The acquisition of its manufacturer’s factory will allow K-7 Corebox to go from being “the largest supplier of ore boxes in Canada to that of the largest manufacturer in North America.” A story of canned carrots.
“Everyone knows what a corebox is. »
Maybe not in Montreal, but certainly in the mining sector.
Karel Cossette is sales director at K-7 Corebox, a Mont-Laurier company that distributes – and now manufactures – core drilling boxes. These are long wooden boxes with a grooved bottom, in which the core segments extracted by drilling into the rocky subsoil are placed.
Or “corebox,” in mining vernacular.
Until early December, K-7 Corebox billed itself as “Canada’s largest ore box supplier.”
Let’s present the numbers in the most spectacular way: the company has just increased its workforce sixfold. She acquired the factory from her manufacturer, which took her from two employees – co-owners and cousins Karel and Yann Cossette – to a good dozen.
Last April, the Crête Group, a major lumber producer, acquired two Forex factories, including that of Mont-Laurier, which manufactured coring boxes for K-7 Corebox.
A little earlier this fall, the Crête Group, which wanted to divest itself of the Mont-Laurier factory to concentrate on sawing, contacted the two cousins.
“They told us: ‘It seems to us that it would be good for you,’” says Karel Cossette.
“We decided that we would be more than a distributor: we would be a manufacturer. »
No sooner said than done.
“It was a transaction that happened extremely quickly. We are talking about a month and a half until we take possession of the building on Wednesday. » It was December 6.
Production immediately resumed.
“We are already active,” he confided on Friday, December 8. “Yann was just this morning on the production line. »
The factory covers 77,000 square feet.
“It’s a building and equipment worth over $10 million,” he says.
Saws, planers, staplers…
“There’s a lot of automation in there, it’s really a mini production line. »
They kept 11 valuable workers in their service. “These are people who are extremely qualified, who have experience. It was clear and decided in advance that these people were staying with us. »
The new owners want to reorganize the space, optimize the production line, buy new equipment. “We should reach close to 18 employees,” predicts Karel Cossette. There is no one in Canada who will have this production capacity. No one is able to produce as quickly as us. »
K-7 Corebox was founded in 2009 by Karel and Yann Cossette. “I’m a guy from Abitibi,” says Karel Cossette, like the song of one of his famous compatriots.
“My family was in the forestry sector and my cousin Yann operated a 2nd and 3rd wood processing factory,” he says.
“Friends of mine who were in the mining exploration business told us they had a power problem. »
Specifically a core shortage: they were short of boxes to drop off the drill samples.
Yann’s company made a few to help them out. The two cousins saw the opportunity to found a company that would distribute it: K-7 Corebox was born.
The company now offers a half-dozen box models of varying sizes, typically 63” long. It also designed PVC coring boxes, manufactured by subcontracting extrusion in Quebec.
“We had requests from South America and Africa, where the wood cannot necessarily go, especially due to termite issues. »
Because K-7 Corebox exports its products, in the wake of Canadian exploration and mining companies working abroad.
For the moment, 90% of its turnover is generated from wooden boxes, many of which make their way to Ontario.
Karel and Yann Cossette are now engaged in manufacturing. “People around us will tell us that it’s risky, that the economy is fragile, that we feel the recession,” confides Karel. But if we look at the gold price in the morning, it’s not very worrying. »
The battery industry which is developing in Quebec will encourage mining exploration, he adds. And to find the ore, you have to drill and core.
“Me and Yann have always had fun working together. Every day is fun, it seems. Even when things aren’t going well, they’re going well. »
But it’s going to be fine.
Qualinet adds a new dimension to its disaster response: height. The company will introduce a helicopter transport service in 2024 to complement its fleet made up of hundreds of trucks, cars and trailer trucks. “In recent years, the climate has generated more intense and more frequent events which can prevent our teams from going on site. The flooding of Baie-Saint-Paul in 2023 and that of Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac in 2020 are good examples, as are certain wind storms that cause trees to fall on the roads,” said Roger Vigneault, director of operations at Qualinet, in a press release. He believes that Qualinet will be the only and first claims adjuster to use a helicopter service in North America. However, there is no question of acquiring a helicopter: the service will first be provided by subcontracting. Qualinet will soon launch a call for submissions from helicopter transport suppliers in Quebec.
The damage insurance firms PMT ROY and PMA Assurances have their back by combining their strengths and networks. By relying on each other, the two almost centenarians will create the second largest damage insurance group in Quebec. Founded in 1927, PMT ROY deployed a network of 16 branches from Montreal to the Magdalen Islands, which employed nearly 280 people. Barely younger, PMA, 94 years old, has 11 branches, mainly in Estrie and Mauricie. The new company will have more than 500 employees, spread across 27 branches located in eight administrative regions of Quebec. André Roy, president of PMT ROY, announces for the occasion his retirement after 40 years of career within the company, including 12 years at its head. PMA President Patrice Jean becomes President of the new organization. One would therefore have thought that the name of the grouping would combine the first two letters of PMT and the last of PMA to form PMA. “A new name as well as a new brand image will be revealed in the spring,” indicated by email the marketing and communications director of PMT ROY, Gabrielle Roy.
Lots of action at the architecture firm DKA. The Laurentian company is moving its main workshop to Sainte-Thérèse. It also announces the opening of new offices in Montreal and Gatineau. Two new partners have been added. Founded in 2009, DKA now has six partners and around fifty employees. At the 2023 Grand Prix du design, DKA obtained two Platinum Winners for the interior design of the Quilicot boutique in Laval and a Silver Certification for the La Comtois residence, which was the subject of an article in La Presse last September1. The architectural office presented its new brand image in December, developed with the creative firm LG2. DKA now displays as dk a. With space. Like the one that the firm is dedicated to developing.
There is a gap of 6.2 percentage points between the interest rates paid by large SMEs and small SMEs, according to a new BDC study. Part of the explanation: 39% of small SMEs with a business loan (other than a mortgage) have a variable rate, compared to 13% of large SMEs.
