LA POCATIÈRE, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Oct. 4, 2012) - The Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, announces that the firm Ampère-Proto Inc. has been awarded financial assistance to acquire cutting-edge equipment to assemble electronic components as well as management software for its operations.

"The Government of Canada's investment in Ampère-Proto Inc. is a concrete example of its determination to support business sustainability, foster job creation and drive regional economic growth," noted Minister Lebel.

Founded in 2008, Ampère-Proto Inc. is a young company that provides electronic prototype PCB assembly services. The new equipment is expected to help it increase its production capacity to meet growing demand.

About the Temporary Initiative for the Strengthening of Quebec's Forest Economies (TISQFE)

This financial assistance has been granted in the form of a $87,650 repayable contribution through Canada Economic Development's Temporary Initiative for the Strengthening of Quebec's Forest Economies (TISQFE).

The TISQFE was brought into force in June 2010 to help communities affected by the forestry crisis diversify their economies in order to ensure their growth and create and maintain employment. The initiative's goal is also to support secondary and tertiary wood processing projects in these communities.

This measure is one of several put in place by the Government of Canada to counteract the effects of the forest crisis. Others include the Community Adjustment Fund, with its $1 billion budget over two years to mitigate the impact of the crisis, the $1 billion granted to the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program to help enterprises carry out environmentally-friendly projects and the $238 million invested, in collaboration with the Government of Quebec, for silvicultural work and the maintenance of multi-use forest roads. Workers have also received their fair share of support, with the Government of Canada introducing some of the most generous measures in history to help them through the global economic crisis.

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