November 10, 2007
[COUBOURG, ON] – Cooperation, sharing, a common goal and view for the future, are pulling manufacturing companies together in Northumberland County to make themselves more efficient.
Starting in the fall of 2004, a not-for-profit organization called the Northumberland Manufacturers’ Association (NMA)was launched, after a group of companies decided they needed a common voice.
The Northumberland Community Futures Development Corporation (NCFDC) stepped into to help make this plan a reality. The NCFDC is a catalyst to assist ideas that will enhance the community and add to its appeal. There are CFDC offices across Ontario and they help to better rural communities through economic development support.
“We needed dedicated resources to take a wonderful idea and make it happen,” says Wendy Curtis, Assistant General Manager of NCFDC. “We just put the talent in place.”
The NCFDC helped the Manufacturers' Association define its mission statement and provided a youth intern, Paula Johnson, to be the Executive Director of the new initiative. “They are well on their way to self sustainability,” says Curtis. The NMA which currently has more than 100 members and associate member companies is showing great promise.
The NMA acts as a conduit for which information can travel quickly and over a wide area. Best management practices, as well as other innovative ideas, are transferred between companies. “Everyday we see more and more partnerships forming, in the county between companies,” says Johnson. “I think they realize that the main threats [to their businesses] are not here in Canada.”
George Borovilos is the on the NMA Board of Directors. He sees the association as an opportunity to find a Canadian manufacturing niche and compete globally with colossal markets like those in Asia. “We have to create our own destiny, because no one else is going to do it for us,” says Borovilos. He also says an emphasis was being placed on “lean manufacturing”, meaning generating as little waste as possible. It’s a technique employed by the Japanese: less waste means higher profit margins, and benefits the environment.
The NMA, which is now recognized by the provincial government, has become an important conduit for Queens Park or other government organization to be able to quickly get in touch with a vast area of manufacturing businesses quickly. The Association also has a breakfast series in which key note speakers are invited to talk to members of the NMA. Attendance has been strong.
Organizations such as the NMA are helping to pull rural Ontario back together by providing business ideas that strengthen a company and make it more viable. Rural people are more likely to stay in the area if they have a job that is secure and comfortable for them. By exchanging ideas and information, the NMA companies are making sure their work is benefiting everyone involved.