Prince Edward Island small business goes global with federal government funding

Originally a sheep rancher, Larry Sutherland and his family produced wool for sale as locally produced yarn, and traditionally sent the wool away to be processed. But the process was time-consuming, and the results weren't always satisfactory. One time, his wife, Sheila and his daughter Linda Nobles realized with dismay that the yarn they'd received back from a fibre mill wasn't from their own wool.

Today, that disappointment has led to the development of a unique, globally recognized company in Belfast, Prince Edward Island.

Typically, a fibre mill would require a large quantity of fibre in order to make the job worthwhile, thus it would get batched, and producers would get a mix of fibres. In order to maintain the quality of their locally produced product, the Sutherland family decided to begin processing their own fibre. "But it wasn't easy," Larry told Innovation Canada. "Traditionally, textile equipment is large, cumbersome and expensive."

They began by making some basic machines, which would do the trick in-house. But over time, they realized there might just be a market for the machines themselves. Of course, that entailed major research and development, as well as testing, in order to manufacture a product they could confidently sell to other producers.

Fortunately, the federal government provides programs dedicated to promoting innovation among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In Atlantic Canada, businesses tapped into the Atlantic Investment Partnership (AIP), a $700-million initiative designed to help Atlantic Canadians to innovate and complete in a global economy. The Innovation Skills Development Initiative helps SMEs improve their innovation and technology management capabilities by providing grants of up to 75 percent of the project cost – up to $100,000. The Business Development Program is designed to help individuals set up, expand or modernize a business. Focusing on small and medium-sized enterprises, the program offers access to capital in the form of interest-free, unsecured loans and provisionally repayable loans, and can provide an interest-free, provisionally repayable loan of up to 75 per cent of the eligible costs of developing new or improved products, services and processes.

Over the course of a number of years, the family-owned business, International Spinners, designed and developed 14 machines, including pickers, carders, dehairing machines, multi-spindle spinners and feltmakers, and sold and installed them in countries around the world. The only company making these kinds of mills, International Spinners has a hold on the market, and have custom-built many mills to handle exotic fibres. "Our mills are giving communities the ability to create their own industries," Sutherland told Innovation Canada. "They profit from adding value to the raw materials and then selling them as a textile or finished good. An added advantage is that local communities are creating identifiable textiles in the tradition of Harris tweed or Icelandic wool."

The Belfast Mini-Mills headquarters has become a tourist destination, and owners and sisters Linda Nobles and Hazel Spencer have branched out into authoring children's books, with the publication of "Frog".

www.minimills.net

Would you like to get money to expand your small business? There's money available now for qualified existing and start-up businesses. Phone toll-free 1-800-658-9792.

No claim is made the above funding success is due to our Centre.