Weekly Regional Business Intelligence | | | Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc. | | | Accuride facing uncertain future as parent company files for bankruptcy London’s Accuride plant, where they’ve been making steel wheels for over 50 years, is for sale and may be on the verge of closing after its American parent firm Accuride Corp. filed for bankruptcy last week. “Members are worried. This is a big blow,” Luis Domingues, national rep for Unifor Local 27 (which represents the 180 workers at the plant), told CTV News London. “The message we received from the employer is that they’re going to do their damnedest to sell it. Their message is they’re going to take some time and make sure they can find a buyer for a great quality product and great workers. Hopefully, the jobs stay in the community and with the families that need them.” The company issued a statement indicating it is actively looking for a buyer, but that it may end up winding down operations if one can’t be found. The private-equity owners of Accuride reportedly have debts between $500 million and $1 billion, with only $6 million in available cash. The company also said it expects that restructuring will take 100 days, and they have assured workers at the plant that they will be paid through Christmas, at the very least. The upshot: This company has been down this road in the past. Before it was Accuride, it was the wheel-making division of Firestone and was purchased and flipped by Mitt Romney and Bain Capital in the 1980s. (That deal is generally seen as one of Mitt Romney’s first big moves on the North American stage.) It also went into bankruptcy during the Great Recession, before being bought by Crestview Partners, its current owners, in 2016. All of which is to say Domingues is probably correct when he suggested, “I do believe that the product is so good, and the business case is so good, that we should find a buyer for that place.” Couple that with the current momentum of the Southwestern Ontario auto sector, and it is quite plausible (and hopeful) that a deal could be found here. Read more: CTV News London | London Free Press | | | Smash Pickleball opens to an eager audience of picklers As you read this, pickleball heads in the city are chomping at the bit, awaiting Saturday’s opening of Smash Pickleball ― a purpose-built indoor pickleball facility being opened by founder Ed Sater and director of operations Cam Taylor. The new facility, located in the former Bad Boy Furniture outlet at 1040 Wharncliffe Road South, sees nine indoor courts surrounding a central mezzanine featuring food and beverage services, retail shop and social spaces. “We have so many pickleball players and not enough pickleball facilities,” Sater told CTV News London. “Smash was brought together from the love of the sport and unmet need in the industry.” And judging from the strong early membership sales, players seem to agree. “It’s going to be a game-changer for anyone who’s playing pickleball in the city,” said competitive pickleball player Brent Smith. “Everything is just going to be top notch.” The upshot: London Inc. spoke with Sater and Taylor for an upcoming story in our next print issue, where the two explained they wanted to create something that didn’t feel like a shallow attempt to capitalize on the sport’s boom. Instead, they wanted to create something that felt like it came from the community ― which it has, since Taylor is a pickleball coach and Sater is, well, an unrepentant pickleball addict. “It’s pickleball players building a facility for pickleball players,” Sater said. Taylor added that it will be a new experience for many pickleball players to play on high-quality courts like this. “There’s not many other sports where you would accept playing in something that was not built for you,” Taylor said. “These are not just pickleball courts, these are awesome pickleball courts.” The facility’s grand opening is on Saturday. Read more: CTV News London | | | Region’s nonprofit workforce struggling with stability: new report A new report from the Pillar Nonprofit Network and the Elgin Middlesex Oxford Workforce Planning and Development Board says that the region’s nonprofit workforce is struggling to hire and retain talent, and as a result are struggling to bounce back from the pandemic as quickly as the broader economy. While 93 per cent of the area’s nonprofit employers hired staff in 2023, more than two-thirds say they are struggling to fill certain positions ― a higher proportion than the for-profit sector, something the report says is a rare reversal of trends. The report also had other findings ― that the quit rate is still elevated in the nonprofit sector, and that nonprofits are still relying heavily on contract positions. All in all, the report identifies “a cycle of continuous hiring for precarious work while employees stream out of the sector,” the report stated. “When you realize that nonprofits represent eight to nine per cent of GDP in Canada and more than 10 per cent of all jobs in Canada, the health of the sector clearly has implications for broad economic recovery in the region and needs immediate attention,” said Paul Seale, Pillar’s manager of public policy. The upshot: Petrusia Honar, executive director of the Elgin Middlesex Oxford Workforce Planning and Development Board, said the report reveals the