(With files by Darin Bain-MyPGNow)
Pacific BioEnergy has shut down their plant in Prince George for the last time.
In December, the company announced they would be shutting their doors permanently.
According to PacBio CEO John Stirling, the plant was shut down as of 4:00 a.m. this morning, (Friday).
He added there still is some work to be done at the plant.
“We’ve made a tough decision at PacBio that we are shutting down our company operations completely, the equipment is going to be sold, it’ll move offsite and our team will wind down over the next couple of weeks,” Stirling said.
He said around 55 people would be directly affected by the closure.
Aron Moscrip is a production supervisor at the plant, he says he’s not sure what he’s going to do next.
“I’ve been here 20 years, so I started from the bottom, lowest job I could, and worked my way through the progressive line from loader operator, plant operator, all the way up to production supervisor, and leading the team to what we are now,” Moscrip said.
“I’m taking it day by day, I’m not 100% sure, I’ve spent half my life here, so we’ll see.”
Karen Stahl, VP of Finance and Corporate Development, has been with the company for around 13 years.
“Sometimes we joke around that one year in the pellet industry is like five years somewhere else so it’s felt longer,” She said with a laugh.
“We’re fortunate to have the opportunity to really wind down in an orderly fashion, really proud of the work that we’ve done to support the team here with regard to outplacement counselling, financial planning services. We’re going to be working really hard to make sure that everyone finds a good job leaving here.”
The plant has been in operation for over 25 years.