SYDNEY, N.S. — Increased demand is behind a Protocase endeavour to build a new facility to house 45Drives, its rapidly growing data-storage division.
The new building will help the Cape Breton company expand its manufacturing capacities and add approximately 50 new jobs within the first year, according to a press release from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, which will contribute a $1.3 million repayable loan to the build.
“When we started our 45Drives’ division several years ago, it was because we listened to a market segment of customers who came to Protocase looking for an innovative solution to data storage,” said Steve Lilley, president and co-founder of Protocase Inc. in a news release.
“Since then, we have installed more than an exabyte of storage across the world. Through ACOA’s support, the construction of a new facility will allow our 45Drives’ division to fully engage in growth mode, and expand its manufacturing capacities to better serve our customers, while creating meaningful employment right here in Cape Breton.”
Protocase Inc. has 240 full-time staff and provides customized enclosures and mass digital storage solutions for NASA, Apple, MIT, Google, Boeing, Microsoft and other customers.
Its 45Drives division provides IT infrastructure and enterprise storage solutions and serves the data-storage needs of clients in the academia, research, surveillance, law enforcement and finance sectors.
Jaime Battiste, MP for Sydney-Victoria, announced the federal contribution to the 45Drives expansion on Friday, on behalf of Minister of Economic Development Mélanie Joly.
“Now more than ever, we must ramp up our adoption of digital technologies in the manufacturing sector to remain competitive,” Battiste said in a news release.
“We are proud to work with Protocase to scale-up its 45Drives division’s operations and help anchor the region’s economic growth, paving the way for future innovation and quality jobs in Cape Breton-Unama’ki.”
