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PowerCo Canada: Investing in Careers and Ontario’s EV Future
Episode 5 • 5th September 2025 • Making it in Ontario • Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing
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PowerCo Canada is about to start construction on its massive $7 billion EV battery plant in St. Thomas, which means a major recruitment campaign is underway. In this episode of Making it in Ontario, we sit down with Norman Wickboldt, PowerCo Canada’s CHRO, for a deep dive into the hiring plans—including what types of skills will be needed (and when), the differences between working in an EV battery plant versus a traditional vehicle assembly plant, and how PowerCo Canada is building a robust talent pipeline for the future.

  • 00:00 Introduction to Making it in Ontario
  • 04:56 Norman's Background and Career Journey
  • 11:18 First Impressions of Canada and Working With St. Thomas
  • 15:48 Working in an EV Battery Operation vs a Traditional Vehicle Assembly Plant
  • 17:51 Recruitment Scale and Timing
  • 20:36 Who Should Apply and How to Prepare
  • 24:08 Types of Opportunities Available Now and in the Near Future
  • 25:47 PowerCo Canada’s Strategy To Build a Robust Talent Pipeline
  • 29:07 PowerCo’s Values and Culture
  • 33:44 Future of Work in Advanced Manufacturing

Highlighted Links

Find Out More about PowerCo

Find Out More About Trillium

About the Making it in Ontario Podcast

Making it in Ontario is your window into what's next in manufacturing. Ontario’s economy depends on manufacturing, but the latest research reveals concerning trends that could undermine the sector’s strength—if we don’t address them. Join us as we talk to CEOs and other leaders at the forefront of the sector about productivity, strategy, talent markets and career opportunities, and the role of manufacturing in a prosperous and sustainable future.

This podcast is an initiative of the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing. It is produced by Storied Places Media.

Transcripts

Michelle Samson:

Welcome to Making it in Ontario, your window into what's next in

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Ontario's manufacturing sector from the

data driven researchers at the Trillium

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Network for Advanced Manufacturing.

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I'm Michelle Samson.

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Brendan Sweeney: And I'm Brendan Sweeney.

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Michelle Samson: Happy September, Brendan.

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Happy September, listeners.

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Hope everybody enjoyed their summer.

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Brendan Sweeney: Yeah, I'm still

enjoying it, down in deep south

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of Ontario here, we stretch this

thing out until Thanksgiving or so.

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Michelle Samson: Thanksgiving!

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I'm very like back to school minded,

whether I'm back to school or not.

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On that note, we're really

excited, whether you still consider

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it summer or fall we've got a

really good episode for you.

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And Brendan did I hear this has

been in the works for nearly a year?

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Brendan Sweeney: Yeah, and we

had discussed with PowerCo the

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potential of having someone come

on the podcast for a year or so.

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And we just kind of agreed, yeah,

when the time is right, and lo

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and behold, the time is right.

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And this is, I believe, the

first full length episode of any

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podcast to feature PowerCo Canada,

which is beginning construction

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on its EV battery plant in St.

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Thomas in the next few weeks.

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So that's really exciting.

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Michelle Samson: That is really exciting.

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Now, you know, because we are so on

the cusp of things, we have previously

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done an episode not featuring

someone from PowerCo directly,

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but certainly touched on PowerCo.

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If you're a regular listener, you

might already know what I'm talking

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about, but, we did an episode about the

economic development slash investment

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attraction side of this project

with Sean Dyke, the CEO of the St.

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Thomas Economic Development Corporation.

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So if you're interested in

how PowerCo landed in St.

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Thomas, we'll link that

episode in the show notes.

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Brendan Sweeney: And funny enough,

Sean Dyke gets some shout outs in

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this episode, which is with Norman

Wickboldt, PowerCo Canada's CHRO.

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Michelle Samson: Yeah, so, as he

notes himself, he is from Germany and

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he's been in Canada for a year and

so we get his impressions of Southern

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Ontario, it's very friendly people,

it's very highly qualified workforce.

