As appeared in First Monday – March 2016
Recently, our community celebrated the start-up of commercial operations for Bio-Amber. Now we are looking forward to Comet BioRefining and Ubiquity Solar building their new plants here. One of the many reasons companies such as these choose to locate in Sarnia-Lambton is the impressive cluster of specialized skills that are located here to build and support their operations. This includes engineering, industrial fabrication, machine shops and environmental service companies and all of their sub-suppliers. The support companies originally located here to provide products and services to the major oil and petro-chemical companies. Their skills and abilities are still required in these industries, but, they also match exactly to the needs of many industries both locally, and worldwide.
SLEP initiated a study of the capabilities of the support sector in 2010. The results confirmed that skills and capabilities were world-class. What was noted as lacking, in many cases, was the marketing of these capabilities. When the oil and petro-chemical business in the area was rapidly growing, there was no need to market outside of the area. Downsizing and closures of such operations as Dow Chemical had dramatically changed the local market demand. The future for many of the support companies was uncertain.
The report recommended that the cluster of over 100 support companies market their products and services outside of the local area. They were also encouraged to consider other sectors such as clean tech which includes industrial bio products, fuels, new energy generation technologies and water and waste-water systems for which their skills are an exact match. In order to address the lack of experience in marketing, it was recommended that they organize and promote themselves as both a group and individually through both web and traditional marketing methods. Training workshops were organized and assistance in developing marketing plans was offered. The report also emphasized the need for management and advanced manufacturing techniques to continue to be updated to achieve and maintain best in class status allowing them to compete globally. This continues to be of growing importance.
We are pleased to note that support industry members saw the opportunity and acted. Volunteers came forward and formed Sarnia Lambton Industrial Alliance (SLIA). SLIA has become a respected and active group with 35 member companies and a 6 member volunteer board of directors, chaired by Rick Perdeaux (Toolrite Engineering). The group is now well known in the industry and in government circles where they advocate for their membership and the community.
It is difficult to determine and measure exactly which programs and initiatives produce specific results. What we can do though, is highlight expansions happening in many of the support industry businesses at a time when the worldwide oil industry is in turmoil. One example is Alliance Fabricating which has more than tripled their employees in the past 5 years and are planning further expansion. Another example is LamSar which recently announced a purchase of the former Century Truss property in Corunna to allow for their anticipated expansion needs. Environmental companies such as Lehder and Pollutech EnviroQuatics have been expanding their workforces servicing clients locally and internationally. All of these businesses employ highly skilled tradespeople and professionals that make a strong economic contribution to the area and create spin off employment.
These companies, and many others, have been successful in developing new markets for their products and services. Large industrial equipment is now being built here, using their many suppliers, and shipped elsewhere in Canada the USA and worldwide. This is not a quick or cheap process. To achieve results it is necessary to travel to trade shows and follow-up leads in places such as western and eastern Canada, the USA, Middle East, India, Mexico and Latin America. Programs provided by the Provincial and Federal Governments are available to assist with export market development. It is still necessary, however, for the companies to commit considerable time and money to the marketing effort before results are seen.
We are very pleased to acknowledge the progress that has been made in the area since 2010 and are continuing to support their efforts. This includes the effort to develop an “oversized load corridor” to connect fabricators to the Port of Sarnia. Once in place, this will significantly enhance their ability to compete in the world market place for oversized equipment.
Industry attraction is an important and ongoing process. Working with our existing businesses, large and small, to help them grow and prosper will be a major contributor to job creation and prosperity in our area.
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