Mayor Al McDonald and members of North Bay City Council emerged last evening from an in-camera session of a special council meeting smiling.
McDonald said he was pleased, on behalf of the City of North Bay, to announce the sale of land at the municipally-owned Airport Industrial Business Park. He gave kudos to Erin Richmond and the City of North Bay’s Economic Development team for their hard work on the project over several years.
The purchaser promises a $21 million investment, construction of a 32,500 square foot facility, and 45 jobs.
The Mayor cautioned the entire deal is still being finalized but would share the proponent, Norgalv Limited, is a new Canadian company which will construct a state-of-the-art technological and environmentally-advanced hot-dip galvanizing plant. The parent company is based in South Africa.
The land purchase cost Norgalv $138,597. According to the City, that includes $112,609.99 in abated costs associated with the site work. The acquisition will enable the construction of a 32,500 square foot facility, which will service Northern Ontario’s mining supply and service industry and support business opportunities throughout the province.
“We are very pleased to be constructing our new facility at the Airport Industrial Business Park. Our facility will be the only one of its kind in Northern Ontario and we look forward to serving the mining, manufacturing, construction and civil markets from our state-of-the-art facility in North Bay,” said Andre Van Soelen, Managing Director of Norgalv Limited. “The City and community have been very supportive of our project and we are eager to join the local business community once operational in 2020.”
The facility will be a semi-automated, single-line, hot-dipped galvanizing plant, with an 8m x 1.4m x 3.5m kettle and all other supplementary equipment required. The design of the facility will be done by industry-leading specialists from Austria and Germany with proven equipment installed worldwide. The project represents a $21-million investment and, once fully operational, the plant will employ approximately 45 people.
“We are very pleased that the Norgalv Limited team has selected North Bay as the future home for their new galvanizing facility. The City of North Bay looks forward to Norgalv’s development project and the opportunity to officially welcome the company to the community,” said Mayor Al McDonald. “This new investment represents another important step in continuing to grow North Bay.”
