ST. THOMAS, ON & HANOVER, ON – Two Ontario craft breweries will be getting funding support for brewery expansion projects under initiatives recently announced by the Government of Ontario.
At a press conference held last week at Railway City Brewing in St. Thomas, Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment, announced that the brewery would be one of several local businesses to receive money from the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund.
The $122,630 allocated to Railway City will be used for renovations on the brewery building, as well as the installation of new fermenters and an automated bottling line. The improvements will greatly increase capacity for Railway City, and are expected to create 12 new jobs at the brewery.
Also receiving funding will be MacLean’s Ales, with an announcement on Monday that $472,780 will be provided through the Local Food Fund to support the construction of a new brewing facility in Hanover.
Currently operating as a nanobrewery at founder Charles Maclean’s Barleymow Farm near Durham, production at MacLean’s Ales is expected to expand tenfold within five years of operation at the new brewery.