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  #21  
Old Posted Mar 31, 2010, 1:23 PM
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out of protest, I will never again buy Lakeport.

Come to think of it, I never did.
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  #22  
Old Posted Mar 31, 2010, 2:45 PM
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Originally Posted by SteelTown View Post
There are rumours that the real reason Labatt is closing Lakeport so quickly and emptying out the building is because they found a food company to take over the building.
It would be nice if the brewery were replaced with a food plant, but don't be fooled. The real reason for closing the plant has always been to get rid of the buck a beer thing that was cutting into Labatt's marketshare.




RE Cascioli: Eliminating the competition may be a good business decision, but that's only good for a few businesspeople. There is nothing good about this for anyone else. It's bad for the city (yet more lost tax revenue), it's bad for the workers and their families (lost jobs), it's bad for local businesses (lost income will not be spent at local business), it's bad for taxpayers (these workers will be drawing EI and paying less income tax), it's bad for beer consumers (less competition, higher prices). So, good for business, bad for society. Business as usual.
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  #23  
Old Posted Mar 31, 2010, 3:39 PM
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It's times like these I wish I drank beer more than a couple times a year, so my boycott of Labatt products will mean more... but I'll avoid their beer whenever the opportunity arises. I've told friends/family to boycot them as well.

It'd be nice if businesses in Hamilton refused to stock their fridges with Labatts - but unfortunately we know most consumers in Canada never take a stand on anything and will buy Labatts regardless... at which point I can't blame businesses for continuing to sell it since it's their livelihood.
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  #24  
Old Posted Mar 31, 2010, 7:42 PM
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Teresa Cascioli profile from The Globe and Mail, Sept 21, 2005

In five years, I will like to be best known for... "...being a strong, courageous entrepreneurial underdog who fought vigorously to employ people from her community, who offered a wonderful product at a fair price, who gave back personally in time and with philanthropic initiatives and who worked hard to be a leader. I would like to best be known as someone who did the right thing not necessarily the popular thing and who was respected by her peers for doing so. In five years I would like to be known as the person who rescued a bankrupt brewery that continues to grow and be profitable for all of its constituents."

Quote:
It'd be nice if businesses in Hamilton refused to stock their fridges with Labatts - but unfortunately we know most consumers in Canada never take a stand on anything and will buy Labatts regardless... at which point I can't blame businesses for continuing to sell it since it's their livelihood.
Unless bars refuse to stock Labatt product, and forsake all of the swag and promo incentive$, anywhere from a third to half of beer fridges in the city will always be lined with frosty, familiar Labatt/Interbrew brands, two of them (Blue and Budweiser) top sellers. When and if consumers who shift major brew allegiances or jump craft brewers blow through the Molson/Sleeman fridges well before last call, the ethical rationalizations will undoubtedly come thick and fast.
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  #25  
Old Posted Mar 31, 2010, 8:04 PM
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This is a bit tangential, but I'm surprised no one in Hamilton has ever opened a brew pub. Maybe now's the time to do it.
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  #26  
Old Posted Apr 1, 2010, 9:22 PM
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Originally Posted by SteelTown View Post
There are rumours that the real reason Labatt is closing Lakeport so quickly and emptying out the building is because they found a food company to take over the building.
I think the Port Authority might have something to say about how the building is put to use, they own it. Any new tenant found by Labatt's would have to meet with the Port Authorities approval.

Last edited by bigguy1231; Apr 2, 2010 at 3:20 AM.
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  #27  
Old Posted Apr 3, 2010, 3:27 PM
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Lakeport equipment won't stay: Labatt

April 03, 2010
Steve Arnold
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/747208

Labatt Breweries has slammed the door on local efforts to get it to leave behind production equipment when its Hamilton beer plant closes at the end of the month.

Ever since Tuesday's announcement that Lakeport Brewery will close April 30, a small but persistent group of workers and local politicians has pushed for the company to keep the equipment in the plant. They hope a craft brewer or other operation might be convinced to move in, sparing at least some of the 143 jobs to be lost.

