West Lincoln packaging company gets $5 million federal investment
Published March 1, 2023 at 1:24 pm
If you’ve ever bought ice cream at the store, there’s a better than average chance the container was manufactured at a West Lincoln business called Stanpac Inc.
The business, located in the Smithville area, got a huge boost yesterday (Feb. 28) when the federal government handed them a $5 million grant to to help scale up the manufacturing of new compostable and recyclable packaging.
Officials say this funding will allow the company to purchase new machinery, reduce plastic pollution and will create 30 new jobs in the region.
It all came to a head yesterday when Filomena Tassi, Minister for the Federal Economic Development Agency of Southern Ontario (Fed/Dev Ontario) was joined by Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey and St. Catharines MP Chris Bittle at the factory when the announcement was made.
Stanpac, a family-owned company, is the largest manufacturing employer in Smithville, and an industry leader in paperboard and glass packaging for the dairy and beverage industry.
Matt Witt, Co-President of Stanpac Inc., said creating the 30 new jobs was a huge bonus for his company.
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“This investment from FedDev Ontario has a significant impact on how Stanpac will be able to take our sustainable packaging innovations to market, not only here at home but to the more than 30 countries we export to presently, and beyond those to new markets,” said Witt.
“In addition, we will create more employment opportunities which in turn drive our continued sustainable packaging advances.”
Badawey added the federal investment was “a great leap forward in not only our regional economy, but also in a greener future for southern Ontario.”
If you’ve ever seen ice cream or frozen yogurt containers that look like this, there’s a good chance they were made at Stanpac Inc. in West Lincoln.