Hamilton's economy?

[realcity]

Mountain Plaza Mall
Centre Mall Power Centre
A toyota dealership


commercial and industrial beat out residential because residential fell 32%. Kinda like losing private industrial jobs, by default education and healthcare rise to the top.

[SteelTown]

We've increased our tax base, that's the important part for me.

[realcity]

Siemans is closing its Sanford plant. 500 jobs gone.... good paying jobs

[LikeHamilton]

Siemens Hamilton cuts 550 jobs

TheSpec.com Lisa Grace Marr

Moving gas turbine division to North Carolina

Siemens Fossil Power Generation division in Hamilton announced today that it is moving its Hamilton gas turbine manufacturing arm to Charlotte, North Carolina, affecting 550 jobs.

The division will shut down Hamilton operations by July 2011.

Brian Maragno, operations manager at the Hamilton plant, said the decision was in no way a reflection of the quality of its employees.

“We have a long history in Hamilton - more than 100 years - I can say that I hold the employees here in the highest regard.”

Maragno said Siemens made the decision to move the gas turbine division to Charlotte to be closer to its customer base.

The 200 service-related positions at the Milton Avenue plant will remain.

The affected employees may be offered positions in Charlotte or in Siemens’ Canadian operations, said Maragno.

The Hamilton plant was responsible for the manufacture of large efficient gas turbines for the new Halton Hills Generating Station - expected to be ready for commercial operation this year.

http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/735564

[bigguy1231]

Another one bites the dust.

I have to laugh when these companies say they are moving to be closer to their customer base. They are moving to North Carolina in this case because it is one of the many states in the US that is a right to work state or as I like to call them a slave state. These are states where workers have no rights and no ability to organize. They can pay them minimum wages and no benefits. US Steel did the same when they moved production from here to Alabama and closed the former Stelco plants. This is what Free Trade got us, minimum wage service industry jobs.

[realcity]

/\

That's why Charlotte is thriving and Hamilton is sinking? Charlotte also is a hub in finance but I guess that has lots to do with not be able to organize labour.

I hardly doubt the Siemens workers will be paid $7.25/hr with no benefits.

"The move is expected to create 825 engineering and manufacturing jobs in Charlotte within five years, paying an average wage of almost $64,000 a year. Production in the expanded plant is scheduled to start in the fall of 2011, the company said."

[realcity]

Charlotte Bank of America Tower


now add 500 well paying (former Hamilton) factory jobs to their economy

This is what a slave state looks like

[highwater]

Originally Posted by bigguy1231

Another one bites the dust.

I have to laugh when these companies say they are moving to be closer to their customer base.

Yep. Laughable. Haven't these guys heard of a little thing called 'Globalization'? Or maybe they think our education system is as bad as the American one and we haven't heard of globalization.

[bigguy1231]

Originally Posted by realcity

/\

That's why Charlotte is thriving and Hamilton is sinking? Charlotte also is a hub in finance but I guess that has lots to do with not be able to organize labour.

I hardly doubt the Siemens workers will be paid $7.25/hr with no benefits.

"The move is expected to create 825 engineering and manufacturing jobs in Charlotte within five years, paying an average wage of almost $64,000 a year. Production in the expanded plant is scheduled to start in the fall of 2011, the company said."

It's been a financial hub for a long time and the financial industry never has been a bastion of organized labour. I don't know if you have ever been to Charlotte but outside of the very compact, smaller than Hamilton's downtown, the city is a dump. Anyone with money lives either 40 miles to the North or South of the city. Lake Norman to the North or Rock Hill to the South.

[realcity]

ridiculous

[thistleclub]

New jobs better replace those lost
Siemens looking at Ontario for renewable energy plant

Lisa Grace Marr
The Hamilton Spectator
(Mar 13, 2010)

Hamilton officials will make it a top priority to discuss ways to replace the 550 jobs the city has lost to the United States when they meet with Siemens executives in a few days.

"They have a large wind turbine division. We have highly skilled workers. It's at the top of the list," said Neil Everson, director of economic development for Hamilton.

"We'd like them to stay in the community."

Siemens announced Thursday it will be moving its gas-turbine manufacturing division from its Milton Avenue plant, near Sanford and Barton streets, to Charlotte, N.C., by July 2011.

Brian Maragno, the plant's operations manager, indicated some jobs may be relocated.

