A former Newfoundlander with a successful technology company in Massachusetts has opened a manufacturing plant in St. John�s to provide products for its American affiliate.

Jim and Karen Patterson, owners of Static Clean International (SCI) in Burlington, Massachusetts, recently established Conception Design and Manufacturing Inc. in St. John�s with the help of $25,000 funding from the Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development�s Business and Market Development Program.

"From his home in Massachusetts, Mr. Patterson has for some years been a business ambassador for Newfoundland and Labrador companies on trade missions to New England, facilitating introductions to U.S. companies," said the Honourable Trevor Taylor, Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development. "I am delighted that Mr. Patterson has established a manufacturing plant in our province that will create jobs and strengthen business ties between our two countries."

Static Clean International of Burlington, Massachusetts, markets products that are used for the control of static electricity in manufacturing processes such as static created in bottling plants, paper mills and plastic parts production, as some examples. The St. John�s company will manufacture many of the products that SCI currently produces in the U.S., and it will develop several products that SCI currently buys from other suppliers.

Conception Design and Manufacturing is managed by Carl Cleary and has a husband-and-wife production team, Ted and Corinne Dawe, who spent 15 years in Ontario in the automotive and food manufacturing industry before bringing back their skills to Newfoundland and Labrador. So far, with the use of their past experience and training, they have reduced some manufacturing processes up to 50 per cent through both time and cost.

The new company hopes to hire up to 15 people within a couple of years. It also hopes to use Newfoundland and Labrador suppliers where possible, including forming relationships with other manufacturers in related fields to reduce costs and the need to import materials from U.S. suppliers currently used by SCI. The bulk of Conception Design and Manufacturing�s products will be exported.

"The decision to set-up a new plant in Newfoundland and Labrador was easy," said Mr. Patterson. "The province has lower operating costs, a good labour force and being so close to the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S., it provides a strategic location from which to do business."

INTRD provided funding assistance towards the costs of acquiring external expertise on production processes and equipment and costs associated with investigating new markets in North America, Europe and Asia.

The Business and Market Development Program is designed to provide new entrepreneurs and expanding small businesses with funding to help them acquire the necessary expertise to pursue new business ideas and new markets for their products or services. The $1 million program is intended to support new growth opportunities in the economy such as value-added manufacturing activities and export-oriented opportunities.

The department�s Ambassador Program includes a worldwide network of individuals who promote the merits of doing business in Newfoundland and Labrador, give us direct access to potentially valuable market information and to an expanded business network in foreign markets. Ambassadors include Newfoundlanders and Labradorians living outside of the province and people who have developed a close relationship with Newfoundland and Labrador from living in or visiting the province.

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