November 2014 Business in Edmonton

November 2014 $3.50 businessinedmonton.com

THE FAMILY BUSINESS

Ralph Hutchinson and his sons explore entrepreneurship as a family

How to Build a City Architecture goes beyond the act of building things. It reaches into every crevasse of a city’s culture.

Meet the Makers Edmonton’s thriving manufacturing sector is far more diverse than most people realize.

Life Math Financial planning is more than just investments

Security: Cybercrime in the Edmonton Workplace

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NOVEMBER 2014 | VOL. 03 #11

Supporting the visions of entrepreneurs one story at a time

View our elect ronic issue of this mon th’s mag azin e onlin e at www .busi nessi nedm onto n.com

Regulars

Features

Each and every month

Learn about security for your business and your financial future along with so much more in this month’s edition.

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BY JOSH BILYK

Cover

Tell Leonardo DiCaprio to bring his friends to the Capital Region

THE FAMILY BUSINESS

ECONOMIC FACTORS

Ralph Hutchinson and his sons explore entrepreneurship as a family

14

27

OFF THE TOP Fresh News Across all Sectors

77 EDMONTON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

Company Profiles 49 RISING UP: ENTREC

CORPORATION REACHES NEW HEIGHTS

BY NERISSA MCNAUGHTON

ENTREC uses strategized rapid growth to base a strong and purposeful acceleration into the crane market

57

Features

R OYAL WEST HOMES: BUILDING ON PASSION

BY NERISSA MCNAUGHTON

Celebrating their 15th anniversary

61 A LLAN’S AUTOMOTIVE

BY NERISSA MCNAUGHTON

Celebrating their 50th anniversary

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November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

18 HOW TO BUILD A CITY

BY NERISSA MCNAUGHTON

Architecture goes beyond the act of building things. It reaches into every crevasse of a city’s culture

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OFF THE TOP

NEWS FROM THE MONTH

Supporting the visions of entrepreneurs one story at a time

Features

PUBLISHER BUSINESS IN EDMONTON INC.

continued

Learn about security for your business and your financial future along with so much more in this month’s edition.

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Brent Trimming

brent@businessinedmonton.com

EDITOR Nerissa McNaughton

EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Nerissa McNaughton

DANNY HOOPER OFFERS EASY MONEY

BY FAY FLETCHER

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COPY EDITOR Nikki Mullett

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CONTRIBUTING DESIGNERS Cher Compton

ADMINISTRATION Nancy Bielecki info@businessinedmonton.com

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS Josh Bilyk

THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS Nerissa McNaughton Colleen Wallace Ben Freeland Fay Fletcher James Cumming John Hardy

PHOTOGRAPHY Cover photo by Epic Photography Inc.

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32 MEET THE MAKERS

| BY BEN FREELAND

Edmonton’s thriving manufacturing sector is far more diverse than most people realize

36 LIFE MATH

| BY COLLEEN WALLACE

Financial planning is more than just investments

42 CYBERCRIME IN THE EDMONTON WORKPLACE

| BY JOHN HARDY

Cinchy passwords are a problem

46 M OOVERS AND SHAKERS | BY BEN FREELAND

Farmfair International and the Canadian Finals Rodeo roll into Edmonton once again

65 E-TAIL THERAPY | BY BEN FREELAND

The shopping world is becoming an increasingly digitized and borderless world.

For Edmonton’s leading retailers, this means a world of opportunity

74 EDMONTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | BY JAMES CUMMING

November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

Prairies 2014 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year

Bill McCaffrey MEG Energy Calgary, Alberta

You defy gravity.

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Business-to-Business Products and Services

Al Side Side Group of Companies Grande Prairie, Alberta Business-to-Consumer Products and Services

Brent Zettl Prairie Plant Systems Inc. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Oil and Gas

Bill McCaffrey MEG Energy Calgary, Alberta Professional and Financial Services

Laurie Goldberg People Corporation Winnipeg, Manitoba Real Estate and Construction

Radhe Gupta Rohit Group of Companies Edmonton, Alberta Technology and Communications

Emerging Entrepreneur

Regan Davis, Bailey Epp, Stephen Glanville STEP Energy Services Calgary, Alberta

Š 2014 Ernst & Young LLP. All Rights Reserved.

National presenting sponsors

Energy Services National silver sponsors

National print sponsor

Prairies sponsors

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ECONOMIC FACTORS JOSH BILYK

TELL LEONARDO DICAPRIO TO BRING HIS FRIENDS TO THE CAPITAL REGION

BY AEG PRESIDENT JOSH BILYK

H

ardly a month goes by without a visit to Alberta from a celebrity environmentalist these days. And we’re not talking B-list celebs here … we’re talking some of the most recognizable figures on the planet. Neil Young, Leonardo DiCaprio and James Cameron are the cream of the A-listers, and all of them have stopped by Alberta ostensibly to “research” the Alberta oilsands but often do little more than express outrage.

We’re getting to know the routine very well. A few weeks ahead of the visit, a California- or New York-based publicist starts spreading the word about the trip, usually planned in conjunction with an ill-informed U.S.-based environmental group like NRDC. Opinion leaders on social media, oilsands supporters and critics alike, erupt. The celebrity flies around the mine sites, meets with the First Nations leaders who oppose or are critical of oilsands development, and flies home to California or their sprawling ranch in Montana.

A documentary film may or may not be made.

Some Albertans react to celebrity pop-ins with righteous indignation.

After all, it’s rude to visit someone’s community armed with scant information and technical knowledge and tell them how they should or shouldn’t make a living. And yes, Leonardo DiCaprio is a flaming hypocrite. If we all lived like Leo does, the world would be in a heap of trouble.

But after a recent tour of Alberta’s Industrial Heartland with a delegation of Atlantic Canadian manufacturing firms, I’m thinking we need to host more celebrities – not less.

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While we have poked fun at these high-flying celebs, Alberta industries still take stakeholder concerns seriously and work in good faith to address legitimate ones.

It’s not common knowledge that there’s a lot going on in the Industrial Heartland, but one needs to take a good look around with an expert like Industrial Heartland Association executive director Neil Shelly to understand the magnitude of the development in the region.

In the Industrial Heartland, the molecules in natural gas are being smashed and rearranged in order to make a variety of products sold around the world.

There are more than 40 companies creating fuels, fertilizers, power, plastics, petrochemicals and more to provincial and global consumers.

The plastics manufactured in the Heartland region are used extensively for food wrap and preparation, which keeps food from spoiling so we can feed more people with less land and fewer emissions. New polymers used to replace heavier metals in vehicle and aircraft designs get their start right here in the Capital Region. In fact the new and highly efficient Boeing 787 aircraft is made of carbon fibre composites that are mainly composed of petrochemical-based resins. These advanced materials significantly improve the plane’s fuel efficiency and reduce its carbon footprint.

Leo DiCaprio should appreciate this stuff. Products created in the Industrial Heartland that began as (gasp!) fracked natural gas or bitumen are shipped

November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

to Asia to build the components that go into smartphones. It’s not widely known, but Leo supplements his movie income by serving as a TV pitchman for Chinese cellphone, television and MP3 giant Oppo Electronics. Yes, the work done in the Capital Region literally helps put food on Leo’s table.

Albertans are learning to take celebrity pop-ins in stride, and that’s smart.

The reality is the celebrities are trying to do the right thing and make the world a better place and they have a right to express their views and advance any cause they like. It would be better, however, if they were better informed and actually worked with industry instead of against it.

While we have poked fun at these high-flying celebs, Alberta industries still take stakeholder concerns seriously and work in good faith to address legitimate ones. Albertans are the best in the world at developing the energy and related products civilization needs and we’re committed to getting better at it. As long as that continues to be true, we have nothing to fear from celebrity pop-ins.

So Leo, come on back to Alberta and bring some of your famous friends. But this time make sure you stop in at the Industrial Heartland and see where your cellphone components start out. BIE

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OFF THE TOP

NEWS FROM THE MONTH

POLITICS

PRESIDENT AND CEO JAMES CUMMING RESIGNS FROM THE EDMONTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

On August 27, 2014, at his campaign kickoff at Mercer Tavern in downtown Edmonton, the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, James Cumming, officially announced that he would be handing in his resignation as CEO to the Chamber, “effective today,” he stated. He will instead seek candidacy for the Conservative Party in the federal riding of Edmonton-Centre.

Cumming made his announcement following current MP Laurie Hawn’s statement (after announcing his plans to retire earlier this year) that he will not be running again for Conservative MP of the Edmonton-Centre riding. The riding will be available in the 2015 federal election.

“Edmonton-Centre is in the heart of Edmonton,” Cumming explained during his announcement. “Whether it is the unprecedented level of development in the downtown core, or the fact that one out of every four new jobs in Canada are created in our region, it is clear that we need a strong, experienced leader to carry our message to Parliament Hill.”

As president and CEO of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, Cumming placed his priority on en-

JAMES CUMMING

suring the alignment of government policy with marketplace demands.

He further focused on what he defined to be the two key issues affecting Edmonton’s business community: the labour shortage and the fact that Alberta’s commodity-based economy has only one customer (the United States).

In an interview with Techlife, Cumming defined the role of the Chamber of Commerce to Edmonton’s business community. “The Chamber is here to improve the business environment for its members and the business community at large.

This could include taxation levels, access to labour, economic development activities, infrastructure issues, and ways to get products to market.”

Cumming, who is also a former chair of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) board of governors and a businessman, submitted his resignation to the board of

Cumming, who is also a former chair of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) board of governors and a businessman, submitted his resignation to the board of directors of the Edmonton Chamber in order to avoid any conflict of interest, perceived or real.

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November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

directors of the Edmonton Chamber in order to avoid any conflict of interest, perceived or real.

“The Edmonton Chamber is a nonpartisan organization,” Edmonton Chamber board chair Simon O’Byrne commented. “However, our members and volunteers are always pleased to see a member of the business community seek public office at each level of government and across the political spectrum.”

The board accepted Cumming’s resignation, and they are now undertaking an immediate executive search to fill Cumming’s position; however, they’ve asked Cumming to remain in a leadership role during the transition: “The board has asked me to stay on in a transitionary role until such time as we find a new CEO,” reported Cumming.

“We will miss James and his contributions to the Edmonton Chamber within his role as president and CEO,” stated O’Byrne in the board of directors statement regarding the current executive’s transition. Members of the Edmonton Chamber, dedicated volunteers, board members and staff continue to set the policy and advocacy direction for the organization.

“The Edmonton Chamber will continue to pursue its mission to create the best environment for business,” said O’Byrne. BIE

EDUCATION

THE KING’S UNIVERSITY LAUNCHES LEDER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Close to 200 King’s University supporters and community leaders, as well as Alberta’s newly appointed minister of innovation and advanced education and deputy government house leader, Donald Scott, QC, attended on September 25, 2014, as the King’s University, with $12 million in donations and pledges by Christian business leaders, launched its newest addition: the Leder School of Business.

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OFF THE TOP

NEWS FROM THE MONTH

THE KING’S UNIVERSITY CHAIR BILL DIEPEVEEN, DAVID DORWARD, ASSOCIATE MINISTER OF ABORIGINAL RELATIONS & MLA FOR EDMONTON-GOLDBAR, TKU PRESIDENT DR. MELANIE HUMPRHEYS AND MINISTER OF INNOVATION & ADVANCED EDUCATION DON SCOTT. STANDING IN FRONT OF DONOR APPRECIATION WALL, LEDER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS. LOGO VISIBLE ON LEFT, WITH TAG LINE: IGNITE BRILLIANCE

Dr. Melanie Humphreys, president of The King’s University, reports that “The Leder School of Business will offer business programs unique in Western Canada, but [will] also give students the critical and strategic thinking skills needed to succeed in business and life.”

The school’s uniquely focused program follows five streams, which include accounting, entrepreneurship, global learning, sustainability and distance education; however, its uniqueness moves beyond coursework. The Leder School of Business will also incorporate a centre for applied learning, which will bring opportunities like leadership forums, corporate speakers, corporate mentors, and training for corporate leaders to the students.

The new school is also making global awareness an integral component, which means that it will be providing international internships within its programs. The school is structured to

16

ensure students have international experience when they graduate, a unique qualification which will be achieved through international internships or by taking a term at a partnered international university.

“At the core of the Leder School of Business is the emphasis on Christian values,” explains Dr. Elden Wiebe, dean of the school of business. “These we not only nurture and foster within students to help them step into business roles, but we also point to their value in shaping businesses and benefiting society more generally.”

Despite its recent launch, the Leder School of Business already looks to be on par with the high standards set

by The King’s University, a Christian institution that offers fully accredited bachelor degrees in arts, natural and social sciences, humanities, music and commerce. The King’s University is in the top 10 percentile of all colleges and universities in North America and, currently in its 35th year, serves

November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

more than 700 students and represents more than 16 nations from across Canada and abroad. King’s was further recognized by the 2013 National Survey of Student Engagement as Most Supportive Campus Environment of any Canadian institution.

While the Leder School of Business has some big shoes to fill, it appears to be well on its way, announcing that more than $50,000 in scholarships will be available each year for students who pursue excellence at the institution.

The Leder School of Business is founded by four donor families, including Jim and Magda Dykstra, founder of Dykstra Construction; Ralph and Jane Bruinsma, of Triple Three Services Ltd.; Fred and Melanie Johannesen, of COBALT Investments Ltd.; and John and Sally Leder, after whom the school was named. John Leder is president of the Supreme Group, Canada’s largest private steel and fabrication company. BIE

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ARCHITECTURE HOW TO BUILD A CITY

How

to Build a City

Architecture goes beyond the act of building things. It reaches into every crevasse of a city’s culture

BY NERISSA MCNAUGHTON

I

t is said that architecture combines art, science, technology and humanity. When one considers the many ancient cultures, such as Egypt and Rome, that are defined by their architecture, along with the iconic structures of today that have earned their nations a place in history, it becomes clear that architecture is far more than the act of designing and erecting a building.

