BusinessView Saskatoon June July 2016

June/July 2016

Celebrate Success!

Awards Gala, Presented

by PotashCorp - recap of the award winners

New Chamber Board President Jason Yochim How he sees the year ahead for the Chamber and the business community

Jason Yochim, CEO of Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORSÂŽ, is the incoming President of the Chamber Board of Directors

What if we celebrated success in in our community?

PotashCorp is proud to sponsor and take part in honoring all nominees of the SABEX Celebrate Success! Awards.

We share their commitment to business excellence, and helping our province to continue to shine bright.

@PotashCorpSask PotashCorp.com

Table of Contents

June/July 2016

Featured Articles President’s View Pg. 4

How do we build the best business climate in Canada?

Cover Story: Jason Yochim Pg. 5 Connecting with members key to Chamber success

Annual General Meeting recap Pg. 6 Celebrate Success! Awards Gala Pg. 7 2 Web Design Pg. 17 Five Minutes for Business: Pension Intervention Pg. 18 The Celebrate Success! Awards Gala wrapped up May 19th.

Image: Grant Romancia Photography.

BUSINESSView­is a bimonthly publication of the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce 104-202 4th Avenue North, Saskatoon, SK S7K 0K1 Phone: (306) 244-2151 Fax: (306) 244-8366 Email: chamber@saskatoonchamber.com Website: www.saskatoonchamber.com Twitter: @stoonchamber

Feedback on articles is invited, but views expressed in BUSINESS View are those of contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by, or are policy of, the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce or its Board of Directors. We encourage you to support the business leaders whose names and products you see advertised in this issue as well as throughout our entire membership. The Board reserves the right to edit submissions.

STAFF

Kent Smith-Windsor, Executive Director Derek Crang, Sales & Membership Director Terry Lawrence, Administrator Roz Macala, Executive Secretary Kevin Meldrum, Marketing Director Linda Saunders, Bookkeeper Ryan Wig, Communications Director Czarina Catambing, Committee Operations Intern Meghan Johnson, Committee Operations Intern

Canadian Publications Mail Agreement No. 40052085 Return Undeliverable Addresses to: Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce 104-202 4th Avenue North, Saskatoon, SK S7K 0K1 Publisher: Kevin Meldrum

Cover Image by Grant Romancia

businessview@saskatoonchamber.com

Advertising Sales: Derek Crang

dcrang@saskatoonchamber.com

Writer: Terri Eger Photography: Grant Romancia BUSINESS VIEW SASKATOON JUNE/JULY 2016 3

President’s View

A recipe for success How do we build “the best business climate in Canada”?

For several years the Mission of The Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce has been “To Build the Best Business Climate in Canada”. I believe that to make this happen there are several key elements Jason Yochim that must be 2016/17 President present. First of all Greater Saskatoon the foundation for Chamber of Commerce success comes from a well thought out and focused strategic plan. The current strategic plan of the chamber entitled “Getting it Right” is just such a plan. The plan focuses on four key areas for our city: Competitive Taxation, Strategic Infrastructure Development, Growth, and Capitalizing on the Commercialization of Research. The plan also lays out four key focus areas for the Chamber: Leadership, Member Engagement, Leadership Capacity, and Capacity to Identify Issues. In order for the Chamber to realize its goals for the city, success in the four focus areas of the Chamber itself must be a reality. I believe that herein lies the recipe for success.

Leadership Strong leadership is essential to ensure continued growth in membership, a strong voice regarding key stakeholder issues and attracting qualified and respected directors to the board of directors. On the staff side we have been very fortunate to have Kent SmithWindsor provide this level of leadership in

our city and beyond. Kent is well informed, highly engaged, and respected within the political and business arena. The Chamber has also had the good fortune of a long list of board Presidents with the capacity to harness the varied expertise of board to successfully reach its objectives. Looking ahead it is a priority to ensure continuity of this leadership at both the staff and volunteer levels.

Member Engagement I believe it is incumbent on the Chamber to engage with the membership and clearly understand current and relevant issues that “keep the members up at night”. To be successful in business one must listen to the voice of the customer and deliver on the needs of the customer. Our customer has always been and will continue to be our membership. To ensure that we continue to advocate for our members we will be exploring additional opportunities to reach out and close the gap between their expectations and what we deliver.

Leadership Capacity The strength of the Chamber Board is dependent on the diverse representation of all business interests. Succession planning for an effective board should be built on a Competency Matrix that represents these interests as well as specific expertise that is needed in the boardroom for good decision making. Leadership capacity is also dependent on looking into the future and ensuring continuity of strong leadership in the Executive Director.

