115 new skilled jobs will be coming to the London area

Three Southwestern Ontario businesses are receiving a combined $5.6 million in federal funding to help expand their operations.

The loans from the Federal Economic Development Agency of Southern Ontario will help Factory Bucket, Titian Trailers, and Oxford Pallet & Recyclers create 115 new jobs.

“With the investments Factory Bucket, Titian Trailers, and Oxford Pallet & Recyclers Ltd. are adopting new technology and processes, taking advantage of new opportunities, staying competitive, growing their workforces, and keeping quality jobs in southwestern Ontario,” London West MP Kate Young said.

“We know that for our economy to come back stronger, we need to support the potential in our citizens and rural communities.”

Oxford Pallet, a wood pallet recycling business in Norwich, is getting $1 million, which will create 20 jobs by installing new, advanced equipment, including a custom-designed automated pallet sort line in its new 48,000-square-foot facility.

“This will further enable us to expand in our rural community, to create jobs, and to advance in creating a cleaner environment by continuing to recycle wooden pallets, cardboard, and plastics, thus eliminating mass waste being put into our landfills,” said Henk Vrugteveen, president and owner of Oxford Pallet.

Factory Bucket, a software-as-a-service provider based in London, is getting $500,000 to, among other things, scale up the development and sales of its software.

CEO and Co-founder David Uram spoke about hiring a recent Conestoga college graduate. After receiving the call that the company had been approved for funding, it was able to take on the recent grad who had immigrated to Canada a few years back.

“That call means a lot more to him as an individual now, getting a job to be able to grow and establish himself in the marketplace versus waiting many months,” Uram said.

Titan Trailers is getting $4.1 million which will help create 75 skilled jobs between Tillsonburg and Delhi.

The $4.1 million will support the construction of its newly modernized Delhi facility and the reconfiguration of its newly acquired Tillsonburg facility.

“The Government of Canada is proud to support these three projects that build on the region’s ability to innovate across many sectors,” said Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages and Minister responsible for FedDev Ontario.

“As we work to build back better, it is encouraging to see these local companies seize opportunities for growth, not only strengthening our economy but also creating more than 115 quality jobs in the region.”