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Linamar was founded in 1966 by the Hungarian refugee Ferenc Hasenfratz who escaped from his country during the Russian crackdown precipitated by the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He had attended technical schools in Hungary and had been employed as a toolmaker. According to Forbes, he started the small operation in his basement in 1964 in Ariss, Ontario. The company, with a staff of five, was incorporated in 1966 as Linamar Machine Limited, named after his two daughters, Linda and Nancy and his late wife Margaret. Linamar's first major contract was to manufacture automotive oil pumps for Ford.Hasenfratz was the Chairman while the current CEO is Linda Hasenfratz; the company is headquartered in Guelph, Ontario.Linamar is a major factor in the economy of Southern Ontario, Canada. As a result, the federal government agreed to provide $50.7 million in a repayable loan to Linamar through its Automotive Innovation Fund and the province pledged up to $50.25 million in a one-time grant in January 2015. That funding, plus an internal investment of $400 million was intended for expansion that was expected to create 1,200 jobs in Guelph, Ontario by 2025. An early 2018 announcement indicated that the company would receive additional funding from the federal and provincial governments, up to $101 million, for expansion that would create 1500 additional jobs and maintain 8,000 others. CEO Linda Hasenfratz who is one of the members of the federal NAFTA advisory panel, told the news media that the funding would enable the expansion of its parts for conventional, hybrid, battery electric and fuel cell electric vehicles. At that time, the company employed 9,000 individuals in Canada, most in Guelph. The number of manufacturing plants in Ontario totaled, with all but one in Guelph. "We plan to continue to invest in this evolving factory of the future in many different ways with a focus on areas such as vision systems, collaborative advanced robotics, incorporating sensors into our products, and collecting that data to help us improve product design," she added. A federal government press release indicated that some of the funding would support artificial intelligence, three-dimensional printing and clean technology. The provincial government's release stated that the funding would enable the company to build next-generation transmissions and drive trains, high-efficiency engine parts and develop technologies for electric and connected vehicles and would also help create an innovation centre for R&D on artificial intelligence, machine learning, collaborative robotics and other technology. The company planned up to $500 million over the long term investing in high-tech programs such as artificial intelligence.