Ability to Identify Issues In the past the Chamber directors have had a pulse in the marketplace enabling them to bring key information to the table for sound decision making. The diversity of our board will ensure that we continue to receive relevant market intelligence going forward.

The organization will continue with research and environment scanning to determine risks and capitalize on opportunities for our stakeholders.

This Recipe for Success has proven successful for the realization of past Chamber goals such as the North Bridge and a defined contribution plan for civic employees. At times it seems that for some key goals the needle moves slowly however these goals are important and will continue to be a priority for the Chamber. These include but are in no way limited to; a higher cost recovery for transit, reduction of the nonresidential tax premium, and collaboration with the Saskatchewan Chambers to reduce the provincial property tax rate.

In conclusion I look forward to leading your chamber in the continued accomplishment of its goals. I recognize that although we have accomplished many things in the past, that what has got us this far may not be what it takes for us to have success in the future. Through an attitude of continuous improvement, active member engagement and willingness to explore new ideas and opportunities, we will ensure that the objectives of our strategic plan are carried out to serve the interests of our stakeholders.

Jason Yochim President 2016/17 Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce

2016-17 Board of Directors for the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce President Jason Yochim - Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. 1st Vice-President Kelly Bode - WMCZ Lawyers & Mediators.

2nd Vice-President, Finance Peggie Koenig - Koenig & Associates. Past President Tanya Knight - MNP LLP Chair, Governance Bill Cooper - PotashCorp. Paul Labbe - Stantec Inc. Silvia Martini - Interlink Research Inc. Linda Mason - PCL Construction Management Ltd. Deborah Meyers - Saskatchewan Polytechnic. Karl Miller - Meridian Development.

Sandra Ribeiro - Canadian Light Source Inc. Chris Sicotte - Affinity Credit Union. Sanj Singh - Lighthouse Management Co. Brian Skanderbeg - Silver Standard Resources Inc. Trevor Thiessen - Redekop Manufacturing. Chris Woodland - MacPherson, Leslie and Tyerman LLP.

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BUSINESS VIEW SASKATOON JUNE/JULY 2016

Cover Story

Connecting with members key to Chamber success Getting to know incoming Chamber President Jason Yochim

By Terri Eger For incoming President Jason Yochim, the success of the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce is directly linked to open communication with the membership.

“We may think we know what the membership wants but we need to reach out to them to make sure we are all on the right track,” said Yochim. “We may be effective in the things that we think are important to our members but we need to make sure we know what keeps our members up at night.

We need to make sure we are meeting their expectations.”

Yochim was elected to the role of President in May and will serve as the head of the board for the next year. In that time he intends to make an effort to get in touch with the membership and learn what is important to them.

“Where can we make improvements?

Where can we be more effective?” are questions he’s asking.

By working together, Yochim hopes to bring in new ideas that can move the Chamber forward in a positive direction, giving the organization an even more powerful voice for the business community.

Yochim knows how important having a collective voice can be for an organization through his work with the Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS®. Yochim has spent the past five years as the Chief Executive Officer of the organization that includes 640 members in Saskatoon and surrounding area. Much like the Chamber of Commerce, the SRAR works to unite the industry in many aspects. The cooperative nature of both organizations is what drew Yochim to the Chamber when he became a director in 2012.

“Being involved with the Chamber gave me the opportunity to have a voice for our membership. It’s important to voice issues for our stake holders with the organization as well,” he said.

Real estate affects everyone, according to Yochim who explained that whether you rent an apartment, own a home or want to invest in a commercial property, the real estate

Jason Yochim is the 2016/17 President of the Board for the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce. Image: Grant Romancia

market has a role to play in everyone’s life.

“I felt that becoming involved with the Chamber of Commerce gave me the opportunity to bring a little bit of a different perspective to the Chamber,” he said.

Yochim has a wide range of experience to draw from. He grew up on a family farm in the Unity area, moving to Saskatoon in 1983.

He was a real estate agent selling primarily residential property throughout the city from 1993 to 2006. At that time he moved into a role with the provincial government as the Realty Manager, leasing government employee space. Including his current position which he took on in December 2011, Yochim has seen the real estate business from many different angles.

His business background has been a

valuable asset to his volunteer work with the Chamber of Commerce. After acting as a Director with the organization for two years, he became 2nd Vice President in 2014 preparing him for his current role as President.

Working to develop a positive future for Saskatoon is at the heart of Yochim’s goals for both personal and professional reasons.

Personally, Yochim and his wife have raised three children in the city, the first of whom recently graduated from university.

Professionally, a strong economy is good for Chamber members of all descriptions.

“As the Chamber we want to create a business climate that will keep our young people here and make Saskatoon a great place to live and do business.”

