Once again, thank you for having me on today. I'm sorry I couldn't be in Ottawa. We're very busy here in Windsor, and I'm very glad to report that.
The Canadian Association of Moldmakers was formed in 1981. We basically had a lot of mold shops here in Windsor, and a lot of our companies exported. They were primarily very good technical people but were very weak in sales and marketing.
The association was formed for the betterment of the industry. Our board is a volunteer board. I'm here in a volunteer capacity today. I'm the vice-president of DMS. We supply components throughout North America. Our headquarters is in Windsor, Ontario. It's very unique; we're a Canadian company supplying a lot of American companies as well as Canadian companies. We also sell in Mexico.
Regarding our board, we're comprised of six mold shops, three service companies, and three suppliers. Again, we're a fully volunteer board. We have some very quality people on our board who are experts in different services and so on and so forth. For instance, we have Jason Grech from KPMG as our treasurer. We have Mark Skipper, who is our legal counsel. He's with Paroian Skipper. We have custom broking people. We have experts in SR and ED tax credits, and so on and so forth. Diane Deslippe is our executive director. She will be going to Stuttgart next month for a new mold making show that's taking place.
As I said, we do a lot of exporting, and we want to thank you for having us here today. Primarily I'd like to give you a few examples of where you are helping us.
In 2008 when our industry was very down, we were given money to go to Mexico as a trade association. We went down to Mexico for the first time to exhibit, and we found a tremendous market that needed our skills. I want to emphasize that in our industry we're building tools; we're not doing production and we're not doing assembly work here.
Since we were down there in 2008, several of our companies have opened up satellite facilities in Mexico and in the southern States to service southern U.S. and Mexican business. There's been a net gain of Canadian jobs, and we've been given tremendous opportunities. I was last in Mexico in November 2014, and it was tremendous to see the strides that we have made down in Mexico.
If you look at our association, our website is www.Camm.ca, and there's a listing of all of our members. As I said, we're comprised of mold shops, service companies, and suppliers. As I mentioned, many of our mold shops have opened up satellite operations in Mexico and the southern States very successfully. We've worked very closely with Brian Masse, who is our local MP here, and people like Mike Breen, who is with Industry Canada, and other government associations. Throughout the years since 1981 we've seen mostly great cooperation. You've listened to us. I think we've been like a poster child for the Canadian government as far as exporting goes.
In the early 1990s we expanded. We used to be called the Windsor Association of Moldmakers. We became the Canadian Association of Moldmakers. Again, primarily most of our work is done in Windsor, but there are several mold shops in the Toronto area. There are also mold shops in Quebec. In Toronto and Quebec they primarily were servicing a local market. I think they want to join our association to raise their sales and marketing because they know we have a high profile globally and because they realize that some of the local base has been declining in Toronto and Montreal. Recently we have affiliated with the APMA here in Canada to raise our profile even more.
As I said, we've received a lot of support from the agency. We continue to appreciate the SR and ED tax credits you provide. We appreciate the GOA funding we were given. When we go to do a trade show, it really helps us.
Some of the new markets we are having trouble penetrating are Brazil and Argentina. We know those are the next big things.
As I mentioned, we're going to be in Europe next month at a trade show. Especially in the automotive sector, a lot of those companies are looking at low-cost areas like the southern States and Mexico. They're looking for zone partners. That's why we go to Europe. We meet those people there. We tell them about our certain successes and so on and so forth. We do a lot of networking. As I've said, we present a lot of leads to our members. It's a system that's working for us.
We are a non-profit organization, so we continue to need your help. Windsor as you know is the capital of unemployment in Canada and, unfortunately, we have a deficiency in the number of mold makers here. We've been working with our local college, St. Clair College, and we work with the university and with the school board.
We're in the process of trying to get our industry Red Seal approved, which would also help us. It would also raise our profile in trying to attract young people and new talent into the industry.
But overall, as I've said, we appreciate everything you've done for us. We're very glad to be part of this today. Here I would note that I also participated in 2006 when you had the House and Senate committee hearings on the future of manufacturing in Canada.
Thank you for having me today.