And Now For Some Good News
Collingwood Industry Is Calling Back Workers
And Moving Product

Collingwood Mayor Chris Carrier is painting a bright picture when it comes to assessing the present situation, and future, of industry in Collingwood. "I think it's fair to use the term 'survival mode' when looking at what has happened recently" Mayor Carrier said. "A number of our major industries went into survival mode. We saw a number of layoffs in early 2009 and we saw a number of actions being taken by industry to become far more efficient in looking for any savings that they could find" Carrier added.

While we were experiencing tough times, Mayor Carrier said the downturn in the economy also provided industry with significantly lower energy costs than the previous year and a softer Canadian Dollar (at the time) which combined to help local industry keep costs under control while moving through a tough period.

"A number of our businesses, Pilkington and MacLean Engineering examples, have now called back employees. Carrier pointed out that McLean Engineering recently shipped mining equipment to Chile recently which provides another example of how local industry is emerging from the shadow of the recession. "It's very impressive to see the trucks carrying mining equipment moving along highway 26 and knowing that the product is coming from Collingwood and going to all parts of the globe" Carrier said.

In addition, Mayor Carrier said that VOA in Collingwood, a plant that produces seatbelt webbing, is having a great year. "Their board of directors, which is not a local board but a multi-national company, is recognizing that the Collingwood facility produces such a high quality product that capacity from some of the other places has come to the Collingwood plant which is great news" Carrier said.

Mayor Carrier said that Pilkington in Collingwood is introducing some new product lines. "It's not just glass they're adding some components to have a more finished product to ship to their customers" Carrier said.

"Canadian Mist is doing well and we're very pleased with the relationship with Canadian Mist and the new sewer effluent bylaw in large part will help them as an industry. Amazingly Green, formerly Collingwood Ethanol, has made significant investments in its plant and things are improving, so we're looking for more positive results from them" Carrier added.

Carrier said that Barber Glass is doing well at its new location in Collingwood. "It's my understanding that some of the capacity from their Guelph manufacturing facility has moved to Collingwood, and that's because that some of the equipment that they have invested in the Collingwood facility has a higher degree of sophistication in manufacturing thicker glass that can survice such events as earthquakes and hurricanes for example" Carrier said.

Mayor Carrier believes that people need to hear some of these good news stories. Too often, only the bad news stories fill newscasts and business sections of newspapers. "People need to know that industry is working hard. The town is working hard with our industries to ensure that their energy consumption is as effective and efficient as it should be. The team from Collus will go in and help them and the team from the PUC for those who use water will go in and help them" Carrier said.

Mayor Carrier said the town is doing everything possible to work with local industry, but pointed out that the ultimate decision making process is controlled by the board of directors of each specific company, often from other countries.