Lakeshore Manufacturing Firm Opens New Expansion

A Lakeshore manufacturing company is expanding.

Reko International cut the ribbon on it's new $5.6-million facility just off Patillo Road.

Reko International CEO Diane Reko announcing the opening of their new faciity, June 4, 2018 (courtesy Reko International)

The new space is for the automation division of the company.

CEO Diane Reko says deciding to move ahead with the expansion was not easy.

"It was a big deal, as you know there's been a lot of uncertainty with respect to what's going on in the markets and at the time we made this decision we had to spend a lot of time considering it"

Reko says they're optimistic this will be good for the company and the region.

"We know there's a lot of demand for automation equipment and we wanted to make sure we had a facility where we could do that and grow the company and employ more people and add to the community"

She says attracting employees has not been easy.

"It's been a bit of a challenge, but I think we're having some traction.  Part of it is having a nice, bright new space to work in.  That's helpful.  But I think we're starting to see some youth that are seeing the interest in manufacturing"

Reko International supplies automation equipment to firms in Windsor-Essex, the US, Mexico and several countries on the Pacific Rim.

The company has two other division that focus on precision manufacturing and tool and mold manufacturing.