The Nova Scotia government has announced a local businessman will be in charge of the transition team assigned to help Queens County residents cope with job losses after the closure of the Bowater Mersey paper mill.

Premier Darrell Dexter has appointed former Emera and Aliant CFO Ron Smith to lead the team that will consult with business leaders and residents affected by the mill’s closure to identify new economic development opportunities in the region.

“We’re going to move in and make sure we have an appropriate transition team in place,” Dexter told the Rick Howe Show Friday. “It’s going to be lead by a prominent Nova Scotia business person who has a broad range of experience in place. This is not the time to abandon these communities, these workers, these families.”

Smith, a Yarmouth native, has served as chair of the Nova Scotia Jobs Fund board, and as a member of the board of Nova Scotia Business Inc.

He currently sits on the board of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Canadian Accounting Standards Oversight Council.

Dexter has charged the transition advisor with supporting the community, developing a “vision for the region,” setting “action priorities” and liaising between the region and the province.

Montreal-based Resolute Forest Products announced Friday it would close the mill indefinitely and sell off its Nova Scotia assets.

The closure puts 320 people out of work, and the province estimates about 2,200 people in the forestry sector will be negatively affected.

Dexter says it’s time to find new value in the forestry sector now that the demand for newsprint has fallen.

“The softwood forests of Nova Scotia are still a valuable resource. There are many wood products out there,” he said. “The question is, what is it we can do to add value to this resource, to strength the economy in this part of the province.”

Queens County Deputy Mayor Doug Adams said Resolute’s decision to idle the mill indefinitely is a major blow to a community already struggling with a dwindling population.

“I’m at a loss to tell you how we can find jobs to keep these people,” Adams told the talk show. “If this forestry transition team gets to work and finds something, soon, we just may be able to carry on. Hopefully, they can do something and bring something here because if we don’t, we’ll lose, not only the young people, but all the experienced people we have will go west.”

The mill ceased operations on Saturday.

Smith is expected to open an office in Liverpool immediately.