Behind the Machines: How Abbotsford’s First Manufacturing Tour Is Forging Community Pride and Economic Momentum
By pulling back the curtain on its advanced industrial heart, Abbotsford’s inaugural Manufacturing Tour is uniting local stakeholders. It spotlights the real engines driving jobs, innovation, and identity in the region.
Summary
On October 4, 2024, Abbotsford held its first-ever Manufacturing Industry Tour. It was organized by the City of Abbotsford and the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce. This event coincided with Canada’s Manufacturing Day. The day-long event took attendees inside four leading local manufacturers—Barr Plastics, RAD Torque, BE Power Equipment, and StructureCraft. It offered them firsthand looks at operations, machinery, and people. The tour was designed not just as a showcase, but as a bridge. It aimed to connect government, business, workers, and the public to build awareness, collaboration, and long-term support for this key economic sector.
Why This Matters
The manufacturing sector in Abbotsford is no small player. It generates over CAD $1 billion in annual sales and supports more than 8,000 local jobs. Yet, for many residents and even local policymakers, much of what goes on inside factories and workshops remains invisible. The tour aimed to pull back the veil.
In a broader context, advanced manufacturing across North America and Canada is under pressure. Challenges include automation, supply chain disruption, rising input costs, and competition from abroad (both on labor and regulation). Communities that thrive tend to have both strong manufacturing bases and strong civic, educational, and policy support. Abbotsford is positioning itself as one of those communities. The tour is a signal that local stakeholders are ready to deepen that support.
(Related: The Rise of Green Jobs in Canada’s Small Cities | How Local Businesses Are Driving Regional Innovation)
Unseen Struggles, Unsung Heroes, and How It Happened
Behind the Scenes
- Coordinating access: Factories and heavy industrial plants have tight safety regimes, production schedules, and intellectual property concerns. Opening up to the public (or business leaders) requires meticulous planning. This includes scheduling around machinery downtime, ensuring safety gear, and preparing staff briefings.
- Balancing technical depth with broad appeal: The organizers needed to ensure that people who aren’t engineers or production managers (elected officials, students, business owners) could understand what was going on. They had to ensure attendees were not bored or overwhelmed.
- Funding and logistics: The City and Chamber had to manage various aspects. These included transportation, insurance, meals, PPE (personal protective equipment), signage, and public liability. All of that requires time and money.
Key Players
- Local manufacturing firms like Barr Plastics, RAD Torque, BE Power Equipment, and StructureCraft. These companies not only produce goods but act as anchors—of jobs, skills training, trade apprenticeships, and supply chains.
- City leadership, including Mayor Ross Siemens, emphasized that manufacturing is more than production. It’s about attracting investment and offering stable, meaningful work close to home.
- Chamber of Commerce staff tied all the pieces together. They liaised with companies, designed the tour route, and managed registrations and stakeholder buy-in.
Short- and Long-Term Impacts & Public Sentiment
Immediate Effects
- Raised visibility: The tour gave people a clearer view of local manufacturing, including those in government and business who may not see “behind the plant gates.” For example, it showed how advanced technologies or automation integrate with traditional manufacturing.
- Networking & collaboration: Participants had chances to meet owners, staff, local economic development officers, students. These interactions can seed mentoring, partnerships, internships.
Longer-Term Impacts
- Policy influence: Insights from the tour are intended to feed into Abbotsford’s Business Retention and Expansion Strategy. That means better-tailored supports for workforce training, infrastructure, regulatory frameworks.
- Talent and education pipelines: By exposing students, young people, or job seekers to what modern manufacturing looks like, the event helps shift perceptions. Here, manufacturing isn’t just dirty or old-school. It can also be high tech, green, and complex.
- Community identity: When local residents understand and take pride in what goes on in their city, that builds cohesion. Public sentiment, as reported, has been positive: people appreciate the transparency and feel more connected to local economic life.
(Related: Abbotsford’s Growing Food Tech Industry)
What Could Be Better & Calls to Action
What’s missing from much of the early coverage is a deeper understanding of how manufacturing firms deal with global pressures. Factors such as trade tariffs, carbon regulation, and workforce skill shortages play a role. More follow-up data is needed to see how tours like this tangibly shift those dynamics.
Some ideas for strengthening the impact:
- Annual or semi-annual tours, possibly with different thematic focuses (green tech, automation, workforce, exports)
- More involvement from education institutions, so students see pathways, and curricula can respond to real skills gaps
- Better metrics & transparency: for example, tracking how many tour participants later engage in local manufacturing (either as workers, partners, suppliers). It is also important to check how many policy changes are inspired by findings from the tour.
Takeaway
Abbotsford’s first Manufacturing Tour did more than open factory doors—it opened a dialogue. It showed that a community can step away from seeing manufacturing as background noise. Instead, it can recognize it as the pulse of jobs, innovation, and local identity. If the momentum continues, with smarter policy, tighter industry-education links, and public engagement, Abbotsford could become a national exemplar. This would show how regional manufacturing isn’t just surviving, but leading.