At issue is the ability of provincial and federal governments to attract and retain jobs in the critical manufacturing sector as global competition mounts, and in the Siemens case, countries are working to steal those jobs away.

Yesterday Dave Christopherson, MP for Hamilton Centre, raised the point in the House during question period.

"While this government is slashing corporate taxes, corporations are slashing jobs," said Christopherson. "What is this government going to do to keep those jobs in Hamilton?"

Industry Minister Tony Clement responded that he helped open the David Braley cardiac care centre Thursday in Hamilton, which promises 200 new health-care jobs.

Maragno said Siemens' move isn't a reflection of the quality of its workers but a strategic one because most of its customer base is in the United States.

But there were other reasons, millions of them. The state government offered enticements of up to $22.75 million US in tax breaks and grants.

County and city governments promised millions more and a county agency can offer up to $120 million in low-interest loans.

In return, the Munich-based conglomerate plans to invest $135 million and create more than 1,000 new jobs in Charlotte over five years, bringing its employment levels in that city to 1,800.

CAW Local 504, which represents about 325 of the affected workers, and opposition politicians reacted angrily to the news at a press conference yesterday organized by Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who is the MPP for Hamilton Centre.

"It's just devastating," said Randy Smith, president of the CAW local. "Siemens owes something to these workers -- I know they only bought it (from Westinghouse) in 1998, but we built this place and we made them billions and billions of dollars over the years.

"And this is what we get for it? We want these jobs and if we can't have these jobs, we want jobs in this plant.

"They've talked about jobs coming into Ontario from Siemens. They better be coming to this plant."

Siemens Canada is exploring the idea of opening a plant to support its renewable energy division somewhere in Ontario, said company spokesperson DL Leslie.

"It's too early to say yet," said Leslie. "Whether it will be in Hamilton, I don't know. I don't want to give any false hope."

Horwath said the provincial government must create policies that link jobs to any government-funded infrastructure or green energy program.

She spoke specifically of the NDP's call for a 50 per cent Buy Ontario policy that would apply to government infrastructure or "green energy" projects.

"We believe quite strongly in all the infrastructure money, the stimulus packages -- a portion of those need to be putting our people back to work."

The provincial government has some initiatives: wind projects must have 25 per cent Ontario content, which will increase to 50 per cent by January 2012. Large solar projects are now set at 50 per cent, increasing to 60 per cent by January 2011, while small solar moves from 40 per cent domestic content to 60 by January 2011.

But David Butters, president of the Association of Power Producers of Ontario, said a 50 per cent Buy Ontario policy is unrealistic because some parts for power plants are not even available domestically.

"The reality is that the taxpayer should have their power plants built with the most cost-effective parts."

The CAW Local 504 is organizing a large rally on Thursday at noon to protest the move.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Love that our Industry Minister holds up 200 new healthcare jobs in response to the loss of 550 private sector jobs.

[markbarbera]

Hamilton area loses 1,600 jobs last month; mixed reviews on recovery

Carmela Fragomeni
The Hamilton Spectator

(Mar 13, 2010)
While national and local unemployment rates edged down, the Hamilton region still lost 1,600 jobs in February.

The news from Statistics Canada yesterday comes on the heels of Thursday's announcement from Siemens Canada that it is moving its gas turbine manufacturing and 550 Hamilton jobs to North Carolina. In January, the Hamilton area lost 1,900 jobs.

Hamilton's February unemployment rate decreased slightly to 8.7 per cent from 8.9 in January, according to Statistics Canada's national labour force survey released yesterday. Canada's unemployment rate was 8.2 per and Ontario's was 9.1.

However, Hamilton's labour force shrank. Both the number of employed and of unemployed went down.

"Those are negative trends," said Erin Weir, economist for the United Steelworkers. "Just the fact that fewer people are employed is a bad thing for the community."

He points out Toronto's employment went up 1 per cent while it decreased 1.6 per cent in Hamilton.

"It's an indication Hamilton is lagging behind in the labour market recovery, if it's recovering."

Danielle Zietsma at Statistics Canada said comparing just January and February doesn't reveal a trend and adds Hamilton's employment picture hasn't changed much from last February to this one.

The biggest job losses, 5,000, were in finance, insurance, real estate and leasing, followed by 4,000 fewer jobs in the retail and wholesale trade sector.

