Matfors

Matfors is a small community in the middle of Sweden, in the Medelpad province, at 62°21′N 17°02′E / 62.350°N 17.033°E / 62.350; 17.033. It forms part of Sundsvall Municipality and is situated about 15 kilometers west of Sundsvall, a city with about 45,000 inhabitants. As of 2000, Matfors had 3,700 inhabitants. In Matfors there are two schools: Skjöle Skola and Matfors Skola, both sharing the same school yard.

Matfors is said to have got its name from the rich supply of salmon (swedish: lax) in the river Ljungan, by which the town was built. It is said that maids and farmhands in their employment contract were allowed not to have salmon as meal a few days a year.

Matfors was for some time its own community/municipaly (swedish: kommun) but then first merged with Attmar and later Sundsvall (beginning of 1970s). The town of Matfors was for a long time of less importance than the town of Lucksta in the two parishes of Attmar and Tuna, until the Matfors-bridge was built across the river Ljungan. Later on a papermill was built together with several other minor industries which increased the town's importance towards dominating the area.

The papermill was closed in 1990, at the time owned by SCA, and the original main building now hosts about 20 small businesses. The Matfors area as a whole is the home of many small businesses, but many residents also commutes to neighbouring Sundsvall. A mid-sized business located in Matfors is SBL Vaccin, a subsidiary of Active Biotech.