1989 BUSINESS SHOWCASE Wednesday, February 22,1989, Page 12 MOULDS AND plastic injection mould- housings¯ for armaments and house- ing are the business of Duramould Inc. hold appliance parts. Plastic products produced include Free Press photo Signs made to order at Ray's For 12 years now, Ray's Signs Limited of Whitby has offered a variety of signs and services. Founded and owned by the husband and wife team of Ray and Val Davidson, their business was located in the garage of their home, and later expanded into the home itself. However Town bylaws gave them no choice but to move their base of operations to their current location at 300 Beech St. W. A part from the Davidsons, Rays Signs employs a full-time staff of four. More staff are hired when a particular skill is required or demand dictates it. Val Davidson says that makes Ray's Signs capable of offering a well-rounded variety of signs and services. Services include truck striping, truck logos, vinyl lettering, hand lettering and silkscreen printing. And Ray's has a large mixed clientele wanting their own spe- cial needs inet. Ray's Signs has also taken students aboard in the past as part of the cooperative education program offered by the Durham Board of Education. With business increasing and growing every year, Val David- son credits the success of Ray's Signs with the informal poliey it has adopted since its inception: to try and give fast, good service and to try their best to oblige customers with anything they want and supply it. Duramould plastics used for defence, dustbusters By Debbie Luchuk If you own a household .appliance with a plastic housing, it is quite possible that it has been partially produced by Dura- mould Plastics of Whitby. But not only household appliances are produced by the company. "We produce for defence, to dustbusters," said vice president Don Holter. Producing plastic products such as food processor processing bowls to housings for arma- ments, Duramould styles itself a "specialist in design and manu- facturing of injection, compres- sion, transfer and die casting moulds." Duramould has been in exis- tence for 14 years, and in 1988 incorporated Duramould Plastics into D uramould Ltd., thus incor- porating not only mould making but mould injection for a com- plete plastics manufacturing ope- ration from "start to finish, pre- sident Klaus Katchel said. "We've been making mould all our lives, and decided we wanted to work for ourselves. Since more and more businesses want the whole shot (total production of the plastic product) done in one moulders, (we expanded our cpe- ration)," Holter said. "They (customers) want to be able to rely on (the moulders),, want no excuses. This means it, is better if everything is done in house," he added. Usually, a moulder will send out the moulds for injection, and this can cause hassles and delays for the custo- mer. At this point in time, Dura- mould employs 55, but by the end of this year there will be 100 to 175 more employees with further expansion of the injection processing section of the busi- ness, Katchel said. Most of the employees are from Whitby, Ajax or Oshawa "We're a community-oriented company," Katchel said, adding that the company has been invol- ved with cooperative education progams with local high schools. Physically, Duramould will expand a further 12,500 sq. ft. in the near future. "We've just finished a 12,500- sq. ft. addition and plan to build another of equal size," Holter said. Both will accommodate in- jection moulding. Both Holter and Katchel had praise for Durham Region and Town of Whitby planning depart- ments in their recent expansion. "We've had good assistance from the Region and the Town of Nhitby," Katchel said. Holter said that he "can't think free trade will bother us, but I'm against it basically." Katchel said, "I think it's going to help industry (in general).' BY LATE fall of 1989, Whitby residents could be watching movies in six theatres in a Cineplex complex under construction at the northeast cor- ner of Thickson Rd. S. and Champlain Ave. Defence contracts for Andrew Antenna By Debbie Luchuk The Canadian military buys from Andrew Antenna of Whitby when purchasing radio/antenna equipment. The company, located on Beech St. W., produces earth station antennas, radar and weather antennas, navigation aids, HF antennas and tactical antennas for distributors, telephone com- panies, and government and military buyers. The company has been in exis- tence since 1937, when the American parent company began in Chicago. The Canadian sub- sidiary (Whitby) opened in 1953. The non-union workforce has been growing consistently every year, said Rita Caine, spokesper- son for the company. "We have 229 employees, and it's quite possible that we will add more. We've been adding employees on a regular basis for a while." Caine added that the company hires "at least six students" every summer. Gross sales figures for 1988 were in the area of $25 million, and represent a "pretty steady increase» in business, according to Caine. The company has no current expansion plans. Caine says the free-trade agreement "will help as much as it helpa any company that is American owned." Amos and Quinn are new arrivais By Adam Sikora Amos and Quinn, manufac- turer of wooden skids, pallets and export ·crating has recently moved its base of operations from Pickering to 1100 Burns St., Whitby. Founded in 1976, Amos and Quinn has provided its services for a diverse customer base. Moving here last August, owner George Quinn commented that his labor force, which num- bers about 20, has been easier to acquire in this area. Where free trade is concerned, Quinn says it is too early to tell what effect it will have on busi- ness, as Amos and Quinn is a service industry and adjusts to whatever climate free trade creates. However, since Amos and Quinn deals greatly in Southern Ontario, an increased demand for their product south of the border is unlikely. Quinn states that the export of their products to the U.S., or similar U.S. com- panies tryin to do likewise in Canada, woulid be neither practi- cal or profitable. DO IT ALL WITH PROPANE . . . the fue of the future f«c> r Home, Heating, Water Heating, Cooking, Clothes Drying, Pool Heating, Cylinder Refills for Bar-B-Q and Recreational Vehicles • Construction Project Heating * Cottage Heating • Lift Truck/Carburetion • Industrial & Commercial Uses • Propane Motor Fuel•- Vehicle Conversions Devendable, Courteous, service on all propane appliances Superior PROPANE 668-3328 Vs/t Vicrtho o ri coSt.E -, /Vhitob y, o nt. Visit our show rooms. 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