The manufacturing sector did not change much, she said. The largest job gains were in the information, culture and recreation sector, with 6,000 new jobs, followed by 3,000 new professional, scientific and technical service sector employees.

Neil Everson, Hamilton's director of economic development, took a more positive view Hamilton's unemployment rate.

"We're still below the provincial average and still below other areas," he said, although added the Siemens news is not good.

"Generally the city is doing pretty good," he said, pointing out that industrial building permits are up and that Burlington and Milton have far more vacant industrial and commercial space than Hamilton.

Numbers showing fewer people employed in Hamilton can be deceiving he said.

"It could be retirements. It could be people leaving the workforce ... You have to remember this is based on a survey."

But Ontario NDP Leader and Hamilton Centre MPP Andrea Horwath said Hamiltonians have been losing jobs every month. "We need a recovery that works for everyone," she said in a statement yesterday after she and Hamilton Mountain MP Chris Charlton met with Siemens workers.

[realcity]

Wow!.

[SteelTown]

Hamilton's economy bouncing back

April 08, 2010
Steve Arnold
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/749729

Hamilton is poised for its strongest economic growth in a decade.

The Conference Board of Canada is predicting Hamilton's economy will grow 3.3 per cent this year -- its best performance since 2000 and the third-fastest growing city economy in the country.

At the same time, the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington reported the real estate market is booming, with March sales up 38 per cent over the same month last year and the average price of $335,633 up almost 21 per cent.

The Conference Board report says the only key number that's not going up for Hamilton in the next five years is the unemployment rate -- it's set to fall by almost half by 2014.

Hamilton's growth will trail only Vancouver's post-Olympic 4 per cent and Toronto's 3.7 per cent.

The rosy report, released yesterday, matches the business outlooks the city's economic development staff have seen, said Norm Schleehahn, manager of business development.

"Our numbers would certainly agree with that trend," he said.

The Conference Board, an Ottawa-based think-tank, takes the economic temperature of Canada's largest cities throughout the year. The most recent review for Hamilton projects growth in all sectors -- including the battered manufacturing segment, where output and employment have fallen every year since 2003, bleeding more than 17,000 jobs, or 22 per cent of its workforce. More than 7,000 jobs were lost in the last two years alone.

The report notes: "Manufacturing output posted positive growth in the final two quarters of the year, as global demand picked up. And this strength is expected to continue through 2010 as well, despite the ongoing challenge posed by a strong Canadian dollar."

In total, the board predicts manufacturing output in Hamilton will increase 4.4 per cent this year as the auto and construction sectors pick up, boosting the steel industry especially.

The improvement will continue next year, adding another 4.3 per cent in growth.

In Hamilton, those numbers are backed up by announcements such as the new coffee roasting plant of Tim Hortons, the Canada Bread bakery and Metro Freightliner's decision last year to consolidate its Stoney Creek and St. Catharines transport truck sales and service operations here, said Schleehahn.

That move, he added, was one of three where new companies moved into space vacated by firms that had downsized because of the recession.

"Even in bad times, some people were investing," he said. "That was happening from big companies all the way down to the small business operator."

One segment that will be especially important to Hamilton's improved outlook is construction -- a turnaround from 2009 where housing starts dropped by almost half to a 27-year low and output for the sector dropped by 10 per cent.

This year, the board predicted new housing activity will improve by 30 per cent, with starts rising to 2,420 from last year's 1,860.

Also boosting the sector will be $7.1 million in federal and provincial affordable housing projects and ongoing work including $290 million in hospital renovations, work on several roads, water treatment facilities and sewers as well as the CANMET Materials Technology Laboratory at the McMaster Innovation Park.

There are more potential gains from the proposed light-rail transit system and developments for the 2015 Pan Am Games awarded to Toronto and Hamilton.

The realtors' association report for March shows sharp increases over the same month in 2009 and steady increases through the first three months of this year.

"March was just an amazing month for numbers of listings and sales," association president Joe Ferrante said in a news release.

"We set a new record for the number of listings taken in a month, ever."

Specifically, the Hamilton-Burlington area saw 1,436 units sold in March, an increase of 38.2 per cent over March of last year and 29.4 per cent over February.

To date, the board reported unit sales are 45.7 per cent higher than the same period in 2009 and listings are up 21.5 per cent.

Ferrante said the pace is expected to continue through the spring, although hikes in mortgage interest rates may cool the market slightly.