BUSINESS VIEW SASKATOON JUNE/JULY 2016 5

Annual General Meeting

Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce 109th Annual General Meeting Welcome the incoming and re-elected Board Members The Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce the results of its 2016/17 Board of Directors election. An impressive slate of 12 strong candidates coming from diverse industry backgrounds let their name stand for election, and the following eight individuals were deemed successful following a final count of electronic ballots received from Chamber member representatives.

• Bill Cooper – PotashCorp • Peggie Koenig – Koenig and Associates • Paul Labbe – Stantec Inc. • Linda Mason – PCL Construction Management Inc. • Deborah Meyers – Saskatchewan Polytechnic • Silvia Martini – Interlink Research • Karl Miller – Meridian Development • Brian Skanderbeg – Silver Standard Resources Inc. In addition to the eight successful candidates named above, a number of existing

Board members will be entering the second year of their two-year term, including: • Sandra Ribeiro – Canadian Light Source • Chris Sicotte – Affinity Credit Union • Sanj Singh – AdeTherapeutics • Trevor Thiessen – Redekop Manufacturing • Chris Woodland – MLT Lawyers The 2016/17 Executive Committee will be comprised of: • Jason Yochim – Saskatoon Region Association of REALTORS (President) • Kelly Bode – WMCZ Lawyers (1st Vice-President) • Peggie Koenig – Koenig and Associates (2nd Vice-President, Finance) • Tanya Knight – MNP LLP (Past President) • Bill Cooper – PotashCorp (Chair, Governance) “I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to lead such a diverse collection of Directors

Mayor Atchison swearing in new president Jason Yochim (above). Tanya Knight presents the Volunteer of the Year award to Sanj Singh and Dave Dutchak (middle right). Photos by Czarina Catambing.

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BUSINESS VIEW SASKATOON JUNE/JULY 2016

over the coming year,” said incoming President Jason Yochim. “With the continued slowdown of economic growth and a municipal election quickly approaching, our Chamber will need to remain steadfast in its mission to build the best business climate in Canada.

We look forward to that challenge and the opportunities that lie ahead,” concluded Yochim.

The Executive Committee was officially sworn in at the Chamber’s 109th Annual General Meeting on May 26th at LB Distilleries, sponsored by Sasktel. In addition to the new board, outgoing President Tanya Knight presented the Volunteer of the Year award to Sanj Singh and Dave Dutchak for their advocacy of the Chamber, and their work in the health care market in Saskatchewan.

Thanks to Sasktel, Country Style BBQ, LB Distillers, and Sheldon Corbett for sponsorship, catering, and entertainment for the AGM.

Celebrate Success!

Winners of the 2016 Celebrate Success! Awards Presented by PotashCorp

Photos by Grant Romancia Hosted by the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce and presented by PotashCorp., the Celebrate Success! Awards Gala is a celebration of the exceptional businesses growing and operating in the Saskatoon region.

The awards gala was held at Saskatoon Prairieland Park on Thursday, May 19th, 2016 with hosts Evan Drisner and Shawna Nelson.

This year’s theme was “Casino Royale” The SABEX Awards are open to all private sectors (non-governmental), for profit, enterprises based in the greater Saskatoon area, whether large or small. The applications were forwarded to Ernst & Young LLP Chartered Accountants for initial sorting and processing. Applications from each of the various categories were delivered to independent and anonymous judges. Judges were secured by one member of the Organizing Committee and shall remain anonymous.

The Award Recipients are as follows:

Growth & Expansion (Sponsored by Miller Thomson): Vendasta

Hall of Fame Inductee (Sponsored by RBC Royal Bank): Dr. C.M. (Red) Williams

New Product and/or Service (Sponsored by BDC): Three Farmers Products

Oslo Business for Peace Award (Sponsored by Cameco): Mr. Steve Dechka

New Business Venture (Sponsored by Tourism SaskatoonConventions Saskatoon): Two Fifty Two Boutique (tied) Social Spiral Technologies (tied) Community Involvement (Sponsored by SaskTel): Wiegers Financial & Benefits Safety (Sponsored by Saskatchewan Polytechnic): Envirotec Services Incorporated

Customer Service (Sponsored by CGI Group Inc.): Two Fifty Two Boutique

Small Business of the Year (Sponsored by MNP): Sandbox in the City

Marketing (Sponsored by Handy Group of Companies): Reed Security

Business of the Year (Sponsored by Edwards School of Business): Envirotec Services Incorporated

Award of Innovation (Presented by Innovation Place and the ILO Industry and Liaison Office - U of S)

Dr. Khan Wahid Strategic Alliance Award (Presented by Saskatoon Community Foundation) Vereco Homes (Nominated by the Saskatchewan Environmental Society) Cherry Insurance - Leadership Saskatoon Community Leadership Award (Presented by Cherry Insurance & Leadership Saskatoon) Ms. Zeba Ahmad “What a fantastic evening of entertainment and celebration,” said Tracy Arno and Lynn Eberle, CoChairs of the Celebrate Success! Committee. “This year we had our highest number of nominations and applicants ever, and I think that was reflected in the tremendous quality of finalists you saw in attendance tonight.”

