrial, is close to the town’s sewage lagoons. That would have made other types of development there difficult.
Blackfalds Industrial Park is being developed by Blackfalds Industrial Park Inc., a subsidiary of Calgary-based Octagon Properties Group Ltd.
Octagon vice-president Grant Schell said the property is attracting interest because of its heavy industrial zoning and the fact it will be fully serviced.
Contact Harley Richards at hrichards@reddeeradvocate.com
