An economic driver in the U.S. and Canada
The centre of the U.S. recreational vehicle (RV) industry is Indiana, where about 85 percent of RVs sold in the U.S. and Canada are manufactured. Over two-thirds of that production is concentrated in Elkhart County, proudly known as “the RV Capital of the World.”

According to the RV Industry Association, the industry has a $32.4 billion impact on Indiana’s economy. It provides 126,140 jobs, pays $3.1 billion in taxes, and supports $7.8 billion in salaries.

Nationally, the RVs Move America Economic Impact Study states that the RV industry contributes $140 billion annually to the U.S. economy. It supports nearly 680,000 jobs and pays more than $48 billion in wages, with a 23 percent increase in economic output over the past three years. That $140 billion impact breaks down into $73.7 billion from RV manufacturers and suppliers (including the automotive sector), $35.7 billion from campgrounds and travel-related activities, and $30 billion from RV sales and service. The industry also contributes $13.6 billion in federal, state, and local taxes.

According to the Spring 2025 edition of RV RoadSigns—a quarterly forecast prepared by ITR Economics for the association—2025 is expected to show modest growth, with wholesale shipments projected between 333,400 and 366,800 units.

“After seeing wholesale shipments finish 2024 up seven percent at 333,700 units, we are cautiously optimistic that the industry will see further growth over the course of the year,” said RV Industry Association President and CEO Craig Kirby. “Interest rates continue to be a challenge, but there are green shoots for the market, including continued consumer interest in RVing.” Projections show towable units totaling 313,300 units (a 4.8 percent increase) and motorhome shipments rising 5.5 percent to 36,800 units.

Meanwhile, in Canada, the RV industry also plays a significant economic role. The RV Dealers Association of Canada reports that in 2022, the industry—encompassing manufacturing, sales, post-purchase expenditures, and tourism—provided 104,200 jobs and added $12.0 billion in value to the economy, including $6.8 billion in labor income and $5.5 billion in government revenues.

Unlike the U.S., where RV production is concentrated in Indiana, Canadian manufacturing is more evenly distributed among four provinces: Quebec (24 percent), Ontario (22 percent), Manitoba (25 percent), and Saskatchewan (24 percent), with five percent in other provinces. Both Canadian and U.S. manufacturers operate facilities across Canada. The total value of RVs manufactured in Canada in 2022 was approximately $621 million, with 71 percent exported. Canada also imports many RVs from the U.S., with Ontario being the largest importer.

From compact campers to class A motorhomes
While recreational vehicles were produced in small numbers as early as the 1920s and 1930s, the concept of a “home on the road” flourished in the post-war era (1945–1960), a time of growing prosperity, disposable income, and leisure time.

Now, continuous advancements in RV technology—such as improved batteries, refrigeration, solar systems, gas cooking stoves, toilets, lightweight materials, and Bluetooth integration—have made RVing more appealing than ever. Within the trailer category, options range from the basic camper or travel trailer (13 to 35 feet) to fifth-wheel trailers (17 to 40 feet), which offer improved maneuverability thanks to a coupling device over the rear axle of the towing vehicle. For those who want compact options, pop-up trailers offer expandable space while being easy to tow and store.

Motorhomes, made possible by powerful gasoline and diesel engines, have grown in size and sophistication. They are categorized into Class A, B, and C:
• Class A: fully integrated, up to 45 feet long, built on a heavy-duty truck or bus chassis
• Class B: semi-integrated, usually vans with raised roofs, up to 23 feet
• Class C: built on a cutaway chassis, up to 30 feet, with a cab-over bunk

Truck campers, typically around eight feet in length and carried in a pickup bed, offer a compact version of a Class C design.

Motorhome manufacturers design the body, while the chassis and engines are supplied by automotive partners. For example, industry leader THOR—holding 50 to 65 percent market share in various categories—builds gas-powered models on Ford F-53 chassis and diesel models like the Palazzo GT on Freightliner chassis.

Trends, opportunities, and challenges
A 2022 report by Market Research Future projected strong growth for the RV industry over the next decade, fueled by consumer interest in outdoor recreation, rising disposable incomes, and demand for luxury travel options that feel like home.

“The RV market is experiencing a significant uptick due to the growing trend in adventure tourism,” says the report, citing data from the UN World Tourism Organization that predicts global adventure tourism will grow over 15 percent annually. In the U.S. alone, the Outdoor Industry Association estimates around 140 million outdoor enthusiasts—a massive potential customer base.

Another emerging trend is RV rentals and storage services. Urban dwellers often lack space to park RVs, so access to storage or rental options could influence purchasing decisions.

To meet rising sustainability expectations, manufacturers are looking at electric and hybrid models, using eco-friendly materials, and incorporating smart technologies that enhance performance and reduce emissions. And many new buyers are drawn to features that boost safety, efficiency, and convenience—such as smart navigation systems and fuel-saving engines.

Despite strong growth, there are challenges on the horizon. Tariffs pose a threat to the interconnected U.S.–Canada RV market, especially since many interior fittings are made in China. Ongoing trade talks—like those between a U.S. delegation and China in Geneva, and upcoming discussions between the U.S. and Canada—will be closely watched by consumers and manufacturers alike.

Potential RV buyers—whether stepping up from a pop-up trailer to a fifth wheel, or from a Class C to a Class A motorhome—are eager to see where the road leads next.

The post At Home on the Road<p class="company">RVs Drive Growth and Freedom</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

The company’s roots go back to 1906, when six smaller sugar companies merged operations. Nearly a century later, in 2002, it became a grower-owned cooperative, and two years later, in 2004, merged with Monitor Sugar Company.

Today, approximately 865 grower-owners in counties throughout Michigan and Ontario plant and harvest about 140,000 acres of sugar beets. They are sliced in the factories and turned into 1.3 billion pounds of sugar annually, which is sold under the Pioneer brand in various forms ranging from granulated and powdered sugars to liquid and brown sugars. These products find their way to retail and food service providers, as well as multi-national food processors. Co-products, including pulp, molasses, betaine, and raffinate, are used as animal feed supplements, so there is zero waste in the company’s operations.

The third largest of eight sugar beet processing companies in the U.S., Michigan Sugar Company is an important economic driver for the region. It has 1,000 year-round employees and an additional 1,100 seasonal workers, who may work up to nine months a year, with an annual payroll of nearly $90 million, making it one of the largest employers in the Great Lakes Bay and Thumb regions of Michigan. The company’s annual local economic impact is more than $700 million.

To learn more, we spoke with President and CEO Neil Juhnke, who joined the company in April 2023, bringing with him a wealth of experience in the agribusiness sector stretching back to 1990, when he began working for the American Crystal Sugar Company. We also spoke with Rob Clark, Senior Director of Communications and Community Relations, who joined the company eight years ago and worked through the pandemic.

“Our employees were deemed essential, as sugar is an important food product for consumers,” Clark explains. “The sugar industry rose to the challenge and the store shelves never lacked sugar, even when there were other shortages.”

The power of cooperative problem solving
When the pine lumber barons departed from the Saginaw Valley in the 1880s, they left behind huge tracts of stump-filled land, making the area virtually unusable, leading state and local leaders to search for a solution that would form a sustainable, economic base.

Enter the sugar beet.

Joseph Seemann, a Saginaw Valley printer who had travelled to Europe in 1884, observed how well sugar beets were growing there, and returned with seed samples, which he showed to Dr. Robert Kedzie, a chemistry professor at the Michigan State Agriculture College (now Michigan State University). Kedzie expressed great enthusiasm for the prospect of sugar beet farming in Michigan.

“Three crops of beets,” he is recorded as saying, “grown in three successive years, are worth as much as one crop of pine trees which took 100 years to mature.”

In 1887, the industry got its official start when the state legislature passed a bill offering sugar beet processors a bounty of one cent per pound of sugar, providing the farmers received four dollars per ton of beets yielding 12 percent sugar content.

Over the next century, there was tremendous growth in the industry, with sugar beets accounting for 52 percent of the sugar used in the U.S., along with a complex series of company mergers and acquisitions, some beneficial for Michigan Sugar and some, as it turned out, not so much. In 2001, Michigan Sugar’s parent company, Imperial Sugar, was unable to pay its debts and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which could have spelled the end of Michigan Sugar.

Becoming a grower-owned cooperative
However, as it turned out, 2001 was by no means an end.

“The best story about our company happened in 2002, when our growers bought it,” says Juhnke. “They literally saved the industry in the state of Michigan through their courage, foresight, vision, and faith, which will help us to carry on for generations to come.”

Under new management and with a board of directors comprising grower-owners, Michigan Sugar has made impressive strides forward in the industry.

The company has continued to work with agricultural researchers at Michigan State University, which first championed the industry in 1884; the University of Guelph in Ontario; and in its own internal research department, to develop seeds that will result in improved crops—both in quality and quantity—while reducing its carbon footprint.

“20 years ago, a grower could harvest about 20 tons per acre, with beets containing 15 percent sugar, whereas today, a grower can see a 40-ton crop with 18 percent sugar content,” Clark explains. “Of course, with 865 shareholders, the numbers vary each year based on a variety of factors, including the seed variety planted, field soil type, weather conditions during the growing season, and how well a grower can manage disease and pest pressures.”

