The Amherst Daily News and the CBC are reporting that the mega project that would have brought 1,500 jobs to Parrsboro may be in jeopardy.
While no statement has come from Headz Gamez International (H.G.I.), unofficial word from a company source has confirmed that president and CEO Kerry Martens had sold his shares in the company. Several staff members have been laid off already, and work at the old post office building has come to a halt.When contacted by telephone early on Monday, Martens would say only that further word on the development would come later this week.
If it’s true that would be too bad. The Georgia state government put $400 million into a KIA plant in a place more remote than Parrsboro. It is a trend now down south to locate the large manufacturing projects in rural communities. In Canada, it seems that most major manufacturing projects still go to the areas around the large urban centres: Montreal, Toronto, etc.
This would have broken that mold and breathed a little economic life into that region.
I hope it goes but if it doesn’t, I’ll still make the case on these pages that this type of project makes sense.