uneven nature of the economic rebound. “Taken as an aggregate, it may appear that London is experiencing a healthy market for workers and employers,” Honar noted. “But when we’re able to dive into the numbers, we can do a better job of distinguishing sectors that need attention from those that are experiencing average or better than average conditions.” Maureen Cassidy, CEO of Pillar, pointed out that with the nonprofit workforce being predominantly staffed by women and racialized workers, a focus on stabilizing the workforce goes hand in hand with creating a more equitable economy in general. “If we want to create opportunities for these members of our community, we need to be thinking about supporting their workplaces, too,” Cassidy said. Read more: Pillar Nonprofit Network | | | Lawson Research transitions into two separate institutes London’s hospitals unveiled new research institutes this week. London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care announced the creation of the Lawson Research Institute at St. Joseph’s and the London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute. The new entities will replace the Lawson Health Research Institute. According to the hospitals, while each organization has always conducted its own research under the Lawson banner, this transitions will allow them to showcase their own work while still co-operating and sharing findings. The CEO of St. Joseph’s, Roy Butler, called it a “milestone day,” while the supervisor of LHSC, David Musyj, said they were “building on our history while introducing the next era in health research excellence, ensuring we will continue to attract the brightest minds in science and that patients will receive world-class, innovative care.” The upshot: What’s old is new again. Essentially, the announcement is turning the Lawson Health Research Institute back into the two distinct organizations that merged in 2000. Officials at the hospitals said the move will allow the two to specialize more when it comes to research. “When research takes place in a hospital context, scientists have more direct connection to the needs of the patients they serve,” Butler said. “There’s data to show that patients treated in research-intensive hospitals live longer, because they have access to cutting-edge science. All patients benefit, not just those involved in clinical trials – and that’s the power of health research.” Read more: CTV News London | London Free Press | | | Housing starts gain in September According to data released this week by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC), the number of housing starts in the London region jumped by 16 per cent in September compared to the same month last year. Construction began last month on 207 units in the London census metropolitan area (CMA), which includes St. Thomas, Strathroy-Caradoc and parts of Elgin and Middlesex counties, compared to 179 in September of 2023. Year-to-date (January to September 2024), London has recorded 3,002 unit starts, compared to 1,734 for the same nine-month period in 2023. The 73 per cent increase is the third highest in Ontario behind Windsor and Peterborough. The upshot: Led by multi-unit construction (2,587 multi-unit starts this year versus 415 single-detached starts), the London area bucks both provincial and national trends for housing starts that are on par or below 2023 levels. But with a quarter of the year to go, it remains to be seen if the city will hit its 2024 target of 3,917 units. Ontario’s housing targets, which allow cities to tap into $1.2 billion in funding for water, sewer and road infrastructure to further spur home building, are based on the same CMHC housing starts data. Read more: CMHC | | | Businesses rejoice as Adelaide Street underpass fully opens That sound you hear? A collective sigh of relief from business owners along Adelaide Street, now that the road closures and lane restrictions around the Adelaide underpass project are fully done, bringing to a close many, many months of traffic troubles. “It’s been amazing for us, personally,” Jodie Marshall of Marshall’s Pasta Mill, told CBC News London. “A lot of our business is catering, and delivering on time is super important for us.” The nearly two-year long closure has been difficult for a lot of businesses in the area, with construction affecting access to parking lots and side streets. “I’m overall very, very happy so far,” said Dorothy Cheung, owner of the nearby Central Cat Hospital. “It’s been a short time, but I’m really, pretty giddy about it.” The upshot: Final landscaping and hardscaping work on the underpass project should be wrapped up by early November, and when it is, one of the biggest historic traffic headaches in the city ― crossing trains snarling Adelaide Street ― will finally be vanquished. A 2013 city study found that it was causing more than 100 minutes of delays every day. If there’s any downside to be found here, it’s just that the construction crews had become a friendly part of the clientele for some of the local businesses, even helping carry cats to their appointments. “They were always really nice to our clients, very helpful,” Cheung said. Read more: CBC News London | | | Dispatch: October 18, 2024 A summary of recent business appointments and announcements, plus event listings for the upcoming week. View listings here | | | | |