With the ribbon-cutting of the biggest construction project in Winnipeg's history now in his rear-view mirror, Barry Rempel isn't going to sit around and watch the paint dry.
The president and CEO of the Winnipeg Airports Authority said the opening of the new, nearly $600 million air terminal building at the James Armstrong Richardson International Airport not only represents a new front door to the Manitoba capital, it's shaping up to be an important economic catalyst, too.
GE Canada is preparing to open a new $50 million engine-testing facility between the airport's two runways in January and Rempel is confident other industry players won't be far behind.
He said companies that work with hydraulic valves, engine parts and turbines will want to form a cluster with GE as the focal point.
And with more than 20,000 people working at the airport in one capacity or another, he said the demand is there to add other services to the airport campus.
The GE plant will reportedly be able to handle engines with 150,000 pounds-feet of thrust and 15-feet-in-diameter engines.
"There's no such animal today," Rempel said.
from Western Investor December 2011