Edmonton, a relatively new city in a country whose history is only now hovering around a century and a half, may not be the first location on the lips of those seeking impressive architecture, but if you were to bypass the Colosseum, the Pyramids of Giza, Ephesus and the Sydney Opera House, you will see that Edmonton has bragging rights of its own. A mall over 5,000,000 square feet designed to sustain heavy foot traffic year after year, an art gallery with lines so impressive the building itself is a work of art, a science centre shaped like a spaceship – these are just some of Edmonton’s architectural triumphs.

And then there is Colours Art and Framing.

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November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

“The Colours project was unique in that it is on a high-profile site that was originally a service station. The city’s planning department was hoping that new construction would spur further development in the area,” says Michael Sczesny intern architect, principal at FUSE Architecture + Design.

FUSE has been operating in Edmonton for four years and was selected for the Colours project. This project saw FUSE adding a 1,570 square-foot glass studio and a 10,000-square-foot two-storey warehouse to the existing retail space. The warehouse opens onto a rooftop patio.

“Outdoor roof patios are becoming more important because people are becoming more aware of getting outside and being able to take breaks from their work. So a rooftop patio can become an escape from their workspace,” explains Sczesny. Architecture is also an evolving process – one that encapsulates form, function and ever-changing needs. Another thing architecture can do? Recycle on a grand scale. “The reward was being able to repurpose the original service station and use its exterior as a modern art piece,” says Sczesny.

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ARCHITECTURE HOW TO BUILD A CITY

“High quality and unique architecture can become an extension of the diverse culture that makes up Edmonton,” he continues. “Good design in architecture can change a mediocre space into something special, enhancing whoever might experience it.”

That is something Donna Clare from DIALOG agrees with. DIALOG is the design firm behind the hotly anticipated new Royal Alberta Museum.

“The Royal Alberta Museum (RAM) will have human history and natural history under one roof,” says Clare when asked to describe what makes this project unique. “The DONNA CLARE building and design tries to reflect that uniqueness. We have a collision between man and nature happening through the design.”

But that’s not all. The museum itself pays homage to aspects of Edmonton that would have been lost forever through the city’s ongoing construction. DIALOG took great pains to honour not only the precious collections inside the museum, but the very heart and soul of Edmonton and Alberta, right down to street level.

“The courtyard is what used to be 98th Street. It breaks the building open and recognizes the old alignment of 98th Street,” explains Clare. “Another avenue, 104th, no longer exists, so we made this area into another courtyard. It gives the space a ‘town square’ feeling. You can come out

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November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

to these courtyards and really connect to the exterior.”

Connecting with Edmonton in meaningful ways was a very important part of RAM’s design. This connection extends to each and every visitor.

“RAM is designed to appeal to every socio-economic group,” Clare continues. “Therefore there are lots of things to see and do that don’t require tickets. Big buildings like this can be intimidating if you feel like you don’t belong. RAM is designed to be inviting for everyone, not just once a year but every day.” In addition to exterior installations built into the design, visitors will get glimpses into the functioning part of the museum, not just what’s on display. There are areas that allow visitors to see staff doing research and curators restoring objects.

Those objects were of great concern when the building was designed and remains an ongoing concern during construction – and beyond.

“First and foremost, everything you do in any museum has to be balanced against preserving and protecting the collection. There are a lot of things that we need to do to protect the collection in addition to sustainable design,” states Clare. To this end, a high-performing building en-

ARCHITECTURE

HOW TO BUILD A CITY

MICHAEL SCZESNY

velope that maintains the temperature and humidity and minimizes loss through the walls was implemented.

The building is zoned in different areas because of the unique collection. Clare explains, “What you see on display is a very small percentage of the collection. The museum has over 11 million items. It’s a collection and an exhibit. Depending on wood, invertebrate, textile, etc., they all have different storage requirements.

“The mechanical engineering components of the building are pretty amazing. Because of all the collections, you can’t have hours of non-occupancy. In the public spaces there is a system so we are not heating and cooling as when the people are there. Daylight is harvested to light in as much of the building as possible. In some spaces the lights only come on when someone is in the room. Some rooms can’t have daylight because it would cause the objects to

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ARCHITECTURE HOW TO BUILD A CITY

RENDERING OF THE COLOURS ART AND FRAMING SPACE. COURTESY OF DIALOG.

It’s a statement that rings true for more than museum architecture.

Whether it’s a repurposed service station, a mighty museum, one of the largest malls in the world or a small retail space, the buildings we build today define who we are as a city tomorrow. And with the many architecture projects going on in Edmonton right now, it’s clear that this young city is building its way into the history books, one brick at a time. degrade. We spent a lot of time looking at how to light the building and how to control that lighting.”

It wasn’t enough to make RAM social, educational and able to preserve an impressive collection. The new RAM is also environmentally friendly, inside and out. “It is a project that tries to be as sustainable as it can be,” smiles Clare. “The landscaping is Alberta-based and does not require a lot of fertilizer or things that would degrade the environment. Radiant slabs provide heating and cooling for the building. There are low-flush toilets and, of course, recycling.”

When the world’s most famous ancient structures were built centuries ago they were built to last, which is why we get to enjoy them as tourists today. Fast forward a century and if all goes according to plan, generations will still be flocking to this museum.

“We spent a lot of time working with the museum to

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November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

make sure the spaces are the proper size for flexibility and adaptability, because the building will be around for 100 years – hopefully!” laughs Clare.

Then she says with a great deal of reflection, “I think museums have such a vital role. Museums help visitors understand their place in the world. To be part of a project like this is like a dream. When you realize you will help generations understand and appreciate what it means to be Albertan, it is a real gift.”

It’s a statement that rings true for more than museum architecture. Whether it’s a repurposed service station, a mighty museum, one of the largest malls in the world or a small retail space, the buildings we build today define who we are as a city tomorrow. And with the many architecture projects going on in Edmonton right now, it’s clear that this young city is building its way into the history books, one brick at a time. BIE

Sam Abouhassan Brings Europe’s Fall Trends to Edmonton

M

By Nerissa McNaughton

aster tailor Sam Abouhassan has over 35 years of experience creating men’s high-quality custom clothing. Recently returned from exploring the latest gentleman’s fashions in Paris, Abouhassan is excited about offering Europe’s fall/winter couture trends in Edmonton this fall.

“I noticed so much more detail in the suits,” says Abouhassan.

“Such as extra pockets and buttons, buttonholes and linings in contrasting colours. Luxury was very consistent. Many suits and jackets were made from the finest cloth – wool and cashmere with a very high thread count. We are able to get the exact same fabric for our bespoke products.” These fabrics include worldrenown blends from Loro Piana, Dormeuil, Ermenegildo Zegna, Scabal and more.

“What I have seen as a big change over the last few years is structure,” he continues. “There is still a slimmer fit on everything and very little construction in the garment so it will feel as soft as possible.”

Abouhassan points out that a full length luxury overcoat is a big part of the season and a coat such as their 100 per cent cashmere with black velvet collar and a pocket kerchief instantly affords the wearer elegance and comfort.

“For men nowadays, you cannot overdress,” Abouhassan states. “Men can and should accessorize and have touches of luxury and personality in their clothing.”

All of Sam Abouhassan’s suits and shirts are hand made from fabric selection to completion. As there is a very high demand over the holiday season, call for an appointment if you are interested experiencing bespoke clothing perfection. Suits start at $2,250 and shirts at $325.

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DANNY HOOPER

DANNY HOOPER OFFERS EASY MONEY

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Danny Hooper Offers Easy Money

BY FAY FLETCHER

F

or Danny Hooper, easy money isn’t about how much cash you can get to line your pockets. It’s about the many deserving charities that struggle to find funds. Hooper’s book, Easy Money, teaches these organizations how to get and maximize every dollar from their fundraising auctions events.

The name Danny Hooper is familiar to most Canadians. He’s produced 10 albums and was nominated for a Juno during his years as a country music artist. He’s been a nightclub owner, a real estate agent, a motivational speaker, a morning show co-host on 790 CFCW and is a columnist with the Edmonton SUN. “But the one thing I’ve been doing consistently since 1987 is auctioneering at charity events,” says Hooper. “Because benefit auctions are big business, generating more than $17 billion each year in the U.S. alone, fundraising auctioneering has become a highly-specialized sector of the auction industry. In fact, the National Auctioneers Association now offers a special accreditation known as BAS – benefit auctioneer specialist. I was the first in Canada to receive the designation.”

Hooper has more than the passion he needed to write Easy Money. He has the experience as well. “As my business has expanded in this area, to the point where we’re now involved in close to 100 fundraising auctions each year, I’ve come to realize that most events are falling far short of their potential, meaning that a lot of money is being left on the table; money that non-profit organizations desperately need in these troubled times of continuing government cutbacks,” says Hooper. “The cause of this

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November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

problem is easy to grasp. Most fundraising auction events are organized by well-meaning volunteers who simply don’t know everything they need to know. They seldom follow best practices, and often lack the systems, training and management that ensure success. I want to help improve this situation.”

“He totally immersed himself in the writing of this book,” says Faye Ison, executive director of Danny Hooper Productions. “He’s very dedicated.”

Dedicated fails to sum up Hooper’s passion, enthusiasm and persistence. Those that know him describe him as larger than life. He’s the focal point and the energy in every room he’s in and even after he’s gone, that space is alive with hope, life and possibilities. Hooper has spent his lifetime inspiring, motivating and helping people all over the world. When he turned all that passion towards writing Easy Money, the results showed.

“Considering the book was written for a niche market – non-profit organizations planning a fundraising auction – sales have been outstanding!” exclaims Hooper. “At present, the book is only available online through our website at www.dannyhooper.com, but we are currently in discussions with Chapters and other retailers. An electronic version will be available through Amazon later this year.

As well, we have just launched a corporate book program, where discounted bulk purchases are made by companies who commonly receive requests for auction donations.

Rather than just give an embroidered ball cap or coffee mug, these companies now include a copy of Easy Money.”

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What do the readers of Easy Money learn? “Stop thinking like a charity and start thinking like a business,” educates Hooper. “Holding a fundraising auction event is like working an entire year to open a store that is only going to be open a few hours, then close for another year. While the doors to the store are open every minute has to count, and the focus needs to be on fundraising.”

Hooper fully explains his “entertain, engage, extract” philosophy in Easy Money; a philosophy that recently helped him raise over $350,000 in 90 seconds for Sorrentino’s Compassion House. “There’s always more money in the room than you expect,” he counsels fundraisers. Easy Money teaches them how to find those hidden funds.

Easy Money was developed simultaneously with Symphony Checklist Builder (www.symphonycb.com), a powerful and comprehensive online planning tool used to organize and execute fundraising auctions of all sizes. Both the book and the web-based app were launched in Edmonton in May 2014.

The book launch had all hallmarks of Hooper’s personality. “The book isn’t a bestseller yet so we are serving hotdogs and wine,” he teased on the invitation. He wasn’t kidding. Guests enjoyed hotdogs with a myriad of toppings, fruit punch, wine and cake as they mingled in the lobby of the Royal Alberta Museum. Everyone loved

the idea; the food was delicious. After guests had dined, they entered the auditorium where Hooper thanked the many people who had helped, inspired and worked with him to get the book into print. He also pointed out the many philanthropists and personal mentors that were in the audience and introduced Neil Tran, the owner of Leap Web Solutions, which is the development company behind Symphony. Hooper’s quick wit and outstanding presentation had the audience alternately laughing and moved to tears several times during the course of the evening.

Easy Money is a book no fundraising entity should be without. This book is more than how to have a profitable fundraiser. It’s about getting those funds that stand between the success and the failure of so many deserving charities. In this world where the focus is often on one’s own net worth, Easy Money opens the financial doors for the tireless men and women who spend countless hours championing the causes of those in need. There may be “no free lunch,” but thanks to Danny Hooper, there is Easy Money.

What’s next? Danny will be conducting fundraising auction seminars later this year in Calgary, Saskatoon and Regina, with additional seminars being held across Canada in 2015. To stay current on these and other events, or to purchase a copy of Easy Money, visit www.dannyhooper.com. BIE

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www.businessinedmonton.com | Business In Edmonton Magazine | November 2014

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COVER

THE FAMILY BUSINESS

THE FAMILY BUSINESS

Ralph Hutchinson and his sons explore entrepreneurship as a family.

PHOTO BY EPIC PHOTOGRAPHY INC.

I

n 1993, Ralph Hutchinson was a pretty typical 40-something businessman: a good job as a general manager with an Edmonton homebuilder, a loving and supportive wife and three rambunctious young sons chewing up the ever-growing grocery bills. Then something happened that in a less-hopeful story would have ruined the hero and his family.

Ralph was fired.

“It was the classic clash between two triple-A personalities, and I was gone,” recalls Ralph, at 67 still

the dictionary definition of gregarious, personable and larger-than-life. “And it was one of the best things that happened to me in my business career.”

Three days later, Ralph had found partners willing to bring capital and advice to the table, and he launched Daytona Homes. Within months, Daytona was building showhomes, and Ralph had his own outlet for the entrepreneurial instincts he’d nurtured from the age of 10 when he hawked copies of the Edmonton Journal on the city’s downtown streets. www.businessinedmonton.com | Business In Edmonton Magazine | November 2014

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COVER

THE FAMILY BUSINESS

WELL PLANNED LIVING SPACES WITH HIGH END FINISHES ARE HALLMARKS OF DAYTONA HOMES

In the past two decades, Daytona Homes has not only grown into one of Alberta’s biggest and most decorated home-builders. It’s become a kind of crucible where Ralph has developed and tested ideas about entrepreneurship, relationships, succession, and the often-tricky intersection between family and business.

