PR Aqua takes jobs and manufacturing out of B.C.
When the US-based In-Situ Inc. bought the company from its founder a couple of years ago, they assured Wayne Gorrie that the jobs would remain on Vancouver Island. But as Robert Barron of the Nanaimo Daily News writes, those assurances are apparently long gone;
PR Aqua, a world leader in the manufacturing of equipment for the aquaculture industry, intends to close its manufacturing facility in Nanaimo and relocate its product manufacturing division to the United States.
Company president John Pawlikowski said PR Aqua will continue to provide engineering services, sales, and customer support from the head office in Nanaimo. The move is expected to see some or all of the approximately 15 of the company's manufacturing workers lose their jobs when the facility is relocated, likely to Colorado.
The company was started more than 20 years ago by Nanaimo's Wayne Gorrie who sold it to Colorado-based In-Situ Inc., which has specialized in aquaculture systems for four decades, in 2011.
At the time, Bob Blythe, president and CEO of In-Situ, said Nanaimo's PR Aqua office will remain open and retain all of its existing personnel.
But Pawlikowski said in a statement this week that shifting the company's manufacturing to the U.S. will improve its cost competitiveness, expand its manufacturing capabilities and improve its ability to serve a larger geographic area.
Sasha Angus, CEO of the Nanaimo Economic Development Corporation, said business retention and expansion is "extremely important" for the mid-Island's economy, but there are some things that are out of the control of regional stakeholders.
