Bonavista clothing manufacturer receives new investment to expand

Industry, Trade and Rural Development Minister Judy Foote today announced that Kelly�s Apparel Limited of Bonavista has received $50,000 from the department�s Small Business Seed Capital Equity Program to help increase its production and create six new jobs. The company manufactures commercial clothing such as uniforms, shirts, pants and coveralls. The total cost of the initiative is $100,000. Minister Foote made the announcement during a tour of the company today.

"Kelly�s Apparel is creating new manufacturing jobs in a rural area that has seen a decline in traditional resource-based occupations. It is an example of what�s happening in the small business sector throughout our province and shows that real progress is being made through the entrepreneurial spirit that is alive and well in rural Newfoundland and Labrador today," said Minister Foote. "This company also exports its products which brings new dollars into the local economy."

At present the company has nine full-time employees and hopes to hire six graduates of the College of the North Atlantic who have been trained in manufacturing industrial clothing. Kelly�s Apparel clients include the Department of National Defence, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, and Fishery Products International.

The Newfoundland and Labrador apparel industry currently employs 1,000 people and generates close to $30 million a year of which 90 per cent is in export sales. Markets include mainly Canada and the United States.

The Department of Industry, Trade and Rural Development established the Small Business Seed Capital Equity Program on April 1, 2000 in direct response to representations made by the business community during government�s Jobs and Growth consultations. The program makes equity contributions of up to $50,000 available, on a matching basis, to new entrepreneurs or existing small businesses seeking expansion opportunities in areas of the economy that offer significant growth potential.

Media contact: Tansy Mundon, Communications, (709) 729-4570

2003 08 22                                      1:00 p.m.