BUSINESS VIEW SASKATOON JUNE/JULY 2016 7

Thank You to the sponsors of the 2016 Celebrate Success! Awards Presenting Sponsor

Produced By

Gold Sponsors

EXECUTIVE E D U C A T I O N

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BUSINESS VIEW SASKATOON JUNE/JULY 2016

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

Premiere Media Sponsor

THE

Media Support

Award of Innovation

Strategic Alliance Award

Community Leadership Award

BUSINESS VIEW SASKATOON JUNE/JULY 2016 9

Promotional Feature

Employees offered more control over their work week

By Linda M. Reid, Consultant Western Compensation & Benefits Consultants If your organization is not currently offering flexible work hours it is in the minority. Western Compensation & Benefits Consultants regularly surveys employers on their workplace flexibility programs and over the past two years there has been an overall increase in the flexible work hour options offered by Canadian employers.

Nine out of ten organizations offer some or all employees the ability to choose from available options when they work. Flexible work hours are most common in not-for-profit (96%) and public sector (91%) organizations, but are still prevalent in private sector (84%) companies.

Flex-time requires employees to work a specific number of hours a day but allows them to choose their start and end times.

This is the most popular flexible work arrangement with 93% of organizations offering this option. Other flexible

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BUSINESS VIEW SASKATOON JUNE/JULY 2016

work hour options include part-time decrease in utilization, workplace schedules (74%), working from remote flexibility options remain prominent. locations outside of the traditional office Employers report that providing flexibility (48%), permitting employees to work a and options to employees has a positive compressed work week which allows an effect on attraction, motivation, retention, employee to work the required hours in employee morale and enhancing the less workdays (44%), or allowing two workplace culture. or more people to share a single job The majority of organizations surveyed (18%). Private sector companies (42%) state that their workplace culture supports are more likely than public sector (33%) offering employees flexible work hours. or not-for-profit (32%) organizations That coupled with employees having to retain older, skilled employees by an expectation that they will exercise offering a phased retirement wherein some control over how they structure employees approaching retirement may their work week ensures that workplace reduce their hours or days and eventually flexibility will continue to evolve and transition from full-time work to full- adapt to changing workplace realities. time retirement.

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PotashCorp stays the course Ensuring global competitiveness is paramount

An employee at PotashCorp’s Rocanville mine, its largest and most efficient potash operation Its strength and resilience have long made PotashCorp one of the best investments in the fertilizer sector, and President and CEO Jochen Tilk says it won’t be moved off course by short-term volatility.

“Our focus is unchanged - we are committed to creating long-term value and protecting the interests of all our stakeholders,” Tilk said recently from the company’s Saskatoon head office.

PotashCorp’s vision is to play a key role in helping farmers produce the food the world needs to feed its growing population.

And in doing so, it strives to see customers, employees and suppliers prosper, along with the communities where it operates.

To continue to be a force for economic growth and prosperity in its Saskatchewan home, the company must ensure it remains competitive in a global environment.

For this reason, it is focusing production at its lowest-cost facilities, like Rocanville,

its largest and most efficient potash mine.

Earlier this year, PotashCorp also took the difficult but necessary step of suspending operations at its Picadilly mine in New Brunswick, where the steeply sloped formation of the ore body makes mining operations less economical.

“In 2014, PotashCorp spent nearly $300 million with Saskatchewan suppliers, including those in manufacturing, mining supply, finance and technical services.”

A $3-billion expansion to enhance capacity at Rocanville included a new mine shaft – the first potash shaft sunk in Saskatchewan since 1979 – to gain access to a different part of the deposit. PotashCorp invested

another $3.2 billion to expand capacity at its four other Saskatchewan potash operations.

During the expansion program from 2005 to 2015, more than $2 billion of the capital spending was spent with Saskatchewan vendors, supporting an average of 1200 jobs annually.

Local businesses also benefit from PotashCorp’s day-to-day operations. In 2014, it spent nearly $300 million with Saskatchewan suppliers, including those in manufacturing, mining supply, finance and technical services.

PotashCorp’s “Only in My Backyard!” advertising campaign recently highlighted these economic spinoffs. A local employee, a Realtor and a restauranteur all pointed out the positive impact they see from PotashCorp.

