A multi-million dollar federal investment hopes to simultaneously grow southwestern Ontario's manufacturing sector while helping to battle climate change.
London North Centre MP Peter Fragiskatos announced on Wednesday that the federal government is making $12.73-million available for ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks Americas Ltd. in Woodstock.
The auto-parts manufacturer will use the money to complete its adoption of robotic laser-welding to produce lighter weight steel at its 93,000 sq ft facility. The investment also secures 45 existing jobs.
"Critical here is the fact that these jobs are very well paying. They provide benefits for the employees as well," says Fragiskatos. "If we are going to talk about growing this ecomony in Canada so we can compete internationally then we have to focus on the sorts of jobs that put food on the table, that allow people to live and lead meaningful lives, and that's what we are seeing here. It's a heartening story for Woodstock and this entire region."
Fragiskatos says the company's goal of reducing the carbon footprint of vehicles is in line with that of the federal government.
"We're talking about climate change. You talk about the light weight steel that is being produced here and automatically you will talk about the fuel efficiency benefits and the CO2 emissions that are reduced as a result," says Fragiskatos. "It's not only an economic story, we are also talking about an environmental aspect here."
ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks produces auto-parts for the Chrysler Pacifica, which is assembled at the Chrysler Canada assembly plant in Windsor. The company hopes to soon add the Honda Pilot and Odyssey to its manufacturing portfolio.
"As of two weeks ago we've leased an additional 40,000 sq ft that is adjacent to this facility, to position ourselves for growth in the next few years," says Todd Baker, president of ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks. "We anticipate we'll be adding people and continuing to grow in this area."
The Woodstock facility opened in March of this year. It is ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks second manufacturing plant in Ontario.