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Feds give funding to control pests

sootday.com
July 20, 2015
By Darren Taylor

Local company BioForest Technologies Inc. (Bioforest) will receive up to $160,000 in federal funding through the National Research Council of Canada.

Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology) made the funding announcement Monday, accompanied by Sault Ste. Marie MP Bryan Hayes, at Bioforest's office and production facility at Industrial Park.

The funding will go towards research and development of what Joe Meating, BioForest president, described as 'the next generation of insecticide.'

"It's a big project for us...it's quite new and it involves improving products we currently have as well as developing new products to use against invasive species and any pest causing serious damage to trees in urban and environmentally sensitive areas," Meating said.

Bioforest staff will work with faculty and students at Algoma University in research and development of the product.

Development, from the research stage to eventual marketing of the product, is a five to seven year process, Meating told SooToday.

The funding announced Monday will cover this year's research costs, with additional funding to follow each year throughout the development process, if successful.

Holder, Hayes and Craig Chamberlin, Algoma University president, were taken on a tour of the BioForest facility by Meating and were shown the company's existing, innovative TreeAzin insecticide and the EcoJect system which delivers it to trees in the battle against Emerald Ash Borer and other insect pests.

BioForest, with 32 full and part-time employees, also has locations in Saskatchewan, Toronto, Missouri and Helsinki, Finland.

Both Holder and Hayes praised BioForest as an example of the importance of small to medium-sized businesses in Canada's economy.

A news release from the National Research Council of Canada follows.

MP Hayes Announces Support for Forestry Protection Technology in Sault Ste. Marie

BioForest Technologies Inc. (Bioforest) will receive up to $160,000 in funding through the National Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) to research new biological organisms for innovative pest management endangering trees in Canadian municipalities.

The new organisms would pose minimal risk in environmentally sensitive areas and urban settings.

The investment will support Bioforest Technologies to stay competitive while protecting jobs in Sault Ste. Marie.

Bryan Hayes, Member of Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie, along with the Honourable Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology), today announced the investment.

Established in 1996, BioForest specializes in innovative product development, pest management and consulting strategies for urban and commercial forest protection.

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