“We are proud to be based in Saskatchewan,” said Tilk. “There are great suppliers here and a talented labour force. We believe PotashCorp and Saskatchewan share a bright future.”

BUSINESS VIEW SASKATOON JUNE/JULY 2016 11

Member News

Parr Auto Body earns official certification Parr Auto Body has been officially Certified by Certified Collision Care, a non-profit consumer advocacy organization for maintaining the right tools, equipment, training, and facility necessary to repair the participating Automaker brand vehicles according to the manufacturer's specifications.

In achieving their certification, Parr Auto Body is now an integral part of the most advanced repair capable and efficient collision repair network in the world.

To become Certified and officially recognized as a Certified Collision Care provider, Parr Auto Body passed the rigorous certification process essential to help ensure a proper and safe repair of the new generation of advanced vehicles. Only the top collision repair facilities in Canada are able to meet the stringent requirements to become officially Certified and recognized.

According to owner, Chelsea Stebner,

"We've worked hard to stay ahead of the curve in the collision repair industry. This official Certification demonstrates that commitment to our customers. We take pride in our highly trained technicians who use the latest tools and equipment to deliver a top quality repair and the best customer service.

The certification criteria is based upon auto manufacturer requirements. These are critical to ensure the vehicle fit, finish, durability, value and safety following an accident. As new model vehicles are being introduced that use light weight high strength materials and advanced technology, a proper repair according to manufacturer specification is even more important than ever to ensure the passenger safety and proper performance of the vehicle. Auto manufacturers want to ensure that consumers have the option of Certified Collision Care wherever they live, work, or travel “Consumers need the confidence and peace

of mind to know their vehicle is repaired by a shop that has what it takes to ensure the vehicle safety. Parr Auto Body is officially a Collision Care Provider™," said Scott Biggs, CEO of Assured Performance Collision Care.

"They represent the standard by which all other body shops are measured."

About Certified Collision Care: Certified Collision Care is the Canadian division of Assured Performance Collision Care™, a non-profit consumer advocacy organization specializing in the automotive collision repair market segment. Assured Performance works with the top automakers in North America to identify, audit and promote collision repair providers that meet best-in-class business standards and the manufacturer’s requirements.

Parr Auto Body http://www.parrautobody.com

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BUSINESS VIEW SASKATOON JUNE/JULY 2016

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Get To Know a Member

Member Profile: MiEnergy We’ve all heard it before. Solar might make sense, but not here. We have winter. We have snow. We have cold. Solar Energy? Impossible. But it is time to think again, because the sands are shifting and MiEnergy is capitalizing on an emerging market.

The company, now 15 years old, grew its roots as a geothermal heating company, but over the last few years has expanded their renewable energy capacity to include solar. This portion of business has been booming, which makes sense when you consider Saskatchewan is one of the sunniest provinces in Canada. Regina has higher solar production potential (kWh/kW) than Rio de Janiero, Brazil or Sydney, Australia.

There is a near limitless potential for solar energy in Western Canada and people are starting to realize the opportunity to not only generate clean renewable energy, but also make a savvy investment decision and

save a considerable amount of money.

Since their inception, MiEnergy has not only saved enough energy to power 13,300 homes, the equivalent of taking 20,500 cars off the road, but have also saved customers upwards of 26 million dollars worth of operating cost. The cost of solar installation has gone down 80% since 2008, which makes the financial argument for gaining energy independence all the better.

With the Saskatchewan Government’s recent announcement of achieving 50% renewable energy by Solar panels on the roof of a Saskatchewan home (supplied photo) 2030, there is little doubt that investment across the Western provinces, renewables and jobs in look to pick up some of the slack and provide renewables will a jolt to economy. only continue to Ultimately, as Saskatchewan continues to grow. grow and energy infrastructure ages, power With a solar generation will become an increasingly hot install & design button issue. Renewables are becoming an team that has been increasingly important part of the puzzle due involved in over to their accessibility, economic rational and 1000 solar projects environmental benefits. With SaskPower’s in Saskatchewan, Net Metering 20% to be re-examined in MiEnergy boasts November, and their recent announcement one of the most Learn about lobbying, who has of a 5% rate increase in July followed by a experienced and 5% increase on top of that in January, the to register, and what the qualified teams in time has never been better to consider solar Lobbyist Registry is all about.

Western Canada. power for your home, business or farm nor A dedicated team a more experience company to walk you of eight employees through the process than MiEnergy. that expands in the Contact us for updates or support demand Phone: 1.306.683.2247 in the summer, to receive information – Fax: 1.866.839.4059 the company is info@sasklobbyregistry.ca Email: info@mienergy.ca planning to expand or 306-787-0800.

