Region tried to keep Maple Leaf Foods here
Posted Oct 24, 2011 05:07:34 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Recently it has come out that Hamilton’s City staff worked for months to get a deal done with Maple Leaf Foods when they found out that he company would be closing its Kitchener plant and looking to relocate. Now, many are asking if enough was done to keep the plant here in the Region.
570’s Eric Drozd spoke with Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig who says the Region was aware of the problems with Schneider’s.
“We came together approximately three or four months ago and we worked together as a group and we worked together in terms of putting together a strategy.”
Speaking for the City of Cambridge, Craig says that they offered Maple Leaf the industrial land by Toyota, with easy access to the 401 and rail service, and thought they were looking good right up until the end.
“We have 100 acres out there. We had doubled the amount of space they needed and we were prepared, right up to the last moment to sell them the acreage they needed.”
Craig says the Region is full of sustainable land, but most of it is privately owned and owners want to lease the land, and not sell it, which is not what most companies, especially the large brand ones are looking for.
Craig adds that the loss of Maple Leaf Foods is enormous for all the Regional communities.
