If 68 years in business has taught anything at Charlottetown Metal Products (CMP), one of Atlantic Canada’s most durably successful manufacturers, it’s that creative, motivated people make all the difference. Says Trevor Spinney, the Prince Edward Island (PEI) company’s president since 2017: “We would not have been able to grow the way that we have without them. They’re what’s really behind the success of this business.”

That success is indisputable. CMP makes specialized equipment for food processors across North America and the world, including Europe, Asia and South America. Thanks to this global success (or maybe driving it), the manufacturing plant has grown to 100,000 square feet – and the workforce from 60 to 170 people – in only five years. And it’s not just any workforce.

“Our customers reward us with business because we are full of curious, innovative and highly skilled workers,” Spinney says. “Whether they come out of the mechanical engineering programs at Dalhousie University, the University of New Brunswick or the School of Sustainable Design Engineering at the University of Prince Edward Island, or the welding programs at Holland College, they’re all innate problem solvers.”

Fortunately, CMP has no trouble figuring ways to keep everyone in the zone. “We’ve been investing in building out our Innovation Center team to enhance our new product development and innovation strategy,” he says about the separate 10,000-square-foot facility, where the company is engaged in everything from line production solutions to new hygienic food processes.

With $3 million in recent upgrades – assisted by both federal and PEI governments – the Center is set to tackle even more on behalf of their customers. And that means doubling down on CMP’s reputation as a great place to work. As Spinney says, “It comes down to our people. If they’re inspired, we’re inspired, and our customers are served.”