Grit Industries Inc. president Wayne King had a surprise in store for people at the company's North Battleford grand opening.
King called up representatives from the Battlefords Boys and Girls Club to the podium and announced that his company was committing to a contribution to their organization of $100,000.
The donation goes to offset operating costs and helping with some of the programming at the club, which opened a new clubhouse building this year.
The announcement was a signal from the company that they considered themselves a part of the Battlefords community.
The news came as a pleasant surprise to the executive director Sheri Woolridge and Breena Penner and Krista Wouters of the Boys and Girls Club.
"This is very exciting, unexpected," said Woolridge. "We weren't aware of the presentation or the amount."
CEO King had credited the late real estate broker Roger Manegre for encouraging him to get involved in the community, and had mentioned the work of the Boys and Girls Club in making his pitch.
His company arrived in the city in 2007 but didn't commit to making a big donation right away. Now, the time was right.
"We've been here for a few years, we've got a good feeling about the neighbourhood," said King.
It was the highlight of an afternoon of ceremonies at the company, which included a ribbon cutting and a tour of the plant for VIPs in attendance.
Two years ago the company announced the relocation of their manufacturing plant from Lloydminster into the vacant facility at 100 Canola Avenue in Parsons Industrial Park. Grit Industries Inc. has been in operation in North Battleford for the past year.
They employ about 75 people at the North Battleford plant, where they manufacture equipment used in the oil industry to remove sand and sludge.
Among the products they offer is the Grithog machine used for sand control, as well as the Cold Weather natural gas dryline heaters and the A-Fire line of burner systems.
The company had looked into locations in Ontario and Atlantic Canada and also the United States for their manufacturing. The company chose North Battleford, King noted, in part due to the "aggression the City of North Battleford had to bring us here."
Also helping was the fact the company already had a smaller presence in the city in the McMillan Industrial Park area since 2007.
Products are shipped around the world to markets such as the United Kingdom and New Zealand. King spoke about how the business was expanding in the Albanian market. He said equipment from the plant was sent there just that morning and spoke with optimism about the country's future growth.
"Albania is Lloydminster 40 years ago," said King.
North Battleford mayor Ian Hamilton welcomed Grit's successes during his remarks. The mayor was happy to point to it as an example that North Battleford was a viable location for business.
"I'm so happy that your model can demonstrate to other industry members that North Battleford is a good place to do business," said Hamilton.
"It's a place that can support and provide and sustain a good workforce, a trained skilled workforce, and I would think this is a great model to show off to the world and show off North Battleford."
