70-job factory opening its doors, adding to London region’s industrial growth

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STRATHROY – A Quebec-based company’s new $45-million manufacturing facility here will add 70 full-time jobs and have a “huge impact on the community,” one official says.

More than 100 people were in attendance for Wednesday’s opening of Norbec’s 14,492-square-metre (156,000-square-feet) plant on nine hectares of industrial land in Strathroy. The company makes insulated metal panels.

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“The 70 jobs, of course, are important, but I think the ability for this company to grow within the community is also more important,” said Heather Lalonde, Strathroy’s economic development commissioner. “It affects the retail sector, it affects the housing sector, it affects every sector, and in a hugely positive way.”

Added Strathroy Mayor Colin Grantham: “I think this is fantastic, let alone the $45-million investment and the 70 jobs.”

Jan Lembregts, president of Norbec – which also manufactures walk-in coolers and freezers – said Strathroy’s location in Southwestern Ontario and the municipality’s workforce drew the company to the area.

“(The) local major investment which gets (the company) close to our customers . . . here in Strathroy, in Southwestern Ontario, we can service Ontario really well, and we can also service the Midwest,” Lembregts said.

The new plant at 990 Wright St. will employ a variety of positions such as plant managers, production operators, engineers and maintenance staff, company officials have said. The Strathroy facility marks Norbec’s first foray into Ontario, which Lembregts called a “milestone.” The company’s other two manufacturing facilities are located in Quebec.

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Lembregts said the insulated metal panels manufactured at Norbec’s Strathroy location would be used as prefabricated steel walls and roofs in various facilities such as “industrial and commercial buildings, big warehouses, factories, sports centres and pools.”

The company also produces the panels for diverse markets like refrigerated warehouses and food processing plants.

Lalonde said the municipality keeps in close contact with local manufacturers “to have our finger on the pulse of where they’re going and how we can work to perhaps complement their industry in Strathroy.”

The company’s arrival in Strathroy underscores the London region’s manufacturing boom.

In St. Thomas, Volkswagen’s highly anticipated $7-billion electric vehicle battery plant will employ 3,000 workers when it is expected to open in 2027.

Also, just last month, The Free Press reported more than 200 industrial jobs will be added to London’s workforce after three manufacturers bought land in the city with plans to build new plants. Only Maple Armor Group, which makes residential, commercial and industrial alarm systems, was named while the two others didn’t want to be identified.

Grantham, Strathroy’s mayor, said he welcomes companies looking at his town as a location to open businesses, but like other rapidly growing communities such as St. Thomas, the municipality is facing a land shortage.

“Our problem right now is we need more land. We have to get more industrial land,” Grantham said.

bwilliams@postmedia.com
@BrianWatLFPress

The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada

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