More than $11 million in debt, Sle-Co Plastics in St. Thomas is bankrupt and has been placed in receivership.

But the factory will be busy for about three more weeks, kept alive because it supplies major auto plants such as Toyota and Cami Assembly, where its closing would be felt down the production line.

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“They are bankrupt and in receivership, but we cannot shut them down because that may shut down Toyota and that can’t happen,” said Stephen Cherniak, an insolvency trustee and senior vice-president with BDO in London, which is managing the bankruptcy and receivership.

Sle-Co’s 400 South Edgeware Rd. plant, which employed about 175 a few weeks ago, is down to about 25 workers, who will be out of work once current orders are filled, he added.

Many of those laid off already have found work, with several area industries hiring. Auto parts giant Magna, for example, which has two factories in St. Thomas and another in London, is holding a job fair this weekend.

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“The new reality is there is a lot of work available. They will find jobs,” said Sean Dyke, director of St. Thomas’s economic development office. “We will do whatever we can to help employees find work in the community.”

And the 140,000-square-foot Sle-Co building, served by a rail line, is drawing interest from other local industries, he added.

Sle-Co makes interior and exterior injection-moulded plastic parts for the auto sector, mostly other parts suppliers that feed major assembly plants.

Sle-Co owes three different debts, of $5.6 million, $3.5 million and US$2.3 million, to the Royal Bank.

Founded in 1988, Sle-Co initially operated at two sites in London and one in Strathroy. In 2014, it spent $2 million to buy the St. Thomas plant to consolidate its operations, and invested another $2 million in tooling.

Soon after that, it lost a contract and could not recover, said Cherniak. “It was a perfect storm, they lost work and the move did not help.”

After the plant closes, a liquidation sale and auction will be held to pay down Sle-Co’s debt.