The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

1 1 | Friday June 3 0 , 2 0 1 7 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | w w w .in s id e h a lto n .c o m Business by Nathan Howes Oakville Beaver Staff A business icon on the Oakville landscape is the Ford M otor Com pany of Canada. It has been m ore than 6 0 years since the first car, a Ford Custom , rolled off the line at Ford M otor Com pany of Canada Limited' s Oakville Assembly Com plex (OAC). The plant, n ext to Ford Canada' s headquarters on The Canadian Road, opened in 1953. The history was discussed with the Oakville Beaver in 2 0 1 3 , during a tour of the facility, w hich produced its one millionth Ford Edge in June that year. Launch planning and workforce readiness leader Alan Cervoni com pared the production to a symphony orchestra. "The right parts have to go in the right car at the right tim e," he said. Ford' s Oakville Assembly Plant opened to m u ch fanfare and excitem ent -- a time remembered fondly by former employee Doug McDonald, w ho landed a job preparing material for the assembly line that year. McDonald said the Ford plant and the "Connected to your Community" Ford of Canada's arrival helps put Oakville on the map entire muffler systems for cars -- exposing them to a variety of potential back problems. Nowadays, ergonomic hoists and tools eliminate those risks. Labour relations have been tense at times, but that, too, has lessened over the years. Oakville is the last Ford assembly plant in Canada and often generations within the same family held jobs there for a lifetime. The Oakville assembly plant received a $700-m illion investment from Ford of Canada and the federal and provincial governm ents in September 2013. According to a Nov. 7, 2 0 1 3 O akville Beaver story, Built for the road ahead: Ford celebrates 6 0 years in Oakville (wwwinsidehalton. co m /n ew s-sto ry /4196371-b u ilt-fo r-th e-ro ad ah ead-ford -celeb rates-60-years-in -oak ville/), the m oney was used to expand the plant' s manufacturing capacity so it could m eet global demand. The assembly plant put together a comm emorative yearbook for its 60th anniversary. -- with files from David Lea | Ford Canada photo | Metroland file photo At left, the scene at the official opening of the Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited Oakville Assembly Plant in 1953. People admire Ford Oakville's Car No. 1, a Ford Custom, (Ford's 2,794,525th vehicle made) just after it rolled off the new assembly line. The assembly line in more modern times. jobs it brought completely changed the local landscape. "M ost of the people didn't live in Oakville when the plant opened because Oakville was so small," recalled McDonald. "A lot of them bought houses. M ost of the foremen were from places like W indsor w hen I started." During his years with Ford, McDonald witnessed the rise of automation and the launch of num erous vehicle models -- from the M eteor and W indstar to the Gran Torino and Tempo. "I hope it lasts another 100 years," he said, in 2 0 1 3 . "W e need Fo rd ." The Oakville facility became a flexible m anufacturing site in 2 0 0 4 following a $1-billion investment by Ford of Canada. Over the years, there have been m any changes on the front of safety and labour relations. In 195 3 , employees were required to lift O 1 J CABiNETS LOOKING OLD? NEED MORE STORAGE? We can help you update your look with affordable, quality cabinets! C A N A D A 150 LEXUS F OAKVILLE H O W TO GET TO BRONTE - JULY 1st LOCALLY p r o d u c e d | F A s T T u R N A R o u N D S h u ttle S ervice - NEW ! Ride th e Oakville Transit Bus from the Bronte GO to the event. Regular fare on the way in, ride FREE on your way home. Pick-up: Bronte GO Station - Wyecroft Road D ro p -o ff: Bronte Cenotaph - Lakeshore Road, west of Bronte Road *Shuttle will leave approximately every 6 minutes starting at 10:50 a.m. For details, visit oakvilletransit.ca. PERFECT FOR: p · K itc h e n s iH lllS · B a s e m e n ts · C lo s e ts Room s · G a ra g e s PI | 1 \ l . a R ide y o u r Bicycle Ride your bike to the event and park it in our bike corral provided by Cornwall Wealth Management located just off Ontario St. near Jones Rd. *The bike corral is unguarded - bring your own lock! STARTiNG FROM ONLY $99 n M nn i S tric t Road Closures a n d P a rkin g R estrictions w ill b e in e ffe ct. FULL DETAILS: b ro n te v illa g e .n e t/c a n a d a -1 5 0 #m ycanada w w w .cab in etsd irectD IY .com info@ cabinetsdirectdiy.com 111 B ro c k le y D riv e , U n it 1, H a m ilto n O N 2 8 9 .7 0 0 .3 0 0 0 M m Canadian Made " i M o n d a y - F r i d a y 9 a m - 4 : 3 0 p m · S a t u r d a y 10a m - 3 p m