Hammond Manufacturing expanding Palmerston plant
Guelph-based company spending $26.5 million to expand plant with help from province's development fund
PALMERSTON – Hammond Manufacturing’s Palmerston plant is almost doubling in size with $4 million in help from the province.
Perth-Wellington MPP Matthew Rae announced the funding on Oct. 2, addressing a group of staff gathered on a chilly morning with work on the addition underway in the background.
“If you have a wire, they’re going to provide a box around that wire,” Rae said of the Guelph-based company, which manufactures electrical enclosures and components in Ontario and New York.
The company is getting $3.97 million through the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund to help expand the plant from 97,000 to 182,000 square feet.
Rae, who is associate minister of energy-intensive industries, said the company’s products are becoming more important as homes and vehicles become more electrified and data centres come online.
“It’s great to see we have Canadian suppliers for those industries,” he said.
Minto Mayor Dave Turton said he’s “extremely proud” and thanked Hammond for choosing Minto.
Hammond’s overall investment is pegged at $26.47 million, and is expected to create 30 new jobs, while retaining around 98, according to a news release from Rae’s office.
CEO Rob Hammond stated in the release the province’s support is allowing the company to “accelerate investments that strengthen our manufacturing capabilities.”
The plant operates as Palmerston Manufacturing and sits on roughly 13 acres on Minto Road in the Palmerston Industrial Park. Minto council sold the land to Hammond in 2021 for $520,000, with the plant opening in June 2023.
The addition will mirror what’s happening in the current space: laser cutting, punching, pressing, bending, welding and powder coating.
Operations manager Rob Villapiana said the new space will allow the company to increase its market share, “which is what we’re seeing."
The company, trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, employs more than 1,000 people and reported sales of $281 million in 2025, up 15% year over year.
However, profit fell to $14.4 million from $18.4 million, according to an annual report that noted U.S. tariffs cut into gross profit margins as the cost of business increased.
In the first half of 2026, sales are up nearly 16% from the same time last year.
“We’re there when the customer needs us; we have inventory when the customer needs us,” Villapiana said.
The Palmerston plant produces 700 product variations.
An electrical box is one of the finishing details customers order for a project, he added – “they want it on time and they want it available.”
Villapiana said the Palmerston property has room for another building, around 70,000 square feet, which could be built in five years.
“We joke that it’s just a box,” Villapiana said on a tour of the facility following the announcement.
“Every electrical connection requires protection and that’s what we do.”
