Good news for a Sault Ste. Marie manufacturer wishing to grow its business.
Sault MPP Ross Romano, via Zoom, announced $114,000 in Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. (NOHFC) funding for Soo Foundry & Machine Ltd. Friday as the company seeks to sustain and grow its operations in wind power technology throughout Northern Ontario.
The money will go toward the purchase of new CNC wind and hydro industry manufacturing equipment and the hiring of two new, full-time skilled trades workers at the local manufacturing plant, located in an industrial park in the north end of the city.
CNC (computer numerical control) machinery is used to produce custom designed parts for clients.
The funding will be matched dollar for dollar by Soo Foundry.
“This project involves four pieces of equipment...just to fill a gap in our business, make us more efficient," said Robert Cohen, Soo Foundry president.
"A big part of it, we thought, was to help train our apprentices, because developing a skilled workforce is, despite what’s happening right now with COVID, key for everybody."
Soo Foundry is a medium-sized manufacturing company employing 45 full-time employees, the majority of its employees in skilled trades.
“A number of years ago, we recognized we had to diversify ourselves outside of the Sault Ste. Marie, and to some extent, Northern Ontario economy, and we made the choice to grow in hydroelectric and wind energy, renewable energy – areas we thought we could do work right across the country," Cohen said.
"To date, we’ve been quite successful. Our sales have been growing in that area. We’re becoming a much more balanced company and we believe we have a really significant growth opportunity ahead of us.
“We believe we’re going to grow.”
Soo Foundry will help clients repair and maintain their wind turbines, said Ivan Brlecic, Soo Foundry operations manager.
Romano encouraged companies to get their applications in for NOHFC funding, and apply for funding under the summer internships program.
“Seize the opportunities that exist through the NOHFC like Mr. Cohen and those at Soo Foundry have done,” Romano said.
– SooToday.com
