Mauro money for Thunder Bay businesses

Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Bill Mauro was passing out Northern Ontario Heritage Fund cheques in his riding this week for expanding local businesses.

True Grit Consulting, a growing engineering and environmental firm, received $1 million.

Eric Zakrewski, president of True Grit, said in a July 4 news release that the funding has helped create a modern professional office and material testing facility with IT systems so advanced that they can work on projects anywhere in the world.

“This facility not only allows us to expand our existing and innovative technical services, it forms a crucial part of our national recruiting strategy to bring the best minds to work and live in Thunder Bay.”

Digital Engineering, an energy technology company, was the recipient of $390,000.

Company president Les Perrault said the money is earmarked for an expansion that includes the construction of a two-storey addition along with renovations to an existing office and manufacturing space.

“We've been able to hire additional staff to meet the growing demand for our innovative energy solutions.”

Loch Lomond Equipment received $107,500 to supplement its growing snow grooming equipment company.

Managing partner Rick Prior said the money will go toward the construction of a product support centre as they become a full-service dealer for clients who work in mining, on winter roads and in remote areas of Ontario.

In a statement, Mauro said by increasing the heritage fund from $60 million to $100 million, “we have increased capacity to help Northern businesses. Our focus since 2005 has been to use the fund to create private sector employment, and today is another example of our success in doing just that.”