Government of Canada Grants $250,000 in Funding to L.S. Finition Industrielle Inc. for Acquisition of Specialized Equipment

PLESSISVILLE, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Feb. 21, 2011) - The Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Natural Resources, today announced the awarding of $250,000 in repayable funding to L.S. Finition Industrielle Inc. through the Temporary Initiative for the Strengthening of Quebec's Forest Economies (TISQFE). This financial assistance will serve for the acquisition of manufacturing equipment that will help the firm improve its productivity.

"This project will result in positive benefits for the company, including the maintenance of some 20 jobs and the hiring of a market development officer," stated Minister Paradis. Moreover, the initiative is expected to help L.S. Finition Industrielle double its manufacturing capacity, improve the quality of its finished products, increase productivity by 40% and cut turnaround time by 30%.

Founded in 1991, L.S. Finition Industrielle Inc. specializes in, among other things, the application of paint to industrial metal products with variable technical specifications. Under the aegis of its parent company, Groupe Machinex Inc., a world leader in the manufacture of sorting centres, L.S. Finition Industrielle operates in two growth-generating sectors for the Centre-du-Québec region, namely machinery and the recycling and development of residual materials.

About the TISQFE

Brought into force last June, the Temporary Initiative for the Strengthening of Quebec's Forest Economies was established to help communities affected by the forestry crisis diversify their economies in order to secure their development and create and maintain employment. The measure's aim is also to support the viability and sustainable growth of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in these communities.

"The TISQFE is working very well. I am delighted that we are well on our way to reaching our goal of investing $50 million in Quebec in the first year of this initiative," noted Minister Paradis.

This measure is one of many put in place by the Government of Canada in recent months to counteract the effects of the forest crisis. Others include, for example, the Community Adjustment Fund, with its $1 billion budget over two years to mitigate the impacts of the crisis, the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program, toward which $1 billion has been granted to the help enterprises carry out environmentally-friendly projects, and the investment of $230 million in collaboration with the Government of Quebec for silvicultural work and the restoration of bridges and culverts on multi-use forest roads. Workers have also benefited from their fair share of support, with the Government of Canada introducing some of the most generous measures in history to help them through the economic crisis.

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