Paterson Grain's new Foothills grain terminal was officially opened Wednesday, Aug. 29.
The facility, pegged to cost up to $40 million, is located near Bowden on Rge. Rd. 12, just north of Highway 587.
About 300 people -- mostly grain farmers from the area, along with staff -- attended the ceremonies.
Activities included tours of the facility, a ribbon-cutting, and a big super B that rolled into the terminal to unload grain and demonstrate how the operation works.
Construction of the facility is still underway, according to Foothills Grain Terminal marketing/logistics manager Shelly Rye.
"The track is near completion and then work on other less critical areas will be continued on for the ground pile and car loading system," she said.
"We are set up to now start receiving grain though so any construction is not going to prevent us from taking grain this harvest."
The new terminal can store 2,225,000 bushels of grain, ship 75,000 bushels per hour and clean 8,800
bushels per hour a company news release said.
"In order to avoid congestion, we have two receiving driveways which we believe can unload 32 super Bs per hour -- as long as you don't push the emergency stop button," Paterson Global Foods chief executive officer Andrew Paterson said during a speech, sparking laughter from the crowd.
The facility has a 150-car rail spot, loop design; "the largest that I know on the CP network," Paterson said.
He said the loop design enables cars and engines to remain attached, "thereby saving time and ensuring grain can be loaded as efficiently as possible, in around eight hours."
The terminal also features an integrated dust suppression system "ensuring clean operations from receiving to shipping," the release said.
Paterson said the facility is designed to grow to meet demand "with no lineups."
The Paterson Foothills Grain Terminal currently employs 10 people, almost all of whom are from Olds, Bowden or Didsbury. When fully staffed, it is expected to employ 18 to 20 people.
Current staff include operations manager Ken Rollheiser of Lacombe; plant manager Dale Newsome and marketing/logistics manager Shelly Rye, both of Didsbury; assistant plant manager Terry Prokopchuk of Olds; assistant plant manager Brad Zolinski who currently lives in Swift Current, Sask. but is moving to the Bowden area; administrative assistant Denise Whitford of Olds; and three facility assistants: Devon Woelk of Bowden, Taylor Munro of Eckville and Mario Dykslag of Lacombe.
Shane Paterson, the company's director of trading and transportation, said they made the decision to build the terminal in the area because "it's close to markets. We're a grain handling company, so we're interested in volume of grain and this area has got amazing production and I think great potential to grow."
He said another big factor was the proximity to the CP rail line, as well as highways 2 and 587.
"I mean, (it's) no secret grain elevators are located where railway infrastructure meets primary highway infrastructure, meets agricultural production," Shane said.
The company was originally founded in 1908 by Andrew Paterson's great-grandfather, Senator Norman M. Paterson.
"As the great-grandson of the founder of this company, I'm especially proud to announce that we are still 100 per cent Canadian family-owned and still growing every year," he said, sparking applause.
"We've learned from our experience to manage our business like a well-run family farm and we never forget that our prosperity is tied to you, the Canadian farmer," Andrew said.
"We at Paterson believe in free enterprise. This development stands as a great example of free enterprise at work, just like all the pioneer farming farmers before us.
"Facilities such as this one stand as a monument to farmers past and present, whose efforts have not gone unnoticed," he added.
Andrew also paid tribute to Bowden and area.
"Over the years, I have visited this area numerous times with my son and other executives of the company and we've really come to appreciate the community and today, we start a long-term partnership with you in this community," he said.
Innisfail-Sylvan Lake MLA Devin Dreeshen also addressed the crowd.
He said while growing up on a farm about 30 minutes east of the Foothills facility, he saw dozens of grain terminals get torn down all over Central Alberta.
Dreeshen noted he worked for former federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz when the decision was made to eliminate the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on grain marketing. He said terminals like the new Paterson one are proof that strategy paid off.
"It's rewarding to see the investor confidence in the grain market today with dozens of new state-of-the-art terminals worth hundreds of millions of dollars being built across the Prairies," Dreeshen said.
"It's important to appreciate these job creators and companies that invest in our communities to make opportunities for families in our area.
"Everyone here knows that the Paterson Grain Foothills terminal is impressive and it'll be great for our community and our local farmers.
"And on a personal note, I look forward to making the trip here with a full grain truck in the near future," he added.
Although the terminal is located just outside Bowden, no officials representing the town spoke during the gathering.
A town official said unfortunately, they were attending a strategic planning session that had been planned before learning of the official opening.
