Business View Magazine | July 2019

386 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JULY 2019 pictured left (from left to right): Mayor Frank Campion, Tim Clutterbuck ASW Steel, MP Vance Badawey, MPP Jeff Burch, Ron Oberth OCNI, Taylor McKenna Bruce Power, Chris Fralick OPG pictured above Bruce Power President & CEO Mike Rencheck; Manager, Nuclear Economic Development & Innovation for Bruce Power, OCNI & Bruce County Alison Fernandes; OCNI Director of Operations Marina Oeyangen, Nawash Unceded First Nation Chief Greg Nadjiwon; OCNI President & CEO Rob Oberth; Saugeen Shores Mayor Mike Smit through a federal government program from Global Affairs Canada, called Global Opportunities for Associations, so when we lead a trade mission, we can help our companies recover up to 75 percent of their costs. This past year, we were successful in getting grant funding for $350,000 to support a number of trade missions. Offshore is always part of what we do. “The fourth thing we do is advocate for continued use of nuclear energy in Canada. Our Local Supplier Engagement Program has been very important to that advocacy. In February, we did an event in Welland, Ontario at ASW Steel; they’re right at the beginning of the supply chain. It demonstrates to politicians and the public that our industry creates jobs across the province – jobs for people who make recycled steel, all the way up to companies that make very specialized components that go into the reactors, and, of course, the people who operate them in places like Peterborough, Cambridge, Mississauga, Cobourg, and further east in Arnprior. There’s a good company there called Nu-Tech Precision Metals that manufactures all the Candu pressure tubes. They’re really the heart of the Candu reactor system. “A year ago, we opened our second office in Port Elgin, Ontario because Bruce Power will be operating for another 64 years, so we wanted to be closer to those customers. That office has been very helpful to Bruce Power in attracting more suppliers into Bruce County, because for all that investment, they want to see some benefit for the local communities.” BVM: How is OCNI addressing the skilled labor shortage? Oberth: “Finding skilled labor is a big challenge. When Bruce begins their life extension program, there will be three or four units at the same time being worked upon, which means an increased demand for welders, pipefitters, boilermakers,