In an e-mail Thursday, however, Labatt spokesperson Jeff Ryan said, "We will be using all salvageable equipment in other facilities within our brewery network."

Ryan's statement capped a day in which city and provincial politicians reached for ways to save something from the latest industrial shutdown in the city.

"The most difficult thing for me is that this is becoming a bit of a pattern here in Hamilton," Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath told a morning rally at the plant. "We have to stop and pause and start thinking about: When do these corporations begin to be concerned about the communities and people that drive their profits year after year after year? When does it become their obligation to take care of the communities that took care of them for so many years?"

She slammed the provincial government for its recent budget that concentrated on corporate tax cuts without tying them to guarantees of jobs and investment.

Ward 2 Councillor Bob Bratina said he will ask the federal Competition Bureau to review Labatt's decision to close Lakeport "to determine whether the unilateral decision by a Canadian company to destroy the historic brewing industry in Hamilton for its own selfish purposes is acceptable and permitted under Canadian law."

Bratina also called on federal Industry Minister Tony Clement to order Labatt not to remove any equipment from the Hamilton plant "until it can be determined whether the company's plans are in violation of the Competition Act or are creating unnecessary hardship for employees of Lakeport Brewery or their families."

Ward 8 Councillor Terry Whitehead suggested creating a new law requiring companies to offer plants for sale before they're allowed to close them.

While Horwath was addressing a crowd of about 50 workers and others at the brewery, Stoney Creek NDP MPP Paul Miller was attacking the government in the legislature.

During question period, he demanded to know when the McGuinty government is going to table a solid job-creation plan for the Hamilton area.

"Members of the government make faint claims of new jobs in the region, but I don't think a $10.25 hourly minimum wage is going to sustain families who have relied on well-paying, permanent, full-time jobs," Miller said.

"When will the McGuinty government's plan for good, well-paying jobs in Hamilton start?"

Miller noted that between Lakeport and Siemens, which will close its local gas turbine plant, the area is losing almost 700 industrial jobs.

In the legislature, Economic Development and Trade Minister Sandra Pupatello said the government is "concerned" over the loss of jobs in Hamilton and is "reaching out" to Labatt and Siemens "to see what we can do to be helpful."

Later, in an e-mail relayed through a spokesperson, Pupatello said the government is "trying to talk to (Labatt) now and we will ask them to do everything they can to help Hamilton, including asking what they are prepared to do regarding their site."

Ryan, of Labatt, said the company is trying to help the Hamilton workers by providing "a substantial amount of money" for re-training and job search services. It is also organizing a job fair for brewery employees on April 14.
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  #28  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2010, 7:31 PM
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Tangentially related...

Pepsi, InBev's A-B Join Forces in Landmark Media Pact
Giants Wield Combined $1.15B Budget to Get Better Prices From Broadcast, Cable, Mags and Outdoor Sellers

by Jeremy Mullman and Natalie Zmuda
Published: April 05, 2010
Advertising Age


CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- In a landmark deal, mega-marketers PepsiCo and Anheuser-Busch InBev -- which together spent more than $1.15 billion on U.S. measured media last year -- are pooling their vast scale to wring savings out of media companies.

The arrangement is an evolution of a "joint-purchasing agreement" the two marketers signed in October. That pact was originally supposed to save the partners money on items such as travel, computers and office supplies. In fact, a PepsiCo spokeswoman at the time said that "the consortium is not related to media costs or marketing."

But less than three months later, A-B and PepsiCo have moved beyond scoring cheaper paperclips and onto network, cable, print and outdoor media buys. A-B and PepsiCo are believed to have already made joint approaches to media concerns such as NBC Universal, Turner and Condé Nast.

An examination of the two companies' $1.15 billion on U.S. media as measured by Kantar Media shows that their combined heft was greatest in the four categories where they are now cooperating. They shelled out $490 million on network TV, $182 million on cable, $194 million in magazines and another $70 million on outdoors, Kantar reported.

