March 7, 2012 – Architectural glass produced in Collingwood will soon be used in more
buildings across North America, thanks to an investment of up to $3.71 million announced by Kellie Leitch,
Member of Parliament for Simcoe-Grey, on behalf of the Honourable Gary
Goodyear, Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency
for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario).
This funding through FedDev Ontario's Prosperity Initiative
will enable Agnora to implement a $7.42 million project to
research, develop and produce new lines of architectural glass products.
"Thanks to this funding, Agnora will establish itself as a
major player in the North American market for producing high-end
architectural glass," said Leitch. "Investments in jobs and growth
like this one demonstrate our government's commitment to helping
companies become more innovative, competitive, and productive."
Agnora currently produces some of the largest format architectural glass in North America at
130 by 240 inches. The funding will allow
the company to expand its plant, buy new equipment and software, as well
as construct a research and development laboratory. This will result in
higher quality glass production and more energy-efficient products to
support LEED certified building projects.
These improvements will not only position Agnora to better
compete in the North American market against European producers, it will
allow local access to products that were only available overseas, which
will dramatically reduce the lead time for these products.
"With the FedDev Ontario support, Agnora will be a
world-class manufacturing facility leading in the fabrication of jumbo architectural glass products," said Richard Wilson, president of Agnora.
The investment announced supports the government of
Canada's science, technology, and innovation agenda, which is focused on
increasing the country's productivity, creating jobs, and growing the
economy.
Created in 2009, FedDev Ontario supports the southern Ontario
economy by building on the region's strengths and creating
opportunities for jobs and economic growth. The Agency has launched a
number of initiatives to create a southern Ontario advantage and to place the region in a strong position to compete in the global
economy. These initiatives are designed to encourage partnerships and
support projects that help the region's businesses and communities
become more competitive, innovative, and diversified.
Agnora Inc. began operations in June, 2011. The company uses
glass in block form as its raw material to shape, form and fabricate it
into various glass products for its customers including laminated,
tempered, painted and insulated glass. Agnora's customers come from a
variety of areas within the construction industry including glaziers,
architects, general contractors and competing glass fabricators who do
not have the large format capability.
FedDev Ontario is providing Agnora with a repayable
contribution of up to $3,710,000 to help the company expand its
production volumes and architectural glass product offerings, increase
product quality, and enhance the energy conservation properties of the
products. The proposed R&D lab will support Agnora's certification
of products required to support LEED.
The company will buy also industry specific production
software that will increase productivity, material efficiency and will
allow for the production of more complex work. The technology will
improve inventory control and maintenance and serve as a customer and
job process tracking control system.
The support from FedDev Ontario will give Agnora a
competitive edge in providing innovative architectural glass products to
the North American market and is expected to help the company create an
additional 30 full-time jobs.
FedDev Ontario's Prosperity Initiative
is designed to encourage businesses, not-for-profit organizations and
post-secondary institutions in southern Ontario to undertake projects
that will result in a more productive, diversified and competitive
economy.
Funding is available for projects that:
- enhance productivity by accelerating the adoption of new
technologies, processes and skills that enhance the region's businesses
and sectors; - diversify the regional economy by increasing the
number of new industries or opportunities with the potential to have
long-term impacts on regional economic diversity; and - build a competitive advantage in the region by
creating or expanding economic clusters and enhancing their global
competitiveness.
Applications for funding are being accepted and assessed on an ongoing basis.
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