Daytona Homes’ success (200 employees, 1,000-plus homes built every year) has spun into a variety of interesting plays. There’s a land company (Daytona Land), which plans residential communities. A private investment group called Hutchinson Acquisition Corp, or HAC, controls various major assets, including Western Canada’s biggest fleet of concrete pump trucks. The flagship brand, A&B Concrete Pumping, is a regular fixture on large projects like the new Rogers Arena, while Combined Concrete Pumping and P-Ban operate in the Fort McMurray region.

The HAC umbrella also includes commercial industrial real estate holdings and housing operations, most of which include partnerships.

The enterprises are diverse, but one constant links them all: family.

Ralph’s oldest son, Tally, joined Daytona Homes as an entry-level labourer in 1994, progressed through virtually every gig in the company, and became president in 2007. A respected Edmonton business leader in his own right, Tally assumed the presidency of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association-Alberta in September.

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November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

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COVER

THE FAMILY BUSINESS

PHOTO BY EPIC PHOTOGRAPHY INC.

Casey, the middle Hutchinson son, took over the family’s first foray into the storage business in 2004 and was deployed into the concrete pumping business in 2007. He’s parlayed his experience into progressively more senior roles. Casey is currently president of HAC. Dallas, the youngest Hutchinson, was an award-winning Daytona Homes salesman who’s now re-entering the family business after recovering from a snowboarding injury.

Ralph and his wife Janet - for years, an interior-design manager at Daytona – were never the type of parents to pound their fists on the kitchen table and loudly demand their sons join the family enterprise. They instilled in their boys a strong work ethic, the importance of family, and the need to give back to the community, but they let the young men determine for themselves whether they had the passion and drive to be entrepreneurs. One by one, after the usual soul-searching, the boys returned to the fold when they were ready.

“I grew up as a hockey player and the one thing I liked about my dad’s industry was that it had a lot of similarities,” Tally explains. “The network and the people are much like being inside a hockey dressing room and I enjoy that. This is a results-driven business, and that’s exactly like hockey, too.”

Within a year of joining Daytona Homes, Tally knew he ultimately wanted to succeed Ralph. The two men sat down and worked out a five-year plan through which Tally would earn those stripes.

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“But I was a slow learner,” Tally says, laughing. “It took me 15 years.”

Ralph interjects with his own laugh, “No, it took 12.”

As Ralph watched his sons ascend the Daytona and HAC corporate ladders, he also witnessed some of his family-business peers derailed by ego, lack of communication, lack of transparency, conflict and rivalry. He became a voracious reader on the subject of succession and strategic planning, and pledged to be thoughtful about how each Hutchinson enterprise could be designed to make the most of each contributing member’s time and talent. Formal policies and guiding principles govern all the Hutchinsons’ business and philanthropic dealings. A family advisory committee and a trusted strategic planner, Dr. Al Coke, keep them on the right path.

It has all factored into a rewarding, adrenaline-filled 20year run, from “zero to 100,” to borrow from the car-racing analogy that originally inspired the Daytona moniker.

Ralph also uses a hockey analogy to describe those rewards.

“It’s like putting that puck in the net. We get to satisfy a lot of customers in a variety of business. We get to employ and pay a lot of staff. We get to have some niceties for our families, and we love being in a position to give back to the community.”

“I’d sum up all of that with one word: opportunity,” Tally adds. “It gives us the opportunity to give back and spend some time on ourselves.”

COVER

THE FAMILY BUSINESS

The result of all that investment has been relationships that have endured for decades. Ralph ticks off widely encompassing categories of people and partners that the Hutchinsons would thank, if given the chance – staff, suppliers, banks, land developers, tradespeople and more.

Both men acknowledge that finding that time, that balance between work and home life, is one of their biggest challenges.

“Maybe balance isn’t the right word. It’s your investment into it all. The time, energy and money. The challenge is to find time for everything else,” says Tally.

Ralph agrees. “Even today I’m challenged with that.

Having work/life balance is very difficult.”

“It’s a high-tempo, demanding business,” Tally says.

“It’s rewarding, but it is demanding in terms of your time and capital.”

The result of all that investment has been relationships that have endured for decades. Ralph ticks off widely encompassing categories of people and partners that the Hutchinsons would thank, if given the chance – staff, suppliers, banks, land developers, tradespeople and more.

“We have great relationships and loyalty with our trades and suppliers and we have employed some great staff along the way,” Ralph says. “Lots are still here and some have moved on. In the building stages we had many supportive friends and partners. Our friends and associates have been very, very supportive of our business.”

The family has repaid that support, in kind, through philanthropic endeavours as diverse as the portfolio of companies under the Hutchinson banner. The family has soft spots for, among others, the Autism Society of Edmonton Area, Edmonton’s Down Syndrome Society, Hopes Home, the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (through student internships), Lethbridge’s Backpacks for Kids, Cross Cancer Institute, Winnifred Stewart Association, The Rainbow Society of Alberta and Little Warriors.

Plaques honouring those commitments line the walls of Daytona’s/HAC’s west Edmonton offices, next to industry awards like the Canadian Home Builders’ Association Award for home builder of the year in 2010.

“Being honoured by the Canadian Home Builders’ Association and the Alberta Home Builders’ Association - along with many consumer choice and safety awards - shows our dedication to everyone that works for us,” Ralph says.

Yet for all their success, for all of the family’s thoughtfulness about how they interact with each other and their business, it is clear the Hutchinsons aren’t finished.

“It’s a work in progress. Yes, we have had many successes...” Ralph begins.

“But we are constantly in pursuit of success,” Tally fin-

ishes. “Consumers and markets are constantly changing.

Although you may have one that is successful, you have to adapt and change and be ready for the next one. You have to always be adapting to the niches of the market.”

Daytona intends to adapt and evolve by growing their housing operations and buying more land in the communities of Edmonton, Lethbridge, Grande Prairie, Regina and Saskatoon where they’re currently active. Also on the horizon is a new subsidiary called Daytona Properties, which will round out the Daytona portfolio with assisted-living facilities and adult condos.

“Daytona Properties is our response to the change in demographics, as the baby boomers evolve into a different time in their life. That is a change in our market that we feel we are not currently fulfilling and need to look at for the near future,” Tally explains.

HAC’s future involves expansion, as well. The Concrete Pumping companies have eyes on growth, and Ralph says HAC will look to expand its commercial real estate holdings and some of its housing companies.

Neither Hutchinson would ever claim to have the business world all figured out, but one gets the sense they’re ready to start looking outward as much as inward, to teach and lend some hard-earned wisdom to a new generation of aspiring entrepreneurs.

Tally’s advice: learn what you’re good at, admit your biggest challenges, focus on the right things, and learn to cut the cord when ideas don’t work. You’ll make mistakes.

Learn from them.

Ralph’s advice: know and understand the culture of your business, or you won’t be successful. And for young people? Just do it.

“A 30-year old told me the other day that there are not many opportunities to build companies anymore,” Ralph says. “But I look at my son’s friends and I see their networks. I see that young people have their own businesses and are doing well. I would say entrepreneurship is still alive and that we have a very capable batch of young people coming along behind the baby boomers to create and run the businesses that we need. There are many, many opportunities.”

Ralph smiles, and you can imagine him giving the same grin, 20 years ago, on a day that might have stopped a lesser man in his tracks.

“We are in a great country to be an entrepreneur.” BIE www.businessinedmonton.com | Business In Edmonton Magazine | November 2014

31

MANUFACTURING MEET THE MAKERS

Meet the Makers Edmonton’s thriving manufacturing sector is far more diverse than most people realize.

BY BEN FREELAND

I

n April of this year, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) released an ambitious manufacturing action plan for Alberta entitled Manufacturing Alberta’s Future: Driving Investment, Growing Exports and Creating Jobs, with the goal of doubling the province’s manufacturing output by 2020. With the stated goal of making manufacturing a provincial priority and enhancing the sector’s profile, the action plan notes the gap between Alberta’s actual economic landscape and the widespread perceptions of it as a one-dimensional raw material exporting province.

“Alberta manufacturers are often overlooked in the province given the size and strength of the oil and gas sector,” the action plan states. “While oil and gas is clearly a dominant economic driver of the economy, manufacturing plays a critical and growing role in the provincial economy.”

The numbers are indeed impressive. While manufacturing growth in the rest of Western Canada has been largely flat over the past decade, Alberta’s has been anything but, with manufacturing shipments growing from just over $44 million in 2000 to over $73 million in 2012, a growth of over 65 per cent. (By contrast, BC’s total actually shrank over the same period, from $40 million to just over $39 million.) Manufacturing presently accounts for 8.5 per cent of Alberta’s total GDP and 25 per cent of all exports, and directly employs 140,000 Albertans – at wages some 10 per cent above the provincial average. It is also the largest economic multiplier of any industry in the province, generating $3.15 in revenue for every dollar in total output.

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November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

All this bodes extremely well for Alberta’s capital city.

The Edmonton region’s manufacturing sector, the province’s largest, is projected to grow an average of 4.2 per cent per year through 2016. As of 2012, Statistics Canada reported nearly 1,800 manufacturers with less than 100 employees operating in the Edmonton region, and Edmonton companies continue to dominate at the CME’s annual Alberta Export Awards. While much of Edmonton’s manufacturing sector coalesces around the oil patch (most notably the manufacturing agglomeration situated in North America’s second-largest energy park in Nisku), an equally important assortment of manufacturers has nothing to do with the energy sector.

In a late 2012 article on Edmonton’s growing economic diversity, Edmonton Sun business columnist Graham Hicks cited the now 57-year-old Drader Manufacturing Industries Ltd. as an unsung Edmonton success story.

Founded in 1957, the Edmonton-based plastic product manufacturer produces everything from grocery store milk crates to plastic welding equipment, and in 2005 expanded its operations into Ontario. Drader’s innovative product design saw its design and engineering team win an award at the 2012 ASTech Awards Gala, a ceremony honouring scientific achievement in Alberta. As with many Edmonton manufacturers, some of its customers are oil patch-based, but the majority are not.

Drader is far from alone among Edmonton manufacturers in producing world-class consumer products largely under the radar. Edmonton’s longstanding ties to agricul-

MANUFACTURING MEET THE MAKE

ture and the agri-food business have cess in Europe and later expanding to made the city a hub for food proEast Asia, the former Soviet republics ducers of various sorts. Of these, one and most recently, the United States. of the most successful companies “Our founding principle was producin recent years has been Champiing locally sourced feed to farmers,” on Petfoods, whose headline brand explains chief brand officer Peter of organic freeze-dried pet food, Muhlenfeld. “We’ve continued to do Orijen, was named Petfood of the exactly the same thing with our pet Year for three consecutive years by food production.” the Glycemic Research Institute in Muhlenfeld credits much of his Washington, DC. This year, Champicompany’s success to the support reon added an Alberta Export Award ceived from Alberta Agriculture and (agricultural and consumer products Rural Development and its close ties category) to their fast-expanding troto the University of Alberta’s Food phy wall.

Science program, as well as to an Like Drader, Champion grew slowoverall shift in consumer attitudes toly as a company, taking advantage of wards pet nutrition. “Research and opportunities as they arose. Origidevelopment in pet food production PETER MUHLENFELD FROM CHAMPION PET FOODS nally a livestock feed manufacturer, has grown tremendously over the last the company established a side busifive years, and fortunately, for us, the ness in pet food production in the 1980s, which quickly U of A is at the forefront of this,” he says. “And thanks to outgrew the back of the feed lot where it was originally sitthe government of Alberta, we’ve had great support in acuated, necessitating the establishment of a stand-alone pet cessing new international markets. Pet ownership levels food kitchen in Morinville in the mid-1990s. From there are rising across the world, and people the world over have the company quickly expanded its operations and began high standards when it comes to feeding their pets. That exporting its products, achieving early commercial sucmakes our business a booming one.”

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www.businessinedmonton.com | Business In Edmonton Magazine | November 2014

33

MANUFACTURING MEET THE MAKERS

JOEL LEVEILLE, OWNER OF IMC, POSES WITH GRUPO BIMBO’S MASCOT, BIMBO BEAR

Another Edmonton company honoured at the 2014 Alberta Export Awards, IMC is yet another company that most Edmontonians are probably unaware of that has carved out a very specific international niche.

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November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

MANUFACTURING

MEET THE MAKERS

While the pathway from livestock feed producer to international pet food exporter is perhaps less than surprising, the pathway from event planning agency to full-time mascot costume manufacturer exemplified by International Mascot Corporation (IMC) is a less than obvious continuum. Another Edmonton company honoured at the 2014 Alberta Export Awards, IMC is yet another company that most Edmontonians are probably unaware of that has carved out a very specific international niche. Born in 1979 as the event management company Scheme-a-Dream, the company quickly attracted attention with their homemade mascot costumes, and struck it big in 1983 with a contract for Wugie the Owl for the 1983 Edmonton Universiade, and then followed up with the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics mascots Hidy and Howdy, which were first unveiled at the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Sarajevo Games.