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Brendan Sweeney: And importantly, we learn

about the career opportunities at PowerCo

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Canada, how the company is preparing to

hire a couple hundred people in the next

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few months and more than 2000 people or

so over the next two years in advance

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of opening its EV battery plant in St.

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Thomas.

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And we get some really good perspective

from Norman about where he sees PowerCo

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fitting into the advanced manufacturing

ecosystem in Southern Ontario.

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Michelle Samson: Mm-hmm.

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And another thing we're gonna put in the

show notes is PowerCo's Careers website.

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You'll be able to follow that link if

you're interested in working for PowerCo,

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or just curious about the types of

jobs that are coming down the pipeline?

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There is a whole range of

opportunities available.

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Brendan Sweeney: Quality assurance,

change management, customs

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coordination, financial analysts,

manufacturing execution, lab managers.

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You'll see a few more lab-type jobs,

a few more chemistry-type jobs due to

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the nature of the work in a battery

plant, as Norman explains to us.

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Security technology,

technical cleanliness.

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If you want to talk about

a clean environment, that's

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what a battery plant is.

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And again, Norman will explain to us

a bit about there's some elements of

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traditional automotive manufacturing.

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There's some elements of chemical

production, there's some elements of

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high tech electronics manufacturing.

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So, super cool to hear

about it in his words.

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Michelle Samson: Norman also

shared an invitation to a party.

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Brendan Sweeney: Yeah,

Downtown Octoberfest in St.

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Thomas, Saturday, September 20th,

sponsored by PowerCo and apparently

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we're invited, so that's fun.

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Michelle Samson: You

gonna be there, Brendan?

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Brendan Sweeney: I will try.

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I'll try, I'll try.

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It's just down the road.

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And I know I'm gonna be in

London, uh, for much of that week.

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But anyway, without further ado, if

you're interested in a career in the

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EV supply chain, in a battery plant

or if you're interested in learning

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more about battery plants, about what

PowerCo's up to and about Norman's,

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uh, you know, perspectives on.

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Building out an occupational culture,

building out a company culture.

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This episode's for you.

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Norman, a belated welcome to Ontario.

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You've been here about a year.

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It's great to have you on the show.

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And we are very excited to talk

about what's happening with PowerCo,

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what's happening down in St.

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Thomas.

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Introduce yourself and share

some of your career highlights

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with the Volkswagen Group.

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Norman Wickboldt: Thank you Brendan.

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I am also honored to be here.

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I did a little bit of homework, so I

listened into a couple of podcasts.

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Very exciting format.

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So, I am happy to share my

insights that I have so far.

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So let me just give you a bit

of a background about myself.

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So obviously from my lovely accent, you

can notice I'm not Canadian by nature.

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I'm German.

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I've worked for PowerCo and the

Volkswagen Group for all my career in

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different countries, different functions.

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I studied economics in the US for a

year in Oregon, and also then continued

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my studies in Cambridge in the UK.

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So I am an economist by nature, but

I was always very much interested

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in company strategies, what

makes companies successful, what

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are the competitive advantages.

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And I somehow ended up in HR, not

because I wanted to, but I ended up in

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HR because HR is really about the people.

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And if you want to make a company

or project successful, my belief

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is that HR is definitely the one

function that can make it or break it.

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So it's all about the people, and hence,

I lead this HR function, this people

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function, here for PowerCo Canada.

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So yeah, that's it in a nutshell.

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Very briefly.

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Brendan Sweeney: So a

couple thoughts there.

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So you went to Oregon.

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I went to Washington.

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So we'll leave it at that, but we've

both got experience on the west coast.

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And you have experience working with the

Volkswagen Group in Germany, and from

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what I understand in the UK as well.

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Norman Wickboldt: Yeah, so I've

been in different companies.

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So, I've been in Spain for a company

called SEAT, at the time for four years,

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and also then at Bentley in the UK.

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Both very interesting companies.

