New biomass company in Cariboo region

Dec. 29, 2009, Williams Lake, BC – Pioneer Biomass, a new subsidiary of the Pioneer
Group, will soon be operational with funding support from the Government of
Canada’s Community Adjustment Fund and the Northern Development Initiative
Trust’s Capital Investment and Training Rebate program. The Pioneer Group is a family-owned
business that includes log homes, land development, logging, trucking, and
forest management. Pioneer Biomass will use two custom-built horizontal
grinders with support equipment to produce wood fibre that will be sold for
pellet production and hog fuel biomass for cogeneration plants in the Cariboo
region of British Columbia. Capitalizing on current trends, special emphasis
will be placed on using mountain pine beetle logging waste.

The
federal government’s Community Adjustment Fund is providing $1.15 million
towards the project as part of the $20-million repayable loan contribution to
the Northern Development
Initiative Trust to support the communities in central and northern British
Columbia most affected by the economic downturn. In addition, the Northern
Development Initiative Trust has approved funding under the Capital Investment and Training Rebate program to support the
creation of 24 jobs associated with the start-up.

“Northern Development clearly recognizes the
challenges facing businesses who are looking to hire and train new workers with
their Capital Investment and Training Rebate program,” says Marcel Therrien, director
of Pioneer Biomass. “This funding plays an important role in our ability to
move forward with this project.” Pioneer Biomass plans to begin operations
early in 2010.