LEAMINGTON — With an eye on massive markets in Asia, a produce company with a long history is using a provincial grant to help fund a $7-million expansion that is expected to add 203 jobs by 2019.
The investment by Lakeside Produce is the latest evidence that other businesses have really stepped up since the town’s largest employer — the H.J. Heinz Company — pulled out three years ago, said Leamington Mayor John Paterson. “We have really turned this around.”
A $1-million grant from the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund, announced Feb. 2, is helping Lakeside Produce expand its Leamington production facilities at the end of Elliott Street. The money will be used to upgrade machinery used to package and ship greenhouse bell peppers, cucumbers and specialty tomatoes grown by Lakeside Produce in its 35 acres of greenhouses and by other growers in 400 acres of greenhouses.
So far, Lakeside Produce has added a 80,000-square-foot expansion and 40 jobs.