St. Thomas' largest employer is getting a $1-million helping hand from the province.
Formet Industries will combine the grant money announced Thursday with $23-million it has already received from its parent company Magna International for new bumper and structural component technology.
The investment secures the jobs of the plant's 1,300 employees while adding 66 new positions.
"We've already started adding the new 66 positions. We are about half way through that addition already," says Mark Johnson, plant manager.
Formet has been manufacturing auto parts in St. Thomas for 19 years. Since the economic downturn the plant has recovered, hiring 460 people since 2008 including 140 in the last year.
Johnson says growing the customer base and producing a wide range of parts was key to the plant's rebound.
"That's been our strategic focus since 2008, diversifying our customer base and product mix," says Johnson. "We need to keep up with the automotive sector and their focus has been light weighting of vehicles and it's critical to stay up to par with what they are expecting from their supply base."
When it first opened, Formet only supplied parts to General Motors. It now supplies five different automakers with parts to 30 vehicles.
Cambridge MPP Kathryn McGarry, who made the funding announcement, calls the grant great news for St. Thomas and the surrounding area.
"It's very important to invest these dollars into companies that are looking to expand and add employees," says McGarry. "The benefit of the auto sector in Ontario is that for every job that an auto assembly plant creates it means nine more spinoff jobs in the community."
