Nine Manitoba companies split $4.2M in federal funds
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/07/2019 (2554 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Ottawa announced Friday morning that nine steel and aluminum companies in Manitoba are splitting $4.2 million in federal funding from the steel and aluminum initiative that was launched in March.
The funding’s purpose is to support small- and medium-sized businesses in the steel, aluminum and manufacturing sectors, in order to increase productivity and thus make companies more competitive in the open market.
Jim Carr, minister of international trade diversification and MP of Winnipeg South Centre, made the announcement in the parking lot of VAW Systems Ltd., located along Inkster Boulevard in the Inkster industrial park, in front of several steelworkers and company owners.
“With the high growth potential of all the businesses receiving funding today, and a commitment to using and developing new technologies, I am very excited about the possibilities that these contributions will bring to Winnipeg, to Manitoba and to Canada,” Carr said in his speech. “It is through investments such as these that our government is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with steel and aluminum businesses to help drive them — and our economy — forward.”
In 2018, Canada’s steel and aluminum industry employed more than 33,500 Canadians and contributed $8.9 billion to the economy.
“We are diversifying our trade in Canada,” Carr later told reporters. “We have signed trade agreements with the European community, the new NAFTA and with the Asia-Pacific. There are other trade negotiations that are currently underway, and we believe that it is within Canada’s strategic interest to expand our export markets.
“We also believe that these industries are competitive internationally, and it is our objective to help them with that competitiveness.”
VAW Systems Ltd., which produces noise-controlling products, is set to receive $315,000. Dan Sierens, president of the company, said the money will go towards new equipment.
“We’ll invest in equipment so that we can be far more productive and competitive, which in turn leads to more opportunities, which equals jobs,” Sierens said. “That’s what it’s all about to us.
“(The funding) will allow us to continue to thrive and it is essential for us for competitive advantages, to be more efficient.”
Five Winnipeg companies are receiving funding. Two companies in Arborg, 100 kilometres north of Winnipeg in the Rural Muncipality of Bifrost; Herd North America Inc., located east of Winnipeg in the RM of Springfield; and Behlen Industries LP in Brandon are also receiving funding. The amounts for each company range between $195,795 and $1 million.
nicholas.frew@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @n_frew