Using GMO seed has allowed growers to increase yields by 50 percent while reducing the number of passes made across fields by 65 percent during the last 10 years, further reducing carbon emissions from agricultural equipment. Since 2002, the company has in fact cut its energy consumption by 40 percent and achieved a total reduction in annual carbon emissions of 150,000 tons. More than 87 percent of factory operations are now powered by clean-burning natural gas.

Planning ahead
When Juhnke took over the reins as President and CEO, he was faced with a demographic challenge, as the company was losing its most experienced and talented factory employees to retirement. To deal with this situation, the team reset its priorities, focusing on rebuilding assets and investing in training new workers in the rather arcane and difficult systems behind sugar beet processing, he tells us.

“We have a management trainee system for new graduates, with tuition reimbursement and apprenticeship programs for instrument technicians, electricians, welders, and mechanics, with associated costs covered by the company,” Juhnke says. “Our business is not amenable to automation; we require people to make sugar, and people are our greatest asset. We also needed a capital-focused strategy and reinvestment in our factories to improve processing performance through the introduction of state-of-the-art technology, while at the same time reducing our environmental impact.”

As part of that strategy, the company has implemented a quality-based payment system that modifies the formula by which grower shareholders are paid, incentivizing them to produce a higher sugar, higher purity crop which ultimately improves sugar recovery and factory performance, and reduces the amount of land and fertilizer needed by the farmers.

Making crystalized sugar
After the autumn harvest, the sugar beets that were planted by farm families in the spring are transported to the factories, where any stones that may have been mixed in with the beets are separated. The beets are then washed and fed into a machine that slices them into long skinny pieces called “cossettes” that resemble shoestring cut potatoes. These are perfect for extracting sugar from the beet—which is approximately 76 percent water—through a diffusion and filtering process, leaving behind pulp, which makes up 5.5 percent of the beet’s content, and other co-products.

The juice from the purification step is quite thin, containing a fair amount of water. This is removed by boiling it off until it becomes thicker and is then moved through an evaporation process, where it becomes thick enough for crystals to form.

The crystalized sugar is then spun at high speeds in a centrifuge machine, removing molasses—which makes up about 2.5 percent of the beet—that did not crystalize. Next, the damp sugar tumbles through hot, filtered air to dry, and is cooled, conditioned, and stored in a silo awaiting packaging and distribution.

Molasses desugaring technology
“We have continually modernized the technology in our factories,” Juhnke explains, “and most recently we invested in a strategic project called molasses desugaring technology.”

The new molasses desugaring facility, which opened in Bay City in May 2024 at a cost of $109 million, represents the largest single capital investment made by the company since 1906 and allows it to process 100 percent of the molasses it produces during the sugar extraction process.

The company had been using an older version of this technology developed 30 years ago, “but this fourth-generation technology is a completely sustainable technology and functions at a molecular level, so we are able to separate the components of molasses that are not sugar from sucrose, and ultimately produce a syrup extract that is between 92 and 94 percent pure, from which we can crystalize table sugar,” Juhnke shares.

“This increased our whole recovery of sugar from percentages in the low 80s to the mid-90s, meaning that we can now recover more than 90 percent of the sugar from the beets as a food-grade product, while the remaining molasses is used in the cattle and fermentation industries.”

This investment is hugely significant. From an economic standpoint, it is projected that over a 10-year period, grower-owners will see significant added revenue annually, while from an environmental standpoint, it will allow the company to produce up to 80 million more pounds of sugar annually without planting another acre of sugar beets.

Smart co-products mean zero waste
Michigan Sugar Company’s co-products include pressed pulp, a key ingredient in livestock rations, especially for dairy and beef cattle, and dried pulp. This is a nutritious and absorptive feed for cattle and horses, as well as poultry, elk, swine, and pet food, available in shreds or pellets.

Another by-product, betaine, an amino acid, is an excellent supplement in broiler nutrition, helping birds reduce stress while improving meat production.

Raffinate, known as “beet juice,” is yet another by-product that enhances livestock feed as it is a good source of protein. It is surprisingly versatile and can also be used as a de-icing agent on roads, as a more environmentally friendly alternative to road salt.

Making life sweeter for the community
Michigan Sugar’s board of directors and management remains cognizant that the company is one of the largest single employers in the region and is therefore committed to helping its extended community thrive. Annually, the company donates more than 100,000 pounds of Pioneer Sugar to charitable organizations, food pantries, and churches, sponsors county fairs and community festivals in multiple counties and supports festivals in many towns. Each year, the company also funds more than a dozen academic scholarships valued at more than $15,000. This includes three scholarships offered through the Michigan Sugar Queen Scholarship program.

The company also led an effort to develop the Aunt Sugar’s Farm and Uncle Pickle’s Barn Gallery at the Mid-Michigan Children’s Museum in Saginaw, and in 2021, renewed a commitment to upgrade it. The team also partners with the Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy to maintain the Michigan Sugar Trails, a series of single-track, natural surface hiking and biking trails located on 26 acres of land in Bay City.

In addition, Michigan Sugar Company is a United Way Campaign Champion, with the company and its employees annually donating tens of thousands of dollars to support local nonprofit organizations.

“We make a concerted effort to be credible community partners,” Juhnke says, “through corporate philanthropy, through donations of product, money, and time. Many of our employees offer hands-on, thoughtful leadership, serving on boards of other organizations, and we encourage that,” he tells us.

“We’re very proud our cooperative is owned by farm families in Michigan and Ontario, and proud that we produce and package our sugar, an all-natural product, here in the U.S.”

The post The Sweet Life of a Successful Grower-Owned Cooperative<p class="company">Michigan Sugar Company</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Sound founding principles
Yorkton was founded as a settlement and trade centre in 1882 by a group of businessmen who had formed the York Farmers Colonization Company. They purchased portions of crown land on the banks of the Little White Sand River (now Yorkton Creek) where lots were assigned to settlers who purchased land from them. In 1889, the original town was relocated alongside the new rail line to maintain economic viability as a trade centre.

In keeping with this spirit of cooperative economic development, we were recently invited to participate in an interview with various stakeholders for this article, speaking with Michael Eger, the City’s Director of Planning, Building, and Development; Randy Goulden, Executive Director of Tourism Yorkton and a member of City Council; and Marty Sveinbjornson, owner of SveinCo Developments and two-term past president of the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce.

Thriving community
Eger describes Yorkton as “too small to be a big city, and too big to be a small town,” but possessing the advantages of both. It is home to over a thousand businesses of every size. While the population of the City is 16,280—projected to grow to 25,000 by 2040—it is known for having the third largest trading district in the province, drawing employees from and supplying services to a catchment area with a population close to 200,000, which extends into western Manitoba.

According to a study from The School of Public Policy Publications, small to mid-size cities in Saskatchewan are the exceptions to the downward trend observed in the rest of Canada’s small to mid-size cities, which are not doing well in terms of a ‘vitality scale’ that measures aspects like employment rates, immigration, and youthful demographics.

Yorkton, however—which the study singled out—along with Estevan, which we featured in February; Swift Current; and Lloydminster are all scoring higher on the ‘vitality scale’ and are cited as “enticing places to build a life” by Global News’ Kimberley Fowler. Moreover, Alberta Venture Magazine labelled Yorkton as one of the Best Communities for Business in the category of “Community on the Rise.”

Balanced and advanced
Yorkton’s diverse local economy has a balanced mix of agriculture, food processing, advanced manufacturing, and both commercial and industrial operations. The economy continues to grow by encouraging expansions and attracting compatible new companies.

The City is home to some of Canada’s leading international agri-business companies. With two canola-crushing plants and four grain elevators, their success is a result of their location in the centre of some of the most fertile and productive land in Saskatchewan.

“We crush more canola oil in Yorkton than is done in the entire U.S.,” says Eger, “and we have many more opportunities in agri-processing. We have land, we have water, and we have a competitive advantage people may not realize. I think agri-business will continue to be our bread and butter. We’re the canola capital of Canada, and we have one of the largest oat-milling plants in the country, but we have even more to offer,” he says.

“Flax, wheat straw, and oat waste products present a major opportunity to expand, either through recycling byproducts to create green energy or utilizing the leftover pulp for paper and packaging materials. Through the integration of the entire agri-business sector, there are many more opportunities than just processing canola oil.”

Eger also highlights the City’s partnerships with area First Nations communities, who, he says, “are keen on expanding their businesses by partnering with parties interested in renewable energy. They are looking at solar and wind power generation and food security through developing large-scale commercial greenhouses. They are highly motivated, but sometimes it takes a partnership to move things forward.”

Shopping, health and wellness, and the arts
Yorkton’s diverse retail sector ranges from independently owned fashion boutiques and quaint cafés to large retailers including Walmart, Tim Horton’s, Superstore, and Canadian Tire, to professional and financial services, personal and health services, general contracting and trades, and hospitality.