In the ensuing years, IMC has produced costumes for many of the world’s most familiar branded characters, including Tony the Tiger, the Kool-Aid man, Bugs Bunny, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Care Bears and Garfield, and has designed and produced mascot costumes for the Salt Lake City and Vancouver Olympiads as well as a plethora of corporate clients. Currently, the company is looking to close a $40 billion deal with the Mexico Citybased Grupo Bimbo (the world’s largest bakery company) for production of its Bimbo Bear costumes. By as early as

the late 1980s, demand had grown to necessitate an American presence, first in Bridgeport, Connecticut and later in Atlanta ( just ahead of the city’s 1996 Summer Olympics), where the company now maintains a secondary corporate office. Nevertheless, this truly global company has remained committed to its Edmonton base.

“We’ve thought about moving our headquarters a few times, but we’ve always decided against it,” says IMC cofounder and president Joel Leveille. “Edmonton has really become one of the major centres in North America, with a tremendous base of expertise and great infrastructure.

We’re no longer just a service centre for the oil patch.

We’ve become a vibrant business centre, with companies like Stantec, PCL, BioWare and others headquartered here.

While 90 per cent of our product is exported, we still do a lot of local business for clients like The Brick and local sports teams. There’s more than enough going on to keep us here.”

If Champion and IMC are any indication, Edmonton’s manufacturing industry is as vibrant as ever and healthily decoupled from the mercurial fortunes of the province’s oil and gas sector. Whereas global oil prices will go up and down, people’s commitment to their pets, their beloved sports teams and other life pillars are anything but volatile.

On this front, Edmonton’s manufacturing sector looks to be on increasingly steady ground. BIE

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www.businessinedmonton.com | Business In Edmonton Magazine | November 2014

35

FINANCIAL PLANNING LIFE MATH

LIFE MATH Financial planning is more than just investments

BY COLLEEN WALLACE

W

hen it comes to sound and effective planning, some people in Edmonton misunderstand and get bogged down in stereotypes and clichés.

“Smart people do dumb things with their money!” is the observation, the motivation, the inspiration, the documented and the sometimes preachy fact of life and the often quoted (sometimes misquoted) challenge of dynamic Canadian money commentator Bruce Sellery. It’s also the subtitle of his bestselling self-help book, Moolala.

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November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

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www.businessinedmonton.com | Business In Edmonton Magazine | November 2014

37

FINANCIAL PLANNING LIFE MATH

BRUCE SELLERY, PROFESSIONAL SPEAKER, WORKSHOP LEADER, COACH AND AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING SELF-HELP BOOK, MOOLALA.

There is a strange mistaken and unfortunate assumption about not only Sellery’s money logic and advice, but also the glut of self-help financial planning and money advice from the small army of Canadian money gurus and advisers: they are shilling for investments, pitching retirement planning, or both.

So misunderstood.

Financial planning advice is not limited to people thinking about or nearing retirement age. It’s just that, from Edmonton and Medicine Hat to Ottawa, Montreal and Gander, it seems to be the only age group that’s paying attention.

What a shame! Maybe it’s a generational thing. Or maybe it’s consistent with our insatiable weakness for procrastination, at any age. But the most relevant and important financial planning wisdom often gets misconstrued as lastminute panic and retirement planning.

Reams of Canadian statistics echo the same-old/sameold generational attitude and mistake that, with or without good advice and common sense, a vast majority of moneyearners do not plan ahead, at least far enough ahead. And most financial planning (if it happens at all) only kicks in at some worry point, slightly or way over the hill.

Many financial planners warn that it’s impossible to retire without a million dollars stashed away. The impartial jury is out, but some suggestions counter that most Canadians retire on much less. The financial industry frequently crunches numbers to show that the average

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November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

Canadian needs to replace 70 per cent of their working income for retirement.

Actual contemporary stats show that replacing 50 to 60 per cent of working income, combined with about $11,900 a year from old age pension and CPP, still makes for an adequate retirement.

Although it’s usually private and not talked about, some fifty-plus-year-old Canadian boomers count on selling their home to help fund their retirement, and then downsize. Given that real estate represents 42 per cent or more of an average Canadian family’s total assets, it’s not a surprise that 28 per cent of boomers have plans for using the sale of their home to help pay for retirement.

The common response is adjusting lifestyles, cutting back and downsizing. However, the logic also comes with a practical catch and some caution. Even with a decent financial planning strategy and some savings, the unavoidable and sometimes harsh reality of life is that, once a person has become used to a certain lifestyle and standard of living, downshifting, downsizing and downgrading – no matter how determined – may be wishful thinking and lead to let-downs.

Last year, Canadians surveyed in Sun Life Financial’s annual Unretirement Index overwhelmingly said the plans to retire by age 67 are more of a fantasy than a reality. The poll tracks a discouraging but documented reality that, due to the roller-coaster economy, the impact of low

FINANCIAL PLANNING LIFE MATH

Financial planning advice is not limited to people thinking about or nearing retirement age. It’s just that, from Edmonton and Medicine Hat to Ottawa, Montreal and Gander, it seems to be the only age group that’s paying attention. interest rates on any carefully stashed away savings and, mostly, the sudden realization that people are now living longer, Canadians may need to work longer to afford retirement.

The Sun Life poll shows that, despite traditional retirement clichés, fewer than 26 per cent of Canadians actually believe they will retire by 67. Another 32 per cent of respondents said they anticipate doing part-time work past 67 and 15 per cent say they are undecided.

The survey says that 63 per cent of those polled felt a need to work past 67 out of necessity, compared with 37 per cent who said it will be because they want to.

The Society of Actuaries calculates that there is an 81 per cent chance that one or both members of a 65-year-old couple will live to age 85, and a 58 per cent chance that one or both will make it to age 90.

Actuaries and financial planners even use simple math

to emphasize that, based on contemporary life expectancies, Canadian retirement is projected to last an average of 19 years, maybe more. Factoring in current levels of savings and nest eggs, the jarring warning is that the average Canadian will run out of retirement money, just over halfway into their retirement.

“Nearly 80 per cent of people mistake financial planning for investments,” says the respected, Alberta-based financial planner Robert McCullagh at Benefit Planners and the former chair of Advocis – The Financial Advisors Association of Canada, the oldest and largest voluntary professional membership association of financial advisers and planners in Canada.

“It’s not! Financial planning is a process of creating strategies and managing life goals. Now we’re finding out that more than 60 per cent of Canadians have unrealistic expectations.

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What used to be a job assigned to those who were “people persons” now requires an ability to navigate employee and employer relations, a strong grasp of employment standards and labour laws and the ability to think about a company workforce for the long-term and define, forecast and solve relevant talent deficits.

HR professionals and practitioners fulfil a variety of roles and job functions to help companies achieve their business goals.

Job titles may include Organizational Effectiveness Manager, HR/Safety Manager, Employee Relations Specialist, Talent Acquisition Specialist, HR Coordinator, Learning and Development Specialist, Payroll Administrator, Benefits Advisor and many more. They incorporate a broad range of activities including: professional practice, organizational effectiveness, staffing, employee and labour relations, total rewards, learning and development and occupational health, safety and wellness.

“

The current market constraints in Alberta are making it more challenging to recruit and retain top talent.

”

The CHRP Designation The Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) is a nationally recognized designation in the field of human resources. Established in 1990, it is the gold standard across Canada for HR competence and skilled practice.

The designation indicates to employers and the public that an individual has acquired a requisite level of knowledge and skills within the field of human resources and holds themselves to a higher standard of ethical practice.

Dedicated to strengthening and promoting the HR profession.

To earn the CHRP designation, candidates must hold a Bachelor’s degree in any field from an accredited post-secondary institution, pass the National Knowledge Exam and possess at least three years of professional-level HR experience, including one year of Canadian experience. Through their exam and experience, candidates must demonstrate competency in nine functional areas and five enabling areas relevant to the HR profession.

A CHRP must also undertake on-going professional development to retain their designation – just like other recognized professions.

The CHRP requires 100 hours of professional development every 3 years, including experience in at least 2 of the 5 categories. In order to ensure compliance, CHRPs submit professional experience logs and HRIA audits 3% of submitted logs every year.

HUMAN RESOURCES INSTITUTE OF ALBERTA

“

Established in 1990, it is the gold standard across Canada for HR competence and skilled practice.

”

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www.businessinedmonton.com | Business In Edmonton Magazine | November 2014

39

FINANCIAL PLANNING LIFE MATH

McCullagh cites various examples and he singles out debt and subtle irresponsibility when it comes to a need for sensible planning and smart money management.

FINANCIAL PLANNER ROBERT MCCULLAGH AT BENEFIT PLANNERS AND THE FORMER CHAIR OF ADVOCIS.

“Financial planning is about budgeting, credit management, debt, RRSPs, TFSAs and retirement. There should be a balance between lifestyle, debt repayment and saving for the future. Tax is a normal part of every dollar we earn.

The rest should be one of those three.”

McCullagh cites various examples and he singles out debt and subtle irresponsibility when it comes to a need for sensible planning and smart money management. “For example, there are business owners who don’t have an enduring power of attorney and fewer than seven per cent of people in Alberta have a will! How smart and responsible is that?

“We see a lot of people who are willing to take debt into retirement. The importance of getting rid of debt, whatever it takes, just can’t be stressed enough. Debt is giving up cash flow of the future.”

Bruce Sellery also suggests that it comes down to basic but misleading math, and minimizing what he calls crushing and crippling debt.

“It’s an entirely generational thing and the trick is to calculate and guesstimate how much money you will need. As average people, most of us have a problem with reality. For RSPs, do a basic but honest calculation of how much you will need. The number is big and it will shock you.

“On the flip side, especially in a booming, high-growth and employment area, the big issue is that young people

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November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

are making huge sums of money, they spend it and life is good. If it grinds to a halt tomorrow, how would life be? It’s not like the big money is stashed away in investments and nest eggs.

“Especially after middle age, credit should not be considered an option. At the moment, credit may be easy but it crushes hopes and dreams. No matter what the rationale and logic, paying 19-plus per cent interest that most credit cards charge just doesn’t make any financial sense,” he warns with many specific examples and calculations.

Sellery’s logic and perspective are interesting and refreshing because, bluntly, he has no axe to grind. He is not a financial adviser, he does not represent a financial institution and he has no financial products to sell. Sellery is simply an independent thinker, author and speaker with a background in both the corporate world (Procter & Gamble) and as a business journalist (CTV).

“Although we seem to pay more attention to money as we get older, we’re largely oblivious to our personal finances. When the young family needs money or when someone is creeping up on retirement, the principles are basic and never change: you can either increase income or reduce expenses. That’s it!”

All underscoring the fact that financial planning is personal and it is both an art and a science. BIE

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41

SECURITY

CYBERCRIME IN THE EDMONTON WORKPLACE

CYBERCRIME IN THE EDMONTON Cinchy passwords are a problem JOHN HARDY

E

dmonton business, like business in Vancouver, London, Regina and Hong Kong, has an urgent problem.

“Cybercrimes and cybersecurity are very big issues,” warns Edmonton’s Dr. Paul Lu, professor, computing science, and associate chair for undergraduate studies in the faculty of science at the University of Alberta. “When it comes to cyber breaches in business, the horses have left the barn. Companies must consider their options and adapt. What are the best ways to minimize the risks?”

Computer experts are routinely dealing with situations of compromised and corrupted databases, malware, resourceful and brilliant hackers, phishing and other sophisticated, high-tech and state-of-the-art cyber theft.

It’s happening at every level, from the personal world of identity theft, credit cards, bank accounts and private medical information to business cash flow, sales figures, client lists, business plans and strategies, and the massive big leagues of sensitive government information and even contemporary espionage.

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November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

James Bond was never after money. Stacks of money and piles of diamonds be damned. Bond would scale walls, drive over cliffs, blow up things, commandeer speedboats, submarines and camels and duke it out with villains (most of the time) just to get some secret information.

Ridiculously generalized, the thieves and villains are still on the chase and still after three things: steal money, steal information or to do harm - sometimes all three.

Today’s vulnerable targets in vital small, medium and big business locations like Edmonton House, Manulife Place, the Royal Alexandra Hospital, the Epcor Tower and government buildings no longer stash sensitive and restricted information in bulky vaults. The information is saved and stored in cyberspace.

Technology is so life-altering that it even makes cybercrime easier. Edmonton’s state-of-the-art spies and thieves no longer have to scale walls, drive over cliffs or blow up things just to steal information. In fact, they don’t necessarily have to be in Edmonton.

SECURITY

CYBERCRIME IN THE EDMONTON WORKPLACE

DR. PAUL LU, PROFESSOR, COMPUTING SCIENCE, ASSOCIATE CHAIR FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES, FACULTY OF SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA

WORKPLACE

“Of course, huge companies, governments and the banks are solidly secure and have many layers upon layers of the latest, most foolproof protection protocols available,” Lu points out. “The private sector and other businesses probably don’t.”

Especially in the past year, conversations about cybercrime, hackers and security invariably mentioned recent high-profile cyber breaches at Target, Home Depot and the celebrity hacking of Apple’s iCloud.

Lu prefers to use a much smaller, normal and hypothetical example. “Think of a neighbourhood candy store. How much sensitive personal data would the candy store have?

Probably none. But, a lot like Home Depot and Target, the candy store does have a huge and active credit card Internet connection with various banks. And the bad guys always look for the weakest, unsuspecting links.

“That’s why they don’t hack into Home Depot’s database. They’re not after the store’s business,” Lu says.

“They just want access to the store’s thousands of credit card numbers to either instantly run fraudulent transac-

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www.businessinedmonton.com | Business In Edmonton Magazine | November 2014

43

SECURITY

CYBERCRIME IN THE EDMONTON WORKPLACE

A study of recent cyber breaches based on popular and easy-to-hack passwords warns about: tions or, most likely, to sell off the thousands of credit card numbers to third parties.

“Suddenly – and often without knowing about it – consumers have additional, new credit cards in their name, charges for purchases they never made and maybe even a mortgage.”

