Ottawa and Regina will spend $10 million over the next five years to help agricultural businesses improve their manufacturing processes.
The Saskatchewan Lean Improvements in Manufacturing program will help companies adopt practices and technologies to become more productive and efficient.
Conservative MP Ray Boughen and provincial agriculture minister Lyle Stewart announced the program May 10 at Thunder Creek Pork in Moose Jaw.
Tony Martinez, president of Thunder Creek’s parent company, Donald’s Fine Foods, said the program will give companies extra incentive to improve processes.
“Our goal is to produce top-quality products, and if we can find a more efficient way to serve our clients’ needs, we will look at any and all opportunities,” he said.
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Eligible businesses include those involved in the value-added processing of food, feed and bioproducts.
Companies can apply for funding through SLIM to undergo “lean gap” analysis, purchase equipment, modify facilities and train staff.
Eligible costs include consultant fees and expenses directly related to the analysis assessment. The program will pay up to 50 percent of these costs, to a maximum of $20,000 per applicant.
The maximum for equipment, modifications and training is $500,000 per applicant, also at 50 percent.
SLIM is one component of Growing Forward 2.