The Yorkton Regional Health Centre, administered by the Saskatchewan Health Authority, provides fast-efficient access to health and wellness facilities. In addition, the City of Yorkton offers aquatic classes, recreation facilities, fitness programs, parks, skating rinks, walking trails, and community gardening initiatives, in order to promote a healthy lifestyle.

Yorkton is also home to a rich group of arts and cultural organizations including an art gallery, two community theatre companies, a film festival, a writer’s alliance, several dance studios, and the representation of various ethnic groups, including the Bayanihan Filipino Arts and Culture Club and the Kalyna Ukrainian Dance School.

Suncrest College, meanwhile, offers a variety of trade apprenticeship programs, technology diplomas, and the first two years of a number of university degree programs, with students able to complete their bachelor’s degrees at the University of Regina or the University of Saskatchewan. In addition, the college provides training tailored for specific local employment opportunities.

Combined with these urban amenities is the cozy feeling of a small town, a safe place for families where people volunteer and where parents drive their children to hockey practice or the dance studio no more than seven minutes from home.

A warm welcome
Sveinbjornson can speak from experience as to just how welcoming the City of Yorkton and its various development organizations are. “I grew up in a community east of Yorkton,” he tells us, “and I started my construction company (residential, small to medium size commercial, and renovations) here 18 years ago, but I was very green to business. I joined the Chamber of Commerce, put an advertisement in their magazine, and that one small $30 ad brought me a lot of business and recognition,” he says.

“There are many stories like this that other local businesses can share of the help that’s provided by the Chamber and the good relationship it has with the City Council, with Michael, and with our Mayor, who are all open and receptive to the community.”

For Goulden, “What resonates with me is the collaboration and the cooperation within our city. It is the Chamber, the City Council—the administration and the Mayor—the downtown business association (the Yorkton Business Improvement District), and our major stakeholders, who all work together to solve anything that comes across our desks and to be welcoming to new businesses,” she says.

“My time on Council goes back to when Walmart was looking to come in; when big box stores want to come into a community, it can sometimes be divisive, because there are concerns they may negatively affect smaller businesses. But working together brought everyone to understand that Walmart would be an addition to our retail sector that could grow the whole economy for us as a regional hub,” says Goulden. “When we have a challenge, our organizations and our businesses step up to decide how to solve it, and that is a huge plus.”

The joys of business—or simply being—in Saskatchewan
Welcoming investors, new businesses, business expansions, and families to Yorkton is something the various organizations have put a lot of time and thought into.

The City’s economic development website clearly explains all the advantages of doing business in Yorkton, and these include the broader advantages of doing business in Saskatchewan: a low cost of living, no payroll tax for employers, a 10 percent refundable tax on scientific research and development expenditures, no levied health premiums, and a provincial sales tax rate of only six percent.

And people looking to relocate to Yorkton will find that housing prices are the lowest compared to other cities in Saskatchewan with a similar population; that the municipal tax rates are competitive; that the City has robust infrastructure, utilities, and high-speed internet capabilities; and that there are affordable, vacant, and serviced commercial and/or industrial lots available for sale.

In addition to the City website’s detailed resource guide to help investors and entrepreneurs work their way through business licencing, the City has a number of incentives. For a limited time, Yorkton is offering a 50 percent rebate on the purchase of any City-owned residential lot for anyone looking to build a new home, while the Residential Construction Incentive gives a 100 percent tax rebate over five years to the owner of a new one-, two-, three-, or four-unit dwelling. The Rental Housing Incentive Program offers tax abatement to create new rental units in order to accommodate new workers and their families moving to Yorkton.

The City also has incentives that apply to commercial properties, including:
• the Façade and Site Improvements Program (for existing buildings)
• the New Commercial Building Tax Abatement Program
• the Vacant Commercial Building Tax Abatement Program, which is intended to offset the cost of bringing vacant buildings up to the National Building Code.

Tourism Yorkton, above and beyond
The City’s website is not the only one welcoming newcomers to Yorkton; Tourism Yorkton is also doing its part.

The organization is unique, Goulden tells us, in that it operates the only year-round Visitor Information Centre in Saskatchewan. As one might expect, it offers a visitor guide detailing activities for every season, including golf, snowmobiling, access to two provincial parks, events, and accommodations. Goulden’s organization, however, has gone above and beyond showcasing an agri-tourism program where people can learn about the various crops grown in the region and their potential uses.

Tourism Yorkton also offers a complete relocation guide. Its 16 pages are chock-full of information for newcomers—about health services, education, recreation, housing, transportation, places of worship, law enforcement services, media, employment, shopping, entertainment, culture, clubs, and organizations.

In summary, Goulden says, “A well-educated and skilled workforce, moderate property taxes, stable commercial, industrial, and residential sectors, and the good fortune of having sunny, clear blue skies, even on the coldest days, have fostered Yorkton’s emergence as one of Saskatchewan’s most promising economic regions, where a warm welcome awaits.”

The post A Community on the Rise<p class="company">City of Yorkton, Saskatchewan</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Radius offers 24-hour fire alarm and sprinkler monitoring services along with a command centre staffed day and night, seven days a week, by certified fire personnel who are dedicated to keeping industrial, commercial, and multi-family residential facilities—and the people who live and work in them—safe.

Radius differs from other fire protection companies in that it doesn’t subcontract its monitoring services. If there is an issue with monitoring equipment or a fire alarm, Radius customers can call a single number for a certified Radius technician to tackle any issue immediately, protecting life and assets.

Protection from the very start
Another aspect that sets Radius apart is its fire safety division’s approach to new building projects, an approach encompassing the entire life cycle of the building, beginning in the construction phase. Radius provides security on the job site, plans fire escape routes and signage, and assists with choosing from among the different types of fire suppression systems—water, foam, dry chemicals, inert gas, or other chemicals, ensuring that what is chosen and installed fits the complex needs of the project, whether manufacturing plant, refinery, or multi-story office tower.

Employing the latest smart technology, professionals will install the alarm, sprinkler, suppression, monitoring, and emergency light systems; carry out annual inspections; review the fire safety plan if the building undergoes renovations; and modify this plan accordingly. Over time, Radius will repair equipment as needed and update it should fire code regulations change.

“From the day the shovel hits the dirt to the installation of equipment and development and review of fire safety plans, we are there every step of the way providing our customers with professional services,” says Dave Baxter, partner and director of Business Development.

Radius runs in the family
In 1948, Ed Boheme founded a fire protection company in the southern mainland of B.C. with what the company describes as “a half-ton truck and a ton of gumption.”

Baxter explains that “In the 1970s, my grandfather moved from Manitoba to B.C., purchased the company, which then had five or six employees, and ran it for 15 years. Then my father took over as president, ran it with my aunt, and built it significantly to over 100 employees.”

In the 1980s, a sister company, Radius Security, was formed, with locations in Calgary, Alberta and Dallas, Texas which focused on security, burglar intrusion, and home monitoring stations, and which we featured in our July 2021 edition.

In 2021, Mike Baxter, Dave’s brother, took over as president of The Radius Group, (which includes Radius Fire Protection and Radius Security), making it a third-generation Baxter family-owned and operated company. The business has continued to grow, with over 250 employees, a fleet of vehicles, and thousands of satisfied customers.

In 2023, the company won Richmond, B.C.’s award for Best Large Business after a thorough review of its management and employees by Chamber of Commerce representatives. “Our next goal is to be the best business in B.C.,” says Baxter.

Despite its growth and success, the company maintains a family atmosphere and cares about its employees, says Baxter. “We focus on new employees to make sure they are welcomed, but also on our long-time employees, and we observe their milestone events. We provide intensive training, and our employees know they have a career trajectory here because we have implemented a variety of internal training programs.”

Another thing that differentiates Radius is its culture. “Because we’re authorized to train people, we can hire based on attitude, meaning we hire people we know will get along with our team. Our culture includes our Radius ‘DNA – 30’ fundamentals that we rotate weekly and discuss at the start of our meetings for five or ten minutes,” Baxter explains. “This week, for example, we’re talking about how to practice blameless problem solving and discuss how we’re all going to live that DNA throughout the week,” he says.

“It’s about leading by example, and we’ve seen that DNA and those fundamental principles have a transformative effect on our company. People who feel they don’t fit in here can self-select out if it’s not working for them, and that’s ok. We have our fundamentals we’ve chosen to live by, and they work for us and our customers.”

Authorized fire technician training
Radius Fire Protection is the only fire protection company in B.C. authorized by the Applied Science Technologies and Technicians of B.C. (ASTTBC) to train Fire Protection Technicians. This means that Radius alone in B.C. can offer in-house training courses for the “Fundamental Six” (Fire Alarm, Sprinkler, Emergency Lights, Extinguishers, Electronics, and ASTTBC Code of Ethics) while at the same time inculcating the values expressed in the Radius DNA program.

Certification assures customers that their fire protection needs are in capable hands and that the technicians possess the skills and knowledge to perform critical fire protection and life safety services, including inspection and testing of various systems.

Baxter tells us that there are schools that offer such courses, but the classes tend to be theory-based, with the student technicians only gaining practical experience through on-the-job training. Unfortunately, this presents the real possibility of critical mistakes being made that could severely compromise the customer’s installation or testing protocols.

