News release

Local Company Increasing Productivity, Preparing for Future Opportunities

Economic and Rural Development and Tourism (Jan. 2011 - April 2015)

A homegrown company is training employees and using new equipment to save time and money, allowing it to become more productive and competitive.

MilAero Electronics Atlantic in Dartmouth used funds from the province's Productivity Investment Program (PIP) toward the purchase of new equipment and to ensure employees have the skills they need to help the company grow, become more competitive and better prepare for future opportunities.

"The province's jobsHere plan supports all kinds of companies, of all sizes, all across the province to improve, grow, and continue to offer good jobs that Nova Scotia families rely on," said Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage MLA Becky Kent, on behalf of Economic and Rural Development and Tourism Minister Percy Paris.

"The province is taking every possible step to ensure Nova Scotia is ready to make the most of the opportunities connected to the federal shipbuilding contracts. MilAero is a great example of a company focused on improving and preparing now, so it's ready to take full advantage of opportunities now and in the future."

MilAero manufactures and integrates high-performance electrical assemblies, cables, control boxes and other parts for the defence, aerospace and industrial markets. It is one of the more than 100 Nova Scotia firms named in a recently released study that analyzes the activities needed to create, produce and deliver the federal arctic offshore patrol ships, polar icebreaker and research vessels.

The company was noted as one of the Nova Scotia companies with the potential to become a supplier to the shipbuilding programs in Nova Scotia and British Columbia.

"Access to supports like the Productivity Investment Program helped us offer our employees new training opportunities in lean manufacturing and add sophisticated new testing equipment that's allowing us to work more efficiently and helping us win more military contracts," said company president Paul Greedy.

"In addition to our experience working on large defence contracts with the United States, we hope our local presence will help us bid on upcoming shipbuilding opportunities here in Halifax. We've created a strong base for growth and we are looking forward to moving into our new facility in Woodside Industrial Park this summer."

The company used $34,636 from PIP to:

  • help purchase new equipment that is reducing costs and setup time, allowing for faster testing, and bringing processes in-house
  • train employees in areas like lean manufacturing, waste reduction, and workplace organization.

The Productivity Investment Program encourages Nova Scotia businesses to become more productive, innovative and globally competitive through two financial incentives, the Capital Investment Incentive and the Workplace Innovation and Productivity Skills Incentive.

The $25-billion federal shipbuilding contracts will provide work for the next 30 years and 11,500 direct and indirect jobs in Nova Scotia when the project hits its stride in a few years' time.

For more information on jobsHere and PIP visit http://jobshere.novascotia.ca.