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HomeNewsPeterborough Manufacturer To Receive $1 Million From Province To Produce Bottles For...

Peterborough Manufacturer To Receive $1 Million From Province To Produce Bottles For Hand Sanitizer

PETERBOROUGH-The Ontario government is investing $1 million from the Ontario Together Fund to help Peterborough’s Merit Precision manufacture bottles for hand sanitizers and disinfectants. This expansion will create 10 new local jobs and retain 75 positions, while producing the vital products to support the fight against COVID-19 according to the province.

“It’s great to see how Ontario’s manufacturing sector continues to step up and respond with made-in-Ontario solutions in our fight against COVID-19 and create jobs at the same time,” said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. “Companies like Merit Precision are advancing our local supply chains of critical products and bringing their products to market quickly and safely so we can continue to fight the pandemic today and lay the foundation for Ontario’s recovery.”

Merit Precision is investing in two blow moulding lines, tooling and the necessary infrastructure to manufacture bottles. This investment will enable the company to provide locally produced bottles for hand sanitizers and disinfectants manufactured in Ontario by Peterborough-based Charlotte Products. Currently, Charlotte Products is facing the challenge of not having enough bottles to meet the growing demand for its cleaning products.

Merit Precision, an injection moulding company that primarily manufactures parts and components for the auto sector, is investing $1.3 million in this project, which includes purchasing molding, automation and bottle-making equipment.

“This investment demonstrates our government’s commitment to a vibrant manufacturing sector in the Province of Ontario, including here in Peterborough-Kawartha”, said Dave Smith, MPP for Peterborough-Kawartha. “It is amazing to see the incredible working partnership between Charlotte Products and Merit Precision Molding, which has led to the creation of more jobs in our community. Like many municipalities across the province, we are struggling during the pandemic and these types of innovative partnerships are critical to support our local economy.”

“To be globally competitive and resilient in times of crisis, supply chain partners must be innovative and find new ways to collaborate,” said Tim Barrie, President, Merit Precision Limited.  “This investment will help to build an integrated cluster for sanitizers and disinfectant production, ensuring the manufacturer has secure and continuous access to bottles.”

Since its launch, the Ontario Together web portal has received more than 30,000 submissions that have resulted in more than 19,000 emergency supply leads according to the province. Officials say these leads have been converted into more than $910 million in purchases of critical supplies and equipment to support staff on the front lines including more than 29 million gowns and more than 491 million gloves, 148 million masks and over 14 million face shields.

 

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Pamela Vanmeer
Pamela Vanmeerhttps://www.kawartha411.ca/
Pamela VanMeer is a two time winner of the prestigious Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) Award. Her investigative reports on abuse in Long Term Care Homes garnered international attention for the issue and won the Ron Laidlaw Award. She is a former reporter and anchor at CHEX News, now Global Peterborough and helped launch the New CHEX Daily, a daily half hour talk show. While at CHCH News in Hamilton she covered some of the biggest news stories of the day.

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