Latest news with #heavyindustry
National Post
09-07-2025
- Business
- National Post
Aimsio Has Officially Incorporated as a U.S. Based Corporation, Expanding Operations Into Houston, Texas to Better Serve Industrial Clients Across the United States
Article content HOUSTON — Aimsio, a leading provider of field-first operations software for heavy industrial companies, is proud to announce its official incorporation as a U.S. based corporation, marking a major milestone in its growth trajectory and expanding its operational footprint in Houston, Texas, United States. Article content Founded in 2013, in Calgary, Alberta Canada— Aimsio has been at the forefront of digital transformation in field operations—streamlining dispatch, ticketing, timesheets, and invoicing for companies in construction, energy, utilities, and transportation. This incorporation signifies a strategic evolution as Aimsio continues to scale its presence across North America and attract more U.S.-based enterprise customers, partners, and investors. Article content Article content 'This is more than a legal change—it's a defining moment in Aimsio 's journey,' said Ash Esmaeili, CEO of Aimsio Inc. (USA). 'By incorporating in the United States and anchoring operations in Houston, we're positioning ourselves at the heart of the industries we serve. We're now better equipped to partner with industrial leaders across the U.S. to digitize field operations and help them recover revenue lost to inefficiencies.' Article content The new Houston operation will serve as a regional hub for business development, customer success, and partner engagement—enhancing Aimsio 's ability to support its growing customer base across Texas and the broader southern U.S. Article content As part of its expansion, Aimsio remains committed to building field-first solutions that connect boots-on-the-ground teams with the back office—empowering companies to work smarter, invoice faster, and grow revenue through better operational visibility. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Media Contact: Article content Marc Reinhart Article content Article content Article content
CTV News
07-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Saint John council set for final vote on Spruce Lake Industrial Park future
After passing the first and second readings of a proposed industrial park expansion on the city's western outskirts, Saint John City Council will have its third and final vote on the plan Monday night. In mid-June, councillors unanimously passed the first two readings that would see 1,500 acres of land in the community of Lorneville rezoned for heavy industry. The proposed expansion has been a highly debated topic since Lorneville residents were first given a letter about the plans in July 2024. The idea has been met with heavy resistance from much of the community. 'It's been, first and foremost, on our minds for over a year,' says Lorneville resident Chris Watson. 'The industrial park was basically thrust upon us out of the blue.' City staff held several meetings with the community, but Lorneville residents who attended those meetings have previously said they did not feel heard and the meetings felt more like a formality. Major concerns include the idea of heavy industry located in close proximity to people's properties, and the destruction of provincially significant wetlands. Watson also recently discovered a red spruce tree in an area of the forest under threat that is believed to be more than 400 years old, making it one of the oldest trees in all of New Brunswick. Acadian Forest Dendrochronology Lab lead at Mount Allison University Ben Phillips said the forest is the third-oldest age forest in the province based on the 20 oldest trees in the area. 'We're resoundingly against this,' Watson says. 'We will continue to fight and stand up for our community, and we're not we're not backing down.' The community still has many questions they say council has not yet answered regarding the proposed park expansion. The 71 total questions include what the business plan is, what will happen to the area's clean drinking water, and what is the plan for compensating any wetlands destroyed by the project. In late June, the Caribou Club – a land-based treaty education and recreation facility located about a half hour outside Fredericton – walked through the old growth forest. An invitation for the walk was extended to the mayor and members of city council but a letter directed to members of council states no one attended. The letter goes on to say the land is already developed with an old growth forest, and urged council to rethink the expansion idea on the property. 'You have considered the economic value but not the cultural or spiritual value of this forest,' the letter reads. 'Decisions about land use cannot be made in isolation; they must be based in a shared understand of the historical and contemporary significance of the land to all of us.' Watson says the land up for expansion is Crown land, and indigenous partners should be consulted as much as anyone. When asked about her decision to not attend the walk led by the indigenous group, Mayor Donna Reardon told CTV News Atlantic she had toured the forest ahead of the public hearings beginning in May. When asked for comment ahead of the final vote, the mayor said the 'appropriate approach would be to all the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) to be completed and formulate any required plans once there is a definitive report available.' Lorneville residents are hopeful the EIA will back their argument and save the old growth forest. Watson says residents have asked to speak with both the province's Environment Department and Natural Resources Minister John Herron on the file but have not heard back. There is no clear timeline for when the EIA will be completed. Lorneville A wetland in Lorneville, N.B., is pictured. (Source: Avery MacRae/CTV News Atlantic) For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
Telegraph
08-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
British manufacturing is dying before our eyes
British industry has hit a new low. Factories consumed the least energy in 50 years in 2024, with the decline almost entirely because of shutdowns and closures. Factory bosses say Britain's sky-high energy costs are crippling heavy industry, forcing businesses to shut down production lines or abandon operations altogether. They blame surging gas prices but also a succession of green levies piled onto bills. The energy consumption slump, spelt out in the latest government statistics, comes just days before the Government is expected to announce its new industrial strategy. Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, is pledging to reverse decades of decline. But the energy consumption data – widely seen as a proxy for the state of British manufacturing, especially the energy-intensive sectors – suggests Reynolds will need some truly radical measures if he is to succeed. Britain has millions of businesses, which all consume energy, but what such data reflects most strongly are the trends within our 'foundational industries' – energy-intensive manufacturing that produces the basic materials other sectors need to function. This includes steel, cement, chemicals, glass, paper and ceramics. Production of all of these materials relies on cheap, plentiful heat. If that heat becomes expensive, those industries die – and that, both the stats and the industries themselves say, is what is happening.
