BY TREVOR NICHOLS
New Minas’ Frito-Lay plant received good news August 9 in the form of $500,000 from the provincial government. The payroll rebate will be paid to the company over five years, as long as it continues to employ 140 people.
The provincial funding -via Nova Scotia Business Inc. - will help the plant with its $2 million plus investment in equipment upgrades, including improvements to the potato recovering area and a new wash box.
Manufacturing manager Greg Wagner says the upgrades will reduce the amount of water and electricity the plant uses.
“Today's investment is about quality: quality investment and quality people,” he said.
The plant has been operating in New Minas under several different parent companies for more than 50 years. It was recently recognized at the best Frito Lay plant in Canada- something Wagner credits his employees for- and has been recognized for sending less than one per cent of its waste to landfills.
Municipal Relations Minister and Kings-Soutth MLA Ramona Jennex, speaking on behalf of Percy Paris, was at the plant for the announcement.
She said it was nice to see so many of the plants employees working there for so long, with such good things to say about it.
“This is much more than a place to work, it's a community at this plant.”
Jennex said it shows confidence in Nova Scotia when a major company like PepsiCo, who owns the plant, chooses Nova Scotia for its operations.
By helping Frito-Lay upgrade, the government is ensuring a major employer stays in Nova Scotia.
“They get paid, and we get paid,” said NSBI’s vice president Pat Ryan.
