Black River-Matheson poised for growth: mining, transportation, tourism on the map for city officials.

• Author: Stewart, Nick
• Position: TEMISKAMING

When the lease for its 2,000-square-foot site in Timmins finished two years ago, mineral process equipment sales and service firm Tech/Pro Inc. began to look further east for space in a less crowded real estate market.

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Competition for industrial space in the red-hot Timmins market left Tech/Pro scrambling, so when an inexpensive 10,000-square-foot spot came open 65 kilometres east in Black River-Matheson, officials jumped on it, and they've never looked back.

"In Timmins, you would hear about a property coming open so you'd head out to see it and five guys would already be there, and one would have their checkbook open," says Alain Bouchard, technical representative with Tech/Pro.

"Our Matheson spot was considerably less, and it's a great location, and that helps make us competitive."

Catering primarily to mineral process plants, Tech/Pro has its administrative headquarters in Dorval, Quebec, though all customizing work and storage for its valves and centrifuges is handled from its Matheson location.

The move allowed the local staffing to grow to six, servicing firms from Manitoba to the East Coast, and overseas through clients such as Xstrata, Vale Inco, Iamgold and Agnico-Eagle Mines, to name a few.

It's precisely this kind of shift into his municipality that Black River-Matheson Mayor Mike Milinkovich would like to see more of.

Located 56 kilometres northwest of Kirkland Lake, Black River-Matheson encompasses 2,600 people in a 360,000-square-kilometre area.

The township has benefited from Timmins' economic upswing with housing and some business expansion such as Tech/Pro, but Milinkovich believes that, with the right action, the region could see explosive growth.

"In the Town of Matheson, we are sitting right in the middle of one of those most prolific gold mining regions in the world, and a key area in northeastern Ontario," says Milinkovich, whose background is in research and business development with the likes of Nortel.

"I really believe we're on the cusp of something big for the town."

With gold exploration flourishing through the region, the potential expansion of Apollo Gold and the promise of production in nearby areas through St. Andrews Goldfields' Holloway Mine, the community stands to be a touchstone for future mining manufacturing.

Its assets could be the basis for an additional transportation and storage hub in the northeast, he says.

Matheson sits on the crossroads of Highway 101, which runs through...