2013 10 hma newsletter

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Manufacts

October 2013

The 2013-2014 HMA Directory is available in a printed & on-line.

ManuFacts

October #3

A Newsletter for Manufacturers in Huron County

The HMA Directory can be viewed on-line and is searchable. It can be viewed/printed off by clicking on the ‘Manufacturing Directory’ tab and ‘Search Directory’ at: www.huronmanufacturing.ca/ The HMA Directory is an alphabetical listing of every manufacturer in Huron County.

There is also an index of manufacturers by municipality and product at the back of the Directory.

Full Members and Associate Members support the HMA through annual membership fees and are highlighted in the Directory with the HMA logo appearing beside their company name.

Please consider becoming a Full Member of the HMA!

Four HMA United Communities Credit Union Apprenticeship Scholarships

to be awarded at the

HMA Excellence Awards Thursday, November 14, 2013 @ the Seaforth & District Community Centre For tickets, please contact nreynolds@huroncounty.ca

Please send your ideas for future HMA Newsletter topics (submissions, updates, news) to: info@huronmanufacturing.ca

Inquiries can be directed to the Huron Manufacturing Association, 57 Napier St., Goderich ON N7A 1W2. Phone 519-524-8394 ext 3/ Fax 519-524-5677

2013

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Manufacts

October 2013

New Freezing Process for Ontario Garlic Industry Connects Career Fair & Business Trade Show www.industryconnects.org Fourteen school buses carrying over 400 high school students swarmed the “Industry Connects: Huron’s Career Fair & Business Trade Show” held at the Zurich arena on October 3rd. Hosted by the Municipality of Bluewater and the Four County Labour Market Planning Board, the event was completely sold out and deemed a great success by exhibitors and participants alike.

One of the goals of the Industry Connects event was to help bridge the skills gap. Employers in Huron have jobs that aren’t being filled due to a lack of available workers with the right skills.

This was the first year for Industry Connects, but organizers hope it will become an annual event and one that will be led by business, industry and organizations like the HMA. Mark Cassidy Chair of the Industry Connects Partnership thanked the HMA Board for their sponsorship of the event and ongoing support of the Industry Connects Partnership initiative.

The Garlic Box Inc. has been assessed and approved to establish a freezing process for Ontario garlic cloves that pathfinds a solution to a finished quality product. Trials will begin in September with this year’s harvest at Suncoast IQF in Delhi. Suncoast IQF is a state -of-the-art freezing facility specializing in fast freezing local produce. Northland Garlic farms of Durham is working in cooperation with The Garlic Box.

The ability to freeze peeled garlic cloves for consumer and food service use offers a solution to the new and emerging issue to buy local in the food sector by making Ontario garlic available year around. The investment

by The Garlic Box Inc. is partially funded through The Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP) and the Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC). The investment by the Ontario government to support the project is intended to promote agri-food innovation and diversification.

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Manufacts

Annual General Meeting

The AGM was held on May 30th at the White Carnation in Holmesville.

Andrew Campbell of Fresh Air Media was the guest speaker. He spoke about Social Media & Business: What Rural Manufacturers Need to Know about this Communication Revolution. Those is attendance learned about Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest. For news related to your business, follow HMA on Twitter @HMAcoordinator.

The purpose of the AGM is to ensure that members have a say in the operations of the HMA. Members are also encouraged to be involved in the business of the association year round. If a member has a question or concern they can speak to the HMA Coordinator or one of the HMA board members.

Meetings of the board of directors are held on the second Tuesday of the month and are open to all.

An estimated ½ million pounds of garlic were harvested in Ontario this year. The Garlic Box Inc is a garlic grower, processor, wholesaler and a member of the Ontario Garlic Growers Association (OGGA).

The HMA says farewell to Co-ordinator After 10 years of assisting the manufacturing sector in Huron County, the HMA coordinator position is changing hands. Monica Walker-Bolton has taken on more planning responsibilities within the Huron County Planning and Development Department.

At the AGM, Frank Palen acknowledged and thanked Monica Walker-Bolton, past HMA Co-ordinator, for her hard work and commitment to the HMA.

Welcome to new HMA Co-ordinator The new HMA Coordinator is Carol Leeming. Carol has a background in planning and development work and has been involved recently with projects related to rural broadband, local immigration, and small business. She coordinates the Self-Employment Benefit Program on behalf of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.

She is part of the Huron County Economic Development Services team and works out of the Huron Small Business Enterprise Centre in Seaforth Carol is enjoying working with the manufacturing sector and participated in the High School tours in the Spring.

