Considered one of the great success stories sprouting up from Guelph’s food expertise, NSF International grew out of a merger of NSF and the Guelph Food Technology Centre about three years ago.
On Friday, company officials, local dignitaries, and representatives from a proud local building firm, congregated at 125 Chancellors Way in U of G’s Research Park North for the grand opening of a new, spacious, and architecturally impressive building which now houses NSF International food services.
If it has to do with food – food safety, consulting, product developing, auditing, packaging, or certification – it is under the same gently sloping roof of the new facility, built by local developer Tom Lammer of the Lammer Group of Companies.
About 50 people attended the opening and facility tour, including Guelph MP Lloyd Longfield, Guelph MPP Liz Sandals, the city’s mayor Cam Guthrie, and Kithio Mwanzia, president and CEO of Guelph Chamber of Commerce.
When he took to podium at the front of the building Friday morning, Kevan Lawlor, president and CEO of NSF International, joked that he was close to frostbite during a February 2015 ground-breaking ceremony for the building. He was happy to feel the sun and warmth on Friday for the opening.
“This new building commemorates NSF International’s continued commitment to improving food safety and quality in Canada,” Lawlor told the gathering. “This is a direct result of the growing demand for the expertise provided by our team here in Guelph.”
He said evolving regulations in many countries, and increasing complexities associated with globalized food supply network pose numerous challenges for the company’s clients in Canada and around the world.
“The expertise that resides at this location includes a range of food safety and quality services to support our clients,” he added.
The Canadian team at NSF International currently offers services to about 1,500 businesses, while training thousands of food safety professionals around the world.
The company’s workforce and services are growing, said Petra Schennach in an interview. She is NSF’s global managing director of training and education services, and the senior official at the Guelph facility.
Just over 70 employees work in the Chancellors Way building, which represents a workforce increase of about a dozen personnel recently. The building is 20,000 square feet.
Mayor Guthrie said the grand opening was a proud moment for him. The ground-breaking ceremony for the building in winter 2015 was one of his first as the new mayor of Guelph. Graduating to a golden pair of scissors for the ribbon-cutting comes with a sense of accomplishment, he indicated.
“This building is absolutely beautiful, and this is such a success story for Guelph, for NSF, for the university, and the collaboration they have,” the mayor said. “I know that it has been built for growth, for jobs, which is also very important.”
Guthrie cast a virtual spotlight on city staff in engineering, planning, and economic development, saying they did an exceptional job at making the development happen, and happen quickly.
Lammer also acknowledged the work city hall staff carried out to make the process go smoothly and expediently.
“I also have high praise – which I hope you, mayor Guthrie, will take back to city hall – for the planning and building staff of the City of Guelph who executed the various approvals and permits,” Lammer said.
He added that in his 30-year history as a builder in Guelph, this was “the first time ever” that Guelph City Hall “did not slow us down.” There was applause from the crowd.
“More than just a handsome building and a functional workspace, this structure is a strategic addition to a growing cluster of world class food and agricultural enterprises here in the university’s research park,” Lammer said. “It’s an addition aligned with the city-wide economic development strategy, building on our city’s ability to attract international players who will help establish both the city and the University of Guelph as true world leaders in all things food and related sciences.”
Schennach said NSF International has 72 employees in the Guelph facility, and a total of 112 employees in Canada. The company is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“Since we moved into this building we have brought in 12 new employees,” she said. “That was part of the strategy, because we knew there was a demand for NSF’s expertise. We really thought that if we built it we would be able to fill the building. And we’ve been very successful in that so far.”
The building adds state-of-the-art training facilities, a demonstration kitchen for clients, and expanded product and process development laboratories.
“We’ve been expanding, hiring, and we have a brand new facility, and we’re also now able to bring new services to the Canadian market, which we weren’t able to do before,” she said, adding there has been a significant increase in global clientele in the last two years. “We are able to export a lot of Canadian expertise.”