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Damn! Another plant closes.
12 November 2010
Barber Glass has gone into receivership. Heard about this on the morning news. The brief story on the EB's website reports:
"On Wednesday, court-appointed receiver Grant Thornton LLP took control of Barber Glass. The company employs around 45 people at its Collingwood plant; it also has a facility in Guelph, where the company's head office is located."
As a council member, I knew something about some of the plant's difficulties - and that only fairly recently presented in camera - but I can't recall a closure or receivership ever being suggested. This came as a real surprise - a nasty shock, actually - to me.
I'm a bit miffed to hear about this on the news, after the fact, rather than getting some forewarning that there were serious problems developing. Could the municipality have done anything, could council have offered anything to help it continue? Who knows? It's too late now.
If the Economic Development MSB was aware of other problems before this, or knew this could be coming, they did not convey that information to council. I have a lot of questions to ask about why council wasn't kept in the loop. I hate learning about things after it's too late to act. We MUST improve our communications this term.
We start our new term under the cloud of another plant closure in an already shaky economy. My heart goes out to the workers who were laid off. The prospects of finding similar work here are slim.
"On Wednesday, court-appointed receiver Grant Thornton LLP took control of Barber Glass. The company employs around 45 people at its Collingwood plant; it also has a facility in Guelph, where the company's head office is located."
As a council member, I knew something about some of the plant's difficulties - and that only fairly recently presented in camera - but I can't recall a closure or receivership ever being suggested. This came as a real surprise - a nasty shock, actually - to me.
I'm a bit miffed to hear about this on the news, after the fact, rather than getting some forewarning that there were serious problems developing. Could the municipality have done anything, could council have offered anything to help it continue? Who knows? It's too late now.
If the Economic Development MSB was aware of other problems before this, or knew this could be coming, they did not convey that information to council. I have a lot of questions to ask about why council wasn't kept in the loop. I hate learning about things after it's too late to act. We MUST improve our communications this term.
We start our new term under the cloud of another plant closure in an already shaky economy. My heart goes out to the workers who were laid off. The prospects of finding similar work here are slim.
The round-a-bouts must NOT go ahead.
The outdoor rink must NOT be covered.
Hume Street reconstruction must NOT go ahead.
Whoever planned how and when the downtown reconstruction happened should be fired. Closing whole blocks for months at a time was wrong and cost jobs. One side of a block could have been done at a time.
Whoever let the sidewalks in the older part of town deteriorate to the point of being dangerous should be fired. Some are fixed but not nearly all.
Whoever decided to build wide new walks in remote areas such as out to the bowling alley which cost money to clear in the winter and are seldom used should be fired. There are areas in town where walks are needed.....Oak between 2nd and 3rd.
Whoever approved parking spaces in front of the fire hydrant outside Blue Ridge Meats should be fired.
We have got to get Admiral Place, the Lions' Den building and the Maple Street pojects going. Private development and investment are needed to drive the town's economy forward. We need to think globally and act locally. Man I hope our new council has lots of good ideas and the guts to do what is needed.