A Quebec company making sphagnum peat moss growing media for domestic and international horticulture markets will get $4.89 million to modernize and boost capacity at two of its plants.
Premier Horticulture of Riviere-du-Loup will put the repayable funding from the federal Community Adjustment Fund toward its $13.47 million project at its two Riviere-du-Loup facilities.
Premier Horticulture, the government said in a release Wednesday, is seeking to develop “innovative products” to attract new clients and to optimize its manufacturing processes. The firm thereby hopes to bolster its sales by more than 30 per cent in the medium term.
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Boosting its production capacity by 30 per cent at the same time, the company said in the government’s release that it also expects to be in a better position to meet the rising demand for growing substrates and to consolidate and expand its market shares.
Premier Horticulture’s products include Pro-Mix and Pro-Moss for professional growers and Pro-Mix, Biomax, LiteWay and Premier for the retail home gardening market.
The renovation and expansion project is expected to result in the creation of 34 jobs at Rivière-du-Loup and eight in Pointe-Lebel, while ensuring the maintenance of 125 existing jobs at the company, the government said.
The company operates eight shipping facilities, 10 screening and bagging plants and 21 peat bogs, harvesting at sites in the three Prairie provinces, Quebec and Atlantic Canada plus a bog in Minnesota.
