Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ladies and gentlemen, members of the committee, good morning.
My name is Martin Dupont. I have been the Executive Director and Industrial Commissioner for the Drummondville Economic Development Corporation for the last 21 years. The reason I am here is quite simple. In support of a project to develop the Levinoff-Colbex slaughterhouse, I am tabling with you today some material that explains the importance of this company and its economic spinoffs in the Drummond RCM. Throughout our presentation, you will be in a position to see for yourselves the positive spinoffs that the company has had not only at the local level, but at the provincial and national levels as well. I intend to address the following four points: the company itself, the history of the Levinoff-Colbex slaughterhouse, the role it plays in the community and future projects of benefit to our community.
To begin with, I would like to give you a brief overview of the company. Levinoff-Colbex has two facilities: the slaughterhouse in Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover, in the Drummond RCM, and the processing and distribution centre located in Montreal. The slaughterhouse alone has 250 employees. Together, the two facilities have sales of $150 million Canadian. The Levinoff-Colbex slaughterhouse is really a leader in the beef industry. Why? Because it receives between 4,500 and 5,000 cattle per week, whereas other slaughterhouses in the East have a capacity of only about 100 animals or less per week. Since Gencor Foods Inc. in Kitchener, Ontario, shut down in the winter of 2008, the Levinoff-Colbex slaughterhouse has been the only large volume slaughterhouse in operation in all of Eastern Canada. It processes 90 per cent of cull cattle from all across Quebec.
This company is also an industry leader when it comes to quality control and food safety, which means better consumer protection. Indeed, the Levinoff-Colbex slaughterhouse has had HACCP certification since 1999. One million dollars was invested for that purpose. In fact, three employees who carry out quality assurance had to take training at the University of Guelph, in Ontario, in order to manage that program. In addition, the Levinoff-Colbex slaughterhouse is the first such facility in Canada to have implemented a computerized animal traceability system. Since 2007, the company has been applying SRM, or specified risk material, regulations on an ongoing basis. In order for those standards to be met, the company had to invest $3 million. A specialized team of 12 full-time employees was trained for that purpose, which represents a payroll of approximately $600,000. I would also like to point out that Levinoff-Colbex has been a limited partnership company since it was purchased in 2005 by the Fédération des producteurs de bovins du Québec. The 14,000 producers in the province are now the owners of the company.
Now that you have an idea of what the company is all about, I would like to take a few moments to give you some highlights of the history of Levinoff-Colbex in our region. The Colbex slaughterhouse was founded in 1978 by the Dubé family in Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover, near Drummondville, Quebec. The company had six employees. It is important to remember that, at the time, there were between 400 and 500 slaughterhouses in operation in Quebec. In 1998, the Colbex slaughterhouse merged with Levinoff, a family business in Montreal belonging to the Cola family, and thus became the single largest business in the beef industry in Eastern Canada. In 1999, the Levinoff-Colbex slaughterhouse received HACCP certification. By then, it had 135 employees. In 2003, the mad cow crisis resulted in the collapse of export markets and lower cattle prices. The slaughterhouse and the entire industry were hit hard. In 2005, as a result of the crisis, the Fédération des producteurs de bovins du Québec finalized the purchase of Levinoff-Colbex, while securing the expertise of the Dubé and Cola families. Six million dollars was injected in the company in the form of new capital. In 2008, as a result of the company's financial problems relating to the new food safety standards and the need for new investments, members of the Fédération des producteurs de bovins du Québec agreed to recapitalize the slaughterhouse with an injection of $30 million.
The Levinoff-Colbex slaughterhouse is not only a valuable family legacy for the entire Drummond RCM; it also directly contributes to the region's economic dynamism. First of all, it should be noted that the slaughterhouse is located in Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover, a municipality belonging to the Centre-du-Québec region, with a population of 224,000. Of the 250 people who work for the company, 90 per cent are from the Drummond RCM, with a population of 94,000. More than two thirds of that population reside in the City of Drummondville. For the small municipality of Saint-Cyrille, with a population of 4,219, the slaughterhouse is the largest employer.
Employees of the slaughterhouse receive an average salary of $40,000 per year, making the company a leader in the rural economy in terms of wages. That explains why many employees have been working there for more than 20 years.
Another interesting fact is that the Levinoff-Colbex slaughterhouse is one of the main employers in the region helping to draw families from ethnic communities away from the major urban centres and integrate them into the more rural communities. Thus the company has a number of employees from Laos, Algeria and Colombia. The slaughterhouse remains the largest employer in Saint-Cyrille. It has a payroll of $10 million, with $1 million being spent on training. Over the last 30 years, more than $25 million has been invested in capital improvements and more than $24 million will be re-invested in the coming months. I don't need to tell you that this kind of investment does not happen every day in our community, particularly in the current environment.
In addition to employing 250 people, the slaughterhouse has indirectly contributed to the creation of 50 jobs in the region. For example, the establishment of IND Embryontech in 2003 would not have been possible had the Levinoff slaughterhouse not been located in our RCM. This company, which specializes in in vitro production of Holstein embryos, has created 15 new specialized jobs in the biotechnology sector and is one of the rare companies that exports its products to China. As far as the City of Drummondville is concerned, it is clear that this $2 million investment would not have occurred had the slaughterhouse not been located in the region.
The slaughterhouse also provides work to four veterinarians and 10 inspectors from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. In the transportation sector, 10 truckers have worked thanks to the slaughterhouse; they haul carcasses and waste materials. In addition to that, every day, between 20 and 25 trucks from different companies go in and out of the slaughterhouse carrying cattle.
It is also important to mention that the company has been extremely generous with the community. Current executives regularly make donations to a variety of different organizations and foundations associated with education, health care, recreation, sports and tourism. One of its partners is also the Faculty of Veterinarian Medicine at the University of Montreal, which uses its facilities for training sessions aimed at student veterinarians.
In summary, the Levinoff-Colbex slaughterhouse is a major asset for our RCM, in terms of its economic, social and community health. Upcoming investments will benefit our region. The three projects being planned by the slaughterhouse are primarily aimed at increasing the slaughter capacity and enhancing production efficiency.
The first project involves a cutting room in Saint-Cyrille. That new construction will mean an expansion of 1,500 square feet, at a cost of approximately $18 million. After a year, 125 new jobs will have been created and, in the medium term, an additional 150 new jobs will also be created. The second project involves transforming slaughter wastes into biogas, a greener form of energy. Finally, the slaughterhouse is planning to invest $1 million to expand the cattle shed. These three projects together represent an investment of $24 million over a three-year period.
In closing, the Drummondville Economic Development Corporation and the entire region are relying on the Canadian government to support these projects. For us, they represent the guarantee of 250 direct jobs and 50 indirect jobs in the community, the creation of 150 new jobs in the community, an investment of $24 million in the economy and the community and, most importantly, the consolidation of a unique form of expertise in Eastern Canada for the entire beef industry.
Establishing a new slaughterhouse these days is almost unthinkable, because it requires unique expertise, the kind of expertise that Colbex has.
In closing, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you once again for your attention and I hope my comments have enlightened you as to the critical importance of the Levinoff-Colbex slaughterhouse for our community.
Thank you.