"This follows on the relationship we started last October to purchase goods in the U.S.," said a PepsiCo spokesman. "It's a way to allow both companies to purchase media more effectively and efficiently and reinvest savings in our businesses."

Richard Bellas, VP-global procurement for advertising and marketing, is leading the endeavor at PepsiCo, and Mark Wright, VP-media, sports and entertainment marketing, is running point on the A-B side.

While the spokesman declined to offer any estimates about what the company might save, there's little doubt that combining with A-B gives a company that already boasted considerable clout with advertisers significantly more sway, and vice versa.

PepsiCo, a giant in the U.S. beverage and snack business, boasts a stable of billion-dollar brands that includes Pepsi, Gatorade, Mountain Dew, Tropicana, Lay's, Doritos and Quaker. A-B, for its part, dominates the U.S. beer business with a market share of nearly 50%; its leading brands include Bud Light, Budweiser, Busch, Natural Light, Michelob and Stella Artois.

The partnership figures to have a dramatic impact on advertising's biggest stage, the Super Bowl, as the two companies are the game's two largest advertisers by a significant margin over the last two decades.

(A-B had five minutes of air time in last year's game; PepsiCo did not advertise any of its beverage brands for the first time in 23 years, but it did buy four 30-second spots for Doritos.) Fox will carry the game next year.

If this effort plays out anything like other aspects of the joint-purchasing agreement, it figures to save A-B and PepsiCo millions -- and cause media outlets a few headaches. And then there's the potential that other marketers, eyeing PepsiCo and A-B's move, will decide to launch their own consolidated buying agreements in an effort to wring costs out of ad time. It's not hard to envision it happening. It's also not hard to envision who could be next in line for the big squeeze: agencies.

Spokesmen for both companies said the cooperation is limited to media spending and will not impact advertising production or agencies. Both A-B and PepsiCo are major clients of Omnicom Group. A-B's primary ad agency is DDB, while PepsiCo uses Omnicom creative shops such as TBWA and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, and also retains Omnicom's OMD for media services. A-B's media buying and planning is handled internally, by its Busch Media Group unit.

According to an A-B spokesman, the individual companies will continue to handle their media planning separately, but, after that, "a team of executives from each company will review plans and priorities, focus on common areas of spending and negotiate purchases on behalf of both companies." The actual ordering and payment will be handled by the individual companies separately.

At PepsiCo's recent analyst meeting in New York, Exec VP-Global Operations Hugh Johnston said that PepsiCo and A-B have addressed spending that amounts to nearly $1 billion in areas including logistics, travel, office supplies and couriers. Media spending is not accounted for in that figure.

"While our productivity results to date have been significant, we believe there are many additional opportunities to realize further savings," he said of the company's decision to team up with A-B InBev. "We built a joint team, co-located them and just turned them loose. So far, they're delivering ahead of expectations, and we're looking at adding more categories of spend even faster than we had anticipated in our plan."
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  #29  
Old Posted Apr 12, 2010, 5:47 PM
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Calgary firm wants to buy Lakeport brewery
Minhas Creek wants to expand in Ontario

April 12, 2010
Meredith MacLeod
http://www.thespec.com/Business%20News/article/752061

A Calgary brewery is interested in buying Lakeport.

 Minhas Creek Brewing Company, which produces under the Boxer Lager brand of beer, is looking at taking over the Burlington Street plant but stresses it’s not interested in buying the Lakeport brand of beers.

Minhas Creek, owned by 20-something brother and sister team Ravinder and Manjit Minhas, is contacting Labatt, the Port Authority, which owns the land and the building, Teamsters Union 938 and city officials, according to a press release issued late this morning.

Minhas Creek began brewing in the West in November 2007. It has been recently urging the LCBO and The Beer Store to carry more of its stock after surging sales in Ontario since it was introduced here last fall.

