Beaver Staff
Hastings, Lennox Addington MP Mike Bossio and Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Jeff Leal were at Wilton Cheese Factory on Wednesday to see the fruits of the Growing Forward 2 funding initiative.
Wilton Cheese Factory was one of over 300 food processors in Canada to benefit from the funding, which allowed them to rebuild and upgrade its main cooler.
“Canadian food processors are the single largest employer of all manufacturing industries and contribute almost half of all agriculture and food exports,” Bossio said in a release. “Investments in these Ontario companies help grow the economy, provide well-paying jobs and ensure Canada is a world leader in innovation, while promoting the sustainability of rural communities.”
According to the MP, the funding will allow processors like Wilton Cheese Factory to increase productivity, meet customer demand and ultimately create jobs. All told, the provincial and federal government committed nearly $18 million of investments in the 300 projects across Ontario over the five year span which started in 2013.
“By investing in businesses like Wilton Cheese Factory we are helping boost the competitiveness of Ontario’s food and beverage processing sector,” said Leal. “For the last five years, Growing Forward 2 has been integral in strengthening Ontario’s agri-food sector and I look forward to building on its success through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.”
For its part, Wilton Cheese Factory received an investment of $17,838.
“The availability of funding through the Growing Forward 2 program was conducive in the implementation of modernizing our 150-year-old business and keeping the Wilton Cheese Factory a viable, productive, award-winning Canadian cheddar manufacturer,” said Scott Jensen, owner-manager of Wilton Cheese Factory.