EXCLUSIVE: Major investor scouting Fort Erie – hundreds of jobs at stake, sources say
An architect's drawing of the type of facilities GreenSafe Demanufacturing Inc. is looking to build.
JOHN ROBBINS / Bullet News
FORT ERIE – A major investor is looking at opening one, possibly two, “demanufacturing” plants in Fort Erie, which could see up to 340 jobs come to town.
Senior official from GreenSafe Demanufacturing Inc. are scheduled to arrive in Fort Erie Thursday to scout locations and meet with local and Federal government representatives about expanding into this area.
Bullet News learned of the visit by way of confidential sources, who characterized the talks as a major opportunity for the town.
“These guys are serious investors,” said one source, who cannot be named.
GreenSafe specializes in the “demanufacturing” process, which the company describes as a more thorough breakdown and sorting of end-of-life products and appliances than traditionally employed in the recycling industry.
The company has been looking to establish several new facilities, each employing about 170 people.
Sources say the company is looking at Fort Erie for a number of reasons, including the availability of land, close proximity to highways and the border and access to a major rail lines.
The visit is expected to continue through Friday and involve discussions with federal government contacts about incentive programs available to companies looking to invest in Canada and create jobs here.
Town officials have been mum about the visit, neither confirming nor denying information received from sources.
A deal to build even one plant would be a major boost for Fort Erie, which has had more than its share of ups and downs on the job front lately.
Late last week, Bullet News reported the town’s latest addition, call-centre giant InfoCision, which opened its first Canadian location in Fort Erie in July, plans to increase its workforce to 100 from the current 35 employees working at its Garrison Road location.
But there has been bad news, too.
DMI Industries, which makes the large towers that support wind turbines, recently laid off 50 workers due to a softening of demand for its product due to uncertainty surrounding the future of green-energy policy in Ontario.
Meanwhile, the future of roughly 200 jobs at contract drug maker Pharmetics Inc. is up in the air as the town and the union representing the workers wait to see if a new buyer can be found for the Jarvis Street plant, which last May was left out of a deal that saw the rest of the chain sold to Monitor Clipper Partners, an independent, private-equity firm headquartered in Boston.
jrobbins@bulletnewsniagara.ca
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