The Voice of Business in Saskatchewan
October/November 2016 edition
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In this issue... • World-class excellence honoured at the ABEX Awards • SCC working to realize the potential of the northern business region ... and more!
ABEX 2016 Business of the Year, sponsored by David Aplin Group: Hillberg & Berk Photography by Grant Romancia Photography
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Get in Touch Tel: 306.352.2671 Email:
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Table of Contents 3
CEO’s Message
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ABEX 2016
8 Congratulations!
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10
Advocacy in Action
11
The Chair’s Invitational Dinner
12
Members in the News
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Northern Tour
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Research - SaskPower and SaskTel
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Calendar Corner
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Membership Central
CEO’s Message The ABC’s of this month....
Every month is both interesting and busy in our offices, but this October was especially busy. The Prime Minister ‘kicked’ off October by making the announcement on the 3rd that there would be a federal price on carbon in all provinces by 2018. ABEX was on October 22nd and the Chamber team was working almost 24-7 making sure the details were in place. While both ABEX and the announcement meant lots of work for our shop, the third big thing in October was an interview I did with Gavin Semple from Brandt for Prairie Manufacturer Magazine. It was a real pleasure to spend time chatting with Gavin. So these were my ABC’s of October- ABEX, Brandt and carbon. First more on ABEX – we have just held our 33rd annual event and it continues to grow and impress with the depth and breadth of our nominations and our audience. There were 785 people who attended. The Finalists came to hold their breath, while friends, family and colleagues cheered them on. There simply is no better way to learn about new and landmark Saskatchewan companies than by attending ABEX. The business who went home with the most ‘sparkle‘ in their eye was the team from Hillberg & Berk, who received the Business of the Year ABEX. Rachel Mielke has done a great job in building her business to unbelievable sales in a very short period. To all of the finalists and attendees, I say congratulations and thanks for building Saskatchewan. To all of our partners and sponsors, especially our presenting partner Conexus, I say a very BIG thank you for your continued support of business excellence. No ABEX is complete without our talented and dapper emcee’s. John Gormley and Paul Martin have kept us on time and on point for years- thanks gentlemen.
This year’s Hall of Fame inductee was Prairie Mud of Estevan. Ray Frehlick has been a legacy operator in the oil patch for decades and is still doing well, despite the tough times within the sector. He is one of the Southeast’s finest citizen’s in that his name, or that of Prairie Mud, have been part of almost every fundraiser or community building initiative in the area. The Frehlick family’s belief in, and commitment to their community is incredible. Another very solid recipient of an ABEX was Gavin Semple who received the ABEX Business Leader award. Most people in Western Canada know of Brandt and Gavin’s role in building the company, and his reputation for supporting his communities. He tells stories of his staff and his family with such pride, that it is easy to forget he has 2000 employees with sales in the billions. If a person met him at a grocery store, they would see him as a very friendly and approachable man. He has achieved great things and retained his farm boy humbleness. Clearly, he is very deserving of the Business Leader Award. And yes, Gavin has thoughts on carbon emissions and a potential carbon tax. I encourage you to read the article in the next Prairie Manufacturing Magazine published by Derek Lothian and partners out of Saskatoon. Gavin is clear that business is very concerned about the environment and its impact. In fact, he speaks of the engines on new equipment having the most efficient innovations available. If Saskatchewan wants to feed and fuel the world, we need to have these pieces of machinery in the fields. So that was October. It was a very good month (except for the part when the feds imposed a new tax on Saskatchewan businesses). However, I am confident that we will withstand these new headwinds. Similar to the obstacles faced over the decades by people like Ray and Gavin, we too shall meet and beat the challenges and continue to grow this great province.
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World-Class Excellence Honoured at 2016 ABEX Awards
Click here to view the ABEX Winners Media Release Special thanks to Jay’s Moving & Storage for graciously transporting our ‘larger than life’ replica of the ABEX trophy to TCU Place, and ensuring it gets safely installed in the office of the Business of the Year Award recipient. Looking for ABEX photos? Visit our website.
