RIVIÈRE-DU-LOUP, QC - Lepage Millwork, a wood window and door manufacturer for high-end residences and historic renovation, plans to invest more than C$10 million in expansion and modernization of its plant.

"For over a year, we have spent many hours and large sums of money to this project," says  Guy Bonneville, president of Lepage Millwork, who acquired the firm in 2001.

A $3 million loan supporting the project was announced by the Ministry for Industrial Policy and Economic Development Bank in Canada's Quebec Province. "This funding will allow us to achieve productivity gains while promoting more upmarket our product to a wider customer base" Bonneville says. 

Intended to improve its production capacity and grow export sales, the project includes the expansion of the main building in order to install more efficient paint rooms, and a cafeteria for employees. An expansion of the wood preparation areas and acquisition of a moulder is planned.

"LePage Millwork thinks big," said Elaine Zakaïb, who heads the Ministry. "With a loan from the Government of Quebec, the company can focus on developing new markets."

LePage Millwork will add 48 more employees to its existing 260 staff "in coming years," according to Zakaïb.  The company plans to create 48 more in the coming years. Zakaïb says the government is helping support a niche of green residential construction products, with 200 companies in the area of LePage offering green products and services for residential construction.

Founded in 1950, Lepage Millwork added 30,000 square feet in 2007 to meet the growing demand in Quebec, Ontario, Eastern Canada and the United States. In 2009 it began making its own seal glass units.