SPRINGBROOK – As each government and corporate speaker took to the podium to salute the official unveiling of P & H Milling Group’s massive flour mill project, the excitement was clearly electric.
The hamlet of Springbrook, 20 kilometres north of Innisfail in Red Deer County and once a nearly forgotten military base, is set to become a nationally recognized home for one of Canada’s largest and most sophisticated flour mill; a “game changer” for the western Canadian agribusiness sector.
“This changes that game because now we’re having the raw products of wheat and peas but we're now actually refining it here in western Canada, and then we're shipping that value-added product around the world,” said Devin Dreeshen, MLA for Innisfail–Sylvan Lake. “So, that's pretty special. I think that's a really important game changer.”
And what’s more is that P & H clearly feels there is already plenty of momentum to roll with for the community and region.
“There's a lot of momentum that can be leveraged off a project like this,” said Lloyd Heimbecker, P & H executive vice-president, at the official project launch on Sept. 6. “Keep it going. We're here. We'll be a fixture in the community, God willing, for another 100 years because flour mills can go on for a long, time.
“They bring a lot of downstream benefits to the economy,” added Heimbecker. “Let's turn some dirt and build a flour mill.”
Construction was well underway at P & H’s 46.1-acre Springbrook site before the official launch of the $241-million state-of-the art mega-project.
The launch witnessed the attendance of not only Heimbecker and Dreeshen, it also included RJ Sigurdson, provincial minister of agriculture and irrigation, and members of Red Deer County council, including Mayor Jim Wood.
The project, which took more than three years of planning, is creating 200 construction jobs, and once completed, will employ 27 permanent workers.
The new facility will potentially mill about 750 metric tonnes of wheat from western Canadian farmers into flour every day. There are also plans to construct two more mills to meet future demand.
And the processed flour will not only be accessible to markets across Canada and beyond but to local and regional businesses as well.
“Localized bakers or restaurants that bake in-house will be able to buy direct from here,” said Dreeshen. “To know they'll have not just locally grown food but also milled into a value-added product like flour to be able to go into baked goods is just incredible.”
Bruce MacIntyre, P & H’s president and chief operating officer, said at the media conference it’s expected the Springbrook facility will be manufacturing flour by the fall of 2026.
As for community engagement in the Hwy. 2A regional corridor, particularly for the municipalities of Innisfail, Penhold, Olds, Bowden, Didsbury and Carstairs, MacIntyre said P & H is a company that understands the value of giving back to the community.
“We're always looking for opportunities to support, especially youth sports. We understand the value of giving our young people a chance to play sports and learn about teamwork,” said MacIntyre. “If you don't support the community you're working in, how do you expect that community to support you?”
Sigurdson announced at the media conference that P & H qualified for the provincial Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit program, which grants the company eligibility for a tax credit up to $27.3 million for its quarter billion dollar investment in the new state-of-the-art mill facility.
Aside from sourcing 230,000 metric tonnes of locally grown wheat each year, P & H will also sell by-products from the milling process to the livestock feed industry across Canada to create products for farm animals and fish.
“We are also excited about the potential for this project to attract spin off investments in the commercial baking industry,” said Sigurdson.
The new P & H facility will also bring in about $1 million in municipal tax revenues for Red Deer County through the rural municipality’s new Agricultural Processing Tax Incentive Bylaw, which includes an exemption for agricultural processing developments committed to a minimum investment of $200 million.
Mayor Wood told the audience his rural municipality recognized it had to work with P & H by creating a favourable environment for the company to want to invest in Red Deer County.
“And through that we have provided a tax rate bylaw that actually tried to give an appropriate tax rate that we're both able to agree to (and) to be able to have this facility come here,” said Wood. “These tax rate bylaws would not happen without a council that wants to make them happen.
“This partnership will bolster our local economy and provide invaluable support to our farmers. While showcasing the advantage of our centralized location in this province this flour mill will invigorate the local economy while enhancing the overall agriculture sector.”