Fabricating their future: after 40 years in business, nor-arc still looking to grow.

AuthorRoss, Ian
PositionTEMISKAMING & REGION

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In the early days of Nor-Arc Steel Fabricators, company president Mario Leveille jokingly remembers there was plenty of finger-pointing going on at the Earlton shop.

"People would walk in and say (gesturing), I want a conveyor from there to there, and make it happen."

Designing, fabricating and installing material handling systems became one of the many specialties at the family-owned company, just north of Temiskaming Shores.

With more than four decades in business, Nor-Arc received a Temiskaming Shores and Area Chamber of Commerce Award in the entrepreneurship category this past spring.

Leveille admits it was a bit of a surprise to receive such recognition since his low-key father and uncles--who began as farmers on the Clay Belt--would usually decline such attention.

But it speaks to the longevity and reputation of the business that's taken on a wide array of projects in providing machining, welding, manufacturing and mill maintenance in the forestry, mining and energy sectors.

The company began as a small general service welding shop in 1975, started by Leveille's father Frank (Francois) and his uncles, Alphonse, Raymond and Denis, inside a garage-sized shop that still sits on the property beside Highway 11. New additions have been grafted on over the years into today's 28,000-square-foot shop.

A second generation now handles the day-to-day activity at the 120-employee shop with brother Yves Leveille as vice-president of construction, in charge of the outside work, while cousin Pascal Leveille handles much of the inside work as production manager.

They've since expanded into Quebec with a shop in La Sarre, where they perform structural steel work.

As a young lad in the early 1980s, Leveille spent his weekends and summers doing shop cleanup.

"I was working with my uncles. It was enjoyable and you're building things, so you kind of grow from there."

The physical growth of Nor-Arc coincided with the construction and expansion at Grant Forest Products' oriented strand board mill in nearby Englehart. Now owned by Georgia-Pacific, Nor-Arc has continued to provide mill maintenance and equipment upgrades over the years.

The Belanger family at Earlton RV would send in large orders for Nor-Arc to manufacture their camper trailer frames as well.

Always known as an innovative and open-minded company, they segued into the renewable energy sector.

For the past 20 years, they've been a fabricator for KMW Energy of London, Ont...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT