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Benjamin Shingler Telegraph-Journal

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For years Ocean Pier Inc. has produced frozen seafood products for sale under the banner of well-known house brands for stores like Sobeys and Target, but now the Scoudouc-based company is taking steps to make headway with their own line of goods.

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Jeff Legge, the company's vice-president of sales and marketing, said the new move has been a long time in the making.

"It's just persistence, and the right price, and the right product,"

Legge said. "It's certainly a major boost for us. This is the first major launch under our own brand."

For the moment, the company will sell its products at only a handful of Costco stores in New England. But Legge said if the product proves successful at the first locations it will quickly expand to Costco stores throughout the United States.

"It's a test market for the U.S.," Legge said. "We'll hopefully be across the country in about a year."

In August, the provincial government provided the company with more than $1 million in loans to help the privately-owned company with the project.

The $425,000-term loan and $800,000-loan guarantee will help the company become more efficient, grow its branded and private-label business in Canada, and make inroads into the United States.

Premier Shawn Graham made the announcement at the plant in Scoudouc, at a press conference attended by company management, employees, and government officials.

The announcement is part of a string of recent funding to local industries by the provincial government. Last week, the government provided money for new technologies at the wood-processing company Groupe Savoie and plastics-manufacturer IPL Inc.

Mike Breau, president of Ocean Pier, said the additional funds will help make productivity improvements and cut our operating costs.

"We are competing globally, and we must continue to look for efficiencies, new markets and new products," Breaus said. "We must be as competitive as possible."

Founded in 1989, the company currently employs more than 95 full-time workers in Scoudouc.

En français: Avec l'aide de prêts de 1 $ million du gouvernement provincial, l'usine de fruits de mer Ocean Pier Inc. de Scoudouc lancera sa propre marque de produits.