HMA Chair Frank Palen (centre) presents retiring HMA Board Members Dave Hemingway (left) and Luke Janmaat (right) with Certificates of Appreciation for their many years of service to the HMA.

Inquiries can be directed to the Huron Manufacturing Association, 57 Napier St., Goderich ON N7A 1W2. Phone 519-524-8394 ext 3/ Fax 519-524-5677

October 2013

Follow Carol on Twitter @HMAcoordinator

Inquiries can be directed to the Huron Manufacturing Association, 57 Napier St., Goderich ON N7A 1W2. Phone 519-524-8394 ext 3/ Fax 519-524-5677

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Manufacts

Are You Ready for These New Health & Safety Laws If you are an Owner, Executive, Board Member, Manager, Supervisor, Foreperson, Team Leader, Lead Hand, or any other person who has authority over anyone else at work, then this article might be some of the most important reading you will do this year.

As a Supervisor, did you know that you are personally liable for fines of up to $25,000 and/ or incarceration up to one year, if there is a serious incident at your workplace during which you were found to have provided inadequate supervision to a worker?

This year, the stakes for companies and Supervisors are going to increase, as the Ministry of Labour announces new minimum standards for both Supervisor training, as well as new standards for the training of New & Young Workers. These forthcoming announcements are expected the first week of August.

October 2013

Manufacturing Sector topic of Discussion on Workforce Focus Radio Talk Show On Tuesday, September 17th, Frank Palen, HMA Chair and HMA Board Member Stephen Oud joined Gemma Mendez-Smith of the Four County Labour Market Planning Board in the studio of Bluewater Radio/CFBW 91.3 FM to discuss the manufacturing sector, employment and the Huron County economy.

To listen, visit http://www.planningboard.ca/workforcefocus/workforce-focus-september-172013/ This talk show is on every week and focuses on local workforce topics. To listen to other topics please check out: http://www.planningboard.ca/workforcefocus/

Once these announcements are made, the Ministry will require that all Supervisors and New & Young ("At Risk") Workers, receive training that adheres to these standards. The Ministry will also insist that ALL Supervisors, going forward, be able to prove their legal competence to supervise others by providing proof of having received adequate Supervisor training.

Since it is the most misunderstood of the two new pieces of legislation, please see "The Ministry of Labour's New Supervisor Training Standards - What You Need to Know".

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Manufacts

Huron County Skills Gap Employer Survey You have been saying how hard it is to get the skills you need to help your business grow. You have been struggling to keep your talented staff. Now we need your help to get the correct information and get your message out.

The Four County Labour Market Planning Board together with the Huron Business Centre is conducting a survey to help us better understand the present and future skills requirements of employers in Huron County.

Your responses will help us better identify the existing labour force skills and forecast your future skill requirements. We will also be able to highlight labour pool gaps critical to the sustainability and growth of your business.

Your participation is greatly appreciated and you can access the survey through the following link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ HuronSkillsGapStudy We will publish the results of the survey early next year and we will make it available through the Four County Labour Market Planning Board.

The information you provide will be aggregated and summarized with the data provided by other survey respondents. No personal information will be reported on and the name of your business will never be used.

For more information on the study please contact: Gemma Mendez-Smith, Executive Director Four County Labour Market Planning Board Email: executivedirector@planningboard.ca Tel: 519-881-2725 Ext. 22

Inquiries can be directed to the Huron Manufacturing Association, 57 Napier St., Goderich ON N7A 1W2. Phone 519-524-8394 ext 3/ Fax 519-524-5677

October 2013

Kenpal Farm Products Inc. Celebrates 30th Anniversary On Tuesday, August 13, 2013 approximately 400 Kenpal customers, staff members and families gathered to enjoy an afternoon of entertainment and socializing at KenPal Farm Products in Centralia. A Trade show of exhibitors was held and Lunch was catered by Jerry Radar Homestyle Catering from Zurich. The celebration included historical displays and entertainment.

Kenpal provides a full range of high quality nutritional products and customized feeding programs to the swine, dairy, beef, equine, poultry, goat and sheep industries since 1976.

CONGRATS go to Frank Palen on receiving the 2013 Ontario Pork Congress Award !!

The Ontario Pork Congress Industry Leadership Award has been presented to Frank Palen.

Palen is the Purchasing and Special Projects Manager for Kenpal Farm Products.

In presenting the award, Congress officials cited his 25 years of service to the Ontario Pork Congress and the numerous other activities and committees Palen is involved in.

The Leadership Award may be awarded annually to an individual deemed to have given freely of his or her time and provided distinguished service to the Ontario Pork Industry. (Ray Baynton, Blackburn News)

Inquiries can be directed to the Huron Manufacturing Association, 57 Napier St., Goderich ON N7A 1W2. Phone 519-524-8394 ext 3/ Fax 519-524-5677

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Manufacts

October 2013

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Manufacts

New Concept Quality Doors Celebrates Grand Opening Larry Fraser and Dennis Kupferschmidt being presented a certificate from Mayor Paul Gowing to celebrate NCQD's Grand Opening.

Left to Right: Ben Lobb, MP Lisa Thompson MPP Paul Gowing, Mayor of Morris-Turnberry Larry Fraser, Chief Process Officer Dennis Kupferschmidt, Chief Operations Officer

Awards Winners to Be announced November 14 Categories

New Concept Quality Doors Open for Business!

On Friday, June 21, 2013, a Grand Opening celebration was held in Morris-Turnberry, near Wingham for the County’s newest manufacturer, New Concept Quality Doors (NCQD). With hundreds of people in attendance, including dignitaries Ben Lobb, Huron-Bruce MP and Lisa Thompson, HuronBruce MPP, an official ribbon cutting ceremony opened NCQD’s doors to the public.

NCQD’s story is one of triumph over tragedy. After a fire in January that destroyed the MDL Doors plant in Brussels, former MDL employees Larry Fraser and Dennis Kupferschmidt decided to pool their experience and resources and create New Concept Quality Doors. Their first plan of action to was rehire as many former MDL employees as possible – employees with proven experience and dedication in the door manufacturing industry. With 23 employees currently on staff, all but 2 are former MDL staff.

are currently producing 35 doors a day, with a 40% growth in sales per week. To keep up with the demand, there are plans in the works to bring in a semi-automated line. Former MDL Doors business associates have signed on with NCQD to become dealers as well. As part of their marketing plan, a new website is in the works with hopes of it being up and running very soon.

The transition has not been an easy one, but thanks to the generosity of the Royal Homes plant, NCQD has taken up residency in one of Royal’s former buildings at 205 Arthur Street.

AtWork Office Furniture, of Cambridge, has donated all of the office furniture.

Fraser, Kupferschmidt and their NCQD team are in business for the long haul and they are aiming to become the go-to business for pre-hung steel and fiberglass doors. The future is bright for New Concept Quality Doors and sincere thanks is extended to everyone who has played a part in its inception.

Production and sales are much higher than anticipated by both Fraser and Kupferschmidt, as they

Follow HMA on Twitter: @HMACoordinator

Junior Manufacturer of the Year Award – will be awarded to an individual under 30 years of age who is working in a manufacturing business in Huron County and has made a significant contribution to his or her workplace.

Youth Integration Award – will be awarded to a Huron County manufacturer that has excelled in hiring and retaining young people and implemented progressive initiatives for advancing young people within the company.

Innovative Manufacturing Award – will be awarded to a Huron County manufacturer who has implemented significant process improvements, organizational improvements or expansions and has demonstrated competitive success, innovation and leadership.

Innovative Product Award – will be awarded to a Huron County manufacturer who has successfully met the challenge of transforming a good idea into a product on the market since 2007.

The winning product will chosen based on innovation, creativity, acceptance in the marketplace, delivery of value to customers,

October 2013

competitive advantages and business success.

Corporate Citizenship Award—will be awarded to a manufacturing company in Huron that has made outstanding contributions to their community and to the Huron Manufacturing Association.

Outstanding Associate Member Award – will be awarded to an associate member of the Huron Manufacturing Association who showed substantial involvement with the HMA and has assisted in promoting the goals of the HMA for a strong manufacturing sector in Huron County.

Green Leader Award – will be awarded to a Huron County manufacturer who has demonstrated leadership in development of environmentally sustainable processes, policies and products.

Employer of the Year Award – will be awarded to a Huron County manufacturer who has strived to retain their current employees through innovative ideas and professional development.

Exporting Award – will be awarded to a Huron County manufacturer who has achieved exporting success with improved sales figures outside Canada, accessing new markets and/or taking more market share.

Health & Safety Award – will be awarded to a Huron County manufacturer who has achieved excellent results in Health and Safety reducing occupational hazards and disease and/or developing innovative Health and Safety policy.

Tech Teacher Award—Selected from among Huron County Tech Teachers.

HMA Awards also presented to:

Huron Manufacturer of the Year Chairman’s Award

For Up-To-Date News Visit: www.huronmanufacturing.ca