Moved in

Tornado Medical Systems has set up shop on the sixth floor of the Whalen building with plans to provide an economic boost to the community, says the company’s CEO.

Tornado Medical Systems, a company that researches and manufactures medical imaging technologies, made its move in to the sixth floor of the 98-year-old heritage building official at a news conference Wednesday morning.

It took a year and about $ 1 million in renovations from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation for Tornado to settle in its new home.

Stefan Larson, CEO of Tornado Medical Systems, said it was a no-brainer to move into the heritage building because of the opportunities from Thunder Bay’s medical facilities and the community.

Larson said the level of support from the Thunder Bay community is what kept the company away from bigger cities.

In return, Tornado will provide a boost to the economy by providing employment options, he said.

"We hope to bring a new and vibrant niche to the economy," Larson said. "We hope to bring a lot of high value jobs and add to the overall impact of the new hospital and the research institute have brought in terms of the revitalizing the economy around the knowledge based research technologies."

In the next couple of months the first wave of Tornado employees will settle in and within nine months, more than 15 employees will call the sixth floor home.

Steve Demmings, CEO of the Community Economic Development Commission, said it took a year to work out the details with Tornado to have them move into the Whalen building. Demmings said he was glad that the heritage building was being put to good use.

"This is a remarkable rebirth for this building," he said. "It is important to have this building because your fathers, and your grandfathers and your great grandfathers worked down the stairs in this building. It’s important to keep our heritage."

He said without the help from the NOHFC the building wouldn’t have been ready for Tornado.