MacDougall Steel Erectors purchases former McCain french fry plant in Borden-Carleton

The former McCain french fry plant in Borden-Carleton, P.E.I. has a new owner.

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MacDougall Steel Erectors will take over the facility, which closed in October 2014. MacDougall already has a plant in Borden-Carleton, and is calling this an expansion.

"We believe this facility will allow us to grow our work force and capacity, diversify our markets, and give us the ability to compete on larger jobs in Western Canada and in theUnited States," said Ron MacDougall, president and CEO, in a news release announcing the purchase.

MacDougall predicted the expansion could add up to 140 jobs in the area.

Fund now open

At the time the plant closed, McCainset up a $2 million transition fund to be administered by Innovation PEI to help with the redevelopment of the facility. That fund will now be open for requests as of Jan. 16.

MacDougall Steel is expected to apply to the fund.

The Town of Borden-Carleton has also been looking for ways to stimulate economic development in the community and will likely want to tap into the $2 million fund.

Two previous offers rejected

In October 2016, the P.E.I. government rejected two separate offers on the former McCain french fry processing plant. One offer was made by Amarjeet Jatana of Abbotsford, B.C., Gurmant Grewal of Surrey, B.C., and Surya Hegde of Banglore, India. The other was made by Canadian National Packers, Inc. of Charlottetown.

At the time, a statement from the Department of Economic Development and Tourism said the offers did not "represent the best use for the property or represent the highest economic impact".

Replacing french fries with steel

MacDougall Steel manufactures steel buildings with 95 per cent of the products going off Island to the oil sands in Alberta or to the North. The company was founded in 1998 by Ron and Gloria MacDougall and has grown from two to more than 100 employees.

In February 2014, the P.E.I. cabinet approved a term loan of more than $5 million to MacDougall Steel Erectors in Borden-Carleton. The money was for an expansion of the company's steel fabrication facility and to refinance an existing loan.

McCain Foods Canada announced it was closing the french fry facility on August 7, 2014.

The company blamed a shift in the demand for french fries from North America to other regions, increased efficiency at other plants and a continuous strong Canadian dollar for the closure.

McCain said production at the Borden-Carleton plant declined by two-thirds over the last decade, making it the company's smallest and least utilized facility in North America.

The plant closed Oct. 31, 2014, affecting 121 people.

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