$1.55M boost for industryKENNEDY GORDON , EXAMINER
The federal government's investment in the area's manufacturing sector will lead to job growth, Peterborough MP Dean Del Mastro said Thursday.
Del Mastro announced $1.55 million in funding that will be used to help manufacturing firms add workers.
"I think it's something we all feel we need to accomplish, as a group, as a region, which is to stem the flow of young people, of skilled people, needing to leave this region to find meaningful, gainful employment," Del Mastro said.
The funds will be used for the $3.1 million Tri-Association Manufacturers Initiative, a new program being administered by the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation (GPAEDC) in co-operation with economic development agencies in the City of Kawartha Lakes, Quinte and Northumberland County.
"This initiative is expected to assist more than 40 companies and result in more than 1,000 employee training occurrences," said Laura Lauzon, the GPAEDC's director of manufacturing.
"It is also expected to create a total of 300 jobs across the four regions."
The news was welcomed by the Kawartha Manufacturers Association, one of the three groups partnering in the program. The Quinte Manufacturers Association and the Northumberland Manufacturers Association are the others.
"We have, as three associations, been working together for some time now in order to raise the level of awareness for manufacturing in Eastern Ontario, to move back to the type of position we were in a number of years ago," said Kawartha Manufacturers Association chairman Tom Sayer. "At the turn of the century, Peterborough was a real hub for industry."
The initiative will operate until March 31, 2011, Lauzon said. Each association will receive a maximum of $500,000. The program will provide 50% funding to manufacturing employers who undertake third-party employee training and/or a $1,000 rebate to manufacturers who hire youth interns or displaced workers.
"It's going to have a significant impact not just here in Peterborough, but across the region," said GPAED C president Andy Mitchell.
Partners from neighbouring regions were on hand for the announcement.
"The concept of thinking regionally and acting locally is certainly of tremendous benefit," said Dan Borowec, economic development director in Northumberland County.
"As an attraction strategy for potential new investment, it's huge."
The various groups working together demonstrate the closeness of the four regions, said Mike Hewitt, co-ordinator of the Quinte Manufacturing Resource Centre.
"What happens in one community impacts another community," he said.
The funds come from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, also called FedDev Ontario. It's the second FedDev Ontario funding announcement in as many days for Del Mastro, who gave $775,000 to the consulting engineering firm D.M. Wills on Wednesday. The company will put the funds towards the construction of its new headquarters.
Del Mastro said FedDev Ontario was formed with a $1 billion from Ottawa in the wake of the global economic crisis. Its goal is to reduce the impact of the economic downturn on Ontario jobs.
"The history of this region is that of a manufacturing hub, an economic hub, a hub of activity, of innovation, a place where dreams were met, where people felt this was a place of opportunity," Del Mastro said.
"We're working to regenerate that spark, to make this city burn as bright as it ever did, to make this region burn as bright as it ever did."
