Kent Building Supplies to hire 200-plus

SAINT JOHN, N.B. — Kent Building Supplies’ parent J.D. Irving plans to hire 500 staff in the next three years, almost half of which will be at Kent, the (Prince Edward Island) Journal Pioneer reports. Just 16 of these positions represent growth in the company: as spokesperson Mary Keith puts it, the total number combines “attrition (so normal turnover), retirement, growth, and what we require by way of students.” About half of the new hires will be for the company’s Cavendish Farms french fry plant in P.E.I., while the “bulk of the remainder (239)” will be in the Kent retail operations, Keith added.