Oliver Paipoonge.

• Position: COMMUNITIES OF THE NORTH - Cities and towns in Thunder Bay, Ontario - County overview

The "Open for Business" sign still hangs out at the Municipality of Oliver Paipoonge.

The rural community of 5,700 on the outskirts of Thunder Bay has been known as a bedroom suburb. The amalgamated municipality, west of the city, was established in 1998 comprising the villages of Kakabeka Falls, Murillo and Rosslyn.

Agriculture has always been the mainstay of business in the Slate River area with a diversified mix of family farms producing beef, dairy and pork, as well as other services like greenhouses, cheese, fertilizer and soybean roasting.

Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park has always been a big tourism draw. But a rew municipal Official Plan is expected to generate more commercial and residential growth. Low property taxes has encouraged a wave of new business and home construction in the area.

The community is home to a growing cluster of value-added forest product manufacturers like Superior Thermowood and Haveman Brothers Forestry Ltd. as well as other commercial enterprises including Precision Wood Design and Murillo Millworks.

New businesses have arrived in the area such as LH Engineering, Howie Saw/Woodmeizer, Perozak's Welding...