Tech experts and cybersecurity consultants explain and caution that every year, if not every day, more and more cyber attackers are detected.

The harsh fact is, the criminal hackers who infiltrate, access, attack and exploit cyber systems are more sophisticated than ever before and they are constantly upgrading their skills.

Consultants urge that savvy Edmonton businesses and consumers should urgently upgrade theirs, as well.

According to reported incident statistics, hacker attacks on Canadians and Canadian businesses are so rampant and hard to control that the federal government actually amended the Criminal Code of Canada to better protect Canadians from identity theft.

44

password 123456 12345678 qwerty abc123 iloveyou master 123123 654321 superman trustno1 111111

November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

It is not only an Edmonton problem, but a global epidemic for which there may be no easy answer or cure.

Last year, various situations of cybercrime cost Canadians a staggering $3 billion, according to the 2013 Norton Report, done by U.S. software giant Symantec Corporation. The report also cites that about seven million Canadians have been victims of cybercrime in the past year. Globally, the cost of cybercrime has risen to $113 billion.

Part of the dramatic rise in cybercrime is blamed on the increased use of mobile devices and open Wi-Fi networks. Authors of the Norton Report suggest that mobile technology (tablets and smartphones) and BYOD workplace trends are accelerating personal and work-related cyber risk.

More and more companies routinely provide mobility as a perk.

But as IT consultants point out, conventional PCs and laptops are not as vulnerable, because they are more likely to have installed antivirus and anti-malware software.

SECURITY

CYBERCRIME IN THE EDMONTON WORKPLACE

A proven key aspect of cyber breaches is ease of access.

Security experts have some caution and advice for BYOD users: • Always password-protect your smartphone and tablet and download security software on all your mobile devices.

• Don’t shop or do your banking online while using a free Wi-Fi network in a coffee shop or other ‘open’ public places.

A proven key aspect of cyber breaches is ease of access.

“Cybersecurity is a culture, not a technology or a department,” Lu says as undisputed fact, not opinion. “Everyone is potentially a risk. From the disgruntled junior clerk to senior management who usually have wide open access.

One password accessing everything is an invitation for disaster. Every time you add another way to access the company’s network, it heightens the risks.”

The Edmonton computer expert cites a well-known cybersecurity concept of “principle of least privilege.” It refers to granting access only to information the person needs. “Do managers really need open access to all of the company’s information?”

It may lead to touchy office politics and possibly bruised feelings but, does the chief marketing officer really need access to the company’s monthly profit and loss statements and does the director of HR really need access to client lists and sales strategies?

The safeguards and protocols can get complicated and expensive and some mid-size or smaller businesses use outside consultants for help – because cyber thieves (hackers) are more skilled than ever and can relatively easily exploit vulnerabilities in software and hardware.

• By tricking people into opening infected emails or vis-

iting corrupted websites that infect their computers with malicious software (malware).

• Taking advantage of people who don’t follow basic cybersecurity practices like frequently changing passwords, updating antivirus protection and using only protected wireless networks.

• Accessing a computer and stealing or distorting the information stored on it, corrupting its operations and programming it to attack other computers and systems to which they are connected.

There is also professional consensus about an obvious and simple risk factor.

In many workplaces, passwords are much too easy.

Statistics show that one-third of breaches happen because companies do not follow basic password security protocols, leaving employees free to choose the passwords they want.

A curious wrinkle about situations of cybercrime in the private sector workplace is concern about the possible impact on company reputation and creating doubt and worry in the perception of investors, clients, suppliers and competitors. It is a bit like the unspoken and unwritten “just don’t talk about it” bank policy when it comes to reporting bank robberies.

A baffling 2014 Statistics Canada report found that out of 17,000 private Canadian businesses it surveyed, although 1,020 businesses admitted experiencing some type of cyber breach in the past year, fewer than 260 actually reported it.

Apparently technology is such a potent game-changer that it has morphed cyber breaches to be the new shame some businesses would rather not talk about. BIE

www.businessinedmonton.com | Business In Edmonton Magazine | November 2014

45

FARMFAIR/CANADIAN FINALS RODEO MOOVERS AND SHAKERS

MOOVERS AND SHAKERS Farmfair International and the Canadian Finals Rodeo roll into Edmonton once again

BY BEN FREELAND

I

t’s been a year of cautious optimism for Alberta’s farmers and agri-food entrepreneurs. After a disastrous 2013, which resulted in much of southern Alberta devastated by flooding, 2014 saw a return to business as usual. While early September snowfall generated some unease among Alberta farmers amid a later-than-usual harvest, the federal government’s announcement of the ratification of a much-anticipated free-trade agreement with South Korea, a major importer of Alberta beef and malting barley, was greeted warmly by the province’s agri-food sector.

Last year’s flooding helped remind many of the continuing importance of agriculture to a province that, while historically rooted in agriculture, is also synonymous with

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November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

the energy industry. While only a small minority of Albertans still work in the agricultural sector, food and beverage industries continue to represent the province’s secondlargest manufacturing sector, standing at 16.8 per cent in 2013, with Alberta producing nearly a quarter of Canada’s total agri-food exports. This sector also continues to be dominated by meat production, constituting 45 per cent of Alberta’s food and beverage sector. And in a world characterized by growing middle-class demand for meat, export opportunities would appear limitless.

For the last four decades, Edmonton Northlands’ Farmfair International has served as one of the province’s most important agricultural showcases. Coupled with the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR), Western Canada’s largest indoor

FARMFAIR/CANADIAN FINALS RODEO

MOOVERS AND SHAKERS

Those unfamiliar with today’s cattle business might be surprised to learn that much of the transactional activity that goes on at Farmfair is not in live breeding stock but in genetic material. sporting event and the country’s premier competitive rodeo showdown, Farmfair has long stood as a leading promotional venue for Canadian cattle. While Alberta’s beef industry has seen considerable ups and downs over the decades, this year’s Farmfair, held from November 4-9, 2014 is expected to attract over 90,000 guests from six different continents and generate millions in revenue.

Those unfamiliar with today’s cattle business might be surprised to learn that much of the transactional activity that goes on at Farmfair is not in live breeding stock but in genetic material. As Northlands’ international marketing manager for agriculture Stacy Felkar explains, Farmfair typically attracts two different types of international delegates: those from new cattle markets looking to obtain livestock and more mature markets looking for genetic advancements. “This year we’re expecting delegates from the U.S., the U.K., Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Australia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Nigeria,” she says. “It’s always a different group of countries, but interest in Alberta beef is pretty much a global phenomenon.”

Of this year’s international visitors, the Kazakh, Uzbek and Turkish delegations represent relative newcomers

to the cattle ranching industry. Turkey in particular has ambitions of becoming a major cattle player, and will be sending a large delegation consisting of state governors from across the country in the hope of securing a live cattle access agreement with Canada. Other countries, notably cattle powerhouses Brazil and Australia, are regulars at Farmfair with an interest in the province’s latest genetic advances. “Farmfair is really a big deal in some of these countries,” asserts Felkar. “This year we’ll be welcoming a Brazilian TV host who will be doing a special on the event for a popular local agricultural television network.”

As always, the 2014 Farmfair International will include the Inbound Buyer Program, a networking and dealmaking forum for local breeders and international agribusiness delegates, as well as the RAM Country Marketplace, which will feature commercial exhibits, local food, western art and livestock-related equipment displays. Exhibits will include educational sessions on everything from best practices in nutrition and animal husbandry to the latest reproduction technology and genomics. “For many of our international visitors, this is the beginning of their education on cattle breeding, ranching and agri-trade,” says

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47

FARMFAIR/CANADIAN FINALS RODEO MOOVERS AND SHAKERS

Felkar. “Alberta is increasingly well known worldwide as a leader in cattle genetics, and the interest we’re seeing attests to this.”

Of course it’s not all work and study for Farmfair’s international guests, who will also be guests of honour at the Farmfair International Reception and, of course, the CFR, held November 5-9, 2014. Now in its 41st year, the CFR is expected to draw the country’s top rodeo athletes and stock, who will compete for national titles and more than $1.5 million in prize money, while attracting tens of thousands of spectators. As always, the CFR will cover the standard competitive rodeo categories, including bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc, tie-down roping, barrel racing and bull riding, culminating in the big “Super Saturday” crowning of the show champion.

“All of the action during Rodeo Week in Edmonton culminates at the Northlands grounds for the 41st Annual Canadian Finals Rodeo’s ‘Super Saturday,’” says Northlands spokeswoman Lauren Andrews. “The CFR is the one time of year for Edmontonians and Albertans to celebrate the thrill of competition in the setting of Western Canada’s largest annual indoor sporting event.”

The CFR will also include a Black Tie Bingo event and a Luncheon Fashion Show in support of the Edmonton Rodeo Cowboy’s Benevolent Foundation, a foundation that assists injured rodeo athletes in times of financial hardship.

It will also feature the crowning of a new Miss Rodeo Canada for 2014. In keeping with recent history, RAM Trucks will again be the CFR’s banner sponsor; one of whose vehicles will be awarded to the show’s grand champion. RAM’s

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November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

sales in the Edmonton region typically experience a noticeable uptick during the city’s annual Rodeo Week.

The CFR and Farmfair International combine to provide one of the country’s most alluring agricultural expositions, and one that continues to raise the profile of both Alberta and the Edmonton region. While Calgary continues to own the “Cowtown” moniker and claim the cowboy as its civic icon, it is the Edmonton region that houses the country’s largest per-capita cattle population. It is also home to a remarkably diverse cattle population, a fact reflected in the 15-plus pure-bred beef cattle breeds – all locally raised – on display at this year’s Farmfair. This coupled with Edmonton’s emerging status as an agricultural research hub has made Farmfair an event that enterprising cattle breeders from around the world can scarcely afford to miss.

“The unique combination of high-quality livestock, RAM Country Marketplace, equine events and the Canadian Finals Rodeo creates a great spectacle,” asserts Rachael Wheeler of the Australian cattle breeding company T&R Genetics. “The show is located in an area with a high number of pure-bred herds, which is reflected in the quality of livestock on display. The Inbound Buyer Program ensures that the buyers receive support and are connected with the right people, and the ability for visitors to tour around the large number of pure-bred herds in close proximity to Farmfair is also a big advantage.”

Edmontonians looking to get their cowboy on in November can find out more about the Canadian Finals Rodeo at cfr.ca. For more information on Farmfair International, visit farmfairinternational.com. BIE

Rising Up: ENTREC Corporation Reaches New Heights ENTREC uses strategized rapid growth to base a strong and purposeful acceleration into the crane market.

W

By Nerissa McNaughton

ho is ENTREC? The company, built on a combination of acquisitions and organic growth, dates back to 1995 with the formation of Schell Equipment. In 2009 a public capital pool company called EIS Capital was formed. Heading the management team were the former executives of Eveready Inc.: executive chairman Rod Marlin, former CEO of Eveready Inc. and the founder/president of Marlin Travel Group; president and CEO John Stevens, former VP and CFO of Eveready Inc. and the former president, CEO and COO of NC Services Group; and CFO Jason Vandenberg, former vice president finance and CFO of Eveready Inc., and former vice president finance of Afexa Life Sciences Inc. In May 2011, EIS Capital acquired non-core heavy hauling assets from Flint Energy Services. At this time the EIS Capital name changed to ENTREC, which stands for energy, transportation, rigging, engineering and cranes.

After the Flint Energy Services acquisition, ENTREC expanded rapidly. Thirteen more acquisitions worth over $200 million followed as ENTREC looked to aggressively expand both geographically and in operational scale.

Currently, ENTREC services the oilsands and liquefied natural gas industry (LNG) in Western Canada, along with the Bakken oilfields that stretch into North Dakota in the United States. Other industries serviced include conventional oil and gas, mining, petrochemical, pulp and paper, infrastructure, refining and power generation.

The rapid trajectory of ENTREC’s earnings speak to the management of the company, the assets and the confidence of the stakeholders. In just one year (December 31, 2012 to December 31, 2013) revenue increased from $132,491,000 to $212,911,000. During this time period ENTREC’s asset value grew from $265,369,000 to $359,787,000 and shareholders’ equity rose impressively from $115,992,000 to $179,768,000.

www.entrec.com

Regardless of how quickly ENTREC grows (and the rate of growth is truly astounding) or how successful the company becomes, the corporation is quick to credit their valued employees, from administration to drivers and crane operators and logistics, as critical components in their success. For ENTREC, employee ownership is a mandate that gives each worker a vested interest in the company and allows the employees to share in the benefits of the corporation’s success. The company’s core values ensure employees are guaranteed a safe working environment where they will be motivated, engaged and respected.

Through additional core values, the company further pledges exceptional customer service that exceeds the needs of each client, integrity in every transaction and improvement of the communities and environments in which they operate.

Clearly ENTREC has reached a high point of growth, customer service and employee satisfaction – but they are just getting started.

“Each acquisition, along with the rapid organic growth, was a stepping-stone and laid the foundation for our overall goal: to enter the crane business in a serious and impactful way,” says John Stevens, president, CEO and director of ENTREC. “We will become Western Canada’s number one crane business because of engaged employees delivering excellent customer service and doing it safely; and we will remain in that number one position because we will never deviate from our core values and our commitment to our communities and the environment.”

In an open shareholders’ letter (2013) Stevens noted a very significant development ENTREC undertook in support of their goal. “The year’s most important event was our acquisition in July, 2013, of GT’s Crane and Transportation Services Inc. GT’s was based in Grande Prairie and had approximately $53 million in annual revenue, recently built state-of-the-art equipment, including 45 cranes, and had a well-designed facility under construction. The acquisition was valued at approximately $54 million in cash and shares and made ENTREC the leading crane services and heavy haul provider in northeast B.C. and northwest Alberta.”