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I also worked in the headquarters at

Volkswagen in Wolfsburg in Germany.

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So the career I did was obviously starting

off at very basic jobs, I actually started

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as a sales and marketing coordinator, so

not necessarily anything to do with HR.

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But from then, I learned

how to understand customers.

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I learned how to better

become customer centric.

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One of the projects I did back in the

day was really to create softwares that

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could create data around customer centric

insights, and then try to leverage those

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insights into any sales initiatives.

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From then I also entered into other

corporate strategy roles and I was always

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interested in the entire business, and

my roles back in the UK were, Bentley's

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a beautiful brand, luxury brand, very

nice cars, but it was a bit old fashioned

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at the time, and they somehow managed

to turn this around by innovation and

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creating a much more modern image to

create a modern luxury image for the

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customer and also make themselves

relevant for the future generations.

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So I did different jobs over there

and it was all about investing

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the right resources in the

strategic topics of a company.So,

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with limited resources may it be people

or other resources, you really need

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to make sure you spend the resources

you have and with the right topics.

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And my belief was always you

need to spend them in strategic

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topics and also make sure that

you have an element of innovation.

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And yeah, from then I moved on to PowerCo.

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We'll come to that, but that was

one of my motivations to also join

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PowerCo, the element of innovation.

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Brendan Sweeney: So, I mean, tell

us in your words what motivated that

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transition from more the vehicle side

of the Volkswagen Group to PowerCo, to

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the emerging and growing battery side.

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Norman Wickboldt: Yeah.

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So I think the EV industry is the

solution for the future, whether it's

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today or tomorrow or the day after,

it's definitely the next generation

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and the current generation of vehicles.

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So I was always interested

in any aspects of innovation.

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Also, my work in the HR

environment, what can we digitize?

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Where is it that we can leverage data?

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And therefore this new emerging industry

for the Volkswagen Group and also the

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Volkswagen Group decided as one of

the big car manufacturers to really

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push the next generation vehicles

into EV, I thought this is one very

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interesting opportunity for me to learn

about it myself and also to support

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the success of such an endeavor.

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Yeah, so I joined the PowerCo

project in a very early stage

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in Germany, in Salzgitter.

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So they're very close to Wolfsburg.

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And I really helped ramping up the

headquarter for two and a half years.

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And at some point, uh, when it comes

to career, some things you can plan

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and some things just happen to you.

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So this was another one where I

was around and obviously I've been

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also traveling here as part of

the site selection process for St.

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Thomas.

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And so I had already deep knowledge of

how PowerCo works, how the Volkswagen

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group works, and also on what we

have been discussing here in Canada.

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And so, at some point I was simply

asked whether I could imagine to do the

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job, and because I had international

experiences and also studied abroad, I'm

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always keen to learn about new countries.

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And I raised my hand and here I

am, as you said, since a year.

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Brendan Sweeney: What were some of

your initial impressions about St.

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Thomas, about Elgin County, about

the London area, about Southern

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Ontario or about Canada generally?

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Norman Wickboldt: I give you

one little anecdote, which is

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actually something my wife told me.

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So my wife is from Argentina.

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We met in Barcelona.

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And I have a son that was born

in Barcelona and a daughter,

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she was born in the UK.

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Why am I saying that?

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Because we're a very international family

by nature, and so we've moved a lot, and,

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after usually a couple months of settling

into any new environment, you do a little

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summary, but it didn't take as long here

in Canada because my wife said to me

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after a few days, she said, and it's not

a stereotype, it's what we experienced,

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Why are people so friendly over here?

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It's really true.

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So I think the makeup of the Canadian

society is such because of all the

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immigration, and what made this

country successful is very special.

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And we felt very welcomed.

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Therefore, I think my general

impression was people were very

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approachable, very open, very supportive.

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And not because of what I do, but

just because the way they are.

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Yeah.

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And my one example is the

responsible person here for

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economic development in St.

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Thomas, Sean Dyke.