[SteelTown]

Fortinos to add 80 jobs with head office move
$4-million investment on east Mountain

By Mark Newman, News Staff
News
http://www.hamiltonmountainnews.com/news/article/207096

Fortinos is coming home.

In a major economic boost for the city, the 20-store supermarket chain is moving its head office from Burlington to the Nebo Hill Plaza at 1275 Rymal Rd. East in June, not far from its former head office on Glover Road.

“Our roots are in Hamilton,” said Vince Scorniaenchi, executive vice president of Fortinos, who added the company is investing about $4 million in its new 30,000 square-foot head office and are looking to increase the number of head office staff from the current 20 to as many as 100.

Scorniaenchi said the timing of the move meant they needed to find an existing building.

Part of the Loblaws empire, Scorniaenchi said company officials decided last December to have each of the supermarket chains within the organization operate independently and he credits city officials with helping ensure all necessary zoning changes were in place for the east Mountain location.

“I believe the prestige of a head office coming to Hamilton … it’s going to provide a domino effect for other head offices to consider coming to Hamilton in the future,” said Ward 6 Coun. Tom Jackson, who was contacted by Fortinos officials before Christmas about helping the company work out the details of the move.

The east Mountain councillor said the move gives the city some positive news following word of the pending closure of Siemens and the Lakeport brewery.

Fortinos, which has eight supermarkets in the Hamilton area, began as a single store in 1961 and became part of the Loblaw’s empire in 1988.

Scorniaenchi, a nephew of company founder John Fortino, has been with the company for 34 years.

“I grew up through the stores,” said the 51- year-old St. Thomas More graduate, who started as a janitor at the former Fortinos at Mohawk and Upper Ottawa, eventually working his way up through a variety of other jobs, including shelf stocker before moving on to company management.

Despite stiff competition, Scorniaenchi said, the company is confident the business will grow in the coming years.

Two new stores are planned for Burlington and Toronto next year.

“The brand is strong and there is room for the brand to grow,” Scorniaenchi said.

[SteelTown]

New recycling plant in Hamilton brings 50 jobs

April 29, 2010
BY ERIC McGUINNESS
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/760420

Hamilton is about to get a construction-waste processing plant its builders say will create 50 jobs and recycle up to 96 per cent of the wood, plastic and metal received.

The company, Countrywide Recycling Inc., says it will be the first of its kind in Ontario and one of only two or three in Canada.

Rob Cook, president of the Ontario Waste Management Association, says there are several similar plants in Ontario, but none achieving a diversion rate of 90 per cent or better.

Countrywide is owned by home builder John Voortman; his wife, Marie, and partner Dave Burtt. They bought 4.5 hectares of city land on Nebo Road in the Red Hill Industrial Park where they are ready to erect a building big enough to hold four NHL-sized ice rinks. An Environment Ministry certificate of approval is pending.

[SteelTown]

Cadbury combines operations
West-end facility getting $10-million makeover for expansion

May 27, 2010
Steve Arnold
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/776581

A west-end candy factory is getting a $10-million makeover.

Cadbury Adams is spending that money to combine its Hamilton and Stoney Creek operations into one efficient factory.

"We're going to bring two facilities together," explained Stephanie Minna Cass, the company's Canadian corporate communications manager. "This will allow us to reduce the complexity of our operation and to ship directly from our Hamilton plant."

Cadbury currently has a production plant on Ewen Road in Hamilton's west end and a leased packaging-shipping plant in Stoney Creek. The candies and other treats made in Hamilton have to be moved clear across the city to be packaged before they can be shipped to customers across Canada and the United States.

"By doing this we can reduce our complexity, reduce our emissions and improve our work flow," she said. "We'll be able to ship directly from Hamilton to our U.S. and Canadian warehouses."

Work on the project, which will increase the west-end plant from 175,000 square feet to 200,000, is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Minna Cass explained the Hamilton plant has been pegged as a "centre of excellence" for candy production for Kraft in Canada -- Kraft won control of Cadbury's earlier this year.

The Hamilton plant produces Maynard's Fuzzy Peaches, Swedish Berries, Sour Patch Kids, Swedish Fish and Sour Cherry Blaster candies "and a plethora of other brands."

Where many corporate consolidation decisions often mean the loss of a factory and jobs, Minna Cass said Cadbury decided to stay in Hamilton "because we already had a significant manufacturing operation there."

"It's critical for us to remain competitive so we are continuously re-evaluating our processes and facilities," she said. "We already have significant space at Ewen Road so making better use of it gives us much better costs."

The company refused to say how many people are employed at the plants, but said the consolidation should be accomplished with "minimal to no job loss."

Neil Everson, Hamilton's director of economic development, welcomed the expansion as a first step toward building up the food processing industry in Hamilton -- one of the targets of the new economic development strategy.

"We've been working with Cadbury Adams for months," he said. "This is a very exciting development."

Cadbury started making candy in Canada in 1905. The Hamilton plant continues a tradition of local candy making that started in 1950 with the founding of Allan Candy Group.

It was purchased in 1995 by U.K.-based Cadbury Schweppes and rebranded Trebor Allan Inc. In 2007, Cadbury sold the Allan Candy business to ReichmannHauer Capital Partners which, in turn, sold the Emerald Street North manufacturing plant to a new company called Karma Candy Inc.

[SteelTown]

'Cautiously optimistic' about saving Siemens jobs

June 05, 2010
Lisa Grace Marr
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/782419

City officials are holding out hope for the fate of the Siemens plant slated to close next year -- and for most of its affected workers.

Neil Everson, the city's director of economic development, said he and others are in the midst of ongoing discussions with Siemens Canada top executives, including Roland Aurich, president and CEO.

"We're cautiously optimistic," Everson said yesterday.

In March, Siemens Canada announced it would be moving its gas turbine division from its Milton Avenue plant to North Carolina, taking with it 550 jobs.

At the time, company officials indicated that in Ontario, the market for gas turbines was shrinking while the market for renewable technologies was increasing.

Last week, Aurich told a Bloomsberg News reporter the company may soon open a wind turbine blade factory in Ontario.

D.L. Leslie, Siemens' spokesperson, said the company continues to explore opportunities in Ontario, although he would not say whether southern Ontario or Hamilton were among those "opportunities."

"I can't say, but it makes sense to manufacture where the market is."

Ontario's new Green Energy Act and Feed-in-Tariff program comes with a requirement that 60 per cent of renewable technologies be built in Ontario.

"This is why we identified clean technologies as a growth area for the city," Everson said.

This week, Siemens announced it would start building photovoltaic inverters at its Burlington division, creating 50 jobs.

Don Liddle, Siemens' manager of communications of industry, said he wasn't sure if the Hamilton workers' skills would be transferrable, but he said displaced workers could apply.

Also, Everson said the city has had 12 leads from "clean technology" firms interested in locating here -- Hamilton was shortlisted by three.

Still, the Siemens plant remains "a priority," said Everson.

It's hard to say if that alone will boost morale for Siemens workers.

Doug Brown, unit chair of CAW Local 504, which represents about 340 of the affected workers, said he learned of Siemens' plans to expand the Burlington plant "in the newspaper."

"We may not have a great relationship right now."

The union is in the midst of contract negotiations with the company, in essence discussing "closure packages," Brown said.

He said as far as the workers at the Hamilton plant are concerned, they'll work until it closes in July 2011.

"The company expects everyone to stay until the plant closes," he said. "If you leave before it closes, all opportunities for severance are lost unless it's 16 weeks prior to closure, then there are some options."

[markbarbera]

Today Siemens announced it has moved its target closing date ahead from July 2011 to the new closing date of April 2011.

[thistleclub]

Job creation surge bypasses Hamilton
National numbers encouraging but don't translate at local level

Steve Arnold
The Canadian Press
(Jul 10, 2010)
http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/805224

"Canada held a job creation festival last month, but Hamilton wasn't invited. The latest figures from Statistics Canada show the economy pumped out 93,200 new jobs in June. Almost all of them were in Ontario and Quebec and all were in the service sector. The net effect was to bring the national unemployment rate down to 7.9 per cent -- the first time that figure has fallen below 8 per cent since January 2009. Hamilton, however, saw the number of unemployed here increase compared with the same period last year and the year-over-year jobless rate rise half a percentage point to 7.7 from 7.2. The rate dropped marginally from 7.8 per cent in May. Compared with the same time last year, Hamilton's situation hasn't improved at all -- its population has grown but the workforce has shrunk and the ranks of the unemployed have grown... Compared with June 2009, the number of people employed in the Hamilton area shrank by about 10,000 while the number classed as unemployed rose by 1,500."