By Cecilia Nasmith
It's always good news when an employer grows, and Cobourg council heard just this kind of news at Monday's committee-of-the-whole meeting.
Councillors agreed to the terms of a lease to increase the space leased by Graphic Packaging International in the Northam Industrial Park.
The company wanted to increase the square footage it leases in Building 6 by another 31,510 sq. ft. The space they currently lease in the remainder of Building 6 – about two-thirds of that building, Treasurer Ian Davey said - is used for warehousing raw materials and finished product, and they also lease 87,825 sq. ft. in Building 1 for their manufacturing operations.
GPI has been in Northam Industrial Park since 1992, and currently employ a workforce of about 130. Davey estimated they also employ 15 to 20 more workers on a temporary basis.
“It's one of the larger employers in the industrial park, and I think it's a good-news story,” he stated.
The space in question has been unoccupied and requires some $185,370 in upgrades in order to accommodate the tenant by Feb. 1. Half of this amount will be covered by rental revenue, and the work done will be to the advantage of the town in any future lease renewals.