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And he was one of the first people

I actually met when I came here.

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And he took me to the farmer's market, he

showed me around, and he took his time.

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And at the same time, he was very

humble and very knowledgeable.

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And that's the kind of

person I identify with.

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And since then, we've stayed in

touch, obviously for business,

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but also outside of business.

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And that's what made this whole

transition very, very easy for us.

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Brendan Sweeney: Great.

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What was, if there was one real

pleasant surprise or just something

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that surprised you about St.

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Thomas, about the London area,

about Southern Ontario, what was it?

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Norman Wickboldt: So, let's stick for a

moment with what the city does, right?

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The City of St.

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Thomas is a small, mid-size city.

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And the city has had its ups and

down and we are completely conscious

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of that, and also what that does

theoretically and practically to

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the people that live in such a city.

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So with the whole Ford Legacy,

we wanna win the trust.

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And that's why I also spoke to many,

also to the mayor here, and said, What

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can we do as a company to really engage

with the community, to build trust?

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And in this context, the collaboration

with the city is really very special.

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I haven't seen anything

like it in other countries.

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Whatever we need, we can work

on it together, find solutions.

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And one example I have is the whole

infrastructure creation for our site,

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on time and with such dedication,

and we are all in it together.

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So we really feel that the collaboration

between us as a company and, let's

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say the government, not only the city,

but also the regional and federal

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government is really one of a kind.

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And for my topics specifically

in HR, I also use the team from

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the economic development, but

also other educational partners.

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So that's the other thing I

experienced, I would say, the

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engagement of the educational partners.

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For example, Western University where

we work on in terms of infrastructure

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that they can support with in terms of

talent pipeline in terms of training.

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And the same is true for Fanshawe College.

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Yeah, they're also very

good partner to work with.

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And on top of that, we also

have the ministry of labor and

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skills development, immigration.

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We formed a task force, and we meet

on a regular basis, discuss the

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topics, maybe how do we find the

right talent, how do we qualify,

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how do we also manage expectations?

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So all of that has been a very positive

and solution oriented collaboration.

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So I would say that is something I

haven't seen before to this extent.

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Brendan Sweeney: Amazing.

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Amazing.

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We understand that there are going

to be some employment and career

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opportunities at PowerCo and

you'll be promoting those soon.

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From an HR perspective, what are

the key similarities and what are

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the key differences between working

in an EV battery operation versus a

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traditional vehicle assembly plant?

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Norman Wickboldt: I mean, you're also

an expert, so I don't need to tell

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you, but if you look at the classical

automobile sector, obviously it's all

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about efficient processes, optimizations

in the detail, but here we have another

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element and the element is our battery

assembly equipment, it's very high tech.

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So you have the element of high tech

machines where you need data scientists

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to manage the entire production line,

get all the KPIs aligned, and make

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sure you understand where, if any

interruption happens how to manage that.

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So that's one aspect.

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The other element is chemistry.

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So you need some not only engineers,

but you also need chemists.

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Because at the end we are also

a combination of a large scale

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manufacturing facility and batteries

are made out of ingredients that

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have chemistry as a background.

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So, this is the interesting piece.

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Because of the industry is being so

innovative, you also need to make

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sure you find talent that is flexible

in terms of adding to their current

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knowledge and acquiring some new skills

that will help us to be successful with

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this company because we will see lots

of innovations happening in the next

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five to 10 years in the product itself.

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And therefore also in the environment.

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Brendan Sweeney: Great, and so your head

count now, I think you are more than 200?

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Norman Wickboldt: Yes, it's great.

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We are moving fast, so at the moment

it still sounds very small, doesn't it?

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But we are proud of it.

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I'm proud of it 'cause we are probably

around 260 at the moment and we want

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to be around 400 by the year end.

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So gives you an idea of how

many we add every month.

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And this is all non production

or frontline workers.

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So this is something that we will

focus on in the next months to come.

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So there will be lots of

opportunities beyond those 400.

