Before building a SR&ED and government funding consultation business, Sol Algranti, President and CEO of Northbridge Consultants, worked in the manufacturing industry for many years.
After finishing education in a high school for skilled trades, Sol began working in a large plastics manufacturing company where he gained practical knowledge of various plastic processes including injection moulding, blow moulding, extrusion and co-extrusion. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering while working for an optical glass manufacturer, where he developed improved processes and designed pneumatically-controlled machines. After completing his Master’s degree in Systems Engineering, Sol worked as the Chief of Planning/Scheduling in a large plastic pipe manufacturing company and started a metallurgy business, providing metal heat treatment services to manufacturing companies.
Sol applied his expertise to improve manufacturing methods, and to reduce costs as the process engineer for Westbend of Canada in Barrie, Ontario. Thereafter, Sol’s expertise in plastics earned him the position of Advanced Manufacturing Engineer at Camco (Canadian Appliance Manufacturing Company), where he was responsible for all plastics processes and optimized operations in the large Hamilton, London and Montreal facilities during a major transition period. Sol then moved to a position at ABC group for MSB Plastics as the general manager for their struggling Toronto facility. Sol worked 6 days per week to optimize operations and within two to three months, he had transformed it into a profitable operation.
In 1989, Sol negotiated a leveraged buyout to acquire Shirlon Plastics, an established Cambridge-based manufacturer of plastics products with a niche in the Canadian Recreational Vehicle (RV) industry. Less than a year later, the 1990 recession began and the RV industry was one of the hardest hit sectors, forcing many RV manufacturers to go out of business. On the brink of bankruptcy, Sol worked relentlessly to expand his market base to the United States, and took huge financial risk to invest in the diversification of his product line. His efforts paid off and enabled Shirlon to not only survive the recession but to thrive afterwards.
Sol expanded his business through a diversification into gardening products, and through the acquisition of several companies including a large vacuum forming and sheet extrusion company, a plastics rotational moulding business, and a custom mould manufacturer. He relied on intensive R&D to improve his product line, to increase market share, and to remain competitive, he began claiming for SR&ED tax credits. The funding he received from the SR&ED program was reinvested into the development of new products and new technologies. By 2007, Sol had 6 manufacturing companies in plastic products and tooling industries and continues today to be involved in manufacturing through his remaining plastics company, investments, and consulting practice.
Sol’s profound background in research and development in the manufacturing sector has provided Northbridge with a strong foundation in the SR&ED program. Moreover, Sol’s manufacturing heritage gives NorthBridge a unique understanding of the risks that manufacturers take when they invest in R&D and the overall challenges that manufacturing businesses face when trying to grow and remain competitive.