JAMER Materials Ltd. manufactures construction aggregates for international markets. Its products are used for road materials, asphalt aggregate, and concrete aggregate.

JAMER is managed locally in Charlotte County.

The company is a joint venture between the Canadian subsidiary of Florida Rock Industries — www.flarock.com — a publicly traded company that does business mainly in the southeastern United States as a manufacturer of cement, specialized aggregates, and ready-mix concrete. The other joint venture partner is C.C.C. L.L.C., a family-owned company with a long history of marketing specialized construction aggregates in the mid-Atlantic states of the US.

Mark Clark, a New Brunswick native and a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of New Brunswick is the general manager. Mark makes his home in St. Stephen with his wife.

JAMER is one of the major users of Port Bayside.

It should be noted that Port Bayside is a little known and largely invisible success story in the Charlotte County economy. The port is strategically located for future development potential, providing access to the northeastern United States (notably the New York area) under the favorable flagging/trading conditions of the 'Jones Act'. The port is deep and does not require dredging to host ships of considerable size. Port Bayside has operated profitably since being acquired from the federal government in 1999 by a consortium comprised of the surrounding municipalities and local business interests, including an affiliate of JAMER.

No. New Brunswick royalties' legislation only applies to rock excavated from designated Crown Land. Current operations are being conducted on land that has never been so designated.

As a condition of our agreement with the Province of New Brunswick, however, JAMER and its affiliates are committed to investing more than $2.5 million (CDN) to install the necessary infrastructure normally associated with an industrial park.

With the exception of a small number of skilled operators, JAMER employees are from the local community. These individuals are keenly interested in learning all aspects of the aggregates manufacturing business and JAMER has enjoyed significant success in formally training them to acquire the necessary skill and expertise to succeed.

JAMER staff is paid salaries that are well above the average for Charlotte County, and all were hired because of their ability to work safely and efficiently in an industrial aggregates manufacturing operation.

The excavation is developed using a series of ‘benches’ or ‘steps’ for safety reasons during the construction phase. This technique also provides for structural stability after the excavation is complete.

The JAMER policy is to always stabilize the soil upon completion of an excavation by using hydro-seed to quickly recover the site with grass, despite the fact that the procedure is costly. For example, in 2005 a berm approximately 330 meters long, located along the western mining limits of the site parallel to Route 127, was finished and seeded at a cost of $18,000.00.

Operating permits are issued to JAMER by New Brunswick Department of Environment governing: (1) sedimentation control; (2) fuel handling and storage; (3) hazardous material handling; (4) blasting operations; (5) dust control; (6) noise abatement; (7) hours of work; (8) domestic sewage control; and, (9) buffer zone maintenance including the preservation of the natural treeline on the water boundary of the site as well as development of man-made visual barriers on other boundaries of the work area.

These permits specify terms and conditions that JAMER agrees to monitor and abide by. DOE conduct weekly spot checks throughout the summer to ensure that the company is in compliance with the operating permits.

All JAMER operations are currently located on the west side of Route 127. However it is true that Charlotte County Ports, Ltd., an affiliate of JAMER, owns other property in Charlotte County, some located on the east side of Route 127 – specifically the Cleghorn property and the former Houle property.

Our current focus is to ensure our existing operations are economically viable and are being operated in an environmentally sensitive manner. The high demand for quality aggregates in the US is expected to continue. JAMER will look at all economically sensible options to seek out the best, new sources of suitable granite rock in New Brunswick, including sites on the other side of Route 127, when the time is right.

Expansion plans in the Charlotte County area — or any other area of the province of New Brunswick — will take into account the considerations, expectations, and interests of community stakeholders. If JAMER decides to develop an expansion proposal the plan would be subject to a rigorous analysis.