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In the next years, thousands of jobs

will be created and mainly in the

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production and shop floor environment.

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So it's gonna be machine operators,

logistics, engineers, chemical

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engineers, and everybody that really

brings those skills to the table that

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we need to make this project a success.

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And I'm surprised, personally,

about the level of qualification.

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So I think in Ontario, the base of

qualification and skilled workers for

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this type of project is very high.

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So I was positively surprised

when I came to experience it

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myself here in the last, months.

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Brendan Sweeney: What do

you think is behind that?

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What creates that high floor of minimum

qualifications in Southern Ontario?

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Norman Wickboldt: I believe that

the collaboration between what I

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mentioned universities, for example,

and businesses could be one indicator.

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So the students are exposed to,

you know, an entrepreneurial

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environment as part of their study.

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And in this context, the

whole co-op student program is

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probably one key indicator for

a successful talent pipeline.

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That's one take.

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And hence, we also now have created such

an intake, first intake, already this

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year, early on in the project phase.

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So we will actually have our first 10

co-op students here this year, and then

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we'll expand that over the years to come.

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So that's my take.

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And maybe also the entire Ontario

infrastructure in terms of

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manufacturing base is that there's

actually a very high density of

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companies with such type of jobs.

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And I mean it's great that we are

attractive for those candidates.

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That's why they join us.

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But it's because those other businesses

exist here and we have a huge base

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of car manufacturers in Ontario.

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So, that's one source for us,

for sure, also to attract talent.

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Brendan Sweeney: Great.

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So as you roll out, as we hear about

some of the opportunities as you post

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jobs, I imagine there are some posted

right now that people can apply for.

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Who should be considering applying

for a position at PowerCo?

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And if you are considering applying for a

position, what's the best way to prepare?

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What's the best way to, whether it's

just getting your application together,

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if you get selected for an interview,

the best way to prepare for that

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interview, what are you looking for?

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Norman Wickboldt: Thank

you for that question.

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Basically the main element

we're looking for is motivation.

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If you're realistic, it's a

startup project, so there's not

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everything laid out for you.

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There are some things where you

just will need to take a task,

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run with it, find solutions.

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So I think you need to be cognizant

of the fact that it's just a

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transformative experience if you come,

for example, from the automotive sector.

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Because there will be additional

skills that you will need to acquire.

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And at the same time curiosity, a

learning mindset, I think are the

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other topics that I would call out.

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And any motivation for being part of

an innovative industry that we hope

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to help to establish here in Canada.

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So those are the main characteristics I

would call out, apart from the technical

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skillset you need to bring along.

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Brendan Sweeney: Mm-hmm.

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And what kind of technical skills are

you looking for for specific positions?

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Norman Wickboldt: So I just

mentioned a couple of words.

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So, advanced manufacturing, I

mentioned chemistry, I mentioned IT,

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engineering, logistics experience.

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That's what we need.

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You don't necessarily need battery

cell production experience.

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We will invest significantly

in training facilities.

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We will scale those.

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We will also have the opportunity to send

employees to other international sites.

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So as you know, we also have one other

construction site planned in Spain

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and also our main one in Germany.

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So this will happen.

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So traveling is also required, but

those are the kinds of backgrounds

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you can bring to the table to be an

attractive candidate for us, yeah.

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Brendan Sweeney: Mm-hmm.

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And as someone who has spent time in

Germany, in Canada, in Spain, in the

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UK, I mean, it sounds like if that's for

you, this job it lets you see not just

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other parts of the world, but how they

do things in Spain, how they do things

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in Germany, how they do things in the UK.

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Norman Wickboldt: For sure.

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If you're interested in

international exposure, this is

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definitely one interesting part.

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And again, we are PowerCo, but we are also

Volkswagen, so there's, even within the

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:

region after that, you could even expand

your career into the Volkswagen Group.

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So there's many opportunities for sure.

