Gemini Canada

Gemini Canada of Neustadt is part of one of North America’s largest manufacturers of dimensional letters, logos and plaques. The company started in Cannon Falls, Minnesota over 50 years ago, set up a sales office in Kitchener in the 1980s, and soon started looking at nearby small towns to start a production and sales facility. Neustadt fit the bill. Today, Gemini Canada occupies two buildings and employs 45 people, with one third involved in customer service and sales across Canada, and two thirds involved in production.

With the onset of COVID-19 and Phase 1 business closures in Ontario, manufacturing of dimensional letters was not considered an essential service and production was scaled back. However, the company was able to pivot into production of three different designs of face-shields. Gemini sold face-shields on a break-even basis and donated shields to essential front-line workers in the immediate community, such as the West Grey Police. Producing personal protective equipment allowed Gemini to keep part of its workforce on site and in production, while the remainder was sent home but not laid off. Lara Javalyn, Customer Service Manager explained that Gemini has a very strong family-centered ethic and that its careful planning and solid financial base allowed the company to retain all its workforce in Neustadt.

While Gemini has switched back to production of signage products, there is still a lot of uncertainty. Many of their customers are in Ontario, but they also partner with businesses across Canada. With an unknown restart to regular operations for most businesses across the country, there are many challenges ahead. Lara said that their focus right now is to be attentive and personally responsive to their customers’ needs. “Everyone, including Gemini, is pitching in to help through this challenging time. We are all in this together. We are blessed to live in the kind of community where we can feel valued for our contributions, safe, and can work toward coming out of these current times more resilient than ever.”

Learn more at geminisignproducts.com.