Foster’s Meats – Morning Coffee

Weather forecast from Friday, February 8, 2019 to Sunday, February 10, 2019

Today – Mainly cloudy with 60 percent chance of flurries. Wind west 50 km/h gusting to 80. Temperature steady near minus 6. Wind chill near minus 18. UV index 2 or low.

Tonight – Partly cloudy. Becoming clear late this evening. Wind west 40 km/h gusting to 60 diminishing to 20 near midnight then becoming light before morning. Low minus 12. Wind chill near minus 20.

Saturday, February 9 – Mainly sunny. Wind up to 15 km/h. High minus 4. Wind chill minus 19 in the morning and minus 8 in the afternoon. UV index 2 or low.

Saturday night – Clear. Low minus 10.

Sunday, February 10 – Cloudy with 40 percent chance of snow. High minus 5.

Sunday night – Cloudy with 60 percent chance of snow. Low minus 7.

Special weather statement

Strong and gusty southwest winds today across Chatham-Kent.

Strong southwest winds gusting to 70 or 80 km/h will slowly weaken this afternoon.

These winds are strong enough to cause minor tree damage and a few local power outages.

Please continue to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada. To report severe weather, send an email to ONstorm@canada.ca or tweet reports using #ONStorm.

How the Enviroshake Canada deal saves Chatham plant and many jobs

When people talk about the work being done by the Chatham-Kent’s Economic Development team, they generally speak about how the team is working to bring new industry to the area and help existing businesses grow and expand.

What is not always known is that Economic Development is helping to play an important role in retaining existing business in our community.

One example of this Economic Development success occurred a little over a year ago when, following intensive negotiations, Chatham’s Enviroshake Canada facility announced that they were keeping their doors open.

Before the deal in October, 2017, to return Enviroshake to being an independently operated company, the plant had been operated by US-based Headwaters Roofing Group, which itself was purchased by an Australian Headquartered company, Boral Industries.

On August 25, 2017, Enviroshake’s parent company made public its decision to close the Chatham plant by the end of the year and move part of the production to an existing plant in Michigan.

The municipality, including the Economic Development team, stepped forward to help find a different solution.

“We actively presented the business opportunity to several Ontario-based investors and we did all we could to help them negotiate a deal,” said Geoff Wright, Economic Development Officer responsible for Business Development at the Municipality.

“It was a huge win when those negotiations paid off and a year later we have a strong company growing in Chatham-Kent.”

By keeping Enviroshake local, the municipality was able to retain approximately 30 jobs for the community and Enviroshake was able to manufacture without interruption their composite, lightweight, roofing products in Chatham-Kent.

“We helped connect business people with resources to be a part of the negotiations and we introduced alternate financial solutions and government training incentives that brought value to the deal. We are very happy all parties involved were receptive to our participation and open-minded about getting a deal made in Chatham-Kent,” said Wright.

“The deal that was worked out secured the future of two production lines, the plant itself, and retained jobs in Chatham-Kent.”

“We thought it was a good business opportunity ̶ a solid facility, innovative products and a good workforce,” said Pat Smith, one of two Ontario business people who purchased the major portion of the production facility.

“We look forward to working with Economic Development Services to continue our success,” he added.

Now that we are a little over one year in, the story does not end with just the jobs that were saved. Enviroshake is actively hiring and is seeking both general labour and skilled employees as their facility continues to grow.

As Chatham-Kent continues to be on a positive upswing regarding new business, new investments, and new jobs, it’s also important to remember that we have a team of talented people working to make sure our existing businesses continue to call our community home.

For more information about Chatham-Kent Economic Development and the great news happening in the region, visit them online at www.ckforbusiness.com.