Donnacona, Quebec, March 20, 2009 − Acting on behalf of the Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of State for Canada Economic Development, Daniel Petit, Member of Parliament for Charlesbourg–Haute-Saint-Charles, today announced $115,000 in repayable funding to the firm ÉCO-Trak for the development and commercialization of innovative products in the industrial machinery sector.
The first products of the new Donnacona-based SMEs are the Éco-limit, a range limiter for excavators, and the Éco-trak 100, a multipurpose “green”tractor. The Éco-limit allows the operator to be alerted of pre-established height and rotation limits, and the Éco-trak 100 is an all-purpose tractor that can be used for snow removal, lawn mowing or cleaning up.
“We believe that supporting business startups will contribute to the medium- and long-term prosperity of our country. ÉCO-Trak’s project is clearly an integral part of the municipality of Donnacona’s diversification efforts. In these difficult economic times, we have to applaud the daring of these entrepreneurs who are not afraid to innovate. We are proud to support them in their development efforts,”said Daniel Petit.
The startup of this new enterprise will require an overall investment of nearly $500,000 and result in the creation of five jobs. Canada Economic Development’s contribution will be used to purchase equipment, participate in trade fairs and develop marketing and Internet broadcast tools.
The funding from Canada Economic Development has been awarded under the Innovation Support initiative of the Business and Regional Growth program, which seeks to improve the competitiveness of SMEs through better management of their approach to developing products, processes and services, and intensification of their efforts to commercialize these innovations.
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Sources:
Guylaine Beaudoin
Communications
Canada Economic Development
Tel.: 418-648-4679
E-mail: guylaine.beaudoin@dec-ced.gc.ca
Éric Lefebvre
Senior Assistant, Communications
Office of the Honourable Denis Lebel
Canada Economic Development
Cell.: 613-608-7906
E-mail: eric.lefebvre@dec-ced.gc.ca