Labatt announced March 30 that it will shutter the Hamilton brewery April 30 and move production of Lakeport beers to London. The company said it would take all the brewing equipment out of the plant. City and provincial politicians have called for Labatt to pursue a buyer for the plant that could continue brewing in the city.
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  #30  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2010, 11:12 AM
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Buyers lining up for Lakeport brewery
Calgary siblings among several interested in operation
But Labatt says no sale, it's gone

April 13, 2010
Meredith Macleod
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/752582

A Calgary brother and sister who want to make beer in Hamilton don't expect an easy fight with Labatt over the Lakeport plant.

Ravinder and Manjit Minhas, owners of Minhas Creek Brewing Company, want to take over the Burlington Street plant and make beer for the Ontario market.

They've taken their interest public, but city officials say there are other players making quiet inquiries about the facility, too.

Ravinder Minhas is in Hamilton today to meet with city and Hamilton Port Authority officials and the plant's union to talk about a potential deal. He says he expects to be able to employ all 143 Lakeport workers.

Any deal will require Labatt's co-operation. That doesn't seem to be forthcoming.

Labatt, which announced March 30 it will shutter the plant at the end of this month and move production to its London, Ont., brewery, will not leave behind any equipment, it reaffirmed yesterday.

"We've been crystal clear from Day 1: We're removing all the equipment from Hamilton and moving it elsewhere in our national network. It is not for sale," said Jeff Ryan, director of corporate affairs at Labatt.

Labatt also won't budge on its remaining two-year lease on the plant, says Ryan.

Minhas says it would make sense for Labatt to move some machinery. But if Labatt removes the tanks and piping, it would make it extremely difficult for another brewer to come in.

"If they're going to take equipment to reuse, that's not our concern but if they're going to destroy equipment, that's something else."

Neil Everson, Hamilton's director of economic development, said there are three serious parties interested in Lakeport.

A deal will hinge on the equipment and the lease, he said. His department is trying to arrange a meeting with Labatt officials.

"Our interest is in those 143 displaced workers," said Everson.

The city will also lose water and tax revenue when Lakeport ceases production.

Minhas Creek's Boxer Lager brand is a significant player in the buck-a-beer segment in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It was launched in Ontario last fall, where it sells at the lowest possible price, $15.80 for 12 cans.

The company is based in Calgary and owns a brewery in Monroe, Wis.

Paul Kuruliak, an 18-year veteran at Lakeport, said the interest shown by Minhas Creek offers workers some hope.

"People are going to be ecstatic. But will Labatt do the right thing? I don't think they will."

Kuruliak said he doesn't believe Labatt will use the Lakeport equipment elsewhere. He said some of it dates back to the days of Amstel ownership, and Labatt has already pumped millions into its flagship London brewery. The brewhouse operator also says Lakeport workers continually met production targets, only to have them set higher.

"Labatt is in an embarrassing position," said Councillor Bob Bratina. "They're going to be seen to be destroying livelihoods for their own bottom line."

He thinks the federal government should force Labatt to either lease or sell the equipment at fair market value.

But he admits that's likely a "faint hope."

"This isn't something we've done. We don't challenge companies like they do in the United States."

Hamilton Centre NDP MP David Christopherson says he doesn't think Ottawa could order Labatt to sell its equipment. But he has asked Industry Minister Tony Clement to intervene.

"It's one thing for a company spokesperson to spew the company line, but it's a whole other thing for a company president to get a call from a federal cabinet minister ... The world can change based on one phone call."

Minhas says he understands that Labatt wouldn't want to see a new competitor take up in the plant, but he says he's an existing player and won't disappear if Labatt plays hardball in Hamilton.

"I'm not sure how friendly Labatt will ever be to me," said Minhas. "We're not dreamers, we're realists."

He said his company has always had its eye on Lakeport and admired its sales and marketing approach.

When Labatt announced its plans for the plant, Minhas said he and his sister, both in their late 20s, didn't hesitate to make a move.