Bloomberg
04-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
China's Air Pollution Problem Is Following Industries West: CREA
China's push to move heavy industry into its western regions is hurting air quality there even as it improves for the nation as a whole, according to a new report from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Xinjiang in the northwest surpassed Henan to become the most polluted region in the country during the first quarter, while Guangxi saw its concentration of airborne particulates rise 32% in the period compared with the year before, according to the report. That contrasts with a drop of 5% for the nation overall, driven largely by a reduction in coal power generation.
Telegraph
21-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Britain can wave goodbye to the last of its heavy industry
The Office for National Statistics has published a brief on the effects of high energy prices on Britain's energy-intensive industries between 2021 and 2025. Though most could already deduce that our sky-high prices were not healthy for the sector, the scale of the industry's decline is stark. Since early 2021, paper and petrochemical production has declined nearly 30 per cent, inorganic non-metallic production (think ceramics and cement) has dropped over 30 per cent, and basic metal and casting production has declined by almost 50 per cent. Overall, energy-intensive manufacturing production in late 2024 was just 66 per cent of what it was at the start of 2021. Heavy manufacturing is not an irrelevant part of the economy. The energy-intensive industry, as defined by those sectors that can apply for energy levy exemptions, has a turnover of £170 billion and employs over 400,000 people, 60 per cent of whom are in the North and Midlands. In most cases, these are among the most well-paid jobs in their region. An average chemical industry worker earns three times the weekly wage of a hospitality worker, twice that of someone in retail, and 130 per cent that of someone in education. British heavy industry is not suffering from a unique problem. European heavy industry is facing enormous stress from high energy prices and competition from China. However, Britain is likely the least competitive industrial base in the developed world. Our electricity prices are 44 per cent higher than those in France and 300 per cent higher than those of the United States. The government takeover of British Steel's blast furnace plant at Scunthorpe, which this author predicted back in December, will likely lead to formal nationalisation. There is a good chance the same fate will befall Sanjeev Gupta's speciality steels furnace in Rotherham. These sites are facing an existential threat following failed negotiations for more handouts. The only reason there is no talk of nationalisation at Tata Steel's Port Talbot furnace is that the government has provided a grant to pay nearly half the cost of installing electric furnaces – £500 million. Sheffield Forgemasters, a speciality maker of high-grade steels for the military and the nuclear industry, was quietly nationalised in 2021. Whether it is official or not, whether it is blast or electric arc furnaces, the British steel sector is dependent on the government. There have been some voices cautioning against nationalisation, arguing that a steel stockpile might be preferable, or that the primary focus should be on rectifying the policy decisions that make Britain such a lousy place for heavy industry. Such observations are valid, and indeed, the government's thinking appears to be disjointed. But letting these plants go to the wall is not the answer. This will likely lead to increased welfare dependency in the affected areas, and decommissioning costs will be high. Should the British steel sector collapse, it is unlikely to return. For an increasingly turbulent world, the government should favour redundancy over short-term efficiency. A side-benefit of nationalisation is that civil servants and policymakers will have to wrestle with the contradictions between economic growth and the prohibitive cost of onerous regulations and Net Zero. In the short term, what can the government do to cauterise heavy industry's bleeding? It can extend exemptions for heavy industry. Current schemes exempt energy-intensive activities from renewable-related levies and capacity market costs while compensating them for network costs. The scheme intends to reduce electricity costs by £30 per megawatt hour. In 2023, such exemptions covered about 10 per cent of industrial electricity demand and cost somewhere around £400 million, paid for by consumers. The problem is that when industrial electricity prices can be as high as £260 per MWh, such exemptions amount to little more than a sticking plaster. The government will be pressured to shift more levies away from producers and onto consumers, likely costing billions of pounds. Meanwhile, our energy strategy is tilting us toward higher electricity prices for the longterm. There is a further complication. While cheap energy is essential to these industries' survival, it may not be sufficient. The US, despite enjoying very cheap energy inputs due to fracking, has seen its industrial production, including steel, decline or flatline since 2008. Such stagnation is due to overcapacity from East Asia, currency manipulation, the dominance of the US dollar, and a host of other issues. For British industry to become self-sustaining, a saner energy strategy needs to be married to serious discussions about addressing our current account deficit. Such a task is a lot to put on the plate of a government that is already struggling for bandwidth.