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:

But again, I think the main differentiator

for me is if you look at the millennials

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:

generation and beyond, so what motivates

people to come to work is really being

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:

part of a project that is also trying

to be sustainable, trying to create

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:

a new industry and if you want to

acquire skills that may be relevant

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:

in the next 10, 20 years, this is

the industry to work in for sure.

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I'm convinced of that.

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:

Brendan Sweeney: So tell us a bit about,

you know, the next couple years are

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:

gonna be pretty busy for you, right?

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Are you able to give us some insight

into, you know, specifically who you're

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:

looking for now, and in a year or two

closer to the opening of the plant,

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:

what kind of opportunities are gonna

be, you're gonna be looking for then?

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:

Norman Wickboldt: For now, we focus

on the construction of the plant.

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So the plant isn't there, so we are doing

the foundations on site as we speak in

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:

the next weeks to come and then comes

steel, and then comes all the other

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:

things that we need to create for our new

production environment in the next month.

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:

So this is the current

focus, but this will shift.

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:

Latest by 2027 we will start production

on our first production line.

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:

Therefore the skills we will

then need will shift towards shop

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:

floor frontline workers, quality,

expertise, maintenance because we

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:

will have an operational production.

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And from then on, we will add most of

our additional jobs on the shop floor,

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:

on the front line side of things.

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:

So, If you would join tomorrow, the focus

would still be on how can you support

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:

this project with the timing, 'cause

the timeline is very ambitious, with

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:

the knowledge you can bring to the table

as a planner, as an engineer, and to

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:

support the construction of the project.

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:

Brendan Sweeney: And, as we go there

are workforce development partners,

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:

as you mentioned, who are there ready

to support PowerCo and how is PowerCo

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:

supporting that network of workforce

development partners to get prepared

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:

for one of the largest manufacturing

undertakings in Canada's history?

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:

Norman Wickboldt: Yeah, it's

very important for us to

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:

create this talent pipeline.

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:

And some of those skills will also

require some Before the Job training

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:

and some On the Job training.

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:

And therefore we invest

in training facilities.

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:

And those training facilities

will be right next to our plant.

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:

And we would have a second training

facility that we will also invest

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:

in just to train the numbers

of people we expect to train.

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:

And one of the key elements to it

is definitely to understand with our

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:

local partners, as I said, the ministry

for skills and labor development,

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:

but also Fanshawe specifically,

what kind of skills are out there?

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:

We have described a couple of roles

by now for shop floor, like a machine

402

:

operator, a maintenance technician.

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:

And we will learn what the feedback

looks like in terms of the skills

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:

that are out there in the next months,

because we will actually hire the first

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:

cohort already this year and then ramp

this up in:

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:

hundreds and then later in the thousands.

407

:

So if you look at those numbers,

you really need to ask yourself,

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:

how can you scale your training?

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:

And you had one podcast episode

around virtual technology.

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:

So we definitely also want to

create a physical environment that

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:

allows virtual training, interactive

training with real life scenarios

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:

and even collaborative situations.

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:

So I think that is one key enabler

for us to be able to train on

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:

time as many people as we need.

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:

Therefore we need our educational

partners and they are working with

416

:

us on a daily basis to look into

those technologies, look into the

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:

infrastructure we need, look into the

skills profiles, and assess the process

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:

of first of all interviewing, but then

also as I said, the actual qualification

419

:

side of things before and on the job.

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:

Because the challenge is that at the

very beginning, we won't have the

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:

production environment here physically.

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:

This will take some time.

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:

So we will need to bridge this gap.

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:

And some of them we will also need to

send abroad, as I said, to Germany,

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:

to Spain, to other locations.

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:

But we would intend to keep most

of them here and get them into the

427

:

actual physical production environment

once the machinery, the equipment

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:

also lands here on site, which will

happen sooner rather than later.

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:

But the whole innovation aspect in

terms of the training is something

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:

that we believe is key to success.

431

:

Brendan Sweeney: So, I mean, let, let's

talk about at a higher level with PowerCo.

