Hartland, NB Potato Chip Company Gets Expansion Loans
The New Brunswick and Canadian governments will provide $867,000 in forgivable and repayable loans to help Hartland's Covered Bridge Potato Chip Co with an 836-square metre (9,000-square foot) expansion.
Covered Bridge makes old-fashioned kettle chips with dark russet potatoes harvested from the family company’s 200-hectare (500-acre) potato field at Albright Farms.
Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries Minister Rick Doucet says the provincial government is contributing $367,000 through a forgivable loan from Opportunities NB. The federal government, through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency’s Business Development Program, provided a repayable contribution of $500,000 for the project.
At the announcement, Tobique-Mactaquac MP T.J. Harvey said Ryan Albright has grown his small business, which began in 2009 with three employees, into a successful venture that now employs nearly 100 people in Carleton County.
Albright says the added space will enable Covered Bridge to add more cooking capacity and a new product line.
The facility is also an agri-tourism destination that offers self-guided factory tours. A recently-expanded section of the building includes an improved viewing space for visitors, expanded gift shop area, and additional washrooms to better accommodate tour bus traffic.