Mail: 4-3040 Miners Ave Saskatoon, SK to Alberta in the near future. While the falling price of oil has resulted in stalled investment and heavy job loss

Our new web site is live! www.sasklobbyistregistry.ca

BUSINESS VIEW SASKATOON JUNE/JULY 2016 13

Chamber Events

Chamber networking events for all members The Chamber’s monthly free networking events, “Chamber on Tap” and “Shaken with a Twist” have wrapped up for the season and will return in the fall.

“Shaken with a Twist” is the second Thursday of the month at Village Guitar and Amp and is sponsored by Trusted Marketing Services and BDC. “Chamber on Tap” is the first Wednesday of the month at Hudson’s Tap House, and is sponsored by Aurora Workplace Solutions and Sutton Financial Group. Sound is provided by Soundlounge by tBone, and sponsored by BRITEBOX Storage.

Mark Pickard, InfraReady Products (Chamber on Tap)

Angelica Fehr, Twisted Goods (Shaken with a Twist)

Bryan and Chad Leverick, Alliance Energy (Chamber on Tap)

Dave Dutchak, Sanj Singh, and Corey Miller (HOT 416 Event)

Coach Lisa Thomaidis and the Huskie Women’s Basketball Team (Shaken with a Twist) 14

The newest networking event, “HOT 416”, sponsored by Wiegers Financial and Benefits, explores what’s new and hot in the healthcare innovation and technology sector, and is hosted at Half Cut Lounge on 21st Street. The next event is June 22nd.

Join us for fun, networking and a great guest speaker at these Chamber events each month!

Visit www.saskatoonchamber.com/events for information on all our upcoming events. “On Tap” and “Shaken with a Twist” photos below are courtesy of Grant Romancia Photography. “HOT 416” photos courtesy of CUT Casual Steak and Tap.

BUSINESS VIEW SASKATOON JUNE/JULY 2016

HOT 416 Event

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Promotional Feature

The user engagement metric

By Mouneeb Shahid, Founder & CEO, 2 Web Design Digital marketing has taken over traditional marketing like a pandemic.

Surely, there is the convenience of launching digital marketing campaigns quickly and easily, but the primary reason why businesses prefer to invest in digital marketing is due to the ability to track their Return On Investment to the penny.

To run a successful digital marketing campaign, it is important to consider the variables that influence the user journey.

The user journey starts right from the point of introduction to your company, whether it is through a campaign, a 3rd party channel or on your website. Often businesses rush to launch a campaign without thinking too much about the actions the user will need to perform to achieve the goal. As a business, you have to understand and map out the user journey right from the initial point of contact to the point they convert to a customer and begin a long-term relationship with you.

Unfortunately, there is no perfect formula or an alchemist out there that can reveal the elixir of digital marketing success. On the upside, when you do take the plunge, you can track with great detail your audience’s engagement levels to determine what works and what fails. Over time, your objective should be to continue to optimize your user journey to see what gives you the best results.

Measuring results are the key when it comes to digital marketing success. Depending on the extent of your campaigns, you can track a variety of user metrics. Before we get to the digital marketing metric that matters most, following are key metrics that you need to be aware of: Website Analytics

The number of website visitors provides you an overview of how many people are finding your business online and which pages are most popular. It is important not to get carried away with “hits” or “visits”, you must also understand the rest of the terminology in the analytics report. Visitors landing on your website and exiting after a few seconds can potentially have a negative impact. It would imply that the user experience on your website was simply not engaging, or you are not getting quality visitors. Quality visitors are people that are actively looking for your organization, or a product or service that an organization like yours offers.

You can use a free analytics tool like Google Analytics to understand how your website is performing. However, it is crucial that any analytics application is installed properly to give you accurate data.

Social Media Analytics Understand that there are conversations that are occurring about your industry online, and there is an opportunity for your organization to be involved in those conversations to build awareness. You can use the mainstream social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to get the ball rolling, but to make your invested time worthwhile, you need to track which conversations and content types are creating an impact and delivering a return on investment. Certainly, building “likes” and “followers” can be a key performance indicator, but social channels continue to evolve as they become saturated with content and over time you have to compete and put more effort in creating compelling content that is more engaging.

Social media is not a one-way street, but a network of connections that can spread your message rapidly. Using a tool like HootSuite that allows you to track what works and what doesn’t, so you can invest your time in what matters.

The User Engagement Metric Without a doubt, the most valuable digital marketing metric is “user engagement”. If you have an audience engaged with your message, then you have hit the goldmine.

A user that is engaged will spend time reading your message and act upon it. They will also visit your digital channels for new information and look forward to the next update. What drives users is mainly the type of content you have for them to consume.

