B.C. pot company hopes to replace lost mill jobs

MERRITT — Arnold Meyer spent 40 years working at the Tolko Industries Ltd. mill in Merritt, but then he faced the reality of being laid off.

The 62-year-old was one of about 200 employees who lost their jobs in 2016, crippling the economy of the small town in British Columbia’s southern Interior and prompting politicians to promise to restore the ailing forestry sector.

Two years later, the province’s lumber industry is still facing challenges, but a new sector is revving up. A cannabis company hopes to build a grow facility in Merritt, replacing jobs, including Meyer’s that were lost in the mill closure.

“It sounds good to me. They said they want me to be one of the first hires for when the plant opens up,” said Meyer, who held various positions at Tolko, where he mostly drove machinery.

Emerald Plants Health Source Inc., or EPHS, purchased a massive chunk of land in the city and plans to build an initial 3,700-square-metre facility before building up to potentially more than 100,000 square metres.

The facility would eventually employ more than 200 people in a range of jobs, from low-skill trimmer roles to higher-paid management jobs.

Members of the company first learned about Meyer in a Canadian Press story on whether marijuana had the potential to revitalize small towns hit hard by resource job losses. In the 2017 article, Meyer said he hoped a cannabis company would create jobs in the community.

“It just resonated with us as a group as we read that article, that this could really change people’s lives in Merritt,” said Jeff Hancock, executive vice-president of Emerald.

“I think that’s really what Arnold Meyer symbolizes to us as a company.”

Emerald also hopes to contact others formerly employed by Tolko.