In the early 2000s, much of Thunder Bay’s economy leaned on the pillar of the forestry industry. For Doug Murray, the former general manager of the Resolute Forest Products mill, he remembers 2003 as being the city’s best employment years. …The upheaval in the forestry sector that resulted in mill closures and layoffs has taken Thunder Bay more than a decade for the city’s once-staggering economy to recover. Murray, now the CEO of the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission, said the city is in a healthier place. …While forestry is less of a dominating presence, Murray said there exists value-added opportunities. A pilot plant at Resolute is developing the next-generation of bio-products for the chemical industry derived from wood fibre. However diminished, Murray said forestry remains among the economic bedrock. Resolute’s Thunder Bay sawmill is the largest in Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains.