Manufacturing in eastern Ontario is rich with many successful and vibrant sectors, including food processing, signage, plastics, personal care products, acrylics, chemicals and electronics. The demand for manufacturing jobs in these sectors is filled by the many successful post-secondary programs in Ontario teaching manufacturing-related skills. Manufacturing is part of the fabric of eastern Ontario (as evidenced by a recent STUFF Magazine launch). So, we are putting a spotlight on some successful manufacturing sectors in the region to highlight how many innovative companies exist in the eastern Ontario region, and the exciting and varied jobs they create as a result.
Before you keep reading, discover why the quality of life in the eastern Ontario region is one of the best!
Eastern Ontario Region’s Exciting Manufacturing Sectors
Food Processing Manufacturers
Food processing takes agricultural products and makes them into food, or transforms one form of food into another. It can include grinding grains to make flour, home cooking, and complex industrial methods for making convenience foods. The food processing industry is extremely important to the eastern Ontario region because it accounts for 9.6% of manufacturing businesses in eastern Ontario, according to EOMWDP data.
Lanthier Bakery is one of the food processing companies that has put Alexandria Ontario on the map. Lanthier was founded in 1932 and is still a family run business 87 years later. It’s now one of the largest commercially owned bakeries in eastern Ontario, and employs 95 people. Lanthier’s baked goods, including Betty enriched white and whole wheat bread, are sold all over Ontario and Quebec.
Glengarry Fine Cheese is located in Lancaster, Ontario, and specializes in fine artisan cheese from cow and goat’s milk. The factory ripens its cheese in European-designed aging rooms that provide the exact environment necessary to create the company’s mouth-watering lines of cheeses. Glengarry’s cheeses are sold all over North America.
Signage Manufacturers
Signage companies design and use symbols to communicate a message to a specific group. We see signs in our everyday life all the time, from street signs to advertising billboards.
Maximum Signs, located in Pontypool, Ontario, was started by Ron Haslam, who has been in the sign business for over 29 years. His business is an accredited dealer of 3M products in eastern Ontario, and works with municipal officials, corporations and smaller companies all across Canada. Maximum Signs can make just about any sign its customers are looking for because it has high-tech equipment and the experts to run it on site.
Jarvis Design and Display is a Kemptville-based business that started in Jarvis Peacock’s mother’s basement 46 years ago. At any one time, Jarvis has employed up to 75 people, keeping them working at digitally designing and installing signage all over not only Ontario, but Canada as well.
Plastics Manufacturer
Plastics are heated and pushed through a heated chamber to create the size and shapes needed for whatever the plastics are to become, including packaging, signs and displays. Plastics are very important to the region, as almost 1000 people are employed in plastics processing alone and plastic and rubber manufacturing accounts for 3% of eastern Ontario manufacturing, according to EOMWDP data.
Laminacorr is located in the Cornwall business park and has been owned and run by Guy Robichaud for 21 years. His plastics plant employs 60 people and has grown to be the largest independent corrugated plastics manufacturer in North America. Laminacorr produces lightweight and durable corrugated plastic used for packaging in the automotive sector, and for plastic signs and displays.
Personal Care Product Manufacturer
Personal care product manufacturers make personal grooming products, including shampoos, skin lotions, makeup and perfumes. The industry is essential to our health and hygiene.
The Green Beaver Company was started by Karen Clark and Alain Ménard in 2002 because they wanted to create healthier personal care products for themselves and their family. The company has grown to 25 employees working at a large manufacturing and warehousing facility in Hawkesbury Ontario. They began with only two products and now sell 86 products directly online and to retailers across Canada.
Acrylics Manufacturer
Acrylics producers make plastic materials with amazing strength, stiffness and optical clarity. Acrylic sheets are easy to fabricate, bond well with adhesives and solvents, and are easy to thermoform.
Longevity Acrylics was founded in 1986 in Summerstown, Ontario, and produces bathware acrylics designs. The company makes all the designs for its products, and services the products in eastern Ontario and across Canada. Longevity Acrylics creates cast acrylic that doesn’t leak, has lots of design options, and doesn’t need caulking to put together.
Chemical Manufacturer
Chemical manufacturing transforms organic and inorganic raw materials by a chemical process to form products. The sector accounts for 3.5% of the region’s manufacturing, according to EOMWDP data.
Evonik, in Maitland Ontario, is a global leader in the production of specialty chemicals. Evonik produces hydrogen peroxide in its large facility where it employs 26 people. The products it creates are green and its processes are sustainable. The company is currently expanding into new markets that include mining, electronics, soil remediation, and water treatment.
Electronic Manufacturer
Electronic manufacturing designs, manufactures, tests, distributes, and repairs electronic components and assemblies for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and accounts for 6.6% of manufacturers operating in the region, according to EOMWDP data.
SigmaPoint Technologies is located in Cornwall Ontario, and was started by Dan Bergeron in 1999. The business has grown from 5 to over 200 employees in 20 years. The company is considered one of the industry leaders in Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS). SigmaPoint fills product lifecycle needs, and prides itself on staying ahead of the technology curve with its expert engineering team.
Eastern Ontario employers and stakeholders continue to invest in the growth of the sector in the region, whether that be through the study of workforce development best practices, continued skills development opportunities, or the collection and analysis of manufacturing labour market information (LMI) through technology, like ManufacturingGPS. As the sector continues to grow, Ontario East wants you to be a part of it.
Want to Work in One of These Sectors?
External links are provided as informational resources only and are not necessarily endorsed by Ontario East.
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