There are a number of other local manufacturers where innovation has been key to their success. They are producing unique products using technologically advance processes.

The Shuswap benefited greatly when Dinoflex, , a recycled rubber manufacturing business that now sells interior and exterior surfacing products worldwide, began operations 30 years ago in the Salmon Arm Industrial Park.

The raw material – ground up tires

The typical method to manufacture rubber mats is to slice them off a roll, but these mats retain the memory of the curve and tend to curl up. Dinoflex developed a new technique that begins by forming massive blocks of recycled-rubber and then slices the mats off to the desired thickness. They then added more style to their products by adding colour using imported material.

Dinoflex’s exterior “PlayTiles” help make playgrounds safer

Not content with just producing rubber flooring for recreational, agricultural and utility uses, Dinoflex developed new products including both indoor and outdoor tiles. They use a unique process that involves high tech water cutters to produce their interlocking tiles, so that every tile fits perfectly. Another advantage to their products is that because they do not use heat or volatile chemicals in the manufacturing process, there is minimal off gassing and less odor.

Dinoflex’s flooring tiles interlock

Dinoflex’s sister company, IPS, began as the supplier of the polyurethane used to bind the recycled rubber, but now it also produces a variety of products for use elsewhere, including spray coatings for trucks, military vehicles and mining equipment and other uses.

Roll shutters help keep houses cooler by blocking out the sun

At its modern, 30,000 sq. foot plant, Talius builds more than just rollshutters, it also makes retractable “Habitat Screens” that block the sun while allowing a view and “Vandal Panels” that provide security for commercial street level windows. All their products can be operated either manually or with motors, and there are also remote or automatic controls that raise or lower the shutters and screens when they are needed.

Habitat screens are also installed outside houses

Talius has expanded beyond Salmon Arm, with a plant in Ontario, an office in Coquitlam and two facilities in the Caribbean. The company is also a valued member of the community as it provides support to a variety of non-profit groups with employee volunteer time.

Vandal Panels provide security

The Salmon Arm Industrial Park serves the community well both as an employer and as a mainstay of the local economy, thanks to the creative and talented leadership found in its many, diverse industries and a very skilled workforce. Manufacturing will continue to play a key role in the future of the community when additional land is dedicated to industrial use and more housing is built to provide living space for the growing workforce.

POSTSCRIPT

Innovation helps drive the local economy as local manufacturers employ hundreds of people to produce unique products. Another innovative Salmon Arm company, Delta C Technology, is located across the tracks near the Prestige Hotel. It makes high-tech meters that measure water content in oil and sampling systems.

Delta C water meter