Laurysen Kitchens invests $26.3 million and acquires $2 million funding from EODF

Laurysen Kitchens invests $26.3 million and acquires $2 million funding from EODF

It is noontime Monday, June 12^th in Stittsville, Ontario, and Michael Laurysen is surrounded by family. His literal family stands alongside: original founder Adri “Oma” Laurysen, CEO Caroline Castrucci, COO Bill Laurysen, and VP Sales and Service Corey Laurysen. His corporate family of employees stand around the announcement-showroom with coffee and doughnuts as Michael gives an outside group of reporters and public figures the background on Laurysen Kitchens.

In business since 1970, Laurysen Kitchens is a third generation, family-owned and operated kitchen cabinet manufacturer in Ottawa. They are active members of the Canadian Kitchen Cabinet Association, National Kitchen and Bath Association, the Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association, and have a growing network of dealerships with over twenty-seven marketplaces across Ontario. The company has been continuously expanding, purchasing a 23,00 sq. ft facility in Carleton place in 2017 and investing in an 80,000 sq. ft expansion at the site in 2022. Now, Laurysen Kitchens has acquired funding that will help them scale their production to keep pace with the Ottawa area’s high demand.

MPP Goldie Ghamari and MPP John Jordan Announce $2 Million from EODF to Laurysen Kitchens

“Laurysen Kitchens showcases the best of who we are as a province and who we are as a city: hardworking entrepreneurs, visionaries with innovative ideas, and people who love our communities and want to see them thrive. So, it’s truly an honor to be here today to announce that Laurysen Kitchens is investing more than 26.3 million dollars to boost local manufacturing. This exciting new project will help [Laurysen] expand and continue to be innovative, while also creating twenty new, good-paying jobs for families in the region. And to support this project our government is providing Laurysen kitchens with more than two million dollars in funding through the Regional Development Program’s East Ontario Development Fund.” (MPP Goldie Ghamari, Carleton Riding).

The Regional Development Program was developed in 2019 to support small- and medium-sized businesses in eastern and southwestern Ontario that are investing in new equipment and training in order to expand operations and increase production. The EODF offers loans and grants that cover up to 15% of the project costs to a maximum of $5 million. Of the $100 million that the province has committed, $89 million has so far been provided in support of 82 projects. The program has ultimately leveraged over $911 million in new investments, creating more than 1,800 jobs across Ontario.

New funding will bring in new machines and training

When asked how the EODF funding would boost production, Corey Laurysen gave a detailed breakdown.

“We’ve bought a Schelling material handling system, that’s going to be the start of our production, feeding into two Anderson CNCs with a Schelling panel saw. Our existing edge-banding equipment is going to be coming with us from this facility. We invested heavily into a new spray line that we’re very excited to receive: a Giardina spray line with automatic-stacking drying-ovens. We are bringing our current water-based spray line. That’s going to give us a lot of flexibility in case a machine goes down. The Giardina also has the ability to spray our water-based stains, so it gives us even more flexibility within our production. We are also looking for a new assembly line with a new press. We’re narrowing it down between about 3 companies, but we aren’t quite there.”

Corey reports that Laurysen Kitchens can comfortably manufacture 200 cabinet boxes in a one-shift day and anticipates an increase to 300-350 cabinet boxes once the new equipment is set up. The increased production will help the company respond to the area’s increasing demand.

“Over the recent years, over Covid, with the spike in business and requests for business, we have turned down over 1500 homes throughout the Ottawa community,” Corey says, “so this is going to help us achieve that capacity and not turn away business we know we can handle.”

Provinces supporting businesses supporting communities

Michael Laurysen, VP of operations, explained that the funding from the province was an encouragement that assured his confidence in their investment and development.

“When you put a plan on paper to apply to a program like this, and you get funding, it reaffirms your belief in the project. It’s a reassurance from the province that they read our application and believe in our project to fund it. It’s a reassurance that what you’re doing is the right thing, or that you have a solid plan. I think the EODF is a great program to support manufacturing in Ontario. It’s helping out SMEs, family businesses, and corporations that are manufacturing [in Ontario]. It’s showing them that the provincial government is supporting them. It makes us very proud to manufacture here in Eastern Ontario.”

Mayor Toby Randall of Carleton Place shared how Laurysen Kitchens’ expansion will and already is affecting the town.

“When you live in a small town and a building the size of what’s being built there pops up on the horizon, it’s truly overwhelming. It’s the actual industry, it kind of helps legitimize Carleton Place as a growing community. [Laurysen Kitchens] will be one of the bigger businesses in Carleton Place and the fact that they chose to move their facility from a city like Ottawa to a smaller community like Carleton Place, that they see a benefit a growing in Carleton Place, it’s not lost on the council, it’s not lost on the citizens of Carleton Place. We are blessed to have a family-run business that screams integrity and quality.”

The newly expanded and equipped production facility in Carleton Place will be fully operational early or mid-2024.

Tyler Holt is the Editor of Wood Industry / Le monde du bois magazine. He has a master’s degree in literature and publication, and years of experience in the publishing and digital media industry. His main area of study is the effect of digital technologies on industrial and networked production.