New Tilbury manufacturer commits long-term with 30-year lease
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United Industries didn’t buy the Tilbury property in which it plans to operate a stainless steel tubing manufacturing facility, but signing a 30-year lease is an indication the Wisconsin company intends to operate in Chatham-Kent for some time.
“We’re very excited to get things moving up there,” company president Greg Sturicz told reporters during a Sept. 13 discussion.
He said United Industries wants to be producing stain steel tubing in the former Woodbridge Foam plant by the middle of next year.
It wants to hire roughly 100 people, ranging from mill operators to utility staff, as well as a quality group and packing and shipping staff, added.
Sturicz said the company is doing research to develop its wage scale that will be competitive with the market.
This is United Industries’ first investment in Canada and the company is making a “significant investment”. That includes the addition of 20,000 square feet of warehouse space along with the introduction of new, high-tech machinery.
“I think Canada’s been on the radar for a number of years,” Sturicz said.
Although United Industries has Canadian customers, he said the need to come north became a greater issue as supply chains became tighter.
“This enables us to have access to other parts of global markets more readily, let’s say, both on the supply side, obtaining stainless steel from different sources, as well as exporting,” Sturicz said.
He said the company has good domestic suppliers in the United States, but “I think in Canada it opens some doors for us that we haven’t had, so there are some opportunities there that fit nicely with the growth plan.”
The company initially looked to expand in the Windsor area but started took beyond that region because of a tight estate market.
The 140,000-square-foot Tilbury facility, and its location appealed to the company.
Jim Hoyt, vice-president of engineering and manufacturing for United Industries, who led the site-selection team, said the company didn’t know a lot about the area, so Jamie Rainbird, manager of Chatham-Kent Economic Development, was called on to provide information.
“He pulled his colleagues together and we got a real thorough understanding really of what the community’s about, the workforce is about, the work ethic,” Hoyt said. “It really appealed to us as complementary to our most success organizations where it’s a less dense population.”
Hoyt said people in more rural areas “they know how to fix stuff, they know how to solve problems, they’re mechanically inclined.
“They show up to work in the morning, they give a solid day’s work for a fair wage,” he added.
Rainbird said from the start of his time dealing with the company it’s been made clear “they want to be known as an employer of choice.”
United Industries is also known for working with local suppliers.
Sturicz said since the story was reported in early September, he’s received a number of calls and emails as well as contacts through the company’s website.
“It obviously shows the level of interest and that’s good for us,” he said.
Hoyt said the operation can’t afford to a lot of downtime so it looks for suppliers it can reach out to and get an immediate response.
He said operation will need to call on tool and die, welding, and sheet metal shops, along with chemical supplies and coolant and lube businesses.
“It really is our intent to create as many as these business relationships as we can as close to the plant as we can,” Hoyt said. “We like to leave a positive footprint in the areas that we do business.”
Since United Industries doesn’t serve the consumer market, Sturicz said most people don’t realize how integral stainless steel tubing – particularly the high purity grade it produces – is to their lives.
He said the product is required in the manufacturing of microchips for cell phones, food processing, production of medicines, exhaust systems for automobiles and even the beer many people enjoy.
He said United Industries is proud to provide the steel tubing for Molson Brewery facilities.
“We intend to be there a long time and we intend to service these products for a long, long time,” Sturicz said.
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