Province spends $2.3 million on seven North Bay businesses, creates 61 new jobs

Seven North Bay companies are sharing in more than $2 million in Northern Ontario Heritage Fund (NOHF) money to help their businesses grow.

In making the funding announcement at Drillco Mining Friday, Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli said the NOHF is doing exactly what it was designed to do.

“It is helping these businesses, many of which would not be able to expand without this. We’re creating 61 new jobs today, a $2.3 million investment into the North Bay economy,” said Fedeli.

The recipients are primarily from the mining sector.

“Mining has always been a cyclical business and this last business cycle has been very different in Ontario, it has not matched the others. But these North Bay companies have risen to the challenge.”

Drillco Mining and Exploration received a quarter of a million dollars to develop a diamond core drilling rig that can drill in reverse circulation, resulting in potential cost savings for the mining industry.

“We have a diamond core drilling system that is clean tech and modular in nature which means it can be used on surface, underground or in a heli-portable configuration for fly-in jobs. It is the first of its kind in the industry and is a full generation ahead of any other competing drilling systems,” explained David Jones business development officer at Drillco.

“We set ourselves up in North Bay and pride ourselves in saying we are 100 per cent Canadian made. Other than the hydraulic engineering that comes out of Saskatchewan, 100 per cent of all components, all labour, all service and suppliers all comes from Northern Ontario, predominantly North Bay. Every time we make a sale and get one of these units out in the field, the economic benefit is spun off to 14 other suppliers.”

The company is sending one of its drilling systems to West Africa, and one to Mexico.

Drillco president Sylvain Brisson says growing his business in North Bay was one of the better decisions he has made.

“Drillco wouldn’t be where it is without funding. There is no way. It is privately owned and the amount of money that gets put into projects like this is just not feasible without funding,” said Brisson.

“The funding also helps the city of North Bay. The whole network is fantastic. People want you to succeed. Nothing is free, but if you come up with a great idea, they will definitely support you.”

Premier Mining Products received just over $962,000 to expand its manufacturing operation of diamond drilling components and to diversify its market.

“It allowed us to actually buy a lot of equipment. We basically used it for innovation. We’ve got some really high-tech equipment that puts us at the top of our game,” said Joe Guido company founder and president.

“We’ve hired an additional 15 people in the last three months.”

 Miller Technology Inc. received just over $250,000 to develop a battery electric vehicle (BEV) to replace the diesel vehicles currently used in most mines.

“It is designed and developed in house by Miller Technology. It is a fully electric vehicle operating on batteries. We are going to be an industry leader in the market mainly due to our power density of the batteries as well as the charge time that we can offer our customers,” explained Hugh McDermid, product research and business development at Miller Technology.

The company will soon be shipping its product to Australia.  

“It has been a huge year for us. We just got back from an international trade show in Europe and we gained a lot of traction there. We have units going out to mines worldwide.”

One of the non-mining companies to receive funding is Twiggs Coffee Roasters which will receive a little over $347,000 to expand its distribution centre.

“We’re expanding our coffee roasting. So, we’re buying a bigger roaster. So that will enable us to start serving sites which we have right now, and it is also going to expand our baking. So, we’re planning on doing our own baking and distributing to our stores, because we are expanding into the south. We have three new starts happening in the near future, “explained owner Jennifer Twigg.

Other investments include $400,000 for Foraco Canada Ltd to purchase additional drilling equipment to expand its business; $140,000 for Epiroc Canada to improve the resistance and performance of its mining equipment, and $42,000 for FDM4 International Inc., a business software solutions company that targets the fashion apparel industry to expand its facilities.

“We are going to continue to invest in important projects that diversify our local economy and help create good-paying jobs,” said Fedeli.