Saint-Nicéphore, Quebec, March 26, 2008 – Jacques Gourde, Member of Parliament for Lotbinière–Chutes-de-la-Chaudière and Parliamentary Secretary to the Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Labour and Minister of Canada Economic Development, today announced $472,500 in repayable funding to Multina Inc., a manufacturing company specializing in the production and delivery of turnkey interior and exterior outfitting systems for transport vehicles such as trains, buses, personal watercraft and snowmobiles.
Awarded through Canada Economic Development's Business and Regional Growth program, this contribution will be used to help Multina Inc. expand into the laminate manufacture of large composite-based components. This will allow the company to consolidate its competitive standing in its existing markets, such as rail transport, while branching out into the aeronautics sector. The Business and Regional Growth program is aimed at helping Quebec enterprises engage in innovation in order to improve their performance and become more competitive, facilitating the transfer of technology and research outputs to enterprises, and creating the right conditions to attract foreign investment to Quebec.
"For Quebec manufacturers to grow and prosper, they have to be able to carve out a place for themselves among the small number of suppliers that giants like Bombardier, Kawasaki or Siemens tend to deal with," noted Mr. Gourde. "In keeping with the commitment we made in our Advantage Canada plan, we are working hard to build a healthy, vibrant and diversified economy. By developing new skills and abilities, this company will not only be strengthening its own standing as a world-class integrator, it will also be encouraging excellence among its Quebec suppliers, who account for 70% of its purchasing," he added.
"In enabling us to adopt and implement new manufacturing processes, this financial assistance from the Government of Canada will bolster our ability to secure major contracts in the aeronautics sector, a market that is extremely demanding but that also offers strong potential for growth. The first contract we are targeting for the manufacture of flight simulators has high strategic value in that it will serve as a window to showcase our company's know-how and technological leadership in the composite materials field to other builders in the sector," concluded Mr. Nadeau, president and chief executive officer of Multina Inc.
This funding from Canada Economic Development will help Multina consolidate 50 jobs at its Saint-Nicéphore plant in the short term, and is expected to lead to the creation of an additional 80 new jobs by the year 2009.
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Sources:
Marie-Claude Lemire
Communications Advisor
Canada Economic Development
Tel.: 514-283-2199
Cell.: 514-895-6237
E-mail: marie-claude.lemire@dec-ced.gc.ca
Jean-Philippe Payment
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn
Canada Economic Development
Tel.: 819-953-5646
Cell.: 613-808-8309
E-mail: jeanphilippe.payment@hrsdc-rhdsc.gc.ca
