Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities honoured Armo Tool at its annual province-wide awards event in Toronto.
Toronto, ON May 2007:
Only six months after winning the Local Employer Recognition Award for Commitment to Apprenticeship Training by the Apprenticeship Network, ARMO-TOOL LTD. was honoured again with a Certificate of Recognition from the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. This annual province-wide awards event and gala dinner was held at the Toronto Botanical Gardens on May 14th, hosted by officials of the Government of Ontario.
Chris Bentley, right, Minister of OMTCU, presents its award to George Whitney, president of Armo Tool.
This yearly celebration of accomplishments, in support of the apprenticeship system of training skilled workers for a strong Ontario future, was chaired by Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. The Minister acknowledged the efforts of all 16 outstanding regional finalists, as well as the four provincial apprenticeship winners (Antamex Inc., Flakeboard Ltd., Gosen Electric Ltd., and Toromont CAT). Armo-Tool Ltd. was the only finalist from the London region this year.
Minister Bentley presented each of the finalists with a commemorative Certificate of Recognition and praised the attendees and their invited guests by stating, ‘Investing in people and skills is the cornerstone of the government’s economic policy; your investment in your employees and their skills provides Ontario with its most effective competitive edge. By creating more opportunities for people to become apprentices, by bringing more employers on board to train, we build a stronger economy.’
As a regional leader in apprentice training – which includes the large area comprising Southwest and Western Ontario – Armo-Tool has shown continued leadership in its long history of encouraging skills development through mentoring young, enthusiastic tool and die makers, machinists and millwrights. The London company, first established in 1969, has supported the important process of hands-on training for many years, and clearly, recognition for its long-term commitment to apprentice education is well-deserved.
As with the earlier award for demonstrating commitment to apprenticeship training by the Apprenticeship Network, this new certificate from the Government of Ontario further supports acknowledgement of the company’s continuous development of talented, willing students over many years. In fact, it could easily be claimed that Armo-Tool’s management team has established a success standard for others to follow.
Since beginning their in-house mentoring process, 59 apprentices have trained and graduated at Armo-Tool’s precision tooling facility, just west of London. Equally important, 40 of those same graduates remain as skilled employees of the company today. That’s a true value statement worth recognition, as evidenced by the Ministry’s selection of Armo-Tool as a regional finalist in 2007.
George Whitney, President, accepted the Certificate of Recognition on behalf of the company’s 110 employees. In conversation about his firm’s philosophy George stated, ‘We have built an industry-wide reputation for providing customers with great ideas as well as excellent quality, and it all starts with having tradespeople equipped with the right training and experience to apply their skills creatively. We truly depend on our people to help us create the opportunities that have made Armo-Tool the progressive enterprise that it is today.’
This highly advanced tooling solutions operation has 38 years’ experience in providing quality design and implementation services for custom precision fixtures, tubing solutions, prototypes, automation systems, and reverse engineering processes for automotive and manufacturing industries throughout North America. And, in recent years, internationally as well. As Mr. Whitney said upon his return, after the awards event, “Good customer relationships and good employee relationships both take time to develop. Looking back on the success we’ve had with Ontario’s apprenticeship program, it will certainly remain a key element in our organization’s future plans.’
Evidence of the long-term success of the apprentice program at Armo-Tool is illustrated by the fact that many experienced graduates – like Terry Annett, a tool and die maker since 1983 – often encourage their sons and daughters to follow the same career path. Terry’s son, Mark Annett, is now in his 2nd year as an Industrial Electrician apprentice at Armo-Tool. ‘It’s a great program and my future is looking good, I’ll be fully licensed in 2 more years.’ said Terry. ‘Besides, after 24 years with the company, Dad knows first-hand that this is an organization that truly believes in people who are dedicated to learning all the basics and adding new skills after graduating as an on-site apprentice.’
For more information about Armo Tool, contact:
George Whitney – President
Tel: 519-652-3700, Ext. 224, Email: gwhitney@armotool.com