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:

We've talked about you know,

motivation, innovation, keys to success.

433

:

How are those related to the values and

to the culture that you're hoping to

434

:

build at PowerCo Canada specifically?

435

:

Norman Wickboldt: So I

talked about startup.

436

:

I also talked about my

expectations for candidates.

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:

So at the same time, if you enter a

new working environment, you as an

438

:

employee have certain expectations.

439

:

And that's also what I want to

create is a culture here with

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:

a certain safety, because in an

ambiguous environment, you can make

441

:

mistakes and you will make mistakes.

442

:

So for me, it's really

important to convey this.

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:

And on the other side,

I mentioned diversity.

444

:

I believe we have such a great advantage

here in Canada because we have so

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:

many different skills and backgrounds.

446

:

And I would like to have everybody

bring their individual contributions

447

:

to the table when it's relevant.

448

:

And that they feel that they

can be heard and contribute.

449

:

That's one other element.

450

:

And the other one big differentiator

for me is, this industry

451

:

is a sustainable industry.

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:

We are investing in this

because we also believe this

453

:

is about sustainable mobility.

454

:

And if candidates come to us, they also

may come to us because they believe in the

455

:

sustainability aspect of this industry,

and therefore this sustainability aspect

456

:

for me is also key as part of our culture.

457

:

And the innovation piece you mentioned,

by nature we will be in a very innovative

458

:

environment and you need to be able to

adapt within this innovation because

459

:

otherwise we won't be successful

as a company or as individuals.

460

:

Brendan Sweeney: Beyond employment

and careers and manufacturing

461

:

batteries, how does PowerCo see

its role, see its impact in St.

462

:

Thomas and in the London

region broadly conceived?

463

:

Norman Wickboldt: My take on this

is we will only be successful if

464

:

we choose the collaborative path.

465

:

And as I explained what we've

seen so far, it's been all very

466

:

positive and very supportive.

467

:

One key for me is we also are mindful

of the fact that obviously we are

468

:

the next big thing here in St.

469

:

Thomas, but there is an environment in St.

470

:

Thomas where there are existing companies

that are also of significant size.

471

:

So we want to make sure that

we also convey that we want to

472

:

integrate into this community.

473

:

So therefore we have also created

jobs here that really take care of our

474

:

community engagement strategy and how

we interact with the city, the region,

475

:

London obviously is within scope.

476

:

And we've been in touch with all of

those partners and my take on it is it

477

:

has been very collaborative, very open,

but not only words, but also actions.

478

:

So we've been supported

and it's very informal.

479

:

We're in the same boat.

480

:

We are trying to make this happen.

481

:

We want to create the next generation

of long-term jobs here for the city and

482

:

make sure it's flourishing again as it

used to be in the early two thousands.

483

:

So that's our goal as a company.

484

:

We're really very clear

on this responsibility and

485

:

we want to make it happen.

486

:

And again, all of our interactions

have been very positive and if we

487

:

continue down this path, we will

always find solutions because we will

488

:

have problems that we will encounter.

489

:

So we just need to continue

to talk to each other, work on

490

:

the topics, and make it happen.

491

:

Brendan Sweeney: Great.

492

:

And, I mean, I think just hearing about

the partnerships that you're building,

493

:

the investments that you're making,

and this is a couple years in advance

494

:

of the battery plant actually being

operational, this really does show how

495

:

substantial of an investment this is.

496

:

And that this is a long-term thing.

497

:

And I know that there are

some people that do know that.

498

:

If there are those out there

who don't know that, I mean,

499

:

we're telling you right now.

500

:

Um, last question for you.

501

:

At a really high level, looking ahead,

it's about the future of work and

502

:

it's about the future of mobility,

and so we're bringing that together.

503

:

How do you see the future of work in

manufacturing evolving as electrification,

504

:

as new technologies reshape not just

the automotive industry, but advanced

505

:

manufacturing and frankly, the economy as

a whole, what's your take on that, Norman?

