McAdam plant to close; 59 to lose jobs

McAdam will lose a major employer when CertainTeed Saint Gobain shuts down its gypsum wallboard plant in late August. The plant will cease production on August 28 and shut down completely by February 28, 2021, costing 59 people their jobs.
"This is devastating news for the community but even more so for the 59 employees at the CertainTeed plant and the other employees of service companies that relied on the plant for work," the village posted on its website. About two thirds of the employees live in McAdam, a village of about 1,250 people not far from Vanceboro. The rest live in Fredericton, Harvey and St. Stephen, according to the village's statement.
"The only reason they've given is market conditions," Mayor Ken Stannix says. The plant, which produces wallboard mainly for the Atlantic provinces, was working at 25% of its capacity, according to the mayor, repeating what the company told him.
Mike MacMullin, Atlantic regional director for Unifor, the union representing CertainTeed employees in McAdam, also says that the company cited market conditions as the reason for shutting down its McAdam operation. "That's about all I can tell you. That's what they've told us," he says. The union will make sure the company honors the collective agreement covering employees at the plant, MacMullin says.
CertainTeed Canada Inc. made a "difficult decision" to close the McAdam wallboard plant following an extensive review of its business, according to a written statement from Dina Silver Pokedoff, Saint Gobain North America's director of branding and communications based in Malvern, Pa. "As a company, we continually work to understand customer needs and to meet changing customer demands; and that important work informs our decisions to re evaluate our plant network and make changes to ensure our future success, which will include a continued commitment to service the Atlantic region," she wrote. The company will work with employees to provide support and resources such as career counselling and identifying job opportunities both with CertainTeed and Saint Gobain plants and elsewhere.
Government officials and others have already met with employees to identify programs available, and another meeting was planned for Friday, July 24, Stannix says. The mayor, in fact, expects many of the laid-off employees to stay in McAdam. "I suspect many of them will find other jobs in the area; at least, I'm hoping they'll find other jobs in the area. I've had four different companies call me in the last two days. They're all looking for employees, so that bodes well," he says.
McAdam has grown by about 100 people over the past four years but is still not half the size as when 2,700 people lived there when CP Rail employed 700 to 800 people in the village. Later, Georgia Pacific employed about 400 people at a plywood mill in McAdam. The wallboard plant came after the plywood mill left, employing about 80 people at its peak, the mayor recalls.
The village will miss 59 jobs paying in the order of $60,000 a year, but McAdam will survive, Stannix says. More than 90 homes have sold in McAdam in the last four years, and the campground on McAdam Lake has grown from 21 to 49 lots, he says. The village sold 16 lots at a dollar apiece for people to build homes. In other years without COVID 19, McAdam's restored historic train station draws 35,000 visitors a year. "We're still growing population. I find that the loss of CertainTeed is definitely going to have an impact on the community. I hope we won't lose a lot of people out of the village," the mayor says.