By contrast, he says, Radius Fire Protection “offers a controlled environment where students can learn without putting actual clients in jeopardy. We take students and get them to build a fire alarm system, troubleshoot it, and show us how the testing is done, and it is far more in-depth than any other course available. They spend half the day studying theory, which is a prerequisite for certification, and the other half putting the theory into practice in our facility, where they can’t damage a client’s assets,” he explains.

“What this does is give our customers confidence about what our technicians have learned and that they’ve made their mistakes in our facility and not in theirs. When our technicians go into a customer’s building, they know what they’re doing and they can work in the field mistake-free.”

An added benefit of Radius’ approach to education and training is its small class size, with no more than four trainees at a time, which leads to greater student engagement. “It’s the only school I’ve ever seen where students show up an hour early and stay an hour late because they’re so eager to learn,” Baxter shares.

In addition, student certification with ASTTBC is not a one-off achievement; registration must be renewed annually, demonstrating a commitment to staying current with industry standards and practices through the ongoing training Radius makes available to its technicians.

Supporting the community
By its very nature, Radius Fire Protection supports the community it serves, fulfilling what psychologist Abraham Maslow considered the most basic of human needs, that of safety and security, without which people and their enterprises cannot grow and prosper.

As a member of the National Fire Protection Association, Radius takes its responsibility to that organization, to the ASTTBC, and to its customers, seriously. But beyond that, Radius Fire Protection reaches out to the community by making donations to the B.C. Professional Fire Fighters Burn Fund, founded in 1978. Each year, approximately 1,000 children and adults are treated for burn injuries in B.C. and the Yukon, and the Burn Fund assists with their recovery.

Burn Fund operations include the Home Away Centre located in downtown Vancouver, which offers burn and trauma survivors and their families—including firefighters—accommodation while receiving medical treatment if they must travel more than 100 kilometres to access it. Burn Fund also offers camps and retreats for families and individuals of all ages.

Meanwhile, Radius Fire Protection’s sister group, Radius Security, supports the Pacific Community Resource Society. Since 1984, this organization has been providing social services across B.C. related to education, employment, housing, substance abuse, mental health, and youth and family support services. The organization’s Youth Hubs offer drop-in support, access to food, programming, and life skills development. “Protecting our community is central to what we do,” Baxter says. “It is all-encompassing.”

Indeed, Radius Fire Protection’s dedication to safety, training, and community service makes it a leader in the fire protection industry. From its comprehensive, in-house technician training to its commitment to smart technology and full-service fire monitoring, Radius sets the standard for excellence. Rooted in family values and guided by a strong company culture, it continues to grow while staying true to its mission of protecting lives and property. And with a deep sense of responsibility to its customers and the broader community, Radius Fire Protection is more than just a service provider—it’s a trusted partner in safety, today and for generations to come.

The post Protecting People and Property<p class="company">Radius Fire Protection</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

A century in the valley
The college’s location since 1927—in the heart of Silicon Valley and the San Franciso Bay area, one of the world’s most entrepreneurial and innovative regions—has allowed Menlo College to create a valuable market niche for its students. Employers recognize that Menlo graduates have the skills, integrity, and passion to make meaningful contributions in an innovation economy.

“The opportunity to be situated in the middle of Silicon Valley is a tremendous value-added proposition,” said Steven Weiner, who has served as President for the past seven years, and for several years before that in what he calls a hybrid position, a combination of CFO and COO. “We are intentional about our efforts to leverage our location to every extent possible for our students by bringing the valley into the classroom through guest speakers and as adjunct faculty—people whose full-time job is at Google or Facebook,” he said.

“We also have an innovative program we call Silicon Valley Immersion, which involves taking students from the campus out to various high-tech companies in the area so they are exposed to the workplace, which opens opportunities for them to develop professional networks.”

In addition, there is a requirement for students to complete a supervised internship between their junior and senior years. According to Weiner, the majority finish their internships with a job offer upon completion of their final year of study. “Employers recognize the value of hiring a Menlo College student. I don’t know if we attract more academically ambitious students than other schools, but our graduates leave with a broad array of skills, which I think reflects on our small size where students have a closer relationship with faculty, the internship program, and our emphasis on building professional networks,” he said.

“We think those are the ways to build the soft skills that are essential in the workplace, that employers value, and that so many larger schools struggle to provide.”

Celebrating diversity
While Menlo College looks to the future, leveraging its location in the modern world’s most famous valley, it is also mindful of the past and that it is located within lands traditionally stewarded by the Puichon tribe, one of more than 50 Indigenous groups of the Bay Area. In 2020, Menlo College committed to honoring the heritage of the land and its Indigenous Peoples as part of its renewed commitment to achieving social justice.

In the beginning, Menlo admitted only male students who, Weiner said, “looked like me. But we have since opened our doors as broadly as we can,” welcoming minority groups that historically have faced barriers to accessing post-secondary education. The college now has two federal designations as a minority-serving institution, serving Hispanic students and a group called AANAPISI, which references Asian, Native American, and Pacific Island students.

“Only one percent of all universities and colleges in the U.S. have the status of serving two minority groups, and that is a point of pride with us,” said Weiner. “And in addition to those minority groups from the U.S., we have students from 48 different countries represented here. We see this as another way to add value to the Menlo experience. The workforce is diverse and students going through college in a homogeneous setting are not always comfortable in a diverse workplace, but diversity is in our blood here—whether geographic, ethnic, or economic,” he said.

“We also have students who have aged out of the foster care system, and we have Dreamers. That mix enriches the experience for all of us when we are challenged to understand the different perspectives people bring to the table.”

Building skills
Menlo College’s four-year undergraduate degree program primarily focuses on business education with a strong liberal arts base. Students can choose from a wide range of majors including accounting, business analytics, entrepreneurship, finance, international business, marketing, psychology, real estate, and sports management. In 2024, two graduate-level programs were introduced: a Master of Arts in Sport and Performance Psychology (MASPP), and a Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS).

Freshman year can be a daunting experience for any student, but even more so for minority groups, who in many cases are the first generation in their family to attend college and are unaware of what to expect. One-third of Menlo’s students are first-generation.

“We’re always looking for opportunities to improve the scaffolding we build around our students,” Weiner said, referring to support services, “and once they don’t need the scaffolding, we peel it away so they can stand on their own.”

One such piece of scaffolding is the Rising Scholars Program, available to incoming freshmen before the term starts to give them a leg up in skills development and understanding what it means to be a college student. With a grant from the Department of Education reserved for minority-serving institutions, the college has also launched Pathways to Student Success, which enables it to provide robust academic counseling services and a peer counseling initiative, provide expanded mental health resources, and offer a new curriculum focusing on skill set development, expanding the writing and math center.

One of Menlo’s recent initiatives was the opening of a public speaking center complete with a sound lab program where students can hone their communications skills, skills which Weiner believes are essential for success.

“The pitch that I made to the generous civic-minded alumnus who sponsored the program was that we want our graduates to be able to speak in a compelling way with confidence, whether representing themselves in a job interview, representing their organization, or speaking out about an issue in a political campaign or at a PTA meeting. We are in our second year of that program now and I think it is proving to be of tremendous value.”

Residential relief
To be sure, Silicon Valley is an expensive place to live, and students have struggled to find affordable off-campus housing, leading to prohibitively long commutes. Weiner points out that studies show that commuting correlates negatively with student retention and graduation rates, both of which are much higher for residential versus commuting students. Additionally, the time constraints on commuters limit their ability to participate in sports teams, student government activities, or arts and cultural activities, all part of a good liberal arts education. All these activities are available at Menlo, but would be less accessible for students facing a long commute at the end of the day.

“We were making education available to students whose forebears were historically denied access to education, but we would still be denying them access if they couldn’t, practically speaking, obtain affordable housing,” Weiner said.

Funding a second residence hall was a challenge for a college whose campus had not seen a new building in 45 years. Fortunately, two donors, Bay Area developer John Arrillaga and an anonymous alumnus, both saw the value in a Menlo education. Together with yet other donors, the college received donations of more than $28 million, making possible the construction of a 288-bed residence that today bears Arrillaga’s name. This increased Menlo’s residential capacity by 50 percent, which means that now, 75 percent of the student body is housed on campus.

The $5 million challenge
“Being a small school with a small endowment is very challenging,” Weiner said, “and the rate of small school closures in the U.S. is alarming.”

Yet there are benefits to remaining small. Weiner spent 16 years working in administration in a large university and said he knew only the few students who worked for him. Here, he knows almost everyone and is positive about how the college successfully tracks its students. “I believe our students benefit from the extent to which we monitor their progress,” he said. “We may lose a student, but it is never because we lost track of that student, and our students engage with our faculty and the services we offer.”

He goes on to express his belief that the school’s approach is making a positive impact on the lives of the students now, and in the future will have an impact on the lives of their children and even their grandchildren. I told him about a Canadian First Nations teaching that I had learned from a Mi’kmaq artist—that the effects of what we do today will impact the next seven generations. “I like that,” he said.

