Truck safety tech company to hire 50 people at new manufacturing facility in Oldcastle

Indiana-based Convoy Technologies will begin manufacturing its industrial-grade safety products for the logistics industry in Tecumseh, hiring for 50 positions.

“We were just in a position to put forth the right value proposition that that attracted them here,” said Joe Goncalves of Invest Windsor Essex, which has been working with the company for nine months to help bring it to the region.

The company is leasing an 18,000 square-foot building at 2516 Binder Crescent in the Town of Tecumseh to manufacture cameras, monitors and accessories to make driving a truck safer.

“Everything we do, from cameras to displays, to recording devices to other types of sensors that go on trucks are all about helping drivers see what they couldn't see before and helping trucking companies to help their drivers operate safely,” said Ron Harker of Convoy Technologies in a company promotional video.

The company used to manufacture their systems in China, but according to Goncalves, the company is on-shoring the manufacturing of its product to be closer to the company’s headquarters in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Goncalves said Convoy Technologies was looking at locations in the U.S. and Mexico, but ultimately landed in Oldcastle primarily because of the region’s access to talent, proximity and to shorten the supply chain.

“You have a lot of companies that want their suppliers close to them, from logistics to transportation,” he said. “When they start weighing the cost benefit analysis, they realize that this is where the industry is going to be growing.”

The company will be hiring 50 people from engineering to assembly line jobs, including a research and development component.

“These are great white collar jobs for us as this company's locating an R&D facility,” said Justin Falconer of Workforce Windsor Essex. “It seems like they've chosen this area in particular because of access to mechanical, electrical and software engineering roles which are going to be good paying jobs.”

The number of positions for science, technology and professional workers in the region has gone up, according to the most recent jobs numbers report from Statistics Canada.

“These jobs are great indicators for community because these jobs they often construct design products or build things, and they often have multiplier effects in our communities,” said Falconer.

Goncalves says the company — and others soon to arrive in the automobility space are helping diversity the region’s economy.

“They're really innovative company, really niche type of company which we're happy to have here,” said Goncalves.

Convoy Technologies will be ready to manufacture by early 2024.