Can they sustain their momentum as they increase their market share in the crane industry? Of course they

John Stevens

can. ENTREC’s growth is the result of careful and calculated planning; the future has not been left to chance.

“We had a strategy,” Stevens explains. “We wanted into the crane business and also wanted to grow geographically. This means we had to get into the oilsands.

We did acquisitions in Fort McMurray and Bonnyville, as well as acquisitions that got us into all of the major oil and gas producing centres: the Bakkan region, northern B.C., northwest Alberta, and more.”

Evidence of this strategy is displayed in Steven’s beautiful office, which resides on the third floor of ENTREC’s stunning new 100,000-plus-square-foot headquarters on the western edge of Acheson. From his floor-to-ceiling windows Stevens can see over 60,000 vehicles go by daily on the Yellowhead Highway. The hutch on his desk is topped by a long line of baseball caps; each one is

www.entrec.com

from a company ENTREC acquired and they are lined up in the order the acquisitions took place.

Further evidence of the aggressive strategy is a short walk away to the yard where, in addition to the heavy haul equipment (a fleet of 840 multi-wheeled trailers, 400 hydraulic platform trailers and 235 tractor trailers across all locations), you can see some of their 235 cranes.

In 2013 ENTREC’s cranes totalled 165. The addition of further 70 cranes over the past year, creating a crane fleet now worth a combined $150 million, demonstrate the company’s growth and the company’s commitment to becoming the premier crane service provider in Western Canada.

“We are well positioned to take care of the oilsands industry,” says Stevens, pointing out the importance of all-terrain cranes in the oilsands, especially for MRO work. “The maintenance work is certainly there and ongoing. We are prepared to take full advantage of the growth of in situ.”

Currently, ENTREC is doing a wide variety of work for all of the industry’s major oil and gas corporations as well as engineering and procurement companies. The very diverse and extensive client list includes all the heavy hitters across every western Canadian region that has natural resources interests. These clients include: Husky Energy, Suncor Energy, Encana, Esso Imperial Oil, MEG Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, Devon Energy Corporation, Laricina Energy Ltd., Cenovus Energy, ConocoPhillips Canada, Nexen, Shell Canada, Rio Tinto Alcan, Apache, Paramount Resources Ltd., Progress Energy Canada Ltd., WorleyParsons Resources & Energy, Flint Energy Services, Fluor Canada Ltd., JV Driver, Bantrel, PCL Construction, URS Corporation, Express Integrated Technologies LLC, CB&I and Ledcor Group.

The crane fleet is capable of mastering any application. The fleet includes: • Crawler cranes for use in oilsands mining and in situ construction, LNG construction, infrastructure and miscellaneous projects • Rough terrain cranes for use in oilsands mining and in situ construction, LNG construction and drilling and other construction projects • Carry deck cranes for use in plant site maintenance and construction • All-terrain cranes used in the oilsands, maintenance and repair operations (MRO), taxi work, LNG drilling, infrastructure and other industrial work • Hydraulic truck cranes used in oilsands MRO, taxi work, LNG drilling, infrastructure and other industrial work • Picker trucks (the largest fleet in Canada) used for in situ MRO in the oilsands, conventional oil and natural gas projects and other industrial work

In 2014, ENTREC claimed the fourth spot on Alberta Venture’s Fast Growth 50 list and was also named as one of Alberta’s Top 65 Employers. “It all comes back to employee ownership,” says Stevens who credits every hardworking member of the team for the recognitions. “We

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are really big believers in employee ownership. It’s been our goal to be in the Top 65 since day one. We achieved this because of our core values and employee ownership program. We built our entire business model on engaged employees and strong core values. Out of 700 employees, 500 are owners in the company. This certainly helped us achieve such a high rating in the Top 100 program.”

Another driving factor for the Top Employer’s recognition is ENTREC’s “if it is important to our employees and important to our customers, it’s important to us” philosophy.

To this end, ENTREC has supported one of their employees who ran across Canada in support of cancer research, provided a free barbecue meal to the volunteers helping with the High River flood, donated a bobcat and crew to last year’s flood cleanup efforts, sponsors playgrounds, local 4-H clubs and so much more.

Stevens’ leadership has also been recognized. In 2013 he was winner in the Leaders of Tomorrow awards and a finalist in Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year awards (prairies region) in the emerging entrepreneur category.

The future holds nothing but promise for ENTREC. Bitumen production in the oilsands remains at or above forecasts with a steady increase predicted through 2030.

Proposed LNG export facilities and four possible pipelines prove the outlook for the LNG industry strong as well. With ENTREC ideally situated in the heart of these thriving sectors, there is only one direction for the company to go: up.

“We are just getting started,” smiles Stevens. “The crane and heavy haul industry is a worldwide industry.

Our goal in 10 – 15 years is to be a worldwide company.

We will take advantage of the growth here and then we will venture past this geographical region. We will keep growing and succeeding, and we will do it the same way we built our company to this level; with employee ownership and engaged employees.”

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Royal West Homes: Building on Passion

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by Nerissa McNaughton

hen Harnek Matharoo, the owner and founder of Royal West Homes, decided to launch the company in 1999, he brought a wealth of education and experience to the business. A diploma in engineering with a degree in business administration plus 21 years in the construction industry gave him the tools he needed to start a successful company. He also had something that is not taught in university nor purchased through any retailer: passion.

“The intention was always to be my own boss,” Matharoo explains with a warm smile. “After working in the public and private sector, I took a three-year break to work on some family obligations and think about the future, then I opened Royal West Homes.

With now over 35 years in the construction industry, I am just as comfortable with the technical side of things as I am with arranging millions of dollars for our projects.”

With his long-range goal setting and vision of what an outstanding homebuilding company can be, it is no surprise that his clients love the high-quality, modern, trendy houses Royal West Homes provide. “In 15 years we have never missed a possession deadline,” says Matharoo. “When we mail out a letter to the customer saying ‘your house will be ready on this date,’ it will be ready on that date. I still take pride in walking though each house we build to ascertain that it is done to our high standards.”

Those high standards start from the earliest stages of each project.

Matharoo explains, “My philosophy is to spend more time at the planning stages and address any issues before the construction starts. If you make mistakes during construction, you are not going to make money.

Avoid making mistakes. Do it once and do it right.” This exceptional level of detail continues through each progressive phase. “We are so confident about our work that we encourage all our customers to bring in their own professional home inspectors during the walk-through inspection,” says Matharoo. “We even cover some of the costs of these inspections.”

“Our subtrades have to know their work,” he says firmly. “They have to have the experience and the knowledge of their respective trades. We have companies that have worked with us for many years and we have new companies that we give opportunities to, but regardless of being an emerging or established company, the key person must have the knowledge and experience. We work with them and help them grow as we grow.”

“Most subtrades don’t want to leave us,” Matharoo continues.

“They want to stick with us because we treat them fairly, and we pay on time. In 15 years we have never had a single incident where someone’s payment could not be issued on time. At the same time, we expect our subtrades to do their work on time and on the schedule that we jointly develop. We make sure every contractor fully understands the scope of their work and they provide a price they can live with. If we sense a contractor has underbid by too big of a margin, we will have them take a second or third look at their numbers before awarding them the contract. It helps no one when you are well underway into the project and the contractor finds out they made a mistake and they can’t do the work they promised. I’d rather deal with those issues beforehand.”

Royal West Homes | 15th Anniversary | 1

Royal West Homes is currently working on Whether Royal West Homes is building their most ambitious project to date. Altitude for residents or tenants, environmental prois a 61-unit townhouse complex featuring four tection and sustainability is a top priority. different models ranging from 1,170 square “We want to do our part in making sure what feet to 1,380 square feet. Thirty-three of the and how we build, the products we use, and units have double-car garages (the remainder the way those things are designed and manuhave single-car garages) and the owners get to factured, have the smallest possible negative customize their space by choosing from sevimpact on the environment. We use energy eral high-quality finishing options. efficient doors and windows, faucets and fix“This product has been very well retures, up to 40 per cent recycled materials in ceived by the customers,” Matharoo conattic insulations, low-volatile organic comfirms. “We opened the show home 15 pound paint and programmable thermostats months ago and now there are only a couso residents can program their heating and ple of units left. By the end of December of cooling needs. We use high-efficiency furthis year we expect to complete and handnaces and hot water tanks,” Matharoo exover the last few units.” plains just some of Royal West’s many ecoAir Harbour is another project in progress. friendly initiatives.

Designed as an adult bungalow community, The green initiatives don’t stop at the conAir Harbour is popular with empty nesters struction stage. Matharoo and his team proHarnek Matharoo, president and founder of looking to downsize. This 32-unit complex vide the means for each customer to carry the Royal West Homes broke ground in 2012 and is nearly sold out; process further. “It is important for the cusjust five units remain. Additionally, the company has built huntomer to know how we build our houses and what products we use dreds of single-family houses and duplexes over the years. in them so they can see that buying from us contributes to a positive Although Royal West Homes builds residences all over Edmonimpact on the environment. We go through an orientation before ton, there was a time when they took a short detour from homethey take possession so if they have to change or replace things down building – and for a very good reason. “In 2007 when the economy the road, they are buying the right sustainable products.” went down it was time for us to move onto something that would The hard work, passion and dedication Royal West Homes puts be different and would keep us going for a couple of years,” Matharinto each project has not gone unnoticed by the building commuoo reflects. “The housing industry slowed down for about two years nity. Recently, Royal West was an award finalist in the Canadian because of over-construction, high interest rates and a number of Home Builders’ Association’s Edmonton chapter; but for Matharoo, other reasons. People just stopped buying. At that time we had sold it’s not the praise of the industry that provides his greatest satisfacout most of our previous houses and an opportunity came up to tion. “To me, the biggest appreciation comes from the customers build a 30,000 square-foot steel and concrete office building with when they walk into their new house and see what we have done. an underground parkade.” Always ready to recognize a good opThen they come out and meet me and shake hands and say thank portunity, Matharoo and his team decided to build the structure. you for doing such a good job.”

The result is the impressive Summerside Business Centre located in Matharoo’s passion for building quality homes has not waned in Edmonton’s south side. over three decades. He is still excited about slipping out of his suit

ROYAL WEST HOMES Congratulations on 15 YEARS of quality home building!

13030 - 146 St Edmonton, AB T5L 2H7 P: 780.413.2260

Royal West Homes | 15th Anniversary | 2

F: 780.455.6107

jacket and into a hard hat to check on Royal West’s construction projects. He feels it is his duty as the head of the company to personally greet as many owners as possible and quickly address any concerns on their possession day. Through it all he still finds time to give charitably to humanitarian causes; train, educate and inspire his staff; and plan Royal West’s future.

“We have three new projects in the preliminary stages,” he informs. “One is a six-storey building with 224 units. We are also considering a 60-unit townhouse complex and a 40-unit apartment building. We are still working on the details of these projects. In addition, we are also looking for opportunities to get into a number of new subdivisions in the city.”

“I am really pleased to have the team I have on staff,” Matharoo concludes. “I am grateful to all of the stakeholders: the investors, the bankers, the land developers, the architects, our suppliers, subtrades, staff and to an old friend, Joe Higgins, who helped this company in its early years.”

Matharoo gives that trademark warm smile again as he thinks of the company’s future. “We are ready to expand further. We are aiming for close to $18 million in revenue this year, and in the next five years we expect to double that.”

With his passion for building and his active role in all aspects of the company, there is no reason to doubt that Royal West Homes will meet and exceed their goals while continuing to please each and every customer for many years to come.

31, 450 McConachie Way Phone: 780.466.4099 Fax: 780.466.4069 info@royalwesthomes.com www.royalwesthomes.com

Congratulations to Royal West Homes on your 15th Anniversary!

We wish you continued success and look forward to ongoing partnerships on future projects.

www.brzarchitecture.ca | 403.532.5980 R O O F I N G

CONGRATULATIONS ROYAL WEST HOMES!

A N D

E X T E R I O R S

F O R

O V E R

3 0

Y E A R S

CONGRATULATIONS ROYAL WEST HOMES ON 15 YEARS! 9810-62 AVE. EDMONTON, AB T6E 0E3 P: 780.438.0331 • F: 780.435.0436 WWW.JAYSONGLOBAL.COM

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Royal West Homes | 15th Anniversary | 3

Proud to support Royal West homes on their 15th Anniversary.

The best success stories are the ones written right here

We wish you many years of continued success.

Congratulations to Royal West Homes on 15 years in business. Your hard work and commitment embodies all that makes Western Canada a great place to live, work and play. We look forward to helping you reach even loftier heights in the years to come.

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Congratulations Royal West Homes on 15 years! www.fancy-doors.com Royal West Homes | 15th Anniversary | 4

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS!

By Nerissa McNaughton

W

hen you need your car fixed, you go to a mechanic but when a mechanic needs their diagnostic equipment fixed, where do they go? They go to Allan’s Automotive.

Allan’s Automotive provides service for a wide range of automotive test and other equipment, such as: air conditioning recovery units, air compressors, battery chargers and testers, brake lathes, hand-held diagnostic tools, hydraulic jacks, nitrogen machines, plasma cutters, welders and many more. The company is a major warranty centre for many of the industry’s leading brands, including Mac Tools, Snap-on, Bosch, Hoffmann, and Robinair.

“Mechanics don’t fix their own equipment,” says Andy Fisher-Chessell who, along with his wife Connie, purchased Allan’s Automotive Electronics Ltd. in 2007. At that time Andy was working for Snap-on but was looking for work where he didn’t have to spend so much time on the road. Connie’s father was a mechanic who used to take courses from Allan’s Automotive, so she was already familiar with the business. Bruce, the original owner’s son, was looking to sell; so everything lined up at the right moment for the seller and buyers.

