Ross Video building new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in eastern Ontario
Ross Video is breaking ground on its new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in eastern Ontario, and it promises the facility will be completely green.
The company designs and manufactures equipment for live event and video production is expanding its Iroquois, Ont. facility, an hour south of Ottawa.
Jeff Poapst, Ross Video’s chief manufacturing officer, said the facility would be carbon neutral by 2030.
"Our commitment to environmental sustainability is taking a real step forward with this expansion," said Poapst.
The company boasts clients like NBC, as well as provided technology for big events like the Super Bowl and the Oscars.
CEO David Ross tells CTV News Ottawa that the industry is seeing a shift with a focus more and more on sustainability.
"Especially when you get to a certain size of a company, it’s important to have a certain social responsibility," he explained. "They (clients) do ask us about our environmental impact. It’s becoming more and more of a question that affects your competitiveness if you’re not able to say you're a green company."
Plans include adding solar panels on the roof, which the manufacturing company will use to power its facility. It will also upgrade insulation, and add charging stations for employees' electric vehicles, among other features.
The entire renovation will not be cheap, it comes with a price tag of $15 million. The Ontario Government will provide $2.25 million of that under the regional development program.
Ontario Minister of Economic and Job Creation Victor Fedelli says that will help create 30 new jobs.
"We know that our investment helps encourage growth, it helps encourage the job creation. And so that's why we’re here," said Fedelli. "It is a very green industry and they’re making it even greener."
The expansion is set to be completed by 2022, with the entire facility being carbon neutral by 2030. In all it will add more than 100 new jobs to the area in the next few years, according to the company.
Iroquois is a small rural area with a population of 4,500 in South Dundas, Mayor Steven Byvelds says it’s positive that smaller areas can be seen as a pivotal location for technology companies.
"Jobs are important," he explains. "We need those jobs, high-tech jobs to bring good money into our community and that money is spent, and other people enjoy the benefits of having a high-tech manufacturing facility to broaden our economic development horizons."
Ross, who grew up in the region, said he’s “proud” to be expanding in the region.
"It’s my home. It’s where I grew up," he says. "There’s nothing like making an impact in the town where you went to high school."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.