Two businesses headquartered in Prescott and Russell counties are among four companies receiving more than $5 million in support from FedDev Ontario, the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. The financial support was announced in Plantagenet by Glengarry-Prescott-Russell Member of Parliament (MP) Francis Drouin on Monday, May 13.
The financial assistance is intended to help uncover opportunities for growth and bring new Canadian-made products and services to market, and create jobs. All of the financial support is repayable to FedDev by the companies.
PiiComm Inc., a Managed Mobility Services (MMS) tech company in Plantagenet has received a $1.7 million repayable FedDev Ontario investment. With the funding, the company created more than 20 skilled jobs in Plantagenet.
Ferme Marseni Inc. of Casselman is a sustainable food producer that uses vertical farming to produce fresh and healthy greens in Ontario. The $750,000 repayable investment has supported the company in implementing an indoor vertical farming operation with innovative technology that uses less water to ensure more sustainable agricultural practices, without the use of pesticides and herbicides. As a result, the company has been able to sustainably grow basil for leading agri-food distributors and retailers in Canada. The company also created nine skilled jobs.
“Through this project, we have been able to launch innovative technology to control the plant growth from A to Z to ensure the produce is as it should taste year-round and supports mother nature’s unpredictable weather conditions. We are also happy to be able to create jobs in Casselman with a possibility of future job growth for the community as well as minimizing environmental impact,” said Marc Brisson of Ferme Marseni Inc.
The remainder of the FedDev financial support went to Brampton-based packaging manufacturer Albéa Canada and Edgecom Energy Inc., an energy management software company in Toronto.