“Now we have another alumnus who also believes in the value of the Menlo education and says it significantly enhanced the trajectory of his life. He wants to see it continue and has issued a five million dollar challenge to other alumni. He’s put his money where his mouth is and he’s told me, ‘Go out and raise five million dollars and I will match it, dollar for dollar,’” Weiner said. “A ten million dollar influx of cash would greatly improve our financial security and allow us to offer greater financial support to our students in navigating the cost of higher education while continuing to enhance our programs which directly benefit them.” As of December 31, 2024, they met their goal.

There is no doubt—Menlo College’s nearly century-long journey is a testament to the enduring value of small, focused, and community-driven education. By embracing its location in the heart of Silicon Valley, championing diversity, and prioritizing personal and professional growth, the college has created a unique ecosystem where students thrive. Its commitment to innovation, accessibility, and holistic development ensures that Menlo graduates are not only well-prepared to contribute to an ever-evolving global economy but are also equipped to lead with integrity and purpose.

As Menlo looks to the future, its unwavering dedication to student success and its ability to adapt to challenges will undoubtedly secure its place as a transformative force in higher education for generations to come.

The post Innovative, Inclusive, Impactful<p class="company">Menlo College</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Mayor Tony Sernick, who had been sworn in just a few hours before we spoke, shares with us the excitement, optimism, and positivity he’s seen over the last four years as City Councillor, with the revitalization of the downtown and the energy-related projects under development at SETH. It made him decide to run for the position of mayor, he says, “to keep all of that going ahead.”

He notes that Estevan has been all about energy for 150 years—oil, gas, and coal—and now as the world transitions away from those fuels, the city will continue to be all about energy—nuclear, geothermal, and solar. “We are going to be doing just about everything under the sun to maintain Estevan as the energy city,” he says. Even, as it turns out, using coal.

Reimagining coal for a sustainable future
City Manager Jeff Ward says that, “We fully understand the current federal climate mandates require that traditional coal burning facilities need to be shut down by 2030.” One of Mayor Sernick’s priorities is to ensure the coal-fired electric power generation assets the city has can be used to the end of their life cycle, “but by no means are we putting our heads in the sand because we want to be part of a cleaner, greener energy future.”

A key part of that, he tells us, is identifying how coal by-products—graphite and hydrogen—can play a critical role in achieving a clean energy future while maintaining employment for miners and offering exciting economic development opportunities for investors.

“Our coal is a little different from that found in other parts of the country,” explains Gord More, Executive Director of SETH. “It is prehistoric peat that has been barely fossilized and still has its original organic structure. Under a microscope it has a similar structure as graphite.”

SETH opened in May 2022 with support from the community and provincial and federal governments. It is a registered, incorporated, non-profit organization that acts as a collaboration hub with a mission to inspire and nurture the growth of innovative and technology-based companies in southeast Saskatchewan.

Graphite, More explains, is widely used in industrial lubricants, in the core of nuclear reactors, and in the rods used to control the nuclear reaction. With a renewed interest in nuclear energy, particularly in small modular reactors (SMRs), having a readily available supply of good quality graphite—such as is found in the open pit mines surrounding Estevan where the ground has already been disturbed, making it easy to extract—will be of critical importance.

More tells us that 77 percent of all the graphite in the world comes from China, “and China has now placed an internal tariff on the product, requiring permission from the Communist Party to export it, which they are refusing to do so they can control the world’s markets.” The only other place where North American industry can get graphite is South Korea, “but it’s a synthetic substance and highly toxic. It creates pollution, which defeats the purpose of using it.”

Estevan, Ward tells us, has been identified by the Provincial government and Saskpower as the site for construction of SMRs, with work expected to begin in 2029 with operation by 2034. “If we can get those jobs and construction facilities at the same time, and start using coal in a different way, we can keep the mines operating and maintain those jobs,” he says.

Another project using coal involves the production of hydrogen, which More says is being looked at for passenger vehicles, for aviation, and for farm equipment, with CP Rail needing access to hydrogen now, as it has three hydrogen-powered locomotives.

Where Estevan comes into the equation is that it already has “the world’s only carbon capture coal plant, and that means we have the infrastructure for the recovery and carbon capture sequestration that the world is trying to build.” The city is therefore capable of converting coal to hydrogen that would meet both Canadian and U.S. standards for clean energy.

Researchers at the University of Chicago “have tested our process and our coal, and it passed as green hydrogen, and that’s extremely valuable to the world right now,” says More. “But we need private investors to bring these projects to fruition. We are receiving government funding, but private investors bring understanding and knowledge of the markets they work in, and we need that to make these products successful,” he explains.

“Both projects—graphite and hydrogen—have been de-risked significantly by government money, and we have gotten them to a place where a private investor would feel comfortable knowing they could make a great return on investment.”

Geothermal and solar energy
Geothermal energy is another advantage that Estevan enjoys, as it is sitting at the end of a geothermal line that extends to southern Saskatchewan from where it starts in the Yukon, says More. It is currently under development by the DEEP Earth Energy Company, a privately held corporation looking to provide geothermal resources for power generation, which could be integrated to supply greenhouses, fish farms, and food processing industries.

Then there’s the sun. Southern Saskatchewan has more sunlight hours than any other part of Canada, making solar energy a viable energy alternative for large-scale projects such as data centres, which could use a combination of solar and natural gas. If data-storing servers were to locate in Estevan, their owners would have a competitive advantage in saving on energy costs.

Innovation Centre for Energy Development
Last year SETH partnered with Southeast College’s Centre of Sustainable Innovation (CSI) to create the Innovation Centre for Energy Development (ICED). Its purpose is to provide an “ecosystem for companies and institutions to complete their applied research or product development projects in the region. This in turn will lead to projects being commercialized and manufactured in Saskatchewan, creating new industries, companies and jobs.”

To create that ecosystem, ICED would need to provide a hydrogen hub, says More. While most of the hydrogen created by the gasification of lignite coal would be sold to existing customers, some would be available for product development. A solar-powered data centre would be developed, to “not only provide a reference point for the industry, but also provide computing and AI power for our clients.”

An organic chemistry laboratory is one of the biggest requirements here, as the closest accessible lab is a five-hour drive, in Saskatoon. Currently, three active projects—coal conversion to graphite with The George Washington University; lithium extraction from brine with Legacy Water; and Buffalo Potash—would benefit from a local lab. Finally, having a microgrid would also allow various energy projects to tie into others to mimic a real-world environment, to test and refine their capabilities.

Location, location, location
Not only is Estevan ideally located to take advantage of multiple forms of energy, but it is also in an ideal location to do business. Just 16 km (9.9 miles) north of the U.S. border and equidistant from two urban centers, Regina, Saskatchewan and Minot, North Dakota, Estevan is situated on the central North American trade corridor. Businesses located there can enjoy direct access to markets in 10 U.S. states, as well as markets several hundred miles into Mexico, via the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway. The city also has access to the Can-Am and TransCanada Highways, and CN rail access to the east-west Canadian trade corridor, from Vancouver to Halifax.

To capitalize on the anticipated growth as Estevan transitions from being a coal-mining town, Ward says that the city had been eligible for federal funding, some of which was used to revitalize the downtown core, “to create the kind of community we will require if we are to move forward.”

Until eight years ago, the main highway doubled as the city’s main street, but after a bypass was constructed, attention has turned to making the downtown core pedestrian-friendly, connecting it to walking trails, working with the Chamber of Commerce to analyze needs, incentivizing small businesses—such as a coffee shop and a real estate office—to open with tax breaks, and funding existing businesses to refresh and enhance their storefronts.

“There will be a focus on building what works best for our downtown core. We are small, with a population around 10,000, but we are in a catchment of 50,000,” says Ward.

The city also has the aforementioned industrial park with available commercial lots, and within it is Southeast College and SETH, which provides incubation opportunity for small start-ups alongside its larger projects.

“As we transition from coal, we are trying to retool our labour force. We have a lot of coal miners with existing skill sets that would be available for new companies,” says Ward. “If a manufacturing or other light industry plant were to open, we have the people who could convert their skill sets to whatever is needed.”

Quality of life
Families relocating to Estevan will find an excellent quality of life, Ward says. The city has a regional hospital, six schools including a regional, comprehensive high school, and affordable housing.

“People who come here from urban areas to work, including digital nomads, can’t believe all the amenities we have for a city our size,” he says. “We have a $24 million arena/rink in Affinity Place, a world-class golf course that has previously earned the title of Facility of the Year in Saskatchewan, and the Estevan Motor Speedway, which continues to receive accolades. We have ball diamonds and parks, and it is a safe place—great for families.” It looks like sunny skies ahead.

The post Entering a New Energy Era<p class="company">City of Estevan, Saskatchewan</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), poultry producers hold leading positions in both international and U.S. meat commodity markets. The U.S. is the largest poultry producer and the second-largest egg producer in the world, with the industry heavily concentrated in the southeastern states.

In October 2024, the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation, and United Egg Producers released an updated economic impact study. The report indicated that the industry provides over two million jobs, $132.7 billion in wages, $663.6 billion in economic activity, and $54 billion in government revenue.

