Just over $2 milliion in funding for Southland Trailer Corp
A healthy dose of funding has been invested in Lethbridge and its trades economy. The Alberta government announced on Tuesday that just over $2 million will be given to Southland Trailer Corp to continue their expansion in our city. Ryan Sailer, the General Manager for the company says they will be creating a new facility across from their current building to be used for cargo trailer production.
“We’re thrilled that this new plant will employ up to an additional 250 people, and we’ve already started recruiting and hiring for this facility. The new jobs created means we’ll be able to offer apprenticeships not only now in welding, but plumbing, HVAC, electrical, HD, mechanic and carpentry. We’re currently working with southern Alberta highschools and their programs and the Lethbridge College on expanding these trades and apprenticeships here at Southland. We’re targeting to have production started in this facility by the summer of 2023.”
The funding comes from the province’s rural stream of the Investment and Growth Fund. Sailer says it was the funding from the Alberta government that made him want to continue the expansion through a local lens instead of moving to a different province or going to the United States.