A Gatineau startup that manufactures tempered and laminated glass has been given $2.5 million in loans from government agencies and the Business Development Bank of Canada to help fund its new state-of-the-art plant on Maloney Boulevard.
VMIK Glass announced this week it is receiving $700,000 from Canada Economic Development for Quebec, an agency that’s part of the federal Ministry of Industry, Science and Economic Development, for equipment including a glass tempering furnace, computerized machining technology and a cutting table.
Investissement Quebec, a provincially backed company that provides loans to Quebec businesses, is kicking in an additional $1 million, while BDC is providing another $800,000 to the firm.
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Co-owners Guylain Courville and Richard Parent launched the company earlier this year. Its 24,000-square-foot manufacturing facility began operating about two months ago and now employs 12 people. The firm eventually plans to have about 18 employees.
Director of sales and development Jean-Guy Lafond said the company is targeting sales at glass and home accessory retailers and installers, construction firms and door and window manufacturers in eastern Ontario and western Quebec.
“On the Quebec side in our area, there are no other competitors,” he said. “The market share is there.”
Lafond wouldn’t provide details on the company’s revenue projections, but said month-over-month sales have been more than doubling since January.
“We’re on the right track,” he added.
