By Mark Schadenberg
Thanks
to TMMC, it's likely safe to say Woodstock has a stronger
manufacturing economy – per capita – than most cities in
Ontario.
However,
and this is just a minor however, did you know that a City of
Woodstock created pie chart indicates 56% of the city's employment is
automotive related, and obviously Toyota (TMMC) and Ingersoll's CAMI
(General Motors) are main reasons why that percentage has been
created as there are several auto-related second-tier and most
certainly also third-tier car career possibilities here.
Toyota
is celebrating it's 50th anniversary in Canada in 2014.
(http://www.toyota.ca/toyota/en/company-info/fiftieth-anniversary).
Often, Woodstock folks forget about Hino (Toyota as well) building trucks (cube vans and larger) in the Pattullo park because they employ only about 60 in assembly.
I think about the gigantic Vuteq plant, which is easily seen along Parkinson Road, plus logistics firms to delivery the part 'just-in-time' such as Transfreight, along with other middle-tier producers including Toyota Boshoku, TRW (Kelsey-Hayes), Firestone, ArcelorMittal, and North American Stamping Group, . . . and even steel products recycling in a large scale with Tsusho on Beard's Lane. With its many recent expansions and more than 25 years of operations in Woodstock, Vuteq appears to be leading the way in secondary employment numbers behind TMMC.
It was Dec. 4, 2008 that the Woodstock plan officially opened to roll out the popular RAV4 SUV on its massive assembly line.
Part
of the 50th birthday party for Toyota was 'The Great
Canadian Journey' as a RAV 4 travelled from Newfoundland to British
Columbia on a cross-Canada trek, which ended in October. There is a Facebook link below with many photos of the sojourn.
Toyota's
website notes it has 24,000 employees in Canada with its $9 billion
investment and more than 6,000,000 cars produced. Those numbers not
only include Woodstock and Cambridge production facilities, but also
related companies in Stratford, Elmira and Simcoe, but further also
includes a cold-weather testing facility near Timmins (which opened
in 1998).
With
its 401 and 403 intersection, Woodstock is an obvious hub for
transport truck companies, including Laidlaw, Contrans, Ottaway
(OME), Transfreight, Kinsdale, Magic Transportation, Road Freight,
Day & Ross, Earl Hardy, and . . .
The centre of Oxford County and its arteries in all directions was one of the main reasons General Motors set up its parts distribution centre here many years ago.
Woodstock – as with many communities certainly – lost more than a fair share of industry over the years with the departure or disappearance of Thomas Bus, Gardner-Denver, Timberjack (John Deere), King-Seagrave fire trucks, Hobart Brothers, and sectors (including, but not limited to) such as wood furniture, stacking chairs, socks and pianos.
Woodstock – as with many communities certainly – lost more than a fair share of industry over the years with the departure or disappearance of Thomas Bus, Gardner-Denver, Timberjack (John Deere), King-Seagrave fire trucks, Hobart Brothers, and sectors (including, but not limited to) such as wood furniture, stacking chairs, socks and pianos.
The
area has its many huge success stories outside of the automotive
industry: such as Hyd-Mech, Haas, Maglin, Uvalux, Execulink, Riley,
Cornell, Harvan, Pow, Brant Form Teck, Easy Way Cleaning, and
Timberland. This is not meant to be an absolute thorough and
comprehensive list, but Woodstock certainly has a strong
cross-section of industry – small, medium and large. You certainly
can't say Woodstock's eggs are all in one basket.
Riley's
Manufacturing (www.rileymfg.com)
could be a complete story for another day as they are very active in
the world of sports, including hockey nets (Megg-Net), plus a new
innovation in the building of the dasher boards to surround ice
surfaces, and the magnetic-release bases since at ball diamonds
everywhere.
As
they say, history is in the past, so let's keeping moving forward
living in and promoting a vibrant Friendly City – Woodstock.
LINKS:
http://www.mri.gov.on.ca/obr/2012/05/woodstock-where-the-past-and-the-future-meet/
OLDER LINKS:
2008
2005
Selling homes in Woodstock; always
promoting Woodstock
Mark
Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Senior
Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal
LePage Triland Realty
757
Dundas St, Woodstock
(519)
537-1553, cell or text
Email:
mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter:
markroyallepage
Facebook:
Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
Discussion
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