Excellent Value in ABEX Sponsorship Being a sponsor of the ABEX Awards brings great value to a sponsoring company. First and foremost you become aligned as a sponsor of this event that honours the best of the best in business excellence in our province. The chamber extends every effort to shine the limelight on our sponsors and ensure maximum return on investment.
Contact CindyWright for more information on ABEX sponsorship opportunities (
[email protected]) 4
Congratulations ABEX finalists and recipients!
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Thank you to our ABEX Sponsors
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Rate Stability
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For Saskatchewan Chamber members visit Group Benefits with a Difference.
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Congratulations Meyers Garage Celebrates 75 Years Wiseton, Saskatchewan was recently home to a major celebration when over 200 people gathered to honour Meyers Garage for their 75th anniversary. Few such businesses, especially in rural Saskatchewan, can claim this longevity. Les Meyers is the third generation of the Meyers family to own and operate the business and the garage continues to thrive.
Murad Al-Katib and AGT win EY Entrepreneur Of the Year. Al-Katib, President and CEO of Regina-based Alliance Grain Trader (AGT) Food and Ingredients, was named the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year for the Prairies in a competition organized by Ernst & Young. AGT started production in 2003 when Al-Katib learned how many pulses were grown in the province of Saskatchewan. He slowly expanded his businesses to the best pulse growing regions in the US, Turkey, Australia, China and South Africa. The company went public in 2007 and, because of the increased demand for the products, AGT foods now ships to more than 120 countries around the world. Congratulations Murad. Click here to read the announcement.
The Government of Saskatchewan will be hosting a series of free webinars for Saskatchewan employers, employees and other organizations employing workers in the province. Featured will be a variety of topics about Saskatchewan’s Employment Standards legislation. Click here to view topics and training dates.
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Long term projects you can’t get to?
Hire a business student from Saskatchewan Polytechnic Co-operative Education. Accountancy, Human Resources, Management and Marketing students are available for January 2017 work terms. Recruitment is underway. Please contact Shelley Ruecker: P 306-691-8322 E
[email protected]
Crestline Coach Receives Multiple Awards of Excellence. Congratulations to Crestline Coach of Saskatoon who are having a tremendous “ride” this quarter winning local and national awards. On October 5, Crestline Coach unveiled its fully redesigned ICON 2.0 at EMS World in New Orleans. The state-of-the-art ambulance pushed the industry to re-think ambulance safety and was recognized with the 2016 EMS World Innovation Award for producing an innovative new product. Then came the STEP Awards. On October 19, 2016, Saskatchewan Trade & Export Partnership (STEP) announced Crestline Coach as their Exporter of the Year. Steve Hoffrogge and Chris Dekker
And the pinnacle business awards program in the province, the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce ABEX awards echoed this sentiment on October 22 in Saskatoon honouring Crestline with the Export Award for exceptional performance. Congratulations to Crestline on these tremendous achievements.
Netmaker & Boesch Featured in Canadian Business Magazine Congratulations to Kendal Netmaker and Jordan Boesch who were recently featured as 2016 Change Agents in Canadian Business Magazine. Change Agents are Canadian Business Magazine’s selection of the 38 most exciting innovators, upstarts, renegades and geniuses who are reinventing the way Canada does business. Kendal Netmaker’s line of athletic gear has its headquarters in Saskatoon, operates two physical stores and turns a booming profit from on-line sales. He recently founded Netmaker Academy, an online program where he acts as a mentor for young entrepreneurs who have no formal business training. At 29, Kendal is a member of the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Jordan Boesch’s company 7shifts provides employeescheduling software for restaurants. The start-up is in expansion mode, with revenue up by 300% year-over-year. Having recently raised $1.2 million in seed financing, the 29 year old Boesch is looking to add new features and functions to the platform like point-of-sale integration and activitybased forecasting, making it possible to automatically build schedules based on sales data. Kendal Netmaker
Congratulations Kendal and Jordan!
