BUSINESS
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WEDNESDAY, NOV. 20, 2013 PLANT CHANGES
Olds SoftGels rises from Pharmacaps BY HARLEY RICHARDS ADVOCATE BUSINESS EDITOR
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
A construction crew works on a new building under construction at the Queens Business Park. With development in the first phase of Queens Business Park well underway, the City of Red Deer is moving quickly to bring the next phase on line.
Queens Business Park set for continued growth BY HARLEY RICHARDS ADVOCATE BUSINESS EDITOR If there’s a run on industrial land, the City of Red Deer shouldn’t be caught unprepared. On Monday, city council approved the rezoning of 123 acres of municipally-owned land south of Hwy 11A and west of Hwy 2. The area is earmarked for the next two phases of Queens Business Park, with nearly 95 acres designated for light and heavy industrial lots, five for commercial use, and the remainder for roadways and a small municipal reserve area. “We’re hoping to be permitready come this spring,” said Land and Economic Development manager John Sennema, adding that a subdivision plan is expected to go before Red Deer’s municipal
planning commission next week. “We have most of our infrastructure in the ground at this point and the road base done.” The city has nearly sold out a similar quantity of land in the first phase of Queens Business Park, with about 9.5 acres of industrial and five of commercial property all that remain. A number of buildings are currently going up in this area. “We’re starting to see some really good activity out there,” said Sennema. The city is already getting inquiries from prospective buyers about the next phase. And Sennema wants to ensure the land there is available when it’s needed — something contemplated in Red Deer’s economic development strategy. “One of the strategies identified was to have a supply of serviced industrial lands to help
facilitate businesses moving and growing. “What I’m trying to do is have an even flow of industrial land available at all times, so that people can come in as they need to and talk to us about obtaining these lands.” Red Deer owns two other quarter sections within the Queens Business Park plan area, and has already begun the process of developing an area structure plan that will serve as the blueprint for development there. Meanwhile, other privatelyowned industrial land is being developed to the south. Sennema is optimistic that Red Deer’s newest industrial park grow quickly. He said the level of interest jumped as soon as the road network began to take shape and the first buildings went up. hrichards@reddeeradvocate.com
Foreign groups visit Olds College Olds College gained an international flavour in recent weeks, with groups from France and Latin America visiting the campus. A French Ministry of Agriculture delegation, which included representatives of the ministry and institutions, toured the college and discussed opportunities for partnership, exchanges and joint research in agriculture and forestry, said a release issued by Olds College.
The other group consisted of representatives of the Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program. ELAP is a short-term student exchange program that provides scholarships for students from the Caribbean and Latin America for studies or research at Canadian post-secondary institutions.
Please see COLLEGE on Page B2
The Olds Banner Pharmacaps plant has ceased to exist, but the story has a happier ending than many local residents feared when the facility’s closure was announced in March. The plant, which encapsulated nutritional and pharmaceutical ingredients into soft gel pills, has been reborn as Olds Softgels Inc. The transformation occurred after Calgary-based Advanced Orthomolecular Research bought the property from Patheon Inc. of North Carolina. Clark Sayer, Advanced Orthomolecular Research’s general manager, said Patheon ceased production at the plant in early October. His company has spent this month preparing the 5807 47th Ave. facility for a resumption of its operations. “It’ll probably be another couple of weeks.” Patheon employed more than 100 people in Olds prior to the shutdown. Sayer hopes to hire many of these back as production ramps up. “We’ll bring them on board as we get additional contracts from customers. Hopefully, the first batch will be back on board early December and then we’ll just go from there. “One of the reasons that drove us to the purchase was the quality of the management team and the staff.” Sayer said there might also be employment opportunities at Advanced Orthomolecular Research’s Calgary plant, which is being expanded. “There were (Banner Pharmacaps staff) who were commuting from Airdrie and Calgary, so we’ll probably have some options here for those folks.” Advanced Orthomolecular Research produces about 200 products, including dietary supplements and vitamins. But most of these are manufactured as two-piece shell capsules, tablets or bulk powders. The Olds plant will allow the company to expand into soft gels, which Sayer said previously are popular with many consumers. Oil-soluble products like vitamins A, E and D; fish oil; omega 3 oils and some enzymes are good candidates for soft gel encapsulation, he said. Sayer is optimistic there will be a strong demand for products from the Olds plant. “There are a number of Canadian companies that would rather keep it in Canada than bring in work from the States.” He doesn’t expect the Olds plant to change significantly under Advanced Orthomolecular Research ownership. “We’re going to operate it as a wholly-owned subsidiary, so we intend to put as little of our footprint on it as possible because it’s already got its own identity and there’s not a lot we can do to enhance that.” Patheon, which bought Banner Pharmacaps from Dutch company VION N.V in 2012, continues to operate other Banner Pharmacaps manufacturing facilities in North Carolina, Mexico City and the Netherlands. hrichards@reddeeradvocate.com
Save now, educate later: how RESPs can help “Finish your outdoor work and get In the past few weeks several colyour fields ready; after that, build your leges announced that students and house.” (Proverbs 24:27) their parents can redeem Air Miles for I take this quote from Proverbs as tuition. This is certainly creative, and the starting point for this allows many parents who week’s column because, to have built up Air Miles to my mind, this fits the work help their children “build that students should be dotheir (life/career) house.” ing while attending college, However, there are seriand the financial preparaous downsides to this strattion that parents need to be egy. making today. Let’s begin with the merIn other words, the work its of letting our spending that students and their parhabits drive our savings. ents do today is what will Warren Buffet is famous make for a better tomorrow. for saying “it’s only a deal if But to get to this better toyou really need it.” morrow students need fundBuying to earn points, Air PATRICK ing, and it is how parents, Miles, cash back “rewards” family or mentors build that or a free night at your favorO’MEARA funding that can provide yet ite hotel is just the same. another solid example of More important, if you good financial planning. are a revolver and not a
EASY MONEY
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transactor, you will be paying interest on your credit card purchases at rates as high as 21 per cent. Remember, a revolver is a credit card user that does not pay off his/her balance monthly, and thus pays interest on the remaining balance. In contrast, a transactor usually pays off his/ her balance monthly and thus pays no interest charges. So points, Air Miles — call them what you may — are only a “deal” if you are paying off your balance monthly. In a previous article, I discussed what psychologists refer to as hyperbolic discounting: the concept that people tend to prefer more immediate payoffs (buy now), compared to saving and buying later. Justified by the notion that we will somehow benefit later by being able to take advantage of our points or Air Miles, we tend to
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Harley Richards, Business Editor, 403-314-4337 E-mail hrichards@reddeeradvocate.com
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buy “stuff” now. Think of it this way. If you spend $1,000 today and get two per cent cash back, you have more “stuff,” and $20. Wouldn’t you prefer to have a $1,000 in the bank, and earn at least 2 per cent or $20 on this money? In fact, any children under the age of 18 would be better off if you contributed this $1,000 into a registered education savings plan (RESP). Assuming that you qualified for the basic Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG), your children would potentially have an additional $1,200 that could be used toward college tuition; your $1,000 contribution and the $200 CESG. The federal government, via the CESG, will contribute an additional 20 per cent of the first $2,500 into an RESP on your behalf.
Please see RESP on Page B2
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