Maria, Quebec, November 22, 2010 – The Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of State for Canada Economic Development, today announced that the firm Promotek Inc. has been awarded $43,500 in repayable financial assistance for the commercialization of its Soltek III sensor surveillance system. Bringing this new intellectual property-protected instrument to market will result in the creation of five new jobs in the Gaspésie municipality of Maria.
"The Government of Canada is proud to support young enterprises that, like Promotek, are investing in research and development. The Gaspésie firm's latest innovation, the Soltek III, could well create new economic prospects for the region," explained Minister of State Lebel.
Founded in 2008, Promotek brings together research, development and innovation experts from the field of surveillance and fire and intrusion protection. The primary application of the company's Soltek III system is to monitor dump truck traffic on operation sites and calculate the weight of the vehicles based on their number of axles. The instrument relies on a high-definition camera and state-of-the-art software to record and process the data. The firm's target markets currently include Quebec municipalities, which could use the monthly readings produced by this equipment to more easily determine the taxes to be levied against quarry and sandpit operators (Bill 82).
This government assistance will serve for the hiring of a marketing director to promote the Soltek III as well as for the company's development of various marketing tools and participation in trade shows.
"By investing in this Promotek project, Canada Economic Development is contributing to the growth of the Gaspésie manufacturing sector and to the diversification of the region's economic base," the Minister of State added.
The financial assistance announced today has been awarded through Canada Economic Development's Business and Regional Growth program, an initiative put in place to help enterprises increase their innovative capabilities, improve their performance and become more competitive.
- 30 -
Sources:
Karina Gagnon
Communications
Canada Economic Development
Tel.: 418-368-6048 or 1-866-368-0044
E-mail: karina.gagnon@dec-ced.gc.ca
Benoît Fortin
Special Assistant, Communications
Office of the Honourable Denis Lebel
Canada Economic Development
Tel.: 819-997-3319
E-mail: benoit.fortin@dec-ced.gc.ca