506

:

Norman Wickboldt: So again, I've

been around this industry for all my

507

:

career, so I've seen changes happening.

508

:

And if I wasn't convinced about

this technology being the next

509

:

generation and current generation

of cars, I wouldn't be here.

510

:

So, it's definitely the right

strategic investment of the group.

511

:

There's no alternative to EV mobility, and

I'm happy to be supporting this future.

512

:

And how does that impact

the individual jobs?

513

:

For sure continuous learning, there

will be more virtual learning.

514

:

Yeah.

515

:

Also for shop floor environments.

516

:

And we want to definitely invest in

that technology, not only for scaling

517

:

purposes for initial training, but also

for continuous innovation and training.

518

:

So any data and IT knowledge

also for manufacturing type

519

:

jobs are definitely relevant and

will be necessary in the future.

520

:

And since this industry is a combination

of classical automotive manufacturing

521

:

and let's call it high tech and

chemistry industry, it's an interesting

522

:

congruent, but at the same time, it's

also a challenge to bring all those

523

:

skills into one operational business.

524

:

So, I would say whatever skills you

can acquire that add to this kind of

525

:

profile, obviously you can't have it

all, but as many of those aspects,

526

:

then you're the candidate for the years

to come for sure, for this company.

527

:

And we are happy to help

employees to acquire those skills.

528

:

That's our commitment because we clearly

want to create local jobs and as many as

529

:

we can, we want to onboard and qualify

and retain within the company as we can.

530

:

So that's our approach.

531

:

Brendan Sweeney: So Norman,

thanks so much for your time.

532

:

Is there anything that you thought

I was gonna ask that you might wanna

533

:

give an answer to, is there any

parting words before we sign off?

534

:

Norman Wickboldt: No, I just, uh, Brendan,

thank you for that opportunity today.

535

:

I just wanted to add one element

that it's a little anecdote.

536

:

We also talked to St.

537

:

Thomas at the time and said

last year, Is there anything we

538

:

can immediately participate in

to show our commitment to St.

539

:

Thomas?

540

:

And obviously they came with

this idea of the Octoberfest.

541

:

Yeah, so we actually sponsored

the Octoberfest here in St.

542

:

Thomas.

543

:

And it's not the biggest event

for sure, but it's what we

544

:

thought was a good combination.

545

:

Us as a German-Canadian company,

this event already happening

546

:

for the second or third time.

547

:

And, we said, Yeah, let's do it.

548

:

And we helped that event along.

549

:

But beyond events like that I

wanted to give another example.

550

:

We also helped in terms of

helping with housing initiatives.

551

:

And so we would want to continue

to contribute also, not only

552

:

with commitments, but really

with also activities where we

553

:

would just spend a day helping to

improve infrastructure here in St.

554

:

Thomas.

555

:

So I just wanted to add that as part

of our overall picture as a company.

556

:

Brendan Sweeney: Great.

557

:

And are you signed on for Octoberfest, St.

558

:

Thomas, 2025?

559

:

Norman Wickboldt: I am, I am for sure.

560

:

Brendan Sweeney: Okay.

561

:

Norman Wickboldt: If you would be

in the region, happy to have you.

562

:

Brendan Sweeney: Okay, so this is great.

563

:

October, 2025.

564

:

St.

565

:

Thomas Octoberfest, sponsored by PowerCo.

566

:

Norman's gonna be there.

567

:

We'll see who else we can get there.

568

:

Otherwise, Norman,

thank you for your time.

569

:

Thank you for coming on

Making it in Ontario.

570

:

Norman Wickboldt: Thank you.

571

:

Michelle Samson: New episodes of Making

it in Ontario are published weekly.

572

:

Follow us now on Apple Podcasts or

Spotify to make sure you don't miss any.

573

:

Making it in Ontario is an

initiative of the Trillium Network

574

:

for Advanced Manufacturing.

575

:

It is produced by Storied Places Media.

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