Arthur Munro (left), Neway Argaw and Summerside Mayor Bill Martin look over, on the computer, some of the product’s Argaw’s company produces. Argaw, an investor in Munro’s new business, was in the city to talk to the mayor about the potential of setting up shop in Summerside. He also met with the provincial government.
And, said entrepreneur Arthur Munro, owner of Caribbean Tech, the 20 or so “substantially” more than minimum wage paying jobs are hopefully just the beginning of more to come.
Munro, along with business partner Neway Argaw, in the city earlier this week, are opening, by late spring, a facility that will manufacture insulated concrete forms used in the construction industry by late spring
Munro, a native of Nova Scotia now living in Summerside, said in the next 90 days interviews will be conducted and up to 20 people hired, all who will be trained to build the product, which is being shipped for use in projects the business partners are involved with in the Caribbean.
“Our focus will be to manufacture a lot here and export from here, because that’s where the market is, for the large amount, but that creates the jobs,” added Munro.
He and Argaw are primary investors in the business.
“We have hundreds of millions of dollars worth of projects in the Caribbean that we will be making products in Prince Edward Island to supply to,” said Munro, whose background is in construction and building supplies. “It is going to change their lifestyle. We can build to the standards of today that the world is requiring.”
Argaw added, “It is a really large project, multi projects, that will take us past the next five, 10 years. The product will be shipped as it is manufactured.”
Argaw, CEO of Integrated Power Systems and a leading expert in the field of solar energy production, while in Summerside, viewed Vector Aerospace and said he was impressed by what he saw.
“The kind of work ethics and the culture really impresses me from this Island.
I see a passion here. People are working with passion,” said the businessman, who is based in Denver, Colorado, but is from Ethiopia.
The weak Canadian dollar, in this instance, was beneficial, a deciding factor for in the pair setting up shop in Summerside, rather than in the United States, since, explained Argaw, export and manufacturing costs would be much less.
The business is expected to encompass about 17,000 square feet of the former CUMI building, which is partially owned by Munro, and situated on 149 Industrial Crescent in the Summerside Industrial Park.
Initial start-up costs will be 3.5 million to $4 million.
“It will take probably $8 to $10 million to set up everything that we want to do in that facility, at the end of the day,” said Munro.
The hope is to manufacture other products, including foam food packaging.
“We have also been helping to design a new high-tech exporting of Styrofoam box for the export of lobster and other fish from Atlantic Canada, which is needed,” said Munro. “We are working with the National Research Council and we are working with the association to try to create a better box. That, in turn, will also help the fishing industry here on Prince Edward Island.”
He said if that happens, the business could to grow to a workforce of 50 people.
