Government of Canada Stimulates Innovation and Growth in Five Sarnia-Lambton Businesses

SARNIA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 2, 2011) - Five local businesses are taking strides to improve processes, productivity and market-readiness through research partnerships with Lambton College, announced Patricia Davidson, Member of Parliament for Sarnia-Lambton, on behalf of the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario).

"Innovation is a driving force in this region's economy," said MP Davidson. "Our government is proud to support local businesses as they innovate, grow and become more competitive. The partnerships between Lambton College and five local businesses will stimulate business growth, create jobs, and have a lasting effect on the economy in this community, and in southern Ontario."

"Lambton College is very pleased to participate in this FedDev Ontario initiative," said Dr. Tony Hanlon, President and CEO of Lambton College. "It enables us to further contribute to our community's economic sustainability by allowing our faculty to assist local small- and medium-sized businesses to bring new innovative products to market by offering them applied research and pre-commercialization know-how and facilities."

Last year, under the Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative, Lambton College was approved for up to $230,700 from FedDev Ontario to partner with small- and medium-sized businesses on activities such as applied research, engineering design, technology development, product testing, and certification. The support provided will create new economic opportunities, help businesses in southern Ontario grow, and enable them to become even more innovative and competitive.

For more information on the Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative and Lambton College's partners, please refer to the backgrounder.

Created in 2009, FedDev Ontario supports the southern Ontario economy by building on the region's strengths and creating opportunities for jobs and economic growth. The Agency has launched a number of initiatives to create a Southern Ontario Advantage and place the region in a strong position to compete in the global economy. These initiatives are designed to encourage partnerships and support projects that help the region's businesses and communities become more competitive, innovative and diversified. To learn more, please visit www.feddevontario.gc.ca or call 1-866-593-5505.

BACKGROUNDER

Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative

The Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative addresses the unique research and innovation challenges faced by small- and medium-sized enterprises by helping post-secondary institutions to provide their applied research and development (R&D) and pre-commercialization expertise to businesses that do not have the internal capacity to undertake those activities.

FedDev Ontario is providing Lambton College with up to $230,700 to partner with the following five small- and medium-sized enterprises on the following projects.

Cup-a-Round® (Sarnia)

Cup-a-Round manufactures plastic/rubber reusable sleeves for paper cups. This partnership with Lambton College will help the company streamline the production of the current product, and in particular, the custom component required to add clients' information and/or logos, moving it from a 2-step to a 1-step manufacturing process. This project will reduce production costs and environmental impacts. It will also eliminate the need for an imported secondary product and provide an opportunity for components to be produced locally rather than abroad, which would increase opportunities for local trades. More information is available at www.cuparound.com.

FEHER Machine & Manufacturing Inc. (Sarnia)

FEHER Machine & Manufacturing Inc. is a manufacturer of industrial flexible composite hoses. Produced by wrapping hose materials around a mandrel - a long, spindle-like bar, these hoses are ideally used in chemical and petroleum production and handling, transportation, and mining industries. The goal of this project is to design, implement and test collapsible mandrels to enable the consistent successful manufacturing of flexible composite hose, and to enable the manufacturing of hoses with various diameter sizes. The company expects to quadruple its sales from $250,000/year to $1,000,000/year in the first two years after completion of the project. More information is available at www.fehermachine.com.

IMAP Audits Inc. (Sarnia)

IMAP Audits Inc. conducts maintenance audits, primarily asbestos and energy audits, for large companies. Results of the audits are recorded in IMAP's state-of-the-art software, which provides facility managers with access to data for planning and budget purposes or during critical situations. Currently, the software is only available on a single platform, which prevents IMAP Audits from expanding into new markets. The goal of this collaboration is to determine the best platform to convert the software without significant design change requirements. This will allow IMAP to go global and create jobs as a direct result of software exports. More information is available at www.imapaudits.com.

Megola Environmental Solutions Inc. (Sarnia)

Megola Inc. is a North American manufacturer and supplier of fire inhibitor product lines. The objective of this project is to test Megola's environmentally-friendly fire inhibitor coating (FIC) and fire inhibitor powder (FIP) when applied to various materials, such as building materials, insulating materials, paints, textile fabrics and wood. In addition, comparative tests are being conducted to determine if there is a delay in flame spread, fire inhibitor characteristics and heat transfer between untreated materials, materials treated with other fire retardants and Megola's FIC or FIP treated materials. As a result of this work, Megola will present products and applications for certification. More information is available at www.megola.com.

TEAM Aquatic Management Inc. (Sarnia)

TEAM Aquatic Management Inc. operates more than 150 wastewater treatment plants for companies in remote locations, such as golf courses, hotels and mining companies. The goal of this collaboration is to optimize and automate the wastewater treatment systems so they can be controlled from a distance, especially in situations when skilled operators are very scarce. The successful implementation of the proposed advanced monitoring and control system will open new markets in sensitive remote areas such as mining sites and First Nation communities and will provide a smooth, robust and reliable operation for existing clients across Ontario. More information is available at www.teamaquatic.com.