If your content is interactive, dynamic or in a rich media format, you will achieve higher levels of engagement. But even if it is a simple article that is a great read with valuable information can do the trick.

It can be challenging to measure engagement and usually, you need an application that can track and evaluate user behavior across multiple channels. A tool like HubSpot allows you to track users across multiple channels and bring all that data together in a consolidated dashboard.

If you are interested in learning more tracking your users and building an engaging digital experience for your online audience, email me at mouneeb@2webdesign.com.

As a tribute to our clients, following are some recent projects: - ShakespeareSask.com - LightSource.ca - RockPaperCoffee.ca

BUSINESS VIEW SASKATOON JUNE/JULY 2016 17

Five Minutes for Business

Pension intervention

How to Fix the CPP without Tanking the Economy

By Hendrik Brakel Senior Director, Economic, Financial & Tax Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce On June 21, finance ministers are meeting to decide what to do with up to $800 billion of retirement savings.

Here at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, we’re worried a big tax increase is headed for the middle class like an elbow to the chest.

The government seems determined to increase contributions to the Canada Pension Plan, and the Finance Minister has said repeatedly that he hopes to reach an agreement with the provices by the end of 2016. With Ontario’s Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP) set to commence enrollment in 2017, the race is on to find a federal solution that will avert a patchwork of provincial programs cropping up.

This comes at the worst possible time— an economy reeling from weak commodity prices and slower consumer spending will be lucky to eke out growth of 1.5% next year. It’s difficult to stimulate the economy while pulling money out of the pockets of Canadians.

How much? The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) already costs 9.9% of one’s salary (shared equally by employee and employer).

ORPP would add 3.8% (shared equally) on top of that, bringing us up to almost 14%.

This is in addition to 4.5% for Employment Insurance as well as federal and provincial income taxes. All this would place Canada’s payroll tax burden up near the highest in the world (not quite France, but close), according

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BUSINESS VIEW SASKATOON JUNE/JULY 2016

to OECD’s report on taxing wages. Worse, the Conference Board estimates that ORPP would decrease household spending by $2.84 billion per year in the early years because benefit payments won’t start until 2022 and will be less than contributions until 2047!

We’ve all heard the argument that Canadians don’t save enough and we must act now! Actually, a study from McKinsey shows that 83% of Canadians will retire without significant adjustment in their standard of living. A report from CD Howe points out that the average income of Canadian seniors, adjusted for tax and family size, is 91% of the average income of working age Canadians and that seniors are better off financially than younger Canadians. Fred Vettese, who co-authored a book on retirement with Bill Morneau, says there is no retirement crisis because we understate certain income sources, such as real estate, and overestimate our spending in advanced ages.

The point is not that we should do nothing.

Some workers are at risk: those who go from to job to job on contract find it more difficult to save. Seniors who depend on a spouse’s pension sometimes struggle when survivor benefits are clawed back. These folks should be helped with targeted programs, but the across-the-board ORPP will simply hurt the economy.

Instead, we can help the middle class by improving savings opportunities and

providing better incentives.

Firstly, the government’s recently announced increase to the Guaranteed Income Supplement will help the most at risk seniors. Secondly, Canadians, by default, should be “opted-in” to savings plans in order to provide the nudge they need, and savings incentives could be targeted towards those in the lower middle income levels. The government could also allow Canadians to voluntarily contribute more to the CPP. Finally, we need to emphasize personal choice and responsibility. The CPP is supposed to help us save, not guarantee income for all Canadians.

We hope that the finance ministers will not increase the tax burden on Canadian workers and businesses with sweeping increases.

There are measures that could help us save without hurting our economy.

For more information, please contact: Hendrik Brakel, Senior Director, Economic, Financial & Tax Policy 613.238.4000 (284) | hbrakel@chamber.ca (Reprinted with permission)

5 Minutes for Business

The Federal Budget and Business: Maybe They’re Just Not That into You?

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BUSINESS VIEW SASKATOON JUNE/JULY 2016 19

IS THEIR MISSION WorkSafe Saskatchewan congratulates 2016 Safe Worker Lanny Storey of Areva Resources Canada Inc. and 2016 Safe Employer Matrix Solutions Inc. These awards are given annually to recognize outstanding employers and individuals who strive to make Mission: Zero a reality in Saskatchewan. • To nominate someone for the 2017 Safe Worker or Safe Employer Awards, visit www.worksafesask.ca.

Above left to right: Gord Dobrowolsky, Chairperson, Garry Hamblin, Board Member, Saskatchewan WCB; Safe Employer Winners: Jon Hutt, Davin Sander and Stacey Wiens, all of Matrix Solutions Inc; Safe Worker Winner Lanny Storey; Larry Flowers, Board Member, Saskatchewan WCB; Mike Carr, Deputy Minister of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety.

