Quebec Businessman Opens New Company in Littleton

Helping to cut the ribbon for the new Littleton site of Inter USA Industrial Group are, from left: NH State Rep. Brad Bailey; NH Executive Councilor Joe Kenney; Pierre Harvey of Harvey International; Steve Malenfant, founder and CEO of Inter USA Industrial Group; Benoit Lamontagne of the  NH Department of Business and Economic Affairs; and Chuck Henderson, representing U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

Steve Malenfant, CEO and founder of Groupe Industriel Interprovincial Inc. of Magog, Quebec, Canada officially launched a new company in Littleton on Sept. 26. Inter USA Industrial Group provides integrated industrial equipment installation, planned machine maintenance, relocation, re-shoring and outage/shutdown services to a variety of industries such as pulp and paper, wood processing, rubber and plastics, steel and metal, food processing and more.  

Inter-USA helps the in-house teams of clients. It's employees go through an elaborate technical program prior to working on job sites. Founded in 2003, its Quebec counterpart employs more than 140 employees and the long-term plans for the new U.S.-based company is to hire and train between 25 and 50 employees in Littleton, most of them millwrights, engineering technicians and welders.

"We chose northern New Hampshire because we know that labor is available, but also because of the close proximity to sawmills, pulp and paper, steel and metal fabricators," Malenfant says. "We will hire locally and pair the US employees with experienced Quebec millwrights from our head office until they are trained and have integrated the Inter-USA business model. We will train them so that they can take over and start doing jobs quickly in New England."

“Beno Lamontagne and Michael Bergeron with the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs did a wonderful job helping a Quebec company like us feel at home," he says. "They showed us how to navigate everything from real estate, visas, labor, pay role, and business incorporation, and New Hampshire has no sales or personal income tax.”

The new company plans to expand in Littleton over time.