CENTRE WELLINGTON – Perth-Wellington MPP Mathew Rae has announced $1,262,500 in provincial funding to support three Centre Wellington manufacturing projects and their cumulative investment of over $10.5 million for the area.
The funding is coming from the province’s Southwestern Ontario Development Fund, which aims to provide support for projects and investments to existing businesses, municipalities and not-for-profit organizations for economic development in southwestern Ontario.
According to Rae, this funding is expected to create 42 new good-paying, high-skilled jobs in Wellington County.
“This is another example of our government investing in local manufacturing and creating good-paying jobs locally,” said Rae in a press release. “Through its investments, our government is supporting economic growth while strengthening our rural communities.”
Cooke & Denison Limited received $500,000 to support upgrades to their Fergus facility. The company fabricates steel components for the aerospace, nuclear and automotive industries and will be upgrading its facility to boost production of specialized parts. It plans to triple employment at the facility.
Xanadu Homes Ltd. in Elora will also be receiving $500,000. This funding will support the construction of an 18,000 sq. foot facility. The new facility will include state-of-the-art equipment and boost Xanadu Home’s productivity. The company specializes in home renovations and cabinetry.
Newdon Industries in Fergus will receive $262,500 to support its expansion into new foreign markets and to create more jobs. The company specializes in the manufacturing of packing supply products in sectors such as food, electronics, and pharmaceuticals. The company has wasted no time and is already using its portion of the funding.
“We are already using it. We’ve built a 5,000 sq. foot addition, and we’ve bought four machines,” said Newdon Industries president, Kevin Maggs. “The machines are being installed, and we’re waiting for a few pieces to come in still, but … it’s possible that we could quadruple our sales.”
The company currently has 12 positions at its Fergus location, however with the new expansion that number is expected to grow to 16.
“It’s going to make us very competitive, we’re close to the United States border, and we have to compete with the U.S.,” said Maggs. “And, you know, we’re going to be probably the most state-of-the-art plastics plant around with the newest machines, because everything’s getting changed. So it’ll be really exciting.”
The Advertiser did reach out to Xandu Homes and Cooke & Denison but did not recieve a response by press time.
