Canadian consul general seeks stronger ties to Charlotte

Canada is already North Carolina’s largest trading partner, but there’s room to strengthen those ties if more U.S. businesses keep Canada in mind for expansion.

So says Canadian Consul General Louise Blais, whose Atlanta office oversees six southern states, including North Carolina. Blais, appointed to her post in September, made her first visit to the Charlotte area this week.

She spent two days networking and visiting Canadian-based businesses with offices in the region, including shipping company Purolator, paper manufacturer Domtar in Fort Mill, and manufacturer Eclipse Automation, which opened last year in southwest Charlotte.

While recognizing companies in the region, Blais said there’s room for more Charlotte-area companies to consider business locations in Canada.

“This is a city that understands … the importance of Canada for the economy,” Blais said Tuesday during an interview at the Observer.

“We have over 100 Canadian companies based around the Charlotte area. That’s a major presence. … Now we have to take the message to companies that should be looking at Canada and may have a blind spot.”

Canada is North Carolina’s top trading partner, exceeding $10 billion in bilateral trading in 2014, according to Blais’ office. North Carolina has the lead in the exchange, exporting $6.7 billion to Canada annually. In the state, 247,500 jobs depend on trade and investment with Canada.

Blais said there’s interest in building a Canadian-Charlotte business group to strengthen ties already forged through businesses’ successes.

For Domtar, “there’s a real nucleus for the company here … Charlotte has organically become a major nerve center.”

Eclipse Automation’s Charlotte office is exceeding production projections, Blais said.

“We talked about skilled labor. We were told that setting up shop went well, but keeping an evergreen approach to hiring is challenging.” Blais said the company is looking at duplicating how it runs its business in Canada, which includes working with universities to provide training to potential workers.

Business sectors where there’s potential for more connections include life sciences, information technologies and sustainable technologies. “We’re interested in everything being done here in the energy sector,” said Georges Lemieux, the Atlanta office’s consul and senior trade commissioner. He joined Blais on her tour along with Scott Cutler, honorary consul of Canada, who is based in Raleigh.

By raising awareness of the North Carolina-Canada connection, Blais said she hopes to encourage more companies in the region to expand into Canada.

“I think you’re going to see the word ‘Canada’ a little more often than before.”

This story was originally published April 28, 2015 at 1:55 PM with the headline "Canadian consul general seeks stronger ties to Charlotte."