Although Connie and Andy’s story with Allan’s Automotive starts in 2007, the company’s roots go deep into Edmonton’s history – all the way back to 1963.

Allan MacTaggart purchased an electronic ignition for his car and he was loving it. He loved it so much, he decided to make them. His first place of production was the basement of his home, but his little business expanded so rapidly he was into a shop by 1964. Although Allan’s son, Bruce, inherited the company, he decided to take his career in a different direction, so he looked for a capable

buyer. Those buyers were Andy and Connie.

Working together as a married couple may seem daunting to some, but not to these two entrepreneurs who couldn’t imagine working this closely with anyone else. When they bought the businesses they didn’t have full-time employees. It was just the two of them, Connie’s mom doing part-time bookkeeping, and a can-do attitude that saw them through the many challenges that come with small business ownership. However, their business acumen was on the right track and soon they were able to grow their staff to eight, all of which were promptly adopted as their extended family.

“We have a great group of people,” smiles Andy. “They laugh together. You spend a lot of time at work so it’s worth hunting down the right people.”

“In fact, I’d list the people we work with as one of the rewards of running the business,” Connie agrees.

Those people are a diverse range of technicians, a shipper/receiver and the administrators that are just as quick to crack a joke with you as they are to offer their expert assistance. The team, whom work seamlessly together, is no accident. Each one is there by design. Connie explains, “It’s difficult to get technicians that are reliable or that have enough experience. There is no ticket or licence for what we do, but if someone has a diverse range of mechanical experience, we can train them. Our technicians also have to have the personal skills to give great customer service because they will be interacting with clients. It took us awhile to find the staff we have now because we were looking for the right fit.”

Once again their business acumen was right on target.

Allan’s Automotive Electronics Ltd. | 50 years

The warm hospitality of the staff greets you like a hug as soon as you walk through the door. In fact, by the time you leave you feel as though you’ve been group hugged, even though everyone remains professional at all times.

With the purchase of the company behind them, the rapid growth levelling to a sustainable pace and the right team in the shop, Allan’s Automotive is excited to focus on the future. Andy, who trains owners how to use the equipment as well as performing as a technician and advisor, is looking to increase the training side of their business. “I see things from the operations and the equipment side,” he explains. “I can tell people what to do and what not to do because I’ve worked with so many different kinds of equipment. I can usually tell them something that didn’t come in the manual or on the DVD.” Another aspect under development is a maintenance program. “There are so many companies that would benefit from this,” Andy points out. “With a maintenance program in place, it wouldn’t be such an urgent thing when something breaks.”

Connie likes how she and Andy are transitioning into managing the company rather than performing the dayto-day tasks. With their capable and enthusiastic staff on board, the owners now have time to focus on improving the shop and their processes. A much-need phone line expansion is underway to take their three-line system up to 10, which is necessary to handle all the incoming calls.

They also plan to implement a client-care follow up procedure and attend tool expos to promote their brand. Ultimately, they plan to diversify and include oilfield equipment maintenance in their service offerings.

Yet there is one thing they never plan to change. “We are always interested in looking at what we can do for our customers,” Andy states emphatically. “We try to be a onestop shop and if we can’t do it, we can refer it.”

The couple, who admit to learning how to run a business by doing long hours of research after hours, accepting the help of industry mentors, and keeping themselves informed about what would benefit their business, are more than happy to give back to the community. From children’s programs to military initiatives, they look at the causes that interest their staff and work out how to offer assistance (silent auctions, donations, etc.).

They are also grateful to their many supporters. “Our customers have mentored us since we started,” says Connie. “Murray Bantam Incorporated had a business in the city longer than us and even competed with us at times, but they have always helped and mentored us.”

“Marty from Bettcher’s Auto Services is a huge supporter of ours and says wonderful things about us,” Andy adds. “We try to live up to that.”

Marty isn’t the only one singing the praises of Allan’s Automotive. The warmth, service and knowledge of the company is summed up in a statement from their longest-term employee, Linda Hamp. “They [Andy and Connie] are just awesome people and you know you are in the right place when you hear that from outside clients. All of us, the owners and staff, are really excited about the company’s future.”

Allan’s Automotive has provided over 50 years of service. Thousands of diagnostic tools and many happy clients will continue benefit from the company’s genuine warmth and experience for many years to come.

Allan’s Automotive Electronics Ltd. | 50 years

Brand Name Parts – Outstanding Service

WSI would like to congratulate Allan’s Automotive Electronics on 50 years!

WAREHOUSE SERVICES INC. AUTOMOTIVE / LIGHT INDUSTRIAL - PARTS & SUPPLIES

www.wsionline.ca

9416 - 27 Ave Phone: 780-469-8060 Fax: 780-469-3857 www.allansautomotive.com

Allan’s Automotive Electronics Ltd. | 50 years

E-COMMERCE

E-TAIL THERAPY

E-TAIL THERAPY

BY BEN FREELAND PHOTOS COURTESY OF GRAVITY POPE

The shopping world is becoming an increasingly digitized and borderless world.

For Edmonton’s leading retailers, this means a world of opportunity.

GRAVITYPOPE TAILORED GOODS EDMONTON

I

t’s an assumed truth that the dramatic growth in online shopping over the past decade has come at the expense of brick-and-mortar shops. A recent article in Forbes magazine anticipated yet another “year of reckoning” for traditional retail outlets as a result of continued growth in e-commerce coupled with still cautious consumer sentiment – at least south of the border. Post-Christmas holiday statistics appear to bear this out, with major U.S. retailers like Best Buy, Target and Urban Outfitters all marking declines in in-store purchases from previous years.

But while the macro picture paints a doom-and-gloom scenario for brick-and-mortar retailers, the street-level picture is far more complex – and a world away from the zero-sum view painted by the Washington Post and other media bellwethers. For many small retailers, the move towards e-commerce has not only been a totally manageable challenge, but has, in fact, been a positive boon for their business across the board, including in-store sales. Such has been the case for a number of leading Edmonton retailers, particularly amid a sunny economic climate and the ongoing rejuvenation of the city’s long repudiated downtown.

For such retailers, the e-commerce challenge has meant a whole new world of business and brand recognition.

Gravity-Pope is one of Edmonton’s most beloved apparel outlets – and a true rags-to-riches success story. Founded www.businessinedmonton.com | Business In Edmonton Magazine | November 2014

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E-COMMERCE E-TAIL THERAPY

GRAVITYPOPE EDMONTON

in 1990, the Whyte Avenue shoe store began with a single outlet and now has nine points of sale in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto – and the Internet, which now accounts for some 10 per cent of the retailer’s total sales. While e-sales still represent a relatively small percentage of Gravitypope’s total sales, founder Louise Dirks has been thrilled with her online store’s performance since its inauguration in 2005. “Our online sales are growing in leaps and bounds,” she explains. “Our web sales grew by 31 per cent in 2013 and it now competes with our Calgary and Toronto outlets for third place after our Vancouver and Edmonton stores.”

While Dirks is delighted with her web store’s success, she is equally confident in the ongoing success of her street-front outlets. “When I look at my business, I tend to think of my online and brick-and-mortar businesses as two completely separate but symbiotic entities,” she says.

“What we’re finding is that a lot of people “pre-shop” online before they

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LOUISE DIRKS

While Dirks is delighted with her web store’s success, she is equally confident in the ongoing success of her street-front outlets.

November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

enter the store, so in that way our online business feeds directly into our brick-and-mortar business.” For Dirks, the online challenge is more than surmountable through continued focus on brand fundamentals, which in Gravitypope’s case is a focus on providing rare, specialty footwear brands available at few other stores.

“I don’t worry about losing our brick-and-mortar business to e-commerce,” says Dirks. “I do worry about losing market share to big-box encroachment, but I’m confident that I’m good at what I do and that there will continue to be a demand for what I provide, which is rare and highquality footwear brands and a quality customer experience.”

While Dirks is a relative veteran of the e-commerce scene, other Edmonton retails are now just beginning to make the move. At 76 years of age, Henry Singer is one of Edmonton’s oldest continually operating retail outlets, and also one that recently began carving out a niche online. The venerable Edmonton menswear store

E-COMMERCE

E-TAIL THERAPY

GRAVITYPOPE CLOTHING PHOTOGRAPHY

GRAVITYPOPE SHIPPING

maintains four brick-and-mortar outlets, two in Edmonton and two in Calgary, with its main store in Manulife Place enjoying the benefits of Edmonton’s ongoing downtown rejuvenation. It also launched a new e-commerce site last year, and is already seeing slow but steady growth in online sales.

“We’ve seen a very fast progression from a purely informational site to full-fledged e-commerce over the past year,” says Henry Singer marketing manager Jason Toufexis. “We launched our online shop on the occasion of the store’s 75th anniversary. While we still have a relatively small selection of items available via our online store, we’re aiming for around 90 per cent by this fall, with the ultimate goal of 100 per cent of our stock.” Like Dirks, Toufexis doesn’t worry about online retail cutting into his company’s walk-in sales. “There are certain items that customers are always going to prefer to buy in-store, like tailored suits and whatnot,” he explains. “At this point we’re mainly using our online store as a magnet to get people into the stores. Eventually we hope to see our online store function as a fifth location, while still feeding into our brick-and-mortar business.”

For both Gravitypope and Henry Singer, the digitization of retail has also opened new horizons for their sales and their brand messaging. Henry Singer’s 75th anniversary online launch saw the store’s reach expand beyond Alberta for the first time in its history. “Last fall we promoted our Canada Goose line on men’s lifestyle sites across Canada, and we had online sales from all provinces except for Newfoundland and the territories,” says Toufexis. “In terms of in-store sales, we absolutely destroyed our numbers from the previous year.” Henry Singer’s embrace of social media, namely Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, has also helped drive brand awareness, particularly in light of the renewed interest in Edmonton’s downtown. “We use the #yegdt hashtag extensively,” Toufexis adds. “We’re very proud to be a staple in Edmonton’s downtown core.”

For Dirks and Gravitypope, the doors opened by e-commerce and social media have been even more dramatic.

“Our sales are now worldwide,” says Dirks. “Our number two market is now the U.S., particularly in New York and Los Angeles, and our number three market is Australia.

We also have sales in Japan, the U.K. and elsewhere. Our reputation for carrying rare brands has travelled far and wide. This has been through a combination of word-ofmouth promotion, trade shows and our digital presence.

The challenge for us has been keeping up with the online demand. We’re now introducing full product lines specifically for the web, and we’re developing a new website for a September 2014 launch.”

She adds that none of this has come at the expense of their brick-and-mortar presence, which continues to grow on par with their online sales. “Currently we’re looking for new retail space in Calgary for an additional clothing and footwear outlet. Our physical stores are doing just fine.” www.businessinedmonton.com | Business In Edmonton Magazine | November 2014

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E-COMMERCE E-TAIL THERAPY

While both Henry Singer and Gravitypope’s brick-and-mortar sales continue to do just fine, both Dirks and Toufexis assert that the retail world has changed dramatically in recent years and that a digital presence is absolutely essential for any retail business looking to survive and thrive in today’s economy.

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GRAVITYPOPE SHOE PHOTOGRAPHY

While both Henry Singer and Gravitypope’s brick-and-mortar sales continue to do just fine, both Dirks and Toufexis assert that the retail world has changed dramatically in recent years and that a digital presence is absolutely essential for any retail business looking to survive and thrive in today’s economy. “At this point you absolutely need a website and a social media presence,” says Toufexis. “Speaking personally, if I can’t find a store online or on my phone, I’m not going to bother. For us we definitely want to promote the fact

November 2014 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com

that we’re a 75-year-old store, but you also need people to know you’re young and fresh. In our business the older generation is retiring and as a result buying fewer business suits, so if we’re to stay in business for another 75 years we need to change our tune.”

Dirks concurs. “In today’s retail market it’s a huge advantage to be online. The world is now truly the shopper’s oyster. I’m just glad we jumped into the game early, as it’s made a huge difference to all facets of our business.” BIE

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TOWARDS SELF-REGULATION The Evolution of the Human Resources Profession in Alberta

HUMAN RESOURCES INSTITUTE OF ALBERTA

Evolution of the HR Profession Successful organizations have always depended on high-performance teams. However, the current market constraints in Alberta are making it more challenging to recruit and retain top talent. As a result, the role of HR professionals – who operate on the frontline of Alberta’s labour market - is paramount for successful business strategy execution.

What used to be a job assigned to those who were “people persons” now requires an ability to navigate employee and employer relations, a strong grasp of employment standards and labour laws and the ability to think about a company workforce for the long-term and define, forecast and solve relevant talent deficits.

HR professionals and practitioners fulfil a variety of roles and job functions to help companies achieve their business goals.

Job titles may include Organizational Effectiveness Manager, HR/Safety Manager, Employee Relations Specialist, Talent Acquisition Specialist, HR Coordinator, Learning and Development Specialist, Payroll Administrator, Benefits Advisor and many more. They incorporate a broad range of activities including: professional practice, organizational effectiveness, staffing, employee and labour relations, total rewards, learning and development and occupational health, safety and wellness.

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The current market constraints in Alberta are making it more challenging to recruit and retain top talent.

”

The CHRP Designation The Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) is a nationally recognized designation in the field of human resources. Established in 1990, it is the gold standard across Canada for HR competence and skilled practice.

The designation indicates to employers and the public that an individual has acquired a requisite level of knowledge and skills within the field of human resources and holds themselves to a higher standard of ethical practice.

Dedicated to strengthening and promoting the HR profession.