MEMBERS PAGE COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Agribusiness Opportunities Bert Sutherland - Rayacom Print & Design

Loran Forer - BMO Business Growth Mark Zielke - Start Fresh Media Business of Science & Technology Bill Lewis - Engineering for Kids Raj Nayak - University of Saskatchewan Sandra Ribeiro - Canadian Light Source Business of Science & Technology ICT Subcommittee Allan Wolinski - Vendasta Technologies Celebrate Success!

Lynn Eberle - Great Western Brewing Co. Chamber on Tap Evan Drisner - Nu-Fab Building Products First Nations and Métis Opportunities Committee

April Roberts - Saskatchewan First

Nations Economic Development Network Bert Sutherland - Rayacom Print & Design

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Bill Brooks - Eclecthink International Going Global Ken Ziegler - Robertson Stromberg LLP Monica Kreuger - Global Infobrokers Government Affairs Michael Chudoba - Foundation Realty Ltd

Health Opportunities Dave Dutchak - MD Ambulance Care Ltd. Sanj Singh - Lighthouse Management Inc. Corey Miller - Saskatchewan Cancer Agency

Sustainability Opportunities Colleen Yates - Equinox3 Consulting Ltd. For more information or to join a volunteer committee email us at: committee@saskatoonchamber.com

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BUSINESS VIEW SASKATOON JUNE/JULY 2016

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Breck Scaffold Solutions Construction 6 Cory Lane, Box 11 Site 414 RR 4,Saskatoon Phone: (306) 242-5532 Erin Bains / Dustin Krueger / Bobbylynn Stewart / Royan Stewart Burgess Law Legal Services 445 Redwood Cres, Warman Phone: (306) 227-9642 Jeffrey Burgess CandorBuild Construction Corp.

Contractors 23A-901 1st Ave N, Saskatoon Phone: (306) 934-5588 Clayton Connell Celebration Club Management Ltd. Travel Services 202 Stillwater Dr, Saskatoon Phone: (855) 405-8382 Jaime Cruickshank Delta Air Lines Air Transportation - Maintenance / Service / Training 151 Bloor St W, Toronto Phone: (905) 364-4152 Steven Larkin Expert Hearing Solutions Health Care - Services / Supplies 44-134 Primrose Dr, Saskatoon Phone: (306) 382-5733 Jason Schmiedge

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Flex ED Education / Training AND NonProfit Organizations 8B-3110 8th St E, Ste 492, Saskatoon Phone: (306) 291-6439 Ann Cook Fraser, Norm Individual Members Phone: (306) 250-1113 Infinity Management Event Planning 310 Wall St, Saskatoon Phone: (306) 227-1012 Colleen Shalley Ink House Printing Services / Supplies AND Office Supplies 17-510 Circle Dr E, Saskatoon Phone: (639) 998-3599 Gaurav Patel Kormos, Michelle Individual Members Phone: (306) 292-7240 Source Office Furnishings Office Furniture / Equipment 1-805 Circle Dr E, Saskatoon Phone: (306) 384-8870 Shelley Herron / Dave Metz Speedy Collision North Saskatoon Automobile - Paint / Body Repair 1-401 46th St E, Saskatoon Phone: (306) 683-8080 Doreen Helgeson Spinal Cord Injury Saskatchewan Non-Profit Organizations 311 38th St E, Saskatoon Phone: (306) 658-9644 Lyn Brown

Third Rock Risk Managment Inc. Business Services AND Consultants - Business 807-601 Spadina Cres E, Saskatoon Phone: (306) 717-6578 Alon Zack

Correction Notice: In the April/ May issue of BusinessVIEW Saskatoon, we incorrectly spelled new member Meckelborg Financial.

We regret this error.

Meckelborg Financial Group Ltd. (MFG) is a licensed Portfolio Management Firm, Investment Fund Manager and Exempt Market Dealer located in downtown Saskatoon. They manage portfolios for individuals, corporations, foundations and pension plans across Canada.

MFG’s registrations include; • Portfolio Management • Investment Fund Manager • Exempt Market Dealer • Life Insurance They offer the following services; • Unique Insurance Concepts • Proprietary Retirement Planning Software • Pension Analysis • Corporate Structuring & Planning • Discretionary Portfolio Management • Access to Alternative Investments • Institutional Platform • In-house Asset Management Contact Information: #300-728 Spadina Crescent East Phone: 306-933-9993 Email: info@mfgltd.com

BUSINESS VIEW SASKATOON JUNE/JULY 2016 23

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