“I have RAB windows in my house and they work great; we’re delighted to have them,” Yukon MP Larry Bagnell said Thursday as an aside to a group of media and government staffers at the local Northerm Windows and Doors plant.

The crowd assembled at the manufacturing site, owned by the Yukon’s RAB Energy Group Inc., to hear Bagnell announce a Canadian government investment in the corporation of more than half a million dollars.

RAB Energy is owned entirely by Yukon indigenous development corporations. It will get $560,000 from the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) to update its Whitehorse facility and move its Alaskan operations to the Yukon.

“How many manufacturing plants are there North of 60 in Canada?” Bagnell asked rhetorically.

“Not only that; how many indigenous manufacturing plants are there?

“This is not only a huge First Nations success story, but a huge success story for the business community in the Yukon.”

Right now, RAB Energy makes windows, doors, auto glass and similar products at two plants: one in Whitehorse (Northerm) that’s been running for 30 years and another in Anchorage (Capitol Glass), which has been around for 40.

The latter will close down sometime after the new year, said RAB Energy president Paul Gruner.

“In today’s modern age, it’s pretty tough to justify having two manufacturing facilities a day’s drive apart,” said Gruner.

The CanNor funds will be matched by RAB and will go toward new equipment, “clean and green” technology, the closure of the plant in Anchorage and the consolidation of operations in Whitehorse.

The Whitehorse and Anchorage facilities employ about 40 people each during peak season, said Gruner.

CanNor’s investment will see eight new jobs created at Northerm in Whitehorse, said Gruner. As well, it will lead to an additional 12 to 15 down the line, as the corporation continues to expand.

And these won’t just be production jobs, Gruner said. There will be jobs in accounting, finance, marketing and sales.

It’s unclear at this time what will happen to the 40 workers employed at the Anchorage plant after it shuts down, such as whether some or all will lose their jobs.

Gruner could not be reached for comment on this before press time this afternoon.

Gruner said RAB Energy’s consolidation in Whitehorse will, “by all estimations ... make us the largest exporter North of 60 in Canada.”

And the corporation’s just getting started, he said.

“Right now we are in Alaska, we’re dabbling in Northwest Territories, we’ve got our mind on northern B.C., northern Alberta.”

Gruner hopes that 10 years down the road, Americans in the Lower 48 will be buying Northerm products.

Bagnell noted how important it is that small- and medium-size businesses are able to thrive in the Yukon, where the largest employer is the territorial government.

“Over a third of working Yukoners are employed by small businesses with less than 50 employees,” he said.

The Little Salmon-Carmacks First Nation, Ta’an Kwäch’än Council, Champagne Aishihik First Nations, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, Kluane First Nation, First Nation of Na-cho Nyak Dun, White River First Nation and Kwanlin Dün First Nation are all stakeholders in RAB Energy Group.

In a news release issued Thursday, CanNor said the funds will go toward training and jobs for citizens of these first nations.

Gruner said RAB is paving the way for other northern manufacturers.

“If RAB Energy, Northerm, can do this, why do we not have more manufacturing (in the Yukon)?” he asked.

“We are trailblazing, it hasn’t been perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but we are being successful.”