Category Archives: Canadian economy

12.25.09
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Navistar content to keep its Ontario workers idling

Navistar Inc. plans to keep its heavy truck assembly plant in Chatham idle “for now,” but the company’s top official isn’t giving any sign that it will reopen.

Dan Ustian, the company’s chairman and chief executive, told analysts Tuesday that the company has wrestled with the issue for several months but still has made no final decision on whether to close the plant in southwestern Ontario.

The plant has not produced a vehicle in almost six months after 350 employees were laid off and negotiations with the Canadian Auto Workers for a new contract hit an impasse. The shutdown is also adversely affecting numerous suppliers and their workforces.
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Posted by Ian:
On Sept. 4, 2003 International Truck and Engine Corporation announced it would keep its Chatham, Ontario plant open and maintain a production schedule of heavy trucks, as the result of a long-term investment by the company, Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario. Another promise not worth the paper it was written on. Here is the full transcript of that 2003 company release.

12.04.09
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Aylmer IGPC ethanol plant provides economic benefits

Official IGPC plant opening in Aylmer, December, 2008

Construction of the Alymer-based Integrated Grain Processors Co-op Inc. ethanol plant began in mid-2007. The facility has been operational since Oct. 1, 2008. In addition to producing 162 million liters (43 million gallons) of corn-based ethanol annually, the plant also produces approximately 129,600 tons of distillers grains each year.

The plant is owned by a cooperative made up of approximately 900 members. Ownership is nearly evenly split between regional farmers and other representatives of agriculture-related businesses. The facility was capitalized in part by equity investment by the facilities ownership. Additional capitalization was sourced from a consortium of banks and federal and provincial government incentive programs.

In its study, Doyletech found that construction of the plant contributed to a net spending increase within the region of approximately $275 million, was well as an annual increase of at least $50 million in new economic spending in the region as a direct consequence of the plant’s operations.
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12.01.09
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Elgin Mall – connecting with the community

For shoppers in secondary cities such as St. Thomas, Ont., located 30 kilometres south of London, the Elgin Mall is more than a mid-market retail hub – it’s a destination for a tightly knit community that has seen its manufacturing base battered by the recession.

When property manager Julie Cole looks down the mall’s climate-controlled corridors, she sees no evidence of the deadmalls.com phenomenon, which chronicles the slow death of once-thriving retail hubs across North America.

At the Elgin, management has been looking for more creative ways to serve this city of 37,000 – an experience that goes beyond shopping, Ms. Cole says.
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11.23.09
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Good news for recession-battered St. Thomas

Formet Industries, St. Thomas


Magna International (MGa.TO) said on Monday that it has won a contract to make the third generation of frames for General Motors Co’s [GM.UL] full-size light-duty pickups and sport utility vehicles.

Magna said it would not disclose the amount of the contract. It said the new frames would replace GM’s GMT 900, which is the frame for the big Chevy Suburbans, Tahoes, and Silvarados.

The frames will be built at plants owned by Magna’s Cosma unit in St. Thomas, Ontario, and Saltillo, Mexico, which currently make the GMT 900.

11.21.09
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St. Thomas/Elgin needs to go green to jump-start economy, says Jack Layton

From the Times-Journal:
An industrial strategy, taking aim at eco-friendly jobs and technology, is what’s needed to help the flagging economy in Elgin-St. Thomas.
So said federal NDP leader Jack Layton who, Friday, met with a dozen local labour leaders, including representatives from Ford’s St. Thomas Assembly Plant, at the CAW Hall, north of Talbotville.
Irene Mathyssen, NDP MP for London-Fanshawe, attended as well.
“The message is unanimous: Manufacturing is in a crisis here and the federal government just doesn’t understand the magnitude of it,” Layton said. “What we need is an industrial strategy that’s going to put this, (the) best manufacturing work force in the world, back to work.”
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11.11.09
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Closed Sterling plant could be going green

sterling-sign

Former Sterling Truck plant in St. Thomas


A deal is in the works to turn the closed-down Sterling Truck plant in St. Thomas into a green energy manufacturer, the area’s MP says.

A national Canadian manufacturer has signed a memorandum of agreement to share technology with another industry that develops green energy platforms, including solar energy, with the intention to manufacture at the St. Thomas plant, MP Joe Preston (PC — Elgin-Middlesex-London) said yesterday.

“We are not at the point where we can say it will happen,” Preston cautioned. “But memorandums of agreements have been signed. There is interest out there. It feels good. We have to start sharing any good news, anything that is positive.”

The new manufacturer has “elements of many different types of green energy,” but solar panel production is a big part of it, he said.

11.04.09
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A future without Ford – the new reality

By Kyle Rea
St. Thomas Times-Journal
As fallout continues from the news that Ford’s St. Thomas Assembly Plant will shut its doors in fall 2011, three of the biggest casualties locally — Southwold township, the Lear Seating plant and the Elgin-St. Thomas United Way — are taking a look at a future without the plant.
Last Friday, leaders of the Canadian Auto Workers union confirmed what has long been suspected, that the St. Thomas Ford facility will shut its doors in September, 2011, as the company looks to phase out production of the large cars manufactured there — the Crown Victoria, Lincoln Town Car and Grand Marquis. When that happens, 1,400 people will lose their jobs.
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11.03.09
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Ford’s closure of St. Thomas assembly plant to affect thousands of spinoff jobs

crown vic
TORONTO — The impact of the closure of a Ford assembly plant in southwestern Ontario will extend far beyond the plant itself, costing the region thousands of spinoff jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue, according to union officials and local politicians.

Ford (NYSE:F) announced Friday the plant in St. Thomas, near London, will close in 2011 due to a lack of demand for the full-sized sedans it produces.

The closure of a major manufacturing facility can be disastrous to the region in which it’s located, and Canadian Auto Workers president Ken Lewenza estimated that 6,000 spinoff jobs will be lost above and beyond the 1,400 workers directly employed by the plant.
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11.03.09
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Ford turns up nose at unprecedented offer to save St. Thomas Assembly Plant

In a last-ditch effort to save the St. Thomas assembly plant, the province and Canadian Auto Workers made offers of cash and unprecedented concessions — but Ford Motor Co. said no.

The province offered as much as $150 million and the union told the company to cherry-pick details of any collective agreement and put it on the table, CAW national president Ken Lewenza said yesterday.

“(Ford of Canada vice-president) Joe Hendricks told me directly he could not get a better deal from any government than the one the Ontario government was prepared to put in front of Ford Motor Co. He was clear about that,” Lewenza said. “They were prepared to do more than any jurisdiction in the world. The Ontario government was prepared to be a major player.”

Instead, Ford will close the St. Thomas assembly plant in September 2011, cutting 1,600 jobs.

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