Government of Canada Helps Local Business Increase Productivity

COLLINGWOOD, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 2, 2012) - Architectural glass produced in Collingwood will soon be used in more buildings across North America, thanks to a Government of Canada investment of up to $3.71 million announced today by Dr. Kellie Leitch, Member of Parliament for Simcoe-Grey, on behalf of the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario).

This funding through FedDev Ontario's Prosperity Initiative will enable AGNORA Inc. to implement a $7.42 million project to research, develop and produce new lines of architectural glass products.

"Thanks to this funding, AGNORA will establish itself as a major player in the North American market for producing high-end architectural glass," said Dr. Leitch. "Investments in jobs and growth like this one demonstrate our government's commitment to helping companies become more innovative, competitive, and productive."

AGNORA currently produces some of the largest format architectural glass in North America at
130 by 240 inches, or 10.8 by 20 feet. The funding will allow the company to expand its plant, buy new equipment and software, as well as construct a research and development laboratory. This will result in higher quality glass production and more energy-efficient products to support LEED certified building projects.

These improvements will not only position AGNORA to better compete in the North American market against European producers, it will allow local access to products that were only available overseas, which will dramatically reduce the lead time for these products.

"With the FedDev Ontario support, AGNORA will be a world-class manufacturing facility leading in the fabrication of Jumbo Architectural glass products," said Richard Wilson, President, AGNORA.

For more information on the Prosperity Initiative and AGNORA's project, please refer to the backgrounder.

The investment announced today supports the Government of Canada's science, technology, and innovation agenda, which is focused on increasing the country's productivity, creating jobs, and growing the economy.

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

Contribution to AGNORA Inc.

AGNORA Inc. began operations in June 2011. The company uses glass in block form as its raw material to shape, form and fabricate it into various glass products for its customers including laminated, tempered, painted and insulated glass. AGNORA's customers come from a variety of areas within the construction industry including glaziers, architects, general contractors and competing glass fabricators who do not have the large format capability.

FedDev Ontario is providing AGNORA with a repayable contribution of up to $3,710,000 to help the company expand its production volumes and architectural glass product offerings, increase product quality, and enhance the energy conservation properties of the products. The proposed R&D lab will support AGNORA's certification of products required to support Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), an internationally-recognized green building certification system.

The company will buy also industry specific production software that will increase productivity, material efficiency and will allow for the production of more complex work. The technology will improve inventory control and maintenance and serve as a customer and job process tracking control system.

The support from FedDev Ontario will give AGNORA a competitive edge in providing innovative architectural glass products to the North American market and is expected to help the company create an additional 30 full-time jobs. More information is available at www.agnora.com.

Prosperity Initiative

FedDev Ontario's Prosperity Initiative is designed to encourage businesses, not-for-profit organizations and post-secondary institutions in southern Ontario to undertake projects that will result in a more productive, diversified and competitive economy.

Funding is available for projects that:

• enhance productivity by accelerating the adoption of new technologies, processes and skills that enhance the region's businesses and sectors;
• diversify the regional economy by increasing the number of new industries or opportunities with the potential to have long-term impacts on regional economic diversity; and
• build a competitive advantage in the region by creating or expanding economic clusters and enhancing their global competitiveness.

Applications for funding are being accepted and assessed on an ongoing basis. For more information, please refer to the Program Guidelines available on the FedDev Ontario website at www.feddevontario.gc.ca.