A Lethbridge company is the first recipient of the rural stream through the Alberta government’s Investment and Growth Fund.
Southland Trailer Corp. will receive $2.06 million to help pay for an expansion expected to create up to 250 jobs, said general manager Ryan Sailer.
“This investment directly influenced our decision about keeping this expansion within Canada and ultimately southern Alberta,” he told a recent news conference.
The company manufactures trailers for a wide range of uses including agriculture, said Jessie Hansen, co-ordinator of events and internal marketing. Southland’s facilities are on the northeastern edge of Lethbridge, but it plans to build an additional plant in Lethbridge County just outside city limits.
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“It means keeping strong manufacturing jobs here in Alberta, and reinforcing manufacturing is the backbone to the southern Alberta economy,” said Sailer.
“This expansion allows us to vertically integrate our supply chain, further resulting in more streamlined operations, more employment within southern Alberta, and ultimately more dollars going into the Alberta economy versus purchasing abroad and having those dollars leave the province.”
The Investment and Growth Fund was launched with an initial $10 million by the Alberta government in 2021. It was expanded to an annual $15 million in this year’s provincial budget by adding $5 million for rural economic development.
As someone who is also an Alberta rancher, Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development Minister Nate Horner told the news conference “I know that many obstacles faced by my neighbours’ rural businesses and rural economies are unique and different from the challenges that exist in urban areas.”
The provincial Invest Alberta Corp. worked with the family-run Southland Trailer Corp. to make the $2.06 million in funding possible, said Jobs, Economy and Innovation Minister Tanya Fir.
“Alberta is on a roll and we want to keep that going,” she said. “That’s why our Investment and Growth Fund is an important part of our work to attract and retain investment right here in Alberta.”
Sailer said although his company wanted the expansion dollars to stay in southern Alberta, it first had to undertake due diligence by investigating the pros and cons of other parts of Canada as well as locations outside the country.
“But ultimately in partnering with Invest Alberta and keeping things here, it made the most sense for us to stay.”
Trailers are now built in a facility “that is a little bit constrained right now with size, and so it reduces our ability to optimize the flow,” said Sailer.
Production at the new facility is expected to start next summer.
He estimated the company’s throughput will be increased by about 30 percent due to more efficient processes and workflows. “Additionally, this will create more intricate manufacturing processes, which will result in higher paying positions and more skilled jobs.”
Southland Trailer Corp. currently employs about 380 people, said Hansen. The expansion will boost the workforce by about 66 percent by adding up to 250 employees.
It means the company will be able to offer apprenticeships in areas ranging from plumbing and electrical to carpentry, said Sailer. The firm is currently working on this aspect of the expansion with southern Alberta high schools and their Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAP) as well as Lethbridge College, he said.