He doesn't believe the Hamilton brewery has any efficiency issues. Labatt has said the plant is inefficient compared to its other operations.

"Labatt wasn't saying it was inefficient when they bought it. When you start to blame the plant, it's a cheap shot to employees."

Minhas Creek also produces Mountain Crest, Lazy Mutt Farmhouse Ale, Rani Indian Lager, Jack's American Lager, Axehead Extreme Extra Strong Lager, and coolers Peelers Mojito and Peelers Orange Squeeze.
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  #31  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2010, 2:15 PM
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Quote:
"We've been crystal clear from Day 1: We're removing all the equipment from Hamilton and moving it elsewhere in our national network. It is not for sale," said Jeff Ryan, director of corporate affairs at Labatt.
Quote:
"We've been crystal clear from Day 1: We're removing all the equipment from Hamilton and moving it elsewhere in our national network. It is not for sale," said Jeff Ryan, director of corporate affairs at Labatt.
Worth quoting repeatedly.

Whatever, Labatt, keep brewing your craptastic swampwater somewhere else, the microbreweries are not going away.
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  #32  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2010, 3:08 PM
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Labatt bought Lakeport because the buck-a-beer was eating into their profit share and stunting their brand.
Why would they let another one in?
This will never happen.
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  #33  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2010, 3:11 PM
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It's been crystal clear all along why Labatt bought this brewery. I would call this anti-competitive business practices, but some people call it good business. God damn capitalism.
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  #34  
Old Posted Apr 17, 2010, 10:40 AM
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what do we do now?

Forget the past, it's gone 30 April 2010. Forget the blame game, who cares and will it fix the issue.
So what can we do now and in the future. Get the city/prov/fed to sponsor a developmental loan to use infrastructure money to purchase the equipment or equipments for a brewery, hell they want the taxes off them.
labatts will NOT leave the brewing equipment, as it would enable competition.
So could BRICK out of Guelph move in, or the small brewer from out west (who's current plan is in Wisconsin) move in and maybe set up a elevated restaurant over the Harbour.
A craft brewer or brewers like the artists hotel planned for John Street across from the armouries. Hey an inhouse pub crawl with a fleet of taxis waiting outside. We could learn from BC as they support local brews on tap.
Look up
http://www.spinnakers.com/
or http://www.swanshotel.com/
One of these is in a industrial area that is changing into condos and then other is a converted hotel.
Think outside the box or is that a case (24).
BOYCOTT LABATTS.........
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  #35  
Old Posted Apr 18, 2010, 4:53 PM
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Forget the past, it's gone 30 April 2010.
You realize it closed for good before you even posted this? Friday was the final shift. So the past was gone 16 April 2010.

I was driving along Burlington Street yesterday, and I saw a guy walking from their retail store with two six-packs. Then I noticed that they were empty. They'd even shut the store down, so he was walking home out of luck.

Labatts is so sure that this plant can't work that they rush to close it early when the potential buyers start lining up. I'm sure it was just a measure of their corporate caring, not wanting those other breweries to waste their hard-earned money. I'm touched...
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  #36  
Old Posted Apr 18, 2010, 10:08 PM
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Isn't the other problem that Labatt is holding on to the lease for two years and keeping it empty? What Hamilton could really use is a brewpub set up like Mill Street in the Distillery District.
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  #37  
Old Posted Apr 19, 2010, 6:36 AM
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Yeah, they're "honouring their lease commitment," which would have given them a year or so to pull the equipment out of the building. But now that there's talk of competition boards, and politicians getting involved, expect to see the trucks loading up very soon.
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  #38  
Old Posted Apr 20, 2010, 11:23 AM
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Labatt begins gutting Lakeport
Equipment needed elsewhere, brewer reiterates, after report of another spurned buyer

April 20, 2010
Steve Arnold
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/755056

Labatt Breweries is already stripping equipment from its now-closed Hamilton plant.

