Ancaster-based automotive parts company gets $24M from province
The province has announced $24.1 million in funding for a new technology and product development project at an Ancasterbased auto parts company that will create 326 new jobs.
The funding is part of a larger overall investment by Stackpole International valued at $351 million.
The project, scheduled for completion in 2024, is aimed at meeting demands for more energy efficient and alternative fuel vehicles.
The company designs and manufactures powder metal components for transmissions.
The project is expected to create the new “high value” jobs at Stackpole’s five plants in Ancaster, Mississauga and Stratford, and help safeguard its current 1,714 jobs across southern Ontario, according to Ted McMeekin, MPP for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale.
About 100 of the new jobs will be in Ancaster.
McMeekin, in making the announcement Thursday at the company’s Ancaster headquarters on Cormorant Road, called Stackpole “a great Canadian and Ontario success story.”
The $900-million company has about 650 employees at its two plants in Ancaster. It also employs 3,400 people worldwide in North America, Europe, Asia and Turkey.
However, Ontario is at the core of the company’s manufacturing and research and development, said McMeekin.
“Our government appreciates you keeping good quality, highpaying jobs in the province and welcomes the opportunity to work with you,” he said.
The funding — through Ontario’s Jobs and Prosperity Fund — is for up to $24.1 million. The final amount depends on criteria being met at various levels, McMeekin said.
Stackpole’s new technology project involves purchasing new state-of-the-art equipment for powder metal manufacturing.
Powder metal technology “gives higher power density and lighter solutions for transmissions that help drive the efficiencies of new eight-, nine- and 10-speed transmissions, from cars to light trucks,” said company vice-president of the powder metal division, Andrew Dempsey.
The project also establishes a global company research centre in Mississauga for “mechatronic systems development in the electrification of hydraulic systems for hybrid powertrains,” Dempsey said.
Mechatronics is a combination of mechanical and electronic technology. It makes vehicles more energy-efficient and increases the driving range of electric or hybrid vehicles, he added.
Ann Herten, head of human resources and environment, health and safety, said the government funding “positions the company to lead in fuel efficient technologies.”
Stackpole Industries supplies parts for General Motors, Ford and Fiat-Chrysler in Canada, and other automakers throughout the world — as well as products to some non-automotive businesses.
The company was started in Pennsylvania in 1906 and has been in Canada since 1956.
It is owned by parent company Johnson Electric, based out of Hong Kong.