‘We are world leaders’

Jean-Paul Deveau, president and CEO of Acadian Seaplants Ltd., is proud of the growth his company has experienced since its beginning as a seaweed meal operation in 1981.

Today, the company employs 75 people at its Deveau Center manufacturing plant, and another 22 at the nearby Craigie Research and Development Centre in Cornwallis, Annapolis County. The plant manufactures a seaweed extract used to help grow crops as a bio-stimulant employed to mitigate the effects of climate change.

The company also operates a manufacturing site in Yarmouth, a seaweed cultivation site near Pubnico, and has its head office in the Halifax area.

During a recent interview, Deveau said the company is looking forward to further expanding its markets around the world. In March, Acadian Seaplants announced that it would expand the Deveau Center, doubling its manufacturing capacity.

The announcement said the expansion would include a formulation system, a seaweed chopping and foreign material removal system, a centrifuge, an extractor, a heat exchange system, and an in-house microbial laboratory.

The company said in the announcement that it is eligible to earn a maximum innovation rebate of $498,675 through Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI) once the project is completed within three years. This is based on eligible Nova Scotia capital spending of $1,994,700.

“You tend not to know that this facility is a world-class operation that exports products to 80 countries around the world. It's something the community can be very proud of. We are very proud of our workforce. We are looking forward to this investment,” Deveau said.

INTEREST IN SEAWEED PRODUCTS INCREASING

Deveau said there is a growing interest in these types of seaweed products because of more aggressive weather patterns around the world due to climate change.

He said the products help mitigate the effects of climate change on crop production.

“When you use our product in crop production, it helps the plants to be able to tough out those environmental challenges they are facing,” he said.

Deveau said last year was a challenging year for Acadian Seaplants. The company made its facilities as safe as possible during COVID-19 restrictions. The measures included allowing for physical distancing, providing proper personal protection equipment, restricting visitors and having employees work at home as much as possible to ensure the company could continue operating.

Acadian Seaplants also had to monitor the health restrictions in 12 other countries where it operates.

“At the end of the year, we were very pleased that we did not have to lay anybody off and that we were able to continue to make the products we make and supply them to our customers around the world. And now we are focusing on how we build our business,” Deveau said.

“We have grown our business in the last year, and we expect to grow it next year and the year after that. That’s why we are doing this expansion at the Cornwallis facility,” he said.

Deveau said the expansion would add a significant layer of automation to the system, as well as double the capacity of the Deveau Center in the next 12 months.

He noted the plant is doubling its production capacity but will increase the amount of product incrementally as the company creates new markets, which will eventually create more jobs.

"Once the volume goes up over time, more people will need to be hired to assist in the manufacturing of those products," Deveau said.

He said the investment in an automated environment would provide plant workers with an opportunity for skill enhancement and learning and make their lives simpler.

“We have always been on the cutting edge. We are world leaders in a lot of the technology we use.”

‘A GIANT EXPERIMENT’

Senior engineer Wade Hazel has been with the company for 21 years. He is looking forward to the engineering challenges that come with the expansion.

“This place is like a giant experiment. There are very few in the world doing what we do and fewer yet doing it on this scale. You are breaking new ground all the time," Hazel said.

“It has been a unique opportunity in an engineering career to be able to design a whole facility from scratch and continuously be given the opportunity to upgrade it and to expand it. So, it’s been an exciting and incredible journey - and it’s not over yet."

Hazel said he also sees the technical nature of the expansion as providing opportunities for many employees to acquire new training and upgrade their skills.

“Better paying jobs requiring more skills as opposed to lower-paying jobs requiring more manual labour,” he said.

Hazel believes the expansion and growth will also benefit the wider community.

“As people earn more money, that's a benefit to the community,” Hazel said. Deveau concurred.

“We are looking forward to continuing to work with all of our employees to enhance their skills and to continue to be a significant part of the economic activity in the Annapolis Valley area,” he said.