Great Dane Limited Partnership held the official sod-turning ceremony Nov 8, 2000, for its new manufacturing plant in Quinte West, Ontario, Canada. The Great Dane facility will build dry freight vans, and will be the first Canadian-based trailer plant building refrigerated trailers.
Attending the event were Jack Arthur, Quinte West mayor; Phillip Pines, Great Dane LP chief operating officer; Bill Kunkler, CCI chief operating officer; Mike Bialas, CCI real estate director; Tom Czapka, Great Dane LP vice-president of business development; Mike Thomas, Great Dane division vice-president of manufacturing; Dr Doug Galt, local member of provincial Parliament; Jim Flaherty, attorney general of Ontario; Christine Stewart, federal member of Parliament; and Lou Rinaldi, chairman of the Quinte Area Economic Commission.
In its first phase, the plant will cover about 325,000 square feet and will employ 500 people when operational. It will have the capacity to produce 6,000-plus dry freight vans and refrigerated trailers annually, which will serve markets across Canada and the northeastern United States.
Site construction is slated to begin in early 2001. Occupancy is anticipated in fourth-quarter 2001 with production scheduled to commence in first-quarter 2002.