After suddenly shutting down the Lakeport brewery in Hamilton on Friday, the foreign-owned beer giant started stripping vats and other material from the Burlington Street plant yesterday.

Norm Cooper, chairman of the Teamsters local that represented Lakeport workers, was one of about eight workers still in the plant as the dismantling process began.

"We're all pretty ticked that this is happening," Cooper said. "Labatt's isn't interested in doing anything to keep these people employed."

The dismantling of the plant started despite a local campaign to convince the company to leave brewing vats and other equipment behind in the hope another brewer would buy and revive it.

At least three such expressions of interest have been made, but at least one was contingent on getting the building fully equipped. Labatt has consistently said it needs all salvageable Lakeport equipment for its other operations.

Late in March, Labatt announced it would close the Hamilton plant at the end of this month, but it shuttered the brewery two weeks ahead of schedule.

Craig McInnes, president of Teamsters Local 938, said an offer for the plant was tendered last Tuesday and rejected by the company Thursday. He would not identify the buyer other than as a "major" American brewer that wanted the plant to make beer for export to the United States.

"I'm told it was a company that could have done the deal, they had the cash and could have turned it around in 30 days," McInnes said. "I just can't get an answer to why Labatt won't sell it."

For Labatt spokesperson Jeff Ryan, all talk about potential buyers for the Hamilton plant is speculation.

"There has been a lot of speculation about offers, but we are not entertaining any offers to sell the equipment," he said.

"We are going to use it all within our other Canadian operations."

Ryan added, however, the company is working with the city to find a new user for the Lakeport building -- as long as that new user does anything but brew beer.

Labatt has said it will maintain its current lease with the Hamilton Port Authority, which owns the Lakeport building.

Port Authority CEO Bruce Wood said as long as Labatt has a valid lease for the property, there's nothing the authority can do. "As long as they don't break the covenants of the lease, they can do what they want with the building, and in this case it looks like what they want to do with it is nothing," he said.

Wood added the authority has received some expressions of interest in the building, but that's all.

"A lot of people have called wanting to kick the tires, but no one has come forward with a firm offer," he said. "We've still got our fingers crossed that something will happen here."

The issue reached the floor of the Ontario legislature again yesterday when NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who represents Hamilton Centre, urged Premier Dalton McGuinty to use his personal connections with Labatt executives to stop the stripping of the plant.

"A few companies are actually interested in taking over the plant, which would keep very much-needed jobs in Hamilton. It's not going to work, however, if Labatt is following through with the plans to take the equipment out of the plant," she said.

"There is a chance to protect 143 jobs in a very hard-hit community. Labatt needs to be convinced that keeping the equipment at the plant is actually the right thing to do," she said.

"What better candidate for that job than the premier, whose dear friend and former aide, Charlie Angelakos, is an executive with Labatt? Will the premier get on the phone with Mr. Angelakos, ask him to keep the equipment at the plant, and work out a deal to protect these jobs?"

Angelakos, a former McGuinty aide, is now vice-president of corporate affairs with Labatt.

McGuinty didn't answer the question, but lobbed the issue to Economic Development Minister Sandra Pupatello, who said the government has contacted Labatt but its influence is limited.

"We have talked to them. The Ontario government cannot tell a business what they will do," she said.

"What we're determined to do is to continue to sell Hamilton to the world, continue to talk about the skilled trade that's available in that region to let them know that we have workers who are prepared to work as well as any best workforce in the world."
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  #39  
Old Posted Apr 20, 2010, 10:57 PM
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Labatt offers to pay lease of non-competitor

Ken Mann
4/20/2010
http://www.900chml.com/Channels/Reg/...spx?ID=1220694

Labatt doesn't believe it deserves all of the criticism that it's been getting.

The brewing giant insists that it has been trying to work with the City of Hamilton, to keep the former Lakeport plant in some form of operation.

Labatt notes that it has offered to donate its lease and municipal tax payments through May of 2012 to any new tenant that the city can find for the building, as long as it is not a "direct competitor".

