Jock Finlayson

One of BC’s largest forestry companies is moving its head offices from Burnaby to Atlanta, Georgia. …Jock Finlayson, the chief economist for the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, said that Interfor is one of the foundational businesses in BC’s forest industry. “They have reduced their footprint here kind of incrementally over time. Most of the assets of the business are in the US now, which I think sort of helps to explain the move.” But Finalyson said that Interfor’s announcement is a sign of how the overall forest products sector, which at one point was BC’s largest goods-producing industry, has fallen on hard times. …“BC has really lost our competitive position as a lumber and forest products producing jurisdiction generally, certainly in the North American context,” Finlayson said. …Finlayson added that this may not be the last big company based in B.C. that ends up relocating its physical office.

Related coverage by Graeme Wood in Business in Vancouver: Report of Interfor’s corporate headquarters shift to the U.S. part of broader trend: Union leader