Trade plays a huge role in the sector’s profitability by lowering domestic prices. From 2013 to 2022, 17 percent of domestic broiler production was exported, along with 11 percent of turkey production. Mexico is the largest foreign market for poultry, while the largest markets for egg exports are Mexico and Canada.

Meanwhile, according to Agriculture Canada’s industry profile, in 2023, Canada produced poultry and egg products that contributed $6.8 billion to its GDP, with the largest poultry producers concentrated in Ontario and Quebec. While most of the products are consumed domestically, Canada also exports a variety of poultry products. In 2023, Canada exported breeding stock, hatching eggs, and live birds—turkeys, ducks, and geese—along with other poultry meat and meat products worth $61.8 million to 24 countries. The U.S. was the largest market, accounting for 71 percent of the exports.

Included in these figures were over 3.3 million hatching eggs of different species sent to 19 countries, with the U.S. accounting for 64 percent of the market—over 3 million kilograms of processed eggs worth $15 million and over 24.2 million shell eggs worth over $3.6 million.

Bird Flu – a dark cloud
While there is much to celebrate, a dark cloud looms over the industry in the form of the H5N1 virus, which causes Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), a disease lethal to poultry with the potential to devastate the industry and significantly affect food security.

Carried by migrating wild birds, this virus, which has been recognized since the late 1800s, has mutated and spread globally. Spring and fall, when birds migrate, are the optimal seasons for bird flu outbreaks.

In North America, the virus was first detected in a U.S. commercial flock on February 8, 2022, and was later found in flocks across Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean that same year. While the virus is not harmful to humans in thoroughly cooked poultry, it is lethal to the animals and has been shown to be transmissible to farm workers, which could lead to a serious public health issue. For this reason, millions of birds in North America have been culled in the last two years.

To mitigate the risk of reinfection, producers must wait a significant period after the birds have been culled and the facilities have been thoroughly cleaned before starting production again. New chicks are vaccinated at two weeks old. The most recent report (November 1, 2024) from the USDA indicated H5N1 virus outbreaks in nine commercial flocks and seven backyard flocks on the west coast in Washington and Oregon. Agriculture Canada also reported infected zones in British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

Supply management vs. subsidies
There is a significant difference in the volume of poultry products produced by the U.S. and Canada, which is partly due to the distinctly different approaches taken by their respective governments.

Canada’s supply management program, established in 1972 by an Act of Parliament, is a national agricultural policy encompassing dairy, chicken, turkey, table eggs, and broiler hatching eggs. The policy coordinates production and demand while controlling imports to ensure stable prices for both farmers and consumers. The intent is to keep farms profitable, ensure a steady supply at stable prices, and avoid the need for direct subsidies, unlike in the U.S. and European Union countries.

While supply-managed sectors support this policy, it has become an issue in trade agreements like CETA (the free trade agreement between Canada and the EU), CPTPP (the Trans-Pacific Partnership), and USMCA (the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement), forcing the Canadian government to make some concessions.

In 2021, Agriculture Canada introduced the Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program (PEFIP), a reimbursement-based, cost-shared program offering nearly $759 million over 10 years, with producers contributing at least 30 percent of the costs. The program aims to support on-farm investments that improve productivity, food safety, biosecurity, and environmental sustainability, as well as respond to consumer preferences, such as enhancing animal welfare and adopting alternative housing systems or transitioning to organic production.

In contrast, the U.S. government has long supported and subsidized its poultry and egg industry, much of which is vertically integrated, such as through “The Biden-Harris Action Plan for a Fairer, More Competitive, and More Resilient Meat and Poultry Chain.”

Responding to consumer demands
It’s a bit of the age-old “chicken or the egg” argument: which came first—an increased demand for poultry products as a perceived healthier alternative to red meat, or the improved availability of poultry products at competitive prices? Or did they evolve together?

That’s a tough question to answer. According to USDA statistics from 2000 to 2024, poultry production and consumption steadily increased, with the most significant growth occurring between 2013 and 2022 as producers met domestic and consumer demands. Broiler production grew by 22 percent, and egg production increased by 10 percent.

However, turkey production has declined each year since 2017, largely offset by the rise in broiler production. Turkeys are less commercially viable as they take longer to reach market size—about four months, compared to two months for broilers—and six months or more to become breeders.

Meanwhile, red meat production, which was much higher than poultry production in 2000, plummeted in 2014. It is recovering gradually, but it still remains much lower than poultry.

Breeding a better bird
Poultry production in both the U.S. and Canada enjoys a competitive advantage globally, thanks to an abundant supply of feed—mainly soybean meal and corn. Some processors also add flaxseed to the feed mix for layer hens, producing omega-3 eggs, which are seen as a healthier choice.

Commercial research in poultry genetics in the U.S. has seen a “dramatic increase in poultry feed conversion overtime, requiring less feed and shorter duration to produce market-ready birds and eggs, resulting in highly competitive prices.”

A key event in the industry’s development is the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE), held annually in Atlanta, Georgia. As the world’s largest annual poultry and egg, meat, and animal food industry event, IPPE is one of the top 25 largest trade shows in the U.S. The 2025 edition, set for January 28–30, will showcase the latest technology, equipment, and supplies used in egg, meat, and poultry production. Industry experts will discuss topics like grain management, food safety, genetics, breeding, and health.

Industry focus for 2025
Dr. Gabrielle House, who holds a Ph.D. in Poultry Science from Purdue University, surveyed employers, vendors, and other industry stakeholders to identify trends shaping the industry in the coming years. At the top of the list is the need to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint in response to growing consumer demand for sustainability. This can be achieved through more efficient production methods, waste management, and energy use.

Greater efficiency in producing eggs and chicken meat is essential to feeding a world whose population is expected to grow by nearly two billion people over the next 30 years, according to the UN. House highlights technological advancements such as innovations in genetics, feed formulation, and ongoing research aimed at improving efficiency, which translates into higher output with fewer resources.

Another focus is sustainable broiler production. House cites research by Seong W. Kang and colleagues at the University of Arkansas, published in Frontiers in Physiology in February 2023, which found that variable (gradient) artificial lighting reduced the number of birds culled for leg issues, improved feed conversion ratios, increased daily weight gain, and enhanced bird activity while reducing biological stress indicators.

House also predicts that regulatory changes will impact the industry in 2025 and beyond, with stricter regulations on greenhouse gas emissions and animal welfare standards. Producers will need to adopt more sustainable practices and technologies to comply with these changes. Additionally, ongoing adjustments in international trade agreements and biosecurity measures will continue to shape the industry. Most of these topics will be discussed at the IPPE event in Georgia in early 2025.

The post The Chicken or the Egg?<p class="company">Trends and Challenges in the Poultry and Egg Industry</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

We spoke with Robert Long, Chester County’s Director of Economic Development, at his office in Richburg, SC, located 13 miles east of the county seat of Chester City. Long shared his proactive strategies for attracting business investment to the county, which is situated in a highly competitive and business-friendly state.

One key strategy is active participation in the SC Interstate 77 Alliance, a regional marketing organization that includes five counties stretching from Columbia to the state line. The Alliance builds relationships with European and Canadian investors, leveraging Chester County’s proximity to Charlotte’s international airport, which offers direct flights to cities like Munich, Frankfurt, Toronto, and Montreal.

“We’re a small county and we can’t be everything to everyone, but having those international flights has put us in play for Canadian and European investments,” Long tells us.

A thriving manufacturing community
“Our goal is direct investment and business attraction,” he shares. “We are a thriving manufacturing community which accounts for approximately 50 percent of the jobs in the private sector, and that is something that distinguishes us. There are lots of communities here close to the urban core like Charlotte, Columbia, and Greenville that aren’t quite as into manufacturing as they were decades ago, but we still are.”

Chester County was once part of a belt of textile factories lining the I-77. Although most of them have gone, a few have remained, while the manufacturing industry has diversified to include lumber and wood products, metals, chemicals, plastics and rubber, and an emerging food and beverage sector, which all benefit from the short-line railroad, originally built to accommodate the textile manufacturers.

Last year, Long says, the State of South Carolina made three billion-dollar announcements, with all three on the I-77 and one of them in Chester, “so we are very proud of that.” In March 2023, Albemarle Corporation, which maintains offices in Charlotte, North Carolina, announced plans to build a $1.3 billion state-of-the-art “Mega-Flex” lithium hydroxide processing facility to produce EV batteries in Chester County for the growing EV manufacturing industry elsewhere in the state. This project will result in 300 new jobs, with an average salary over $90,000.

This year, Princeton Energy, a company that came out of Princeton University in New Jersey, announced an $11 million, 40-job project to recycle lithium batteries in a more efficient process. “It’s a pilot project for small-scale production, but we are hoping that it will go to full-scale production in the next few years,” says Long.

Then there’s IKO Industries, a leader in the roofing, waterproofing, and insulation industry throughout North America and Europe, which announced a $360 million investment in February 2023 to open two plants in Chester County. One will be a fiberglass manufacturing facility, and the second will use the output to manufacture fiberglass mats, a vital component in asphalt shingle production. The project will create 200 local jobs.