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ADVOCACY in ACTION By Curtis Hemming, Director of Government Relations The federal government’s recent announcement on carbon pricing has created a variety of new concerns for residents and businesses in Saskatchewan. While the precise details of how carbon pricing might be implemented in Saskatchewan have not yet been released by the provincial government, it is clearly in Saskatchewan’s best interest to try and find ways to prevent this policy decision from unduly damaging our province’s economy.
Manitoba to bring low-carbon hydro electricity into Saskatchewan in order to reduce our dependence on high-carbon coal generation.
The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce had written an open letter on the issue to the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change shortly after their announcement and then also discussed the new policy with Hon. Ralph Goodale, federal Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness very soon after that. There were a variety of things discussed during that meeting, including ways that the federal government might be able to help reduce the damage to Saskatchewan’s economy by investing into climate change adaptation and mitigation programs, additional investments into Saskatchewan-based carbon reduction technologies, and even the possibility of the federal government helping SaskPower to fund new transmission lines from
As the SCC continues to meet with representatives from industry, SaskPower, and both levels of government, we are also working to create a new research report that examines how carbon pricing has been implemented in other jurisdictions, how to best avoid the mistakes that have been made in other provinces, and how Saskatchewan might be able to work with Ottawa to mitigate the very damaging effects that this announcement will have on our economy. That report should be released in the next few weeks.
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The Chamber has also had meetings with the Parliamentary Secretary to the federal Minister of Environment, the CEO of SaskPower, and other officials at SaskPower to discuss ways in which Saskatchewan can better navigate this very difficult national policy decision.
Click here to read the SCC’s open letter to the Ministers of the Environment
The Chair’s Invitational Dinner Thank you SCC members, Deputy Ministers and Crown Corporation Presidents for attending The Chair’s Invitational Dinner on September 29. Special thanks to Enbridge, RBC, and PotashCorp for generously sponsoring the dinner.
Alanna Koch, Steve McLellan
Shawna Nelson, Ambassador Shevchenko
Visit our website to view additional photos of The Chair’s Invitational Dinner
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Members in The News By Elissa LaLiberte, Director of Membership Engagement
On September 29th Gensource Potash Corporation completed a transaction bringing it closer to becoming a Saskatchewan potash producer. The company completed a Take-Or-Pay Off-take agreement with Yancoal Canada Resources and is now waiting regulatory approval on the purchase of land in the Craik-Elbow area, the proposed location of the Vanguard project. To learn more click here. Saskatchewan Polytechnic carpentry students recently began building their second Habitat for Humanity home in Prince Albert. In 2015, Saskatchewan Polytechnic and Habitat for Humanity, Prince Albert signed an agreement for carpentry students to build five houses in five years. To view the entire media release click here. The Canadian Red Cross is working to provide bullying prevention education to Saskatchewan students. Fundraising for this initiative will be derived from the 22nd annual Red Cross Campaign for Kids Raffle. “If we’re going to change the culture around bullying, we need to reach all Saskatchewan students with our bullying prevention programming. We are lucky to be in a province that not only understands why this goal is so important, but supports the Imagine No Bullying cause,” said Cindy Fuchs, Vice–President of the Canadian Red Cross in Saskatchewan. To purchase your Red Cross Campaign for Kids Raffle tickets call 1-800-782-5437 or visit www.redcross.ca/ CampaignForKids.
CONNECT YOURSELF REGISTER AS ALUMNI If you graduated from SIAST or any of the other previous institutions that make up the new Saskatchewan Polytechnic, you are a part of our alumni community. • Kelsey Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences (KIAAS) • Northern Institute of Technology (NIT) • Prince Albert Community College • Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences (SIAAS) • Saskatchewan Technical Institute (STI) • SIAST • Wascana Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences (WIAAS)
Register or update your contact information at saskpolytech.ca/alumni.
The Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority announced the finalists for the Science, Technology, Innovation and Collaboration (STIC) Awards in October. The STIC Awards will be held on November 16th in Saskatoon. To view a listing of 2016 STIC finalists click here. The evening will start at 5:00 p.m. with a cocktail reception followed by the award presentations at 5:45 p.m. Tickets for the STIC Awards are available for $35 and can be purchased at www.picatic.com/
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Northern Business Task Force Northern Tour The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce’s Northern Business Task Force was formed to discuss current and future issues and opportunities in Saskatchewan’s remote northern areas and make appropriate recommendations to ensure that the potential of the region is realized. The Northern Business Task Force is made up of representatives from companies and organizations that operate in northern Saskatchewan, as well as people who have expertise in dealing with social and economic issues in the North. The Task Force hosts periodic northern tours of remote northern Saskatchewan communities and takes along senior managers from the provincial and federal government, elected officials, business owners, and representatives from the media. The most recent tour was held in September 2016 and one of the participants was Mr. Cory Kolt, Manager of Policy & Communications with the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce. He wrote an excellent summary of the Tour and it can be accessed here. The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce also created a report containing recommendations on how to deal with a variety of challenges and opportunities facing remote northern Saskatchewan, click here to see the full report.
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5 Minutes for Business
On November 8, Will the Fever Break? October 27, 2016
After the U.S. election is finally over, will the fever break? For months, the Trump campaign has been a frothing festival of misery, calling the U.S. economy “terrible,” “very bad” and “a complete disaster.” The consensus explanation for Mr. Trump’s support is that the working class is struggling desperately in a weak economy and will vote for anything to shake up the system. Will this continue or will Americans wake from a fevered dream to realize that things are ok? It’s certainly true that not everyone benefits from the global economy. Trade and technology tend to displace low-skilled jobs and create higher paying, high-skilled jobs. We recognize that people have been through tough times. But America is not a nation of unemployed textile workers, and there is actually a lot of good news in the U.S. economy. Let’s start with jobs. Since 2011, the U.S. has been a job creation machine: its 72 months of consecutive gains produced an average of 200,000 jobs per month, the biggest growth run on record. The unemployment rate is now just 5%, which also means that job security is dramatically improved. What about wages? Well it’s true, of course, that real household income has stagnated for the past 16 years. However, 2015 saw real household incomes climb 5.2%, the fastest rate on record. And the bottom 10% of
% Growth in Real Household Income 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0%
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If consumers are in good shape, U.S. business is in great shape. Corporate profits are close to an all-time high of $2.2 trillion and they are holding a record $1.7 trillion in cash, the most liquid they have ever been. And although investment has been weak, surveys of hiring intentions are excellent with almost one-quarter of U.S. employers planning to increase staff in the near future. As a result of all this, the U.S. government is doing much better: the deficit has fallen by two-thirds since the great recession, largely because of rising tax revenues. Overall GDP growth hasn’t been very exciting, but the Canadian Chamber is forecasting growth of 1.8% in 2016 and 2.3% in 2017, which compares well with other OECD countries. U.S. economic performance doesn’t justify the widespread anger about the economy or the rising opposition to trade and immigration. This is a big problem with real consequences. Even Germany, the world’s most trade-dependent export success story is now paralyzed by anti-trade sentiment. If improving economic circumstances don’t calm this fever, is there anything that policymakers and business leaders can do? It might help to better explain how trade and immigration make us wealthier, as well increasing training for workers. Perhaps this is just the job for a brand new president! (Personally, I think Hillary will win the popular vote by 14% and carry 42 states, but you should always be wary of economists’ predictions.) For more information, please contact:
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
-2.0% -4.0%
incomes (the poor) received the greatest gains with incomes rising 7.9%. Consumer confidence is up near record levels.
