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sr deal sealed from left stouffviue economic devel opment officer eric lismanis new industry coowner jeff usling for gemini store fixtures chamber of com merce president helene johnson and stouffviue mayor wayne emmerson gather at the site of the former erie manufacturing plant on hwy 48 in ballantrac wednesday to welcome the new business to occupy the site starting in january photo by sjoerd ivitteveen erie mfg seals deal new industry brings 20 jobs christmas will come to ballantrae three days early when a scarbor oughbased store fixture manufac turing company relocates to the spot presently occupied by erie manu facturing the tribune has learned industry coowner jeff usling confirmed yesterday wednesday that the deal between gemini store fixtures ltd and erie is sealed meanwhile ownership of the 30000square foot building com plete with five acres of land is in the process of being transferred with it comes an increased indus trial base for whitchurch-stouf- fville the promise of a community minded clean industry and jobs for local residents about 20 jobs must be filled very soon said usling two months ago 50 employees of erie manufacturing learned that a restructuring of the us owned company would mean a plant clo sure and job loss the shutdown at erie triggered concern in the community people asked whats in store for the erie spot the answer was not long in coming on december 22 accompanied by 10 former employees gemini will pack up 750000worth of wood working equipment from its tap scott rd location and move it to the highway 48 site there the company will manu facture such products as cash coun ters and display cabinets as well as overseeing the move usling has issued a call to hire in particular usling invites those with experience in cabinet making and wood finishing special report loan ransberry as well he needs wood machin ists and general labourers anyone interested in employment is asked to fax a resume to usling at 4166099275 need workers now the plan is to have the business up and running by midjanuary yes i need workers now he said gemini will be a oneshift aday operation running from 8 am to 4 pm most of the wood will arrive already treated this means the use of chemicals will be at a minimal its environmentally friendly said usling the neighborhood will not experi ence traffic problems about five trucks aweek will arrive at the site said usling show cases and cash counters built by gemini are sold to such stores as eatons and the bay and major music outlets almost all of our business is done in canada said usling in business in scarborough for about 10 years usling and his part ner jack fcrnandes carry out 3- million ayear in sales when putting the wheels in motion to buy the ballantrae site usling met with town officials including mayor wayne emmerson chief administrative officer merlin dewing and economic development officer eric lismanis i was very impressed with the town said usling they were very encouraging in wanting us to move here emmerson is laying out the towns welcome mat there were three or four interested in buying the plant said emmerson this is great hes a local fellow being part of a deal that delivers jobs to a community is always a pleasure said lismanis the move will mean spinoff busi ness for local companies said usling stouffviue suppliers for such goods as wood glass and hard ware will be used said usling this part of the plan is good news for the economic health of the com munity stressed lismanis theres been a lack of loyalty within the stouffviue business com munity said lismanis this is the kind of approach thats needed the fact that gemini is a clean industry sweetens the pot said local chamber of commerce president helene johnson this is exciting 1 welcome them said johnson usling and his wife sylvia left their home in stouffviue and moved to the mccowan road and st john sidcroad area four years ago the couple has three children all toddlers wood working runs in the family uslings father was a wood builder contractor i worked with my dad for years when he retired i opened my own wood business and now i can run the business from my community said usling thptribunef hursdax november 2di997p3 fund helps boost town industry stouffer vision fund officials have reason to cele brate yesterday when gemini store fixtures ltd con firmed that it was opening a manufacturing plant in ballantrae in january eric lismanis the towns eco nomic development officer was recognized for help ing to orchestrate the deal lismanis was a key player in the store fixture manufacturing plant coming to town said gem ini owner jeff usling the town has an economic development officer thanks to the stouffer vision fund in january the economic development action committee edac affiliated with the whitchurchstouffville cham ber of commerce established the fund the goal was to enhance local business by raising 100000 each from the local business community and from the town this enabled edac to put an economic development officer in place for two years lismanis was hired and put to work his job is to sell whitchurchstouffville lismanis is optimistic from an economic stand point things are looking up the canadian econo my is expected to grow by almost four per cent in the coming year while consumer confidence and spend ing is up nationwide while gemini sets up shop and hires local workers neither edac officials nor lismanis will be idle the need to secure additional support for the stouffer vision fund continues while lismanis will keep encouraging existing business to stay and to grow and hell continue to attract more business to whitchurchstouffville joan ransberry lismanis the seasons change derek mcdougall of die stouf fviue parks and recreation department takes down the sum- merflags from the main street lampposts with coworker ted tindcll not in picture on tuesday nov18 so christmas wreaths can take their place inset flyer inserts for thursday november 20 1997 markville shopping centre the bay scratch save kraft whats cooking booklet zellers business depot zellers scratch cards sears- 2 day power sale flyer inserts for thursday november 21 1997 canadian tire selected areas only were first in distribution weve delivered 44145065 flyers doortodoor so far this year for further information on how we can deliver your flyers call melissa or ruth at 905 6402100 the tribune