Industrial Estates Limited (IEL) was a Crown corporation established by the

Government of Nova Scotia The Government of Nova Scotia (french: Gouvernement de la Nouvelle-Écosse, gd, Riaghaltas Alba Nuadh) refers to the provincial government of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia is one of Canada's ...

in 1957. IEL stemmed from the ''Voluntary Planning Act'', instituted by Premier Robert Stanfield's government in the same year. The first president of IEL, Frank Sobey, was paid an honorary salary of $1/year and was instrumental in attracting new companies to the province throughout the 1960s. IEL began with a $23 million start-up investment from the government and received a mandate to build industrial parks and lease space to companies, though through an aggressive pursuit of outside investment. IEL quickly began building and financing plants for companies that were willing to move to the province. By 1968, 60 firms had benefited from the program, producing 10,000 new jobs and $40 million in provincial revenue. Some of these companies included: * Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags AB of

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, which built a large integrated pulp and finished paper mill in Point Tupper. *

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, which eventually built three tire manufacturing plants in Granton, followed by Bridgewater and Waterville. * Volvo Personvagnar AB of Sweden, which built the only Volvo car assembly plant in North America in Dartmouth, which later moved to Halifax (see:

Volvo Halifax Assembly The Volvo Halifax Assembly Plant located in Halifax, Nova Scotia was opened on 11 June 1963 by Prince Bertil. It was the second assembly plant Volvo opened outside of Sweden and the second non-domestic auto plant in North America after Rolls-Royc ...

) *

Scott Paper Company The Scott Paper Company was the world's largest manufacturer and marketer of sanitary tissue products with operations in 22 countries. Its products were sold under a variety of well-known brand names, including ''Scott Tissue'', ''Cottonelle'', ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, which built a kraft pulp mill in

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. *

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a Canadian consumer electronics company IEL was at its zenith during the 1960s as it played an important part in modernizing and diversifying the province's economy. Its influence declined significantly in the 1970s with the increasing role of the federal government in economic development through the Department of Regional Industrial Expansion and its successors.

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