To earn the CHRP designation, candidates must hold a Bachelor’s degree in any field from an accredited post-secondary institution, pass the National Knowledge Exam and possess at least three years of professional-level HR experience, including one year of Canadian experience. Through their exam and experience, candidates must demonstrate competency in nine functional areas and five enabling areas relevant to the HR profession.

A CHRP must also undertake on-going professional development to retain their designation – just like other recognized professions.

The CHRP requires 100 hours of professional development every 3 years, including experience in at least 2 of the 5 categories. In order to ensure compliance, CHRPs submit professional experience logs and HRIA audits 3% of submitted logs every year.

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Established in 1990, it is the gold standard across Canada for HR competence and skilled practice.

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HUMAN RESOURCES INSTITUTE OF ALBERTA | www.HRIA.ca

All Alberta CHRP’s adhere to rules of professional conduct, a made-in-Alberta code of ethics, an annual good character attestation and a requirement to carry professional liability insurance when in independent practice. Should a CHRP fail to uphold these standards, the HRIA administers a twelve-member Discipline Committee which includes a non-CHRP to ensure greater transparency of disciplinary measures. HRIA uses a panel system to process complaints, investigate and determine corrective actions, where necessary. In last five years, 14 complaints have been received, 8 dismissed, 5 resolved by alternative dispute resolution and 1 voluntary cancellation.

HRIA Today The Human Resources Institute of Alberta (HRIA) is the only certifying body for the Certified Human Resource Professional (CHRP) designation in Alberta. We are a member-driven organization that represents the voice of human resources professionals in Alberta.

HRIA is dedicated to strengthening and promoting the human resources profession.

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Founded in 1984

A member driven organization that represents the voice of human resources professionals in Alberta.

5,900 members at the end of 2013 3,100 certified members (CHRPs) 3rd largest HR professional association in Canada Representing Alberta’s 6th largest non-health profession

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31%

Membership - Company Size Small Organizations

12%

Medium Organizations Large Organizations Self-employed

Revenue Sources Job Board and Certification

19%

Member Dues

32%

Chapter and Member Services 37%

Top 3 Membership Categories Oil and Gas Public administration and government Professional, scientific, and technical services

Conference

25 20 15 10 5 0

HUMAN RESOURCES INSTITUTE OF ALBERTA | www.HRIA.ca

24% 22%

31%

23%

Self-Regulation In 2014, the Human Resources Institute of Alberta (HRIA) will be applying to the Alberta Government to become a self-regulated profession. We will essentially be asking the provincial government to grant us the privilege to govern ourselves and set the expectations for others wanting to join the profession.

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Self-regulation is the cornerstone to becoming a recognized profession.

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If we are successful, it will signify a vote of confidence in our ability to put professional independence ahead of self-interest and commit to protecting the public interest above all else.

The achievement of self-regulation is the cornerstone to becoming a recognized profession. It signals to the business community, the government and the public that they can put their trust in HRIA to ensure HR practices in Alberta meet the highest standards and have confidence that CHRPs are qualified, competent, and ethical. As the only certifying body in Alberta for the CHRP, HRIA will also ensure a continuous level of professional development for CHRP’s in order to maintain consistent high standards.

Why Are We Doing This?

Much has changed since the Human Resources Institute of Alberta (HRIA) incorporated itself under the Societies Act. The human resources profession has changed significantly over the past 30 years with a renewed focus on actively managing the workforce, better talent recruitment techniques and an increasingly tight labour market.

In response to these challenges, we want the human resources profession to be governed by a professional regulatory act instead of one designed for community groups and charitable foundations. We need the legal tools available in a professional regulatory act so that HRIA can regulate the human resources profession to respond to an increasingly tight labour market and a progressively international All of these improvements are geared workforce.

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towards ensuring that the HRIA remains focused on upholding the highest standards of practice and ethics.

For more information and to submit your feedback please visit: www.hria.ca/self-regulation

How Will the Public Benefit?

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Certified members of the HRIA are ready to take on the additional responsibilities of self-regulation and putting the protection of the public first and foremost in the oversight of the profession.

CHRPs recently voted 94% in favour of applying for self-regulation with the understanding that the protection of the public will be the focus of this endeavour.

The HRIA has been updating its processes including the introduction of a new Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. The disciplinary functions of the HRIA have been modernized and aligned with the best practices of similar professional associations. A new procedures manual, formal tribunal training and new recruitment to increase the breadth of experience as well as knowledge on the Discipline Committee have been implemented.

All of these improvements are geared towards ensuring that the HRIA remains focused on upholding the highest standards of practice and ethics to ensure that members place the interests of the public at the heart of their human resources practices.

HUMAN RESOURCES INSTITUTE OF ALBERTA | www.HRIA.ca

WWW.EDMONTONCHAMBER.COM

EDMONTON IS ON FIRE

BY JAMES CUMMING, PRESIDENT AND CEO, EDMONTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

JAMES CUMMING

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hat a summer we’ve had in our great city. If you haven’t noticed, I’m not sure where you’ve been.

But it has been a great run and we’re drawing the attention of others everywhere. This may just sound overly boosterish but, in all my years in this city, I have rarely seen this level of excitement and activity.

I have attended events over the past several months which have demonstrated that what is going on is real and people are bullish. Epcor recently hosted a session to get people talking about our city and we heard from newcomers who raved about how extraordinary life is here. They talked about our amenities, events and river valley. Most importantly, they spoke of Edmonton’s greatest asset: the people who live here. The discussion took place between people who are excited because they can see the start of something big. Our regular lineup of annual events continues to grow in popularity, like the Fringe Festival, Folk Festival, K-Days, Symphony in the Park, many rock festivals and E-town.

We were also treated to several world-class events that gave us international exposure, including the ITU Grand Final, FIFA Women’s World Cup U-20 tournament, Tour of Alberta and the Canadian Country Music Awards. The exposure gained by hosting these events is a remarkable accomplishment for Edmonton.

There were other, equally important announcements this summer that signify the excitement in Edmonton.

Announcements of developments in our downtown, specifically the arena district, received both national and international attention. It has clearly been a great summer.

Edmonton is vibrant, engaging city – one that continues to attract new residents and visitors. After having such an exciting, active summer, how do we maintain momentum in the coming winter months? An important component of keeping Edmonton active is to more effectively connect our downtown core. The Edmonton Chamber believes that completing the original pedway loop is essential to achieving this ambition.

In September 2014, the Edmonton Chamber publicly released its Pedway Design for a Vibrant and Prosperous

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We have the opportunity to maximize existing assets – the partially completed pedway system – to more effectively connect downtown Edmonton.

Edmonton Downtown Core policy, which addresses the issue of downtown Edmonton’s incomplete pedway system.

It states that the pedway system is vital to the successful revitalization of Edmonton’s downtown core, as well as Edmonton’s long-term economic success. The Edmonton Chamber believes the original pedway loop should be completed to benefit downtown residents and guests.

We have the opportunity to maximize existing assets – the partially completed pedway system – to more effectively connect downtown Edmonton. Completing the pedway loop will allow greater accessibility for all Edmontonians. We will have a greater ability to travel underground from one location to the next without having to worry about weather conditions, resulting in more activity in Edmonton during winter seasons. Additionally, persons with disabilities, those who rely on warm, dry conditions and smooth travelling options, will have greater access to downtown facilities. Therefore, completing the pedway loop will help maintain the stimulating momentum of excitement and activity we gained during the summer.

The Edmonton Chamber is committed to ensuring that we maintain a great environment for business and will continue to advocate for policies that support business on both the short and long term. Our mission to create the best environment for business has the goal of pursuing a healthy, growing economy for all businesses and their employees. With the current economic conditions and growing excitement in the city, we are positioned for longterm success.

NEW Vehicle Rental Location at the Fort McMurray Airport!

EVENTS

Mobile Mastery

Lunch & Learn

Now more than ever, small business can increase efficiencies, become more competitive and ultimately grow by turning to mobile devices and services to help them get ahead. Learn how you can leverage mobile technology to increase productivity in the office and on the go during Small Business Week.

Monday, October 20, 2014 World Trade Centre Edmonton 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Member - $29.95 + GST Non-Member - 39.95 + GST

*Includes $5.00 parking voucher for library parkade

Small Business, Big Vision

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Luncheon

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Hear why John Stanton, CEO of Running Room, believes Edmonton is a unique city for small business and growth. Learn how you can apply his insights on corporate culture and core values to your own organization during the Small Business, Big Vision luncheon!

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Tuesday, October 21, 2014 Fairmont Hotel Macdonald 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Member - $49.95 + GST Non-Member - $69.95 + GST

Small Business Week Sponsors SBW Gold Sponsor

SBW Silver Sponsor

SBW Bronze Sponsors

SBW In-Kind Sponsor TM

BDC Small Business Week is a trademark of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)

ORDER YOUR TICKETS TODAY. VISIT EDMONTONCHAMBER.COM/EVENTS

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EDMONTON.COM

E-TOWN FESTIVAL 2014 CHALLENGES COMMON THOUGHT AND INSPIRES CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

PETER DIAMANDIS

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rad Ferguson, president and CEO of Edmonton Economic Development, kicked off the festival with a bold request for attendees to promise that over the next 24 hours they would challenge themselves to set the bar higher. This call to action ramped up the energy in Shaw Conference Centre’s Hall D for the next two days.

On September 11 and 12, 2014, Edmonton’s entrepreneurial-minded and creative crowd met a lineup of boundary-pushing innovators in an exchange of ideas and inspiration. For attendees, it was a valuable experience that will help to infuse current and upcoming professional and personal ambitions with a little spark of thinking bigger and bolder about what can be achieved.

Keynote speaker Peter Diamandis, chairman and CEO of the XPRIZE Foundation, had conference goers contemplating the future on a massive scale. “What can you do to positively impact a billion people within a decade?” he challenged. Taking the audience on a journey into the future to explore the impact of exponential technologies, Diamandis showed that there is still so much to learn. The practice of lifelong learning will be absolutely essential to progress and growth.

“Acknowledgment of your fellow human beings is the most powerful force on earth,” declared management guru, Tom Peters, bringing the audience firmly back to the present. Behind every business, project and idea are the people who make them happen, so it only makes sense to enable and inspire your people to excellence. He also stressed the importance of learning, plugging “studenthood for life,” during his engaging question-and-answer period with former prime minister and founding principal of Peter Lougheed Leadership College, the Right Honourable Kim Campbell.

SHANE KOYCZAN, SPOKEN WORD POET

With people-centred ideas now top of mind, conference goers headed over to Venture Town to explore sponsor spaces and make connections with a diverse group of attendees.

Next up, vice-chairman of the Oilers Entertainment Group, Bob Nicholson, spoke passionately on the importance of mentorship, something he found essential during his tenure at Hockey Canada and now with the Oilers Entertainment Group.

Four-time Olympic Gold Medallist, Hayley Wickenheiser, shared her own experience as part of the winning Hockey Canada machine and shared insider tips for staying motivated even while at the top of her game. She drew clear parallels between sports and business team performance, challenging the audience to think about their true contribution to success by asking, “Are you going to be an energy giver or an energy taker?”

Trend-spotter and founder of Competia, Estelle Métayer, singled out the conference as a natural response to the entrepreneurial culture in Edmonton, saying, “E-Town is a symptom of your city’s trends.” She opened our eyes to the amount of data we have at our fingertips, found in places we would not expect such as street art lining alleyways www.businessinedmonton.com | Business In Edmonton Magazine | November 2014

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E-TOWN FESTIVAL 2014 CHALLENGES COMMON THOUGHT AND INSPIRES CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

or rap lyric libraries, and the surprising ways in which it can help to grow and target our businesses.

After an intimate and emotional performance with his Juno-winning wife, Chantal Kreviazuk, on E-Town’s opening night, Raine Maida took to the stage once more to unleash the audience’s creativity with a songwriting exercise. It was daunting for many E-Town attendees to think about creating music lyrics, but Maida told the audience, “You have to take a risk. You have to be vulnerable.” The results were magical. Canada’s music power couple, along with a cello player, turned conference goer’s childhood memories into songs on the spot!

Keeping with the theme of creativity, spoken word poet, Shane Koyczan, performed “Ideas,” a poem commissioned specially for E-Town. The audience was blown away by the creativity, energy and inspiring words in all four of the poems he performed throughout the conference, and Koyczan thanked E-Town “for wanting to bring poetry into your lives.”

It was a whirlwind two days with lots learned, new challenges to tackle and fresh connections to nurture. “E-Town is about ideas meeting ideas and people meeting people,”

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ESTELLE MÉTAYER

said Ferguson, summing up the experience, and promising a program with plenty of problem solving for the audience in 2015.

If you weren’t able to make it to E-Town this year, you can still get a taste of what it was like. Visit e-town.ca for a wrap-up video, more pictures and updates on next year’s E-Town, September 10-11, 2015.

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Business smarts have never been cooler.

James Boettcher | Owner, Fiasco Gelato | Chief Idea Officer | Creator of Happiness

Meet James. He’s part of the 58 per cent of business owners who believe other business owners and mentors are a valuable resource for advice.* James met with one of ATB’s leading business experts, who offered valuable tips based on his own experiences as a business leader and financial specialist. Now, James has the perfect recipe to keep growing his business. And we couldn’t be happier to mentor him every frozen treat along the way.

Learn more about James at atb.com/WeGrowAlberta

Who provides mentorship when (and how) you need it?

We do.

BUSINESS ACCOUNTS І CASH FLOW І FINANCING І KNOW-HOW *Findings from ATB Business telephone survey of 300 randomly selected Alberta Small & Medium-sized Enterprise owners/operators, published in ATB Business Beat, October 2014. ™ Trademarks of Alberta Treasury Branches.