Loewen in Steinbach has received a $1.33 million loan from the federal government's Western Innovation Initiative. Clyde Loewen, Vice-President of the window and door manufacturer, says they will use the money to put some new products into production.

"If you look at new housing these days, it's actually changed substantially over, I would say, the last five or six years. There's been a really big trend towards more contemporary styling. Energy has been a big theme, energy efficiency, as well as, in some markets, wind load resistance. So the new products that we're working on will be addressing those types of areas."

He notes the housing market is starting to come back in the U.S. and that is giving companies like Loewen the capital to again invest in new product development.

"Product development was curtailed somewhat just because we had to get through this recession. It's starting to come back and we're starting to get more active. It was one of the things our new ownership group really wanted to make sure that we could do is focus on new product development and really get back on a growth track as the housing market recovered."

Loewen says the company has been working on the ambitious new product series for a while now and the timing of the federal loan worked out very well for them. He adds they hope to begin marketing the new products some time next year.