The federal government continues to lend its support to the growth of the printing industry in Western Canada with the recent grant of $896,750 given to the Centre for Excellence in Print Media at NorQuest College in Edmonton.
The money was provided through Western Economic Diversification Canada, and the funding is earmarked to upgrade the school’s equipment and software portfolio with an emphasis on JDF integration.
The announcement was made July 13th at a media conference with a statement from Lynne Yelich, Minister for Western Economic Diversification, who noted, “The print industry is a major job creator in our communities, and this investment will ensure that it continues to strengthen and diversify the western Canadian economy.”
The Centre for Excellence in Print Media at NorQuest addresses three target constituencies: current print business owners; existing employees as an avenue for professional development; and students entering the printing industry.
The focus for the new investments will be to provide existing printing businesses in the West new equipment and software to test, provide a venue for training and to build the faculty’s expertise so they can play a support role for businesses looking to adopt and integrate new technologies.
• The Centre for Excellence in Print Media at NorQuest was established in March 2008 with the help of over $1.4 million in federal funding, also from the Western Economic Diversification program. The Government of Alberta’s Advanced Education and Technology ministry also contributed $408,000 to the launch of the program.
• Prior to that, in February 2007, Heidelberg Canada donated over $1 million worth of printing software to assist with getting the program off the ground.
• Earlier this year Avanti Computer Systems Ltd. of Toronto donated an entire suite of management information software (MIS) tools, valued at $185,000, to the school.
