Montreal, June 2, 2005 – At noon today, at the future site of Transcontinental Gagné in the Louiseville industrial park, the first shovelful of dirt was turned in a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction on Transcontinental’s new $20-million plant. The new building, which will replace the current building on Saint-Martin street, will cover 153,000 square feet and will be a technological jewel in terms of both overall quality and the colour, flexibility and printing speed it will offer. The plant will come on line gradually, starting in the late fall. By 2008, about fifty jobs will be added to the existing 220 positions. In his remarks, Rémi Marcoux, executive chairman of the board of Transcontinental Inc., noted that this project “was a real team effort by Transcontinental management, the union, municipal authorities and regional players. Transcontinental Gagné will be one of the most modern printing plants in North America, and you can be very proud of it! Faced with the challenge posed to North American companies by emerging countries like China, we have significant competitive advantages: our highly skilled people, proximity to our customers, advanced technology and value-added services. Our $20-million investment in Louiseville is concrete evidence of that.” Jean-Pierre Gagné, grandson of the founder of company, founded in Louiseville in 1890, recalled the sale of Imprimerie Gagné to Transcontinental in 1997: “When we decided to join up with a larger and dynamic group, we were looking for a company that would care about our printing heritage and regional development. I’m very proud to see that the longevity of the family operation is being ensured by another family operation 115 years after it was established, so the Gagné dream lives on.” Francine Gaudet, provincial MNA for Maskinongé, and Sylvain Paquin, political attaché for the federal member for Berthier-Maskinongé, both congratulated Transcontinental on its decision to invest in Louiseville, stressing the important impact it would have on their riding. Finally, the mayor of Louiseville, Jocelyne Elliott-Leblanc, said she was delighted to see Transcontinental demonstrate its faith in small urban centres in general, and in Louiseville in particular: “Transcontinental Gagné has been the flagship of our regional economy for decades. With this remarkable expansion and the introduction of state-of-the-art technology, the company is setting up a highly productive and efficient facility that will prove its worth in the conquest of international markets. Transcontinental Gagné wants to carve out its niche in the world, and that is to it’s credit. But what is so extraordinary and noteworthy is that it is drawing on the strength of the regions to do so.”