Subscribe
Back to Search
Contact(s)
Pictured with Mayor Angelo Orsi (middle) are Ron Higgs, vice-president manufacturing and Kaoru Hamada, president.
"I can't give the City of Orillia enough credit for their assistance in our expansion plans," says Ron Higgs, vice president of manufacturing. "The Mayor, the economic development office and the planning department have all been very helpful and making this a reality."
--------
ORILLIA - A moratorium on industrial development charges was a key factor in a planned expansion of Kubota Metal Corporation's Orillia operation.
"Absolutely," said Ron Higgs, vice-president manufacturing for the Japanese company's Fahramet division. "It’s all part and parcel of the decision making. I can't give (the city) enough credit."
Orillia's largest manufacturing employer announced on Friday it will build a 39,000 square foot manufacturing facility adjacent to its existing operation on Commerce Road.
The $12.4 million plant will produce TXAX-brand friction material for use in the production of automotive brake pads.
The material is a non-hazardous, environmentally friendly alternative to asbestos-based materials that have historically been employed in the manufacture of brake pads.
Construction of the plant will start in June 2012 with the first phase of production anticipated to begin in April 2013.
The first phase will employ about 15 people, with the total number to rise to about 20 when a planned future expansion is in place.
"It's a completely different business to what we are already doing here," said Matthew Webb, manager of customer service. "We are not replacing anything. This is a material that is currently made in Japan and this is the first time it will be manufactured outside of Japan. It will bring a lot of mechanical jobs, skilled jobs."
Officials said the plant would supply North American markets and provide capacity for global growth.
"I like the forward thinking of Kubota and I believe that this is just the start of many more success stories for Kubota," Mayor Angelo Orsi said.
The local operation is a steel foundry that produces primarily high-alloy castings used in the petrochemical, steel and mineral processing industries.
It ships about 300 tons per year and employs approximately 300 people.
Kubota Corporation is headquartered in Osaka, Japan and employs over 25,000 people worldwide.
"I can't think of a better place to be located, and obviously Kubota feels the same way," Higgs added, noting the company was working to expand sales.
"We are already a global company, but we are still not satisfied with our market share," he said. "Obviously, the focus is to increase that market share, and the Orillia plant will play a big part in it."
Dan Landry, Orillia's economic development manager, said the moratorium on development charges, instituted by city council last year, would save Kubota about $400,000.
"If companies are looking at coming here or expanding, let's face it – money talks," Landry said. "We will get it back in tax dollars and economic spin-offs."
Kubota is the second local industry to take advantage of the incentive, in place until the end of 2013. CCI Thermal, which produces heating elements for use in the transit industry, announced late last year it would be doubling the size of its Orillia plant from 50,000 to 100,000 square feet. That expansion was also credited in part to the development charge moratorium.
"It's great to see a local companies expanding. It is much more cost effective to assist local businesses with expansion plans than it is to bring new business to the city," Landry said. "We're working with a couple of other local industries which might also take advantage of this opportunity."
