London Inc. Weekly September 22, 2023

Tesla seeks approval to build 50,000-square-foot dealership in city’s south end

Electric car manufacturer Tesla is looking for permission from the city to build a dealership and service centre at 3234-3274 Wonderland Road South (at Bradley Avenue). According to a proposal that went before the Planning and Environment Committee earlier this week, the company wants to build a 50,700-square-foot showroom and service centre, which if built would be one of the largest in Canada and would serve as something of a hub location for Southwestern Ontario as a whole (the next closest dealership is in Kitchener). The planning committee gave a tentative thumbs up to the idea, and recommended council approve it. But they also wanted to see some changes to make the site plan more environmentally friendly to offset the 500-plus parking spaces the proposal includes. “We want you to have low-impact elements, like bio-swales where there are trees and plants, and some solar charging roofs,” said Councillor Skylar Franke. “There’s a lot we can do to reduce the impact of a parking lot.” Council will make a final decision regarding the application later this month. If approved, Tesla said construction would begin this spring with a proposed opening in 2025.

The upshot: This isn’t the first time Tesla has been kicking the tires in London. In 2021, they were very close to taking over the former Porsche of London dealership on Oxford Street just west of Wonderland Road, but the deal fell through at the eleventh hour. (Why, exactly, that deal fell through is unclear ― Tesla had even said publicly that they were a week away from taking possession of the site before the deal unexpectedly collapsed; the site went on to be redeveloped as a food and retail hub). In the time since, Tesla has been unsuccessful in finding a similar site to redevelop in the city, and now appears to be taking matters into their own hands with a purpose-built showroom. The company recently did something similar in Victoria, B.C., where it opened its first purpose-built location in Canada, and it has also submitted a proposal to do the same in Kelowna, B.C.

Read more: Drive Tesla Canada | CTV News London

GM to idle CAMI Assembly until spring as battery woes persist

Sticking with the EV sector, after briefly getting back on the job last month a major round of temporary layoffs are planned at the CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, as General Motors will shut down production of its electric BrightDrop Zevo 600 and Zevo 410 cargo vans until spring due to shortages of EV batteries (the plant also shut down for one month in July due to a battery shortage). “CAMI Assembly will take downtime beginning in October, due to previously announced delays in battery-module supply,” said a statement from GM Canada. “Vehicle production is expected to resume in the spring of 2024.” The move was described as “devastating news to our members,” by Unifor president Lana Payne, who said they are “pushing the company to shorten the downtime period.” The layoffs will affect around 1,100 production workers and will start in the middle of October.

The upshot: The issue at hand is a shortage of GM’s Ultium batteries, around which GM vehicles are designed. There has been high demand for these batteries, and GM has been struggling when it comes to production ― currently, it only manufactures them in one plant in Ohio. Two additional U.S. battery plants, as well as a 400,000-square-foot battery module at CAMI, are expected open in the next couple years. All that said, there is hope, at least, that this shutdown will be the last. Construction is progressing quickly on the local battery module, and GM says when the vehicle workers return in the spring that they expect the battery plant, with its 300 or so employees, will also start production ― which will hopefully ease the supply shortage and provide some much-needed stability to GM’s local workforce. 

Read more: Inside EVs | London Free Press

Ending 104-year run, Brescia University College to merge with Western University

After 104 years in existence, Brescia University College will begin the process of merging into Western University next May and will “wind down its operations as an affiliated university college,” the schools announced on Thursday. “Today’s agreement is about meeting present needs of students, with an eye to the future,” said Brescia president Lauretta Frederking. She noted that women now make up the majority of post-secondary school students in Canada, and that Brescia hopes to better adapt to “new realities” by shifting its resources to “an enhanced preparatory program on Brescia’s campus” that will focus on building academic foundations and English-language proficiency (programs that, based on this description, appear to cater to international students). Western also said that it will create a $25-million Brescia Legacy Fund to support students in the form of scholarships and bursary programs. 

The upshot: A sign of the changing demographic face of post-secondary education to be sure, but nonetheless, many will be sad to see Brescia go. It was a trailblazing school in terms of women’s education, and it will end its term as Canada’s last remaining women’s colleges. How the integration is pulled off over the coming years will be an interesting story to watch. In addition to assuming all of Brescia’s assets and debts (in 2023, Brescia ended the fiscal year with around $15 million in net assets), Western said that Brescia’s faculty and staff will be offered employment in the merged school. It remains to be seen what other operational changes are ahead ― Brescia posted losses of around $4 million in 2023, and one imagines Western will be looking for ways to plug that hole. 

