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The head of a U.S.-based company that's expanding its operations to Windsor-Essex calls the area a 'hidden gem.'
Ron Harker, President of Convoy Technologies Inc., says they are working to finalize the details around a site in the area with plans to begin operations in the fall of 2023.
Harker says they selected the Windsor-area after meeting with officials from Invest WindsorEssex and learning about the local labour and property market, the existing automotive-manufacturing infrastructure in the region, and the engineering department at the University of Windsor.
He says the people at Invest WindsorEssex really rolled out the red carpet for them as they were evaluating expansion options in Mexico and across the U.S.
"Everyone we met in Windsor from the real estate people to the folks at the University of Windsor, to personnel and staffing people, couldn't have made us feel more welcome. It was a wonderful experience, Windsor is truly a hidden gem," he says.
The company, headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, manufactures industrial-grade safety products, including cameras, monitors, sensors, recording systems, and accessories, serving the Heavy Duty On- and Off-Road Industries.
The cameras are used for everything like allowing commercial truck drivers to monitor heavy load movements and activity during a trip to providing a 360-degree view of the truck and vehicles around it, with the recording being used in the event of accident insurance claims.
The site in Windsor-Essex will be a production facility but will also serve as the company's research and development location, with several engineering positions expected to be created in support of that effort.
Harker says the University of Windsor has an amazing engineering department which really is a hidden gem.
"We met with the folks at the university and for us, one of the great opportunities with the university is to create a talent pipeline that would come through the University of Windsor and potentially go to work for us at our facility there," he says.
The company is aiming to employ up to 50 people at the local facility.
Harker says they will maintain their distribution centre in Fort Wayne.
Up until this point, the company had been sourcing its parts from China but due to supply chain challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, they started looking to assembling them in North America.
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