International investment is not new to Chester County. In 2021, the E & J Gallo Winery, a global wine and spirits company, announced a $423 million investment to build a state-of-the art production and distribution facility that will create 496 jobs over the next eight years, allowing it to meet customer demand on the east coast. Its proximity to the Port of Charleston will also serve as a hub for Gallo’s import and export business.

A business-friendly environment
“South Carolina as a whole is listed among the top five business-friendly states in the country,” according to Long. “We’re referred to as the ‘handshake state’ because we are small and nimble enough to be able to do what we say we are going to do.”

Chester County has moved from being a Tier 4 county, meaning underdeveloped, to Tier 3 status, “and because of the success we’ve had in the last few years, the statutory incentives we are able to offer projects is substantial,” Long explains. “One of the big things South Carolina offers are discretionary incentives, so now Chester County can offer fees in lieu of property taxes. On top of that, we can layer grants that for the first five or 10 years can further lower the tax bill, which levels the playing field and makes us competitive with North Carolina or Georgia.”

Chester County has reliable infrastructure, with a local natural gas authority that allows businesses to negotiate rates, excellent water and sewer systems, railways and highways, and hydroelectric dams on the Catawba River, managed by Duke Energy. As a result, power outages are rare, small, “and more of a nuisance than a disruption,” and because the county is two and a half hours inland from the Port of Charleston and Myrtle Beach, a popular tourist destination, “we don’t usually get hurricanes here.”

Manufacturers looking to open or expand in Chester County can rely on a well-trained local workforce. The SC Technical College System, comprising 16 colleges and two statewide programs, readySC™ and Apprenticeship Carolina™, plays a key role in educating and training the workforce for in-demand, high-skilled jobs. The system works, in partnership with the SC Department of Commerce and Economic Development agencies, to attract new companies to the state by providing skilled workforce solutions to assist with initial start-up and early production goals, and comprehensive training solutions to meet companies’ long-term growth strategies to ensure they stay.

Quality of life
Anyone relocating to the area will enjoy a pleasant climate year-round, with real estate prices considerably lower than those found in Charlotte or its suburbs. “The price of a house in Rock Hill, a Charlotte suburb, jumped by $150,000 last year to $400,000,” says Long, “but you can come 20 minutes further south and buy that same house for $300,000.”

Until recently, housing stock had not been keeping up with the population growth, “but we have had 400 new houses built recently and six new developments to accommodate 3,300 homes have been approved,” says Long. These will include a mix of detached homes, townhomes, and multifamily residences.

While excited about the growth in housing stock, Long says the agency is concerned about maintaining local green spaces, so a minimum of 20 percent green space is required in new developments, with some developers offering to do 25 percent for further considerations. “We have also increased our buffer for waterways, which historically has been only 50 feet; we have doubled that to 100 feet,” he says.

“We have a lot of water, both flat water and white water, on the Catawba River for rafts, kayaks, or canoes. The outdoor lifestyle is where we shine,” he says, referring to opportunities for hiking in the National Forest, golf, agritourism businesses, and farmers markets.

The county seat of Chester, often called the “Pretty Little City” for its historic downtown, has a population of 5,500. Like many small communities, it experienced some business losses when companies relocated closer to the highway bypass. However, there is now growing excitement and momentum around revitalizing the downtown area. Chester County Economic Development helped a developer purchase two large buildings for renovation, “and I am excited about that because it will contain street-level commercial space with a residential component,” says Long. “In my mind, for a downtown to be successful, you need people living in it.”

One of the buildings is now complete and features Heybo Outdoors, a leading outdoor apparel company; a women’s clothing boutique; and a storefront operation for Hazelwood Farms Dairy. Now, Long has partnered with Retail Strategies, a company based in Birmingham, Alabama, to conduct a “retail gap” analysis to find out what people are looking for when they shop and what they go to urban centers to purchase.

“Most of my work has been focused on the bread-and-butter part of economic development, on manufacturing and logistics, but we need retail too,” which is the reason Long has gone for the first time to the ICSC show in Atlanta, Georgia.

“My prediction is that we are set to become one of the hotspots in the metro Charlotte region on the radar of national retail,” he says. “And hopefully we can move on this momentum and excitement. We are at the right place and the right time, and we are set to be the fastest growing county in the state.”

The post Choose Chester. For Business. For Life.<p class="company">Chester County, South Carolina</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

However, five years ago, with the opening of Inland Port Dillon, the notion that Dillon County was merely a drive-through on the way to somewhere else changed. The manufacturing and distribution communities sat up and took notice when rural Dillon County emerged as the place to be, a direct result of the huge opportunities the inland port offers for businesses to succeed.

To learn more, we spoke with Rodney Berry, the county’s Economic Development Officer. Originally from Dillon County, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps and enjoyed a career in the publishing industry before pivoting to economic development because of the significant positive impact it has on families’ well-being. In this capacity, Berry has served as Mayor, county administrator, and congressional director.

Inland Port Dillon – a game changer
Located in the county seat, Inland Port Dillon, which opened in 2019, is the South Carolina Ports Authority’s (SCPA) second inland port, with the other in Greer. It is the result, Berry says, of a bi-partisan effort. “We had a lot of people working at the federal, state, and local levels to make this happen.”

Now the inland port is inviting manufacturers, distributors, importers, and exporters to enjoy the benefits of connecting with the Port of Charleston, one of the U.S.’s largest and busiest deepwater ports, serviced by nearly a dozen ocean carriers.

“The Port of Charleston is a huge economic driver in the State of South Carolina,” Berry explains, “and here in Dillon, the inland port is our flagship. You can unload anything from anywhere in the world in the Port of Charleston and it can be directly railed to Dillon via CSX’s Class 1 Rail.”

Dillon could be the product’s destination if it is fulfilling a manufacturer’s supply chain need, or it could be transported across the country from a distribution center, either by rail or road. Alternatively, anything can be shipped out, from manufactured goods to produce, such as the grains and soybeans grown in the state.

The inland port has given a competitive edge to the region because of the substantial freight savings associated with rail—anywhere from 10 to 35 percent—over the cost of transportation by truck, and business has grown every year. In addition, the Match Back program offered by the SCPA in Dillon matches empty containers with exporters, streamlining the process so that when the product leaves Dillon via rail for Port Charleston, it is ready to be loaded aboard the ship.

Berry explains that when he receives calls at the Economic Development Office, they are almost all inquiring about the inland port and what kind of savings can be realized by locating in Dillon. Exporters receive one Dillon-origin rate from the ocean carrier which includes all terminal fees in Dillon, CSX rail transit to Charleston, delivery to the container terminal, plus international shipping to the destination. Importers also receive one rate from the ocean carrier, which includes shipping to Charleston, SCPA-provided dray to a local CSX intermodal ramp within 24 hours of becoming available (assuming the box has been released by Customs and everything is in order), rail transit to Dillon, and handling and facilitation fees at the inland port.

Dillon Inland Port is in a fully-serviced industrial park, ready to receive manufacturing and distribution industries, with all the necessary infrastructure in place—gas, electricity, water, sewer, high-speed Internet, and several available buildings and space to build others. “We have developed the area around the port and done our homework,” Berry says.

There are other areas available for development in proximity to the industrial park as well. Just a mile away is Harbor Freight’s 2 million-square-foot retail and distribution center for high-quality tools, which more than doubled in size after the inland port opened. It provides over 500 jobs and ships tools by rail to retail locations across the nation.

Manufacturing companies located in the area and listed by Dun & Bradstreet as having sales figures over $1 million include The Herald Publishing Company, Herald Multiforms (office equipment), Perdue Chicken, and Wyman-Gordon. But Berry is determined to recruit more companies, and to that end has founded the Dillon County Public-Private Partnership, based on the idea that “even the best planted seeds need a push to grow in the right direction.”

Through a series of monthly informational and educational presentations from leaders in business, education, and public service, Berry has developed an ambassador program to educate a core group of citizens who will be ambassadors for the county, prepared to speak knowledgeably about the advantages of doing business here and to welcome new businesses when they arrive.

More reasons to do business in Dillon County
While having an inland port seems reason enough to open or expand a business in Dillon County, there are even more sound incentives. The county, says Berry, “has been unwaveringly supportive and fiercely proactive in driving economic development, demonstrating a relentless commitment to fostering growth and opportunity in the region.”

Indeed, the State of South Carolina has a strong pro-business attitude and is ranked among the top five most business-friendly states in the nation. The state-wide incentives and grants available to businesses, based on the size of the investment and number of employees, is something the county can leverage, along with the advantages of the port, to attract investors.

In addition, company owners and managers can rely on a well-trained local workforce. “We work closely with Northeastern Technical College,” Berry says, describing college administration as nimble and able to pivot to offer programs that meet the needs of employers. “They work with our local industry, and they know what needs to be done and they do it.”

Northeastern Technical College is one of the 16 colleges within the SC Technical College System along with two statewide programs, readySC™ and Apprenticeship Carolina™, all of which combine to play a key role in education and training the workforce for in-demand and high-skilled jobs. Even though the population of Dillon County is relatively small at an estimated 27,649, employers have an available workforce of nearly one million to draw from within 60 miles of its geographical center.

