The city is already known as the education and health-care centre for the North, but on May 21 Sudbury became Northern Ontario's centre for project management when Canada's largest construction consulting company opened its doors.
MHPM Project Managers Inc. president Franklin Holtforster said the opening of the Sudbury branch will be bring a service and jobs to Sudbury that didn't exist before.
“If we get anchored here, we will provide a local resource that Sudbury has not had in the past, which means Ontario's northeast hasn't had in the past,” said Holtforster at the grand opening of MHPM's downtown location with City of Greater Sudbury Mayor John Rodriguez and Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci. “That means jobs stay here — good, professional jobs.”
Holtforster said it shouldn't be a problem for the company to find work in Northern Ontario.
“We've been working on projects in the North for a long time from either out of Ottawa or out of Toronto,” he said. “We've always looked for an opportunity to have a presence in Sudbury to have a base to deliver those projects, so it would be more local.”
MHPM role is to manage contractors and other consultants to make sure the project gets done on time and within budget.
The Ottawa-based company has already filled 13 new positions in Sudbury and plans to "significantly increase the size of its workforce" during the next 18 months. Currently, 13 people work at the office at 93 Cedar St. Holtforster expects to hire at least seven more.
“We have 14 offices in Canada,” he said. “In every other place we've put in an office, we have grown it.”
The company already delivers its services across Canada from 12 major cities and has been involved in such projects as the $187-million Richmond Speed Skating Oval for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto.
MHPM mainly focuses on private sector work, but it is one of three companies who works closely with the Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC) to manage provincial contracts. The company states this positions them well in the Sudbury market to provide project management services, create jobs and be part of the stimulus and growth of the city.
“We have virtually guaranteed for the next five years to 10 years ... with ORC, we'll be responsible for provincial projects,” said Holtforster.
Bartolucci said he welcomes new jobs coming to Sudbury in the midst of the economic downturn.
“In this time of economic challenges, when you get an entity that creates 20 jobs, you celebrate that job creation,” he said.
“We look forward to them playing a very critical role in delivering projects on time and ensuring taxpayers dollars are maximized with regards to efficiency and opportunity.”
MHPM.com