Hendrik Brakel Senior Director, Economic, Financial & Tax Policy 613.238.4000 (284) |
[email protected]
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Political Forum 2017
January 12, 2017 Hotel Saskatchewan Regina Registration: http://chambermaster.saskchamber.com/events/details/political-forum-2017-01-12-2017-264
Participate in the WCB
Rate Model Review Sessions. Register at
www.wcbsask.com
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LEARN ABOUT THE WCB’S
Rate Model Review and Recommendations
The WCB’s Public Rate Model Review Education Sessions The WCB will conduct eight education sessions in six locations around the province to educate employers and the public about the recommendations that have come from the Rate Model Review. The public is encouraged to attend and learn more about the WCB Rate Model. Please read Eckler’s report for more detail on the 11 recommendations at: www.wcbsask.com City
Date
North Battleford
Tuesday, Nov 22
Saskatoon*
Wednesday, Nov 23
Prince Albert
Thursday, Nov 24
Regina*
Tuesday, Dec 6
Yorkton
Wednesday, Dec 7
Swift Current
Wednesday, Dec 14
* All sessions are breakfast sessions beginning at 7:30 a.m. There are two additional sessions in Saskatoon and Regina – A breakfast session at 7:30 a.m. and a luncheon session at 11:30 a.m. the same day.
Registration opens October 25. Visit www.wcbsask.com to learn more. 20
Eckler’s
re p o r t
MEMBERSHIP Central
Welcome to our new members!
By Jesse Chatterson, Director of Membership Sales
Claymore Consulting Saskatoon www.claymoreconsulting.ca
ICR Commercial Real Estate Regina Regina www.icrcommercial.com
Viking Benefit Solutions Humboldt www.vikingbenefit.ca
Paregoros Inc. Calgary
[email protected]
Thanks to our returning members! Thank you to our members who renewed last month! Your continued support of the Chamber movement makes it possible for us to achieve on your behalf, and we want you to know we appreciate you as members! • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Young’s Equipment Knibbs Associates Capital Energy Corp PIC Investment Group Seed Hawk Radio CJVR Great Plains College Display Systems International Moose Mountain Mud Broda Construction McElhanney Consulting Services Canadian Digital Network Ltd. Meridian Surveys WMCZ Lawyers Crystal Glass FP Genetics Stueck Pharmacy Desjardins Financial Security Investments Allied Printers & Promotions Hearn’s Westview Pharmacy Jay Dee Ag Tech Pillar Properties Ring Appraisals
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• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Concentra Financial Whitecap Resources Conexus Credit Union Southwest Terminal Greystone Managed Investments Chateau Regina EMW Industrial Meadow Lake OSB TC Enterprises TCU Place Bourgault Industries Solvera Solutions Saskatchewan Mining Association Athabasca Basin Development Dream Developments Quality Molded Plastics WPD Ambulance Care TEC Water Supplies Inc. Milestone Potash Corp
action! online is a monthly membership e-publication of the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce.
CHAMBER STAFF Steve McLellan CEO
[email protected]
Kristin McKee Director of Policy Development
[email protected]
Elissa LaLiberte Director of Membership Engagement
[email protected]
Marilyn Leier Executive Assistant
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Curtis Hemming Director of Government Relations
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Dawn M. Barker Director of Communications On Leave
Cindy Wright Director of Special Events
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Jesse Chatterson Director of Member Services
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CHAMBER BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chair - Shawna Nelson (Sheraton Cavalier Saskatoon) 1st Vice-Chair - Patricia Warsaba (McKercher LLP) 2nd Vice-Chair - Mike Cossar (Saskatoon) Immediate Past-Chair - Randy Beattie (PFM Capital Inc.)
Directors Peter Clarke (Seed Hawk Inc.) Sean Young (Young’s Equipment) Monica Kreuger (Global Infobrokers Inc.) Natashia Stinka (Canpotex) Tim Schroh (Affinity Credit Union)
1630 - 1920 Broad Street
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Greg Hanwell (Beer Bros. Gastropub & Deli) Clayton Veresh (MNP LLP) Kendal Netmaker (Neechie Gear) Ricardo Silva (Saskatoon)
Regina, SK S4P 3V2
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www.saskchamber.com