A healthy, balanced lifestyle
Dillon County offers residents a relaxed, rural lifestyle, something many urban dwellers long for and are seeking out, says Berry. But with urban amenities only a short drive away in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and rich tourism offerings just two hours south in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, newcomers don’t feel isolated from the things they are used to having or doing. Housing costs are generally lower, and Berry says his department is aiming to keep it that way by recruiting developers to build more housing to accommodate middle-income families, as he expects the population to grow.

The county is especially fortunate to have excellent healthcare services through McLeod Health, a non-profit organization that purchased and manages the hospital and offers services typically only found in larger centers. “The hospital is a gem,” according to Berry. “It is extraordinary for a county our size to have such a robust health facility.”

And last but not least, there is the inviting climate, where temperatures range from 73°F to 95°F in July, the hottest month, to lows of 40°F to 60°F in January, and make outdoor recreation—hiking, fishing, boating in the rivers, and barbecuing and dining al fresco—possible year-round. With snow rarely seen, except at higher elevations, a location 60 miles from the coast so that it is not affected by storm surges, and 216 days of sunshine per year—combined with exceptional business opportunities in a pro-business state—Dillon County, South Carolina is truly the ideal place to be.

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The answer is (drrrrrumroll!) Thompson, Manitoba, which hosted the games in 2018, and because of its success, its sizeable arena (home of the Norman Northstars, a member of the U-18 AAA Hockey League), and its proximity to Mystery Mountain Winter Park, a ski hill north of the city, has been approached by the Province of Manitoba to do it again in 2026.

“We can handle whatever’s thrown at us,” says Mayor Colleen Smook, “and that’s exciting. In 2025 we’re hosting the Provincial Firefighter’s Challenge. In the past, we’ve hosted the provincial Tournament of Hearts curling bonspiel, and most recently we hosted a northern conference on transportation.”

It’s this calm, capable, ‘can do’ attitude and sense of camaraderie among the citizens of Thompson, in its strategic location in the Arctic corridor, that has powered the nickel mining town to grow and prosper as a transportation hub.

“I think the key to prosperity and moving forward is working with the people,” says Smook, who has served on the city council for 10 years and as mayor for the past six. “Our issue is that we don’t sell ourselves on the good things that are happening. Especially now, coming out of the pandemic, we have been able to put provincial and federal dollars into our community to attract people, investors, and more businesses and services. I think it’s important for people to know what’s happening here, and why it’s a great place to live and do business.”

Unique nickel reserves
After 10 years of exploration for nickel deposits in northern Manitoba, Inco Ltd. discovered a major ore body in the heart of the boreal forest, 761 km north of Winnipeg and 32 km southwest of Moak Lake, in 1956. Following an agreement between Inco and the Province of Manitoba to develop the area and build a rail link with the Canadian National Railway, the town was founded the following year and named after Dr. John F. Thompson, Inco’s chairman at the time.

The newly developed city, constructed by thousands of workers, sprang to life in 1961, coinciding with the formal opening of the mine, the second largest nickel-producing operation in the world after Inco’s Sudbury, Ontario mining operation.

The nickel mines are the city’s single largest employer to this day, employing underground miners, millwrights, electricians, mechanics, and accounting and management staff, and are now managed by Vale Manitoba Operations, a division of Vale Canada, a subsidiary of Brazil-based owner Vale.

“They are a good community partner,” Smook says, referring to the company’s assistance in developing parks, supporting construction of Thompson’s new pool, and funding the City of Thompson’s purchase and implementation of asset management software.

Currently, Vale is working on some big projects, having invested over $300 million in drilling in the last few years to define the exact area where they will hope to extract more ore. “They have worked at the 5,000-foot level in the past, but this will be at 7,500 feet. They think it’s worth it, and recently they hired 50 more people who they’ll train,” Smook adds.

Growing the hub
While the nickel mines continue to play a vital role in Thompson’s economic development, its importance as a northern transportation hub has grown.

Thompson has a population of around 13,000, about half of whom are Indigenous. The city provides services to another 50,000 people living in small communities throughout northern Manitoba. Thompson has become the region’s downtown, with goods shipped out to those communities and people coming into the city to avail themselves of its diverse services—retail, dining, healthcare, education, and recreation.

The city is served by VIA Rail which operates a passenger train from Winnipeg to Churchill—an ecotourism destination on Hudson Bay that is home to polar bears and beluga whales—and by the Hudson Bay Railway, which owns and ships freight along the railroad that links The Pas to Churchill and passes through Thompson. Other ground transportation companies serving Thompson include trucking companies Gardewine and Manitoulin Transport.

Smook is excited about the completion of the $35 million Miles Hart Bridge replacement over the Burntwood River on the north side of the city and is looking ahead to the new $120 million Thompson Airport, set to be completed in 2025, as the culmination of a 20-year effort—and key to the city’s success as a service hub.

Flying in and out of the airport are passenger airlines Calm Air, Perimeter Aviation, and Wings Over Kississing. They provide essential services, connecting Thompson with Winnipeg, while smaller planes supply services to 12 small outlying communities, some of which are only reachable by air except for during the winter road season from January to March. North Star Air, a cargo airline, flies supplies from Thompson throughout northern Manitoba and into Nunavut.

“They can carry anywhere from 7,500 to 10,000 pounds, depending on where they are going,” Smook says, “and they typically go out seven times a day. During the pandemic when things were backed up and other airports were down, our airport barely skipped a beat. We might have gone down to 80 percent capacity, whereas everyone else was down to 20 percent. This is one of the reasons we’re ready to have people move here, because the transportation services they need to do business are all here.”

Federal, provincial, and Indigenous partners
Thanks to grant proposals that originated before the pandemic, the Mayor and Council have realized some huge recent successes in terms of renewing and revitalizing the city’s all-important infrastructure.

In 2021, the city had $87 million worth of new capital projects approved for federal and provincial infrastructure funding. $40 million is earmarked as road renewal funding for 20 km of streets, while $47 million will go toward a water and sewer main renewal project. These five-year projects, which recently completed their third construction season, recognize Thompson’s important role in the North and are critical first steps toward a sustainable future, according to Mayor Smook. “Thompson is bigger than just the people who live within city limits. We are the Hub of the North and people across the region rely on our infrastructure year-round.”

A major project just getting started which will change the footprint of Thompson is the result of a partnership between the City and the Keewatin Tribal Council, which represents 11 First Nations of Northern Manitoba. In 2023, KEDC Corp, the tribal council’s economic development agency, acquired 89 acres of forested land adjacent to the northern portion of the city and the Burntwood River.

Over the next seven to 10 years, the agency plans to build an office building for the Keewatin Tribal Council, a health centre, a hotel, and a conference centre, followed by plans to construct 384 housing units, which will include some affordable housing, assisted living, and personal care home spaces.

In a 2023 press release announcing the agreement, Smook says, “Northerners know that cooperation is the key to progress and that working together is the best way to achieve the goal of prosperity for everyone. Northern Manitoba benefits when Thompson is doing well, and the local economy will benefit greatly from the Keewatin Tribal Council’s significant investment in the long-term growth of the city.”

In the same release, Keewatin Tribal Council Grand Chief Walter Wastesicoot noted that the project is both a way for northern First Nations—which have many citizens who live in Thompson and others who visit for shopping, recreation, and healthcare—to take charge of their economic future and to ensure that Thompson continues to provide the facilities and services that the entire region relies on.

Better for business
In support of local business, the City of Thompson offers a Financial Assistance Program as a way to mitigate the costs of development and upgrades for property-owning private businesses. This program is designed to subsidize a portion of the city’s property tax increase associated with the development of vacant land or upgrades to existing facilities, with the amount that can be subsidized dependent on the type of development.

Re-development of an existing property is eligible for a deduction of 100 percent of the assessed increase in the first two years and 50 percent in years three, four, and five, while new development is eligible for a deduction of 50 percent over five years. To be considered, the property must be zoned as commercial, commercial/residential, or residential with five units.

Living the life
Thompson has much to offer for its residents and visitors alike. Outdoor enthusiasts will be attracted to the range of activities the area affords—hunting and fishing, both downhill and cross-country skiing, boating, snowmobiling, golf, riding stables, and a variety of wildlife to be seen, including caribou and moose.

In town, there are two arenas for skating and hockey in the Thompson Regional Community Centre, which is connected to the independently run Burntwood Curling Club. Currently under construction next door is the new Thompson Regional Aquatic Centre, a $42.6 million facility which will feature a six-lane, 25-metre pool with one accessible lane, a beach-entry recreational pool, and a sauna.

Several new restaurants have recently opened, including The Club, a restaurant and lounge with golf simulators; Chili Chat, an Indian restaurant; and Popeye’s Chicken, a franchise operation. In addition, there is the Ma Mow We Tak Friendship Centre, which operates a restaurant, offers Indigenous-focused programs, and has worked with the City of Thompson to develop an affordable housing complex for seniors. Retail outlets include Giant Tiger, Canadian Tire, Wal-Mart, Safeway, and Family Foods.

Families considering relocating and pondering the educational options will find much to like at R. D. Parker Collegiate. This local high school has undergone a recent $13 million expansion including a new