DECEMBER 2024 which means expanding even beyond the borders of Canada. To that end, they recently announced they bought a paper mill in Port Huron, Michigan. They also recently helped attract Japanese company, Asahi Kasei, to build a $1.6 billion lithium-ion battery separator plant at one of BMI’s properties in Port Colborne. The growth has been unprecedented. “We’re always looking at opportunities and those opportunities sometimes surprise us,” Hanna says. “We do a lot of networking; we have so many stakeholders, so many investors and partners. We’re being seen by a lot of people, we’re being presented with a lot of opportunities. Now it’s just about picking the right projects and figuring out what we are best suited to do.” Lastly, in terms of the sectors they work in, BMI intends to maintain a balance between mixed-use residential-commercial projects and industrial projects. Hanna mostly works on the residentialcommercial side, on projects like the ones they have delivered in Stratford, but she recognizes the value that industrial projects can have on a community: “We are just as committed to industrial sites as we are to the mixed use properties that we’re developing, because the industrial projects are very important in the employment sector,” she explains. “They create a lot of jobs, and those jobs a huge impact on a community. “But the everyday living happens in the residential and commercial buildings,” she adds. “Those buildings also have a big impact on a community. So there’s definitely more to come of both. There are a lot more sites that we’re looking at. There are a lot of opportunities to buy and revitalize and create a better future for the communities.” “We have a lot on our plate right now, and we have to process what we already have,” she concludes, “but we’re definitely still looking at the future.”
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