Northerm Windows and Doors and YuKonstruct are receiving injections of federal cash aimed at helping smaller manufacturing and technology-based businesses grow.

Northerm will get up to $130,345 through the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), a branch of the National Research Council of Canada.

YuKonstruct, meanwhile, is receiving $162,000 from the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agecny (CanNor).

Bardish Chagger, the federal minister of Small Business and Tourism, and Yukon MP Larry Bagnell announced the funding boost late Wednesday afternoon.

They did so at (co)space, a shared workspace in downtown Whitehorse operated by YuKonstruct.

“Our government understands the important role that science and technology plays in laying the groundwork for industries and jobs of the future,” said Chagger.

“Science, technology and innovation are drivers of economic progress and key to enhancing prosperity and competitiveness.”

IRAP, which is investing in Northerm, offers advice and financial support to small- and medium-sized business working in technology-based industries.

The IRAP money is a helpful boost as the Yukon manufacturer winds down operations at its Anchorage, Alaska plant and moves all production to its Whitehorse facility, said David Borud, Northerm’s general manager. Specifically, it will help offset the cost of employing an industrial engineer.

“What we’re doing is we’re doubling our production (in Whitehorse), and you might think that’s a simple thing to do, but it’s not,” Borud said at Wednesday’s press conference.

The funding will help bring Northerm’s production capacity up to a level comparable to similar companies in the provinces, he said.

A lot of the company’s southern competitors have industrial engineers on staff.

The industrial engineer will help Northerm transition from two facilities to one. Upgrades to machinery, and staff training, are some of the changes underway, said Borud.

He expects consolidation in Whitehorse to be finished in about a year and a half. When that happens, Northerm will be one of the largest manufacturer-exporters in the territories, he said.

Northerm’s consolidation will see six new, full-time fabrication line jobs open up at the Whitehorse plant.

Borud estimates around 10 to 12 manufacturing jobs will be lost when the Anchorage plant closes this spring.

The IRAP funding was secured in September 2016, around the same time Northerm received a $560,000 boost from the CanNor.

Northerm is a division of RAB Energy Group, which is wholly owned by Yukon First Nations development corporations.

“When indigenous businesses succeed, we all succeed,” said Chagger.

Whitehorse start-up YuKonstruct received confirmation of the $162,000 CanNor investment about a month ago, said executive director Jaret Slipp.

The CanNor funds will go toward hiring contractors and other personnel who will advise the company on how it can expand its programming.

YuKonstruct is makerspace that provides its members with shared access to equipment, space and expertise.

The YuKonstruct workshop is home to a laser cutter, 3D printer, industrial sewing machine, woodworking and metal fabrication tools, digital media equipment and all kinds of electronics.

“We want to be able to... give programming so members and entrepreneurs can get the little pieces of information they need to be able to make it to the next step in their business,” he said.

In keeping with its mission to provide shared resources for up-and-coming Whitehorse makers and entrepreneurs, YuKonstruct opened (co)space about a year ago to provide office space for people working in the knowledge sector, said Slipp.

Since then, (co)space expanded from one floor of the Arctic Star printing building on the corner of Second Avenue and Strickland Street to a second floor. Some of those renovations were supported by CanNor funds.

“We have a lot of great ideas in this community,” said Slipp.

“What we need to do is get people together in a place and give them the tools and the resources to be be able to turn them into something.”

Chagger was scheduled to make another announcement early this afternoon at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre.

See coverage in Friday’s edition.