Times Good For Lewis Mouldings

Ill winds have blown good fortune to a Weymouth moulding manufacturer.

The closure of several Quebec operations during the recent recession, combined with February’s devastating earthquake in Chile, have produced the perfect economic storm for Lewis Mouldings, a Digby County manufacturer of finger-jointed pine mouldings that go around doors and windows.

"It wasn’t completely horrible for us," is how Jamie Lewis, the company’s general manager, described last year’s economic downturn.

"We have a very solid customer base that we were very fortunate to have. Unfortunately, for some of our competitors, it wasn’t as good a year."

About half of North America’s finger-joint mouldings normally come from Chile, he said.

"So when you have such a blow to your ports and your infrastructure, you’re obviously going to have a difficulty in shipping and producing," Lewis said. "So there have been opportunities for us to gain some business from that."

The company’s sales were about $7 million last year and Lewis said he is anticipating sales to grow by 14 per cent this year to just under $8 million.

"The Atlantic provinces definitely make up the bulk of our sales, and then a good portion are into Quebec and Ontario, and then a small bit into the New England area."

Nova Scotia Business Inc., the province’s economic development agency, announced Wednesday that it is loaning the company $100,000 to buy new equipment.

The "lion’s share" of that will go toward an automatic lug loader that will increase efficiency on the company’s main production gear.

The loan will also allow the company to buy a larger grinder than the one it already uses to make compressed wood waste bricks that can be burned in wood stoves.

"We use a portion of it for our boiler and our dry kilns."

The company started selling the bricks as fuel in 2008 to increase revenue from its waste. So far, they only make up about two per cent of sales.

The company also sells dried shaving, wood chips and hog fuel, which includes bark and sawdust.

"Our motto here is unless it goes on the bottom of your shoe, we’re getting paid for it," Lewis said.

About 90 people work at Lewis Mouldings. That’s up from 65 in May 2009, making it one of the larger employers in Digby County.

The business started in 1994. Lewis’ father, Stewart, is the major shareholder.

The province has also guaranteed an extra $300,000 on top of the company’s existing $1-million line of credit.

"We’re going to be able to have a more robust inventory level when it comes the right times," Lewis said. "We’re in the construction industry, in a sense, so there’s a very cyclical nature to it. People don’t build houses in the winter."

By CHRIS LAMBIE Business Editor

The Halifax Chronicle Herald
Thu, July 29, 2010