Perth-Wellington MPP Matthew Rae has announced $1,393,350 in funding for Sommers Generator Systems.
“Our provincial government will continue to support our thriving manufacturing sector across rural Ontario,” said Rae. “This investment will help expand Sommers’ operations in Perth County, facilitating the manufacturing of hydrogen-powered generators and creating good-paying local jobs.”
This funding is part of Sommers’ total investment of $9,289,000 to expand its existing Stratford and Rostock facilities to begin production of their new hydrogen generators and move production of their natural gas generators from Wisconsin to Ontario.
“Traditionally, small businesses are more flexible and can react faster than larger companies,” said Chris McGregor, President of Sommers. “Our main challenge is resources. Now, with the support and confidence of the Ontario Government, we can overcome that challenge. Their investment in Sommers is allowing us to create jobs and expand our facilities. Their investment will have a global impact on sustainable, clean power as we get set to produce the first hydrogen-fuelled generators in Canada, paving the way to a cleaner future.”
McGregor added much of the investment will be used to make improvements at a second location in Perth County.
“We are expanding the Rostock facility by expanding the building and updating it to gear it more towards manufacturing of light-assembled products. That means natural gas products up to a certain size of kilowatts. Anything over that will come into our main (Stratford) facility for final testing as well as utilization of some of the infrastructure we already have here.”
Ontario is investing $170 million through its Regional Development Program’s Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Competitiveness (AMIC) stream to help manufacturers across the province grow while supporting distinct regional priorities. To date, Ontario has supported more than 120 projects through the program, leveraging more than $1.8 billion in new investments and helping to create over 3,200 jobs.
