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Dear friends, a little over a year ago, on June 2nd, we were
here for the groundbreaking ceremony. Where today we see this
magnificent printing plant, at that time there was a big empty
lot. I remember saying that Transcontinental Gagné
would be a state-of-the-art plant, and that you would be proud
of it!"
Our idea was to build one of the most modern bookprinting
plants in North America. An efficient, organized plant with
systematic production processes and employees trained to use
the new technologies. We believed that such a plant, combined
with our specialization in short and medium-run printing and
our overall offer of products and services, would help us
compete in the rest of the world.
Today, much has already been done and soon we will be able
to say “mission accomplished.” And we can be proud!
This major achievement, which represents an investment of
over $20 million for Transcontinental, is the result
of team work. The sense of partnership among our managers,
the union, our employees, municipal officials and regional
players, as well as Investissement Québec, which contributed
a loan of $2.5 million, has been simply remarkable.
What we are celebrating today is an outstanding collective
achievement that will have positive spin-offs for our employees
and customers as well as for your great and beautiful region
and, in fact, for all of Quebec’s regions as a driver
of economic development.
Congratulations to everyone who played a role in this success!
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Opening a new plant is an act of faith in the future and
an excellent occasion to pay tribute to its more distant artisans.
- I'd like to first pay tribute to the Gagné family,
which founded the company. We have the great pleasure of
having with us today Jean-Pierre Gagné, the grandson
of the founder of Gagné Printing and its president
when the company was acquired by Transcontinental in February
1997. Jean-Pierre, you made the right choice: for your employees,
for your customers and for your region.
- That acquisition allowed Transcontinental to add expertise
stretching back to the late 1800s and an exceptional management
team, of whom several members are here today. The company
has been a success throughout its long history and has always
been particularly known for its excellent management and
the quality of its products and service it provides
- Furthermore, Gagné Printing had proved that a
good-sized company could develop from a regional base. That
also showed that your region as a whole, and the municipality
of Louiseville in particular, offer businesses a good environment
in which to grow. Indeed, we observed this positive approach
to business when we initiated this project. It's all to
your credit and is very promising for the future of your
region.
- Speaking of which, I'd like to mention that at Transcontinental,
we believe in the regions. Since last year alone, we have
invested $75 million in three special projects in the
regions: in addition to Louiseville, there is our printing
plant in Beauceville, where we just installed the first
bookprinting press in the world that uses the new Goss autotransfer
technology. Not to mention the expansion of our printing
plant at Saint-Hyacinthe to make room for a new state-of-the-art
press for printing flyers and inserts. We are convinced
that in this era of rising competition from emerging countries,
our main competitive edge is having a skilled, motivated
and committed workforce that can quickly adapt to new technologies.
The regions offer all of that, and yours is a fine example
of it.
Once again, thank you. And congratulations to everyone who
worked so hard on this fine achievement that will bear fruit
for many years to come.
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I'll now ask Luc Desjardins, the president and chief executive
officer of Transcontinental, to come and say a few words. |
