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On August 18th, the Ontario Government announced the re-launch of the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Strategy (AMIS). The $500-million AMIS program provides repayable loans, interest free for up to five years, to encourage companies to invest in leading-edge technologies and processes.

AMIS may provide significant benefits for members of your organization.

Significant enhancements to the AMIS program are in effect immediately:
* Loan component increased to 30 per cent (previously 10 per cent)
* Reduced thresholds of 50 jobs created/retained or $10 million invested (previously 100 jobs/$25 million)
* Continuous intake of applications (no need to wait for the next call for proposals).

These measures make AMIS more user-friendly, will enable more companies to benefit from the program, and offer greater access to capital at a lower cost.

In most cases, companies will receive a decision within 45 days of submitting a complete application.

If you are a member of an economic development office, we encourage you to contact your members who may have projects that meet AMIS criteria and to make them aware of the advantages of the AMIS program. Please also find attached some recommended wording that you may wish to include in your upcoming news letters, or as an addition to your website. Our staff would welcome the opportunity to meet with you and interested companies to better familiarize them with the AMIS program.

Contact the AMIS team

Advanced Manufacturing Investment Strategy (AMIS)
Ministry of Economic Development and Trade
Sector Competitiveness Branch
6th Floor, Room 611A, Hearst Block
900 Bay Street
Toronto, ON, M7A 2E1
Tel: 416-325-6867
Fax: 416-314-7014
Email: AMIS@ontario.ca

For more information, or to download application materials, please visit our website at: www.ontariocanada.com (Menu: Programs and Services, Advanced Manufacturing Investment Strategy)

Niagara's beleaguered manufacturing sector is planning to cash in on a new industry boom.

And it's only 3,800 kilometres away.

It's common knowledge the Alberta oilsands are spouting jobs along with precious oil.

Investors are pouring an estimated $85 billion into Alberta's oilsands development, and workers in search of jobs from all over Canada are also pouring in.

Niagara manufacturers have a better plan, however: send products, not workers.

"There's not enough manufacturing capacity in Alberta to manage the huge growth they're seeing," said Renato Romanin, an economic development officer with Niagara's economic development agency.

"We can help fill that gap."

More than 20 Niagara manufacturers travelled to Edmonton earlier this year to pitch their potential to oilpatch executives and the Alberta manufacturing industry.

Believe it or not, bringing in Ontario-made products is more cost-effective than domestic production in Alberta right now, Romanin said.

"It's eye-raising, what we saw out there," he said.

Production lineups are long in Alberta, he said, and the cost of paying and attracting scarce skilled workers is rising all the time. That means an Ontario-built product, shipped by truck or train, can still represent a better deal.

"They can actually get it faster and probably a lot cheaper, Romanin said.
A select few Niagara companies are already taking advantage of the boom.

TIW Steel Plating in St. Catharines is a veteran player in the industry. The company makes plates for field-assembled storage tanks.

On the whole, however, Niagara is actually a latecomer to the oil train.

"(Alberta companies) are already sourcing products from all over the world," said Mike Whatling, spokesman for Niagara Precision Ltd. "Why shouldn't we have a piece of that? There's no reason we can't compete."

Niagara Precision, a St. Catharines-based machining shop, builds components and prototypes for the automotive and aeronautics industries, as well as the military.

Whatling attended the Edmonton oil forum, which attracted more than 800 industry firms from across Canada.

The 16-person company is interested in pursuing potential Alberta contracts, he said.

"It's the powerhouse of the economy right now, I don't think there's any question," he said of the oilsands development.

Whatling was told there is 15 to 20 years worth of work available in the area.

That could change if environmental concerns lead to legislation that curtails development. The energy-intensive extraction methods in the oilsands represent the largest source of greenhouse gas production in Canada.

In the future, Whatling expects both improved pollution controls and changing legislation in the industry. He doesn't expect either to stop production, however.

"The world still needs oil, so someone will go after it," he said.

And if that's the case, Whatling thinks Niagara firms could score some oilsands-related contracts, but they may have to work together. The conference inspired Niagara Precision and nine other regional firms to start a new industrial association to market themselves beyond regional borders. "The larger oil companies like Syncrude, they don't want 600 new individual suppliers. They want turnkey products, from fabrication all the way through the process," said Whatling.

"I don't think there are many companies in Niagara that can do that alone.

"But as a collective, we can look at doing that."

The Niagara Industrial Association started this summer with the motto "competitors in the field, partners in industry."

Whatling said the association is seeking new members and plans to send a representative to the next oil and gas forum in the spring.