A new seven-year, multi-million dollar contract with SaskPower announced by Alcatel Canada Wire on Friday morning will provide the base for the Weyburn plant to secure additional contracts.

The agreement will also assist with the expansion currently underway to double the Weyburn plant's capacity, which, according to Alcatel officials, will be completed by this fall.

Under the contract Alcatel will continue to provide transmission and distribution cable to SaskPower until 2006. The deal is worth between $40-50 million, announced John Nilson, minister for Crown Investments Corporation, along with Gordon Thursfield, chairman of Alcatel Canada Inc.

Alcatel's Weyburn plant is "an essential supplier to the corporation," said Nilson, adding this contract will be good both for the company and for the community.

"It's very important for the province that the Crown corporations can have a role in being a catalyst for economic development. We've assured them of $40-50 million in sales over the next several years, so they can further promote the plant," said Nilson as he took a plant tour.

Nilson, who had never seen the Weyburn facility, was given a tour by plant production manager Kerry Dolter, along with MLA Brenda Bakken, SaskPower board members and other local dignitaries.

The previously announced expansion will cost the company around $20 million to complete and will add around 60 jobs to the current workforce of 110 employees.

Alcatel Canada Wire, which began operating in Weyburn in 1956, manufactures underground and overhead secondary cables, overhead transmission conductors, control cable and medium voltage power cable. The plant runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The confidence shown by customers like SaskPower is what made the ongoing expansion project possible, said plant manager John Murray, adding the long-term contract gives the company the ability to go after other contracts.

He also attributes the plant's success to the employees who keep their customers satisfied by providing the service and product they require.

SaskPower's contracts in the past have been vital to Alcatel establishing its business in Saskatchewan and comprised most of its output. Today their markets have expanded south of the border as well as throughout western Canada, with 60 per cent of the product manufactured here going to the U.S.

Once the expansion is complete, those American markets will grow further - up to 75 per cent, mostly to the western states with some product heading to eastern markets.

The contract and expansion are positive developments for the city and area, said Bakken, as they will help provide employment.

"It's going to allow us to keep some of our young people here, and some of the young farmers who have work off the farm will benefit too. For the business community to add 60 jobs, it's going to be nothing but benefits. It's good to hear some positive news," said the MLA.

Mayor Don Schlosser agreed with her assessment, noting there will be spinoff benefits to the city besides the tax revenue the plant provides.

"A long-term agreement means the employees are assured they have a job well into the future, and that means dollars that will be spent in Weyburn. When the expansion is complete it will be a big day for the city," said the mayor.

Another spinoff benefit is that Tenold Transport is relocating back to Weyburn after a number of years being based in Regina. Dallas Tenold, who started the trucking firm here, is working on getting their new location at the bottling plant ready. He attributed the move to Alcatel's expansion.

Besides trucking out Alcatel's product, Tenold is looking at another service he can provide by storing some of the raw materials like aluminum and plastic in his warehouse, and transferring it over to the plant as it is required.

Tenold Transport originally planned to be open April 1, but some delays have in getting the facility ready have pushed back the opening to the end of April.