Read more: Western Gazette | CBC News London

London Chamber issues “urgent call” for extended CEBA loan relief

In response to last week’s announcement by the federal government regarding the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loans, the London Chamber of Commerce has issued what it refers to as an “urgent call” for extended relief measures. While the feds extended the repayment deadline for businesses by an additional year, they only granted an additional 18 days to qualify for the $20,000 forgivable portion of the loan. According to the London Chamber, extending the forgivable deadline by a few weeks will be of very little value to the thousands of small business owners who just don’t have money to repay now. “Eighteen days are insufficient for small business owners to repay $20,000 that they currently lack,” said Kristen Duever, VP of public affairs for the London Chamber. “It merely offers them slightly more time to refinance at rates that are beyond the reach of many. If these small businesses are compelled to close their doors, the government risks losing a significant portion of its tax revenue, not to mention the countless jobs that will be lost in the process.”

The upshot: The London Chamber is supported by a chorus of business organizations expressing disappointment with the announcement. According to the latest data from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), 69 per cent of the more than 900,000 Canadian small businesses that accessed the loan have not yet been able to repay any of it. Only 18 per cent have repaid their loan in full as of September. Dan Kelly, CFIB president and CEO, said business owners have every right to be angry about how the government is treating them. “The government is now telling business owners that they should simply convert their CEBA loan to a regular bank loan in order to secure the forgivable portion,” he said in a released statement. “In fact, the government has created a special provision allowing those who apply for a bank loan to repay CEBA before January 18 to have until March 28 to convert their loans in order to keep the forgivable portion. This is essentially like government telling a family struggling to pay their Visa bill to simply apply for a Mastercard.”

Read more: London Chamber of Commerce

Nuts For Cheese receives benchmark global certification for food safety

Local vegan cheesemaker Nuts For Cheese announced this week that it had been given an A grade by the British Retail Consortium Certification body, a designation that recognizes their “exceptional commitment to quality, safety and excellence at their 25,000-square-foot cheesemaking facility” on Pacific Court. “Quality has always been our number one priority,” said Nuts for Cheese founder and CEO Margaret Coons. “From our wholesome ingredients to house-made cultures and sauces, our mission is to make delicious cashew-based cheese for cheese lovers everywhere.”

The upshot: Unless you’re in the food processing business, the BRC food safety certification is probably not on your radar, but it’s a big deal in the food manufacturing world. “It’s become an internationally recognized benchmark for best practice in food safety, quality and responsibility,” explains one consultancy. From Nuts For Cheese’s perspective, the certification is another feather in their cap as the company continues an impressive pace of growth, which has included steady expansion into major U.S. retail chains over the last couple years (Nuts For Cheese is now the third-most popular brand in plant-based cheese category in the U.S.). “Consumers are discovering that with Nuts For Cheese they can finally have a delightful dairy-free cheese experience,” Coons said in a press release. “That has been a key driver behind our rapid growth.” Also noteworthy is that its latest product, a vegan cream cheese, is rolling out to more Canadian grocery stores (namely Fortinos, Metro, Longos and a number of Sobeys stores) this month. 

Read more: Newswire

Dot Foods opens $50-million Ingersoll distribution centre

American food distributor Dot Foods, Inc. officially opened its $50-million, 170,000-square-foot plant in Ingersoll this week ― and already has plans to expand. The firm began construction last year on the Dot Foods Canada facility, which was meant to replace a warehouse that it had been leasing in Brampton. The new Ingersoll facility contanins offices, as well as dry, refrigerated and frozen warehouse facilities for its food distribution network. As of launch this week, the plant employs 70 people, though the company says it expects the facility’s workforce to grow to 200 employees over the next five years or so. “There is a lot of opportunity for our distribution model in Canada,” said Dot Foods CEO Dick Tracy (no, not that Dick Tracy). “We built this facility because we’ve seen incredible growth in our Canadian business in the seven years since we established operations here. We need more physical space and a larger team to keep up with the demand.”

The upshot: Dot Foods is largest food redistributor in North America, and the new centre (it’s the first facility the company has built in Canada) will stock more than 3,300 products for more than 275 Canadian distribution points. Construction on the first phase of the build completed in the spring, but the company quickly realized demand on the frozen-food side required more space and the expansion has just been completed. It’s another win for the Town of Ingersoll, which has been on a bit of a roll of late. Military supplier IMT Defence recently expanded operations there as well, something Ingersoll’s mayor credited to “the price of land and development” being lower there. 

Read more: Dot Foods | London Free Press