Director of Corporate Affairs Jeff Ryan adds that the lease and tax payments on the Burlington Street facility total 89 thousand dollars per month, placing the value of their offer at 2.1 million dollars if the city can act immediately.

Ryan's insistence that the company will not subsidize a competitor comes one day after Labatt started removing the beer-making equipment from the Hamilton plant. He also stresses that the decision to close the plant two weeks earlier than expected was made in conjunction with union officials.

The Teamsters union is planning another rally outside of the plant on Wednesday afternoon.
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  #40  
Old Posted Apr 21, 2010, 10:59 AM
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Reward: $2m for beer plant tenant
Labatt offers Hamilton cash if it can find 'qualified' replacement for Lakeport

April 21, 2010
Steve Arnold
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/755682

Labatt Breweries has offered the city more than $2 million to help find a new tenant for its Hamilton beer plant.

The only proviso is that tenant can't be another beer maker and must give first consideration for jobs to the 143 people displaced by the closure.

Labatt revealed the offer in a news release yesterday afternoon, ahead of a rally today by labour unions to call for a national boycott of Labatt products and plans by a Calgary-based brewer to table an offer for the plant.

Labatt's offer to the city was tabled in a meeting with Mayor Fred Eisenberger and Hamilton economic development officials the day after the beer giant announced it would close the Lakeport brewery and move production to London, Ont. It offers lease and municipal tax payments of $89,000 a month to any "qualified" tenant that takes over the Burlington Street factory for the balance of Labatt's lease to the end of May 2012.

"We're doing this to enable the city to attract a suitable tenant," said Labatt spokesperson Jeff Ryan. "We want the public to know the efforts we have been making for Hamilton and hope that it will help attract some interest."

The company has also pledged $500,000 over three years for charitable and community support programs.

Labatt, which has about 45 per cent of the local beer market, has faced a steady stream of criticism for its insistence on stripping the Hamilton plant of all equipment, making it unlikely another brewer would consider locating here.

The company has said it will use all salvageable equipment in its other brewing operations. Labatt started moving out equipment Monday after suddenly shutting down Friday rather than the end of April as it had first announced.

There have been expressions of interest in the Hamilton brewery. Neil Everson, director of economic development, said an offer from Rochester-based North American Breweries was tabled last week and rejected by Labatt. NAB had planned to use the Hamilton plant to brew Labatt products for export to the United States.

NAB, owned by New York City-based KPS Capital Partners, was formed last year to hold KPS's interests in Labatt USA and Genesee Brewing Company. KPS acquired Labatt USA after the American Justice Department ordered the sale as part of the takeover of Labatt by Anheuser-Busch InBev.

NAB imports Labatt products to the U.S. brewed under contract by Labatt. That three-year contract is soon to expire.

NAB officials would not comment on the situation.

Two other companies have also expressed interest -- Minhas Creek Brewing Company of Calgary is to table an offer today after touring the Hamilton plant last week.

"I was surprised by the sudden closing, but we're going ahead with our offer anyway," said company president Ravinder Minhas. "We'll go ahead and try to open their eyes to how this makes sense for them.

"It's getting to be kind of a long shot, but we'll go ahead anyway."

Everson said he is still talking to a third brewer looking at the facility.

"Our first priority is the 143 people affected by this closure," he said. "Our first preference is to keep a brewery in there."

Against this background, workers and others will gather in Eastwood Park, across the street from the brewery at 2 p.m. today to voice their anger at Labatt and support for the NAB offer or other deal that will save their jobs.

"The NAB offer wasn't a publicity stunt, it was a serious offer that would have kept the plant up and kept people working," said Kim Norgate, a veteran Lakeport worker and one of the organizers of the rally. "The whole way Labatt has treated people here has been terrible; it has been a real strain."

By calling for a boycott of Labatt products, she said they "hope we can bring people together and show Labatt that this will affect them on the bottom line."
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