A Chilean firm has bought Flakeboard Co.
Time to get on the plane.
I remember back in the early 1990s when New Brunswick was starting to become a serious player in farmed salmon – so was Chile in a big way. I thought then, and now, that we should have explored ways to build a relationship – share technology and ideas, swap investment – build our farmed salmon sectors in mutually beneficial ways.
Now a Chilean firm owns a very important NB company. We should be their new best friend making sure the firm is happy with their investment here and looking for ways to grow.
Copec is a Chile-based industrial conglomerate with energy, forestry, mining, retail and other divisions.
The traditional response to this kind of foreign investment (think Radian6) is to moan that the firm will shut down the plant. Indeed, the Flakeboard CEO is asked in the article I read if they are planning to close the NB plant.
And it is possible they will close it. But our position should be focused on forging a new relationship with the new owner.
And, by the way, Kelly Shotbolt, should be our new best friend. Maybe some of the proceeds of the sale of Flakeboard will go into a new entrepreneurial venture and that venture should be in New Brunswick.
I’d like to know how this benefits New Brunswick.
The profits from the company, which used to stay here, now flow out to Chile. There is no expansion in production and employment, at least, no more than we might have expected under previous ownership. Meanwhile, if we give Kelly Shotbolt enough money, he might be persuaded to invest in NB.