Many of the local companies in receipt of federal loans for the defence sector say they will be hiring more workers as a result.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser was in St. John’s Thursday to announce $16 million in loans to five companies.

One of those companies is Virtual Marine, which is getting $2.5 million to develop marine-based training solutions for defence.

The VP of sales, Falon O’Keefe, says they currently have 52 employees, and she believes the money represents an “exponential opportunity” for their workforce.

She says they have hired on between 10-12 people in the last couple of years, mostly due to their work in defence. She expects those numbers to continue to grow over the next couple of years.