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Federal Funds Assist in Stampings Expansion

65 new skilled jobs are coming to Woodstock. That's one of the hilights of a $10.9-million expansion at North American Stamping Group in the city. Today, the federal government announced a commitment of $2.48-million towards the project, in the form of a repayable loan. (In photo: MP Dave MacKenzie, plant and city officials celebrate expansion.) Plant GM Fred Gehring (bottom photo) says that money was key in securing the expansion. "It's absolutely critical. We compete with our sister divisions in the US, and the governments in those areas are very aggressive about attracting new business. I have to give the city and the federal government a lot of credit for helping us put together a business case that allowed us to win this expansion." It comes out of the FedDev Ontario fund, and Oxford MP Dave MacKenzie hopes there will be more of this type of funding to come. "I think going forward, we'll have about $200-million each year for the next 5 to do these types of things across southern Ontario, so I'm looking forward to more of it. This is a lot of skills training, high tech, high valued jobs that these people bring." It will be Stamping's 7th plant expansion in its 28-year history. This one will allow them to create tool and die making on site, which is something the company currently outsources. They will also be adding a research and development wing to their plant. Gehring tells Heart FM they'll be adding 65 new jobs for tool and die makers, which are in low supply and high demand. "It will be a challenge but we hope by being able to work with our community partners, our educational partners, that we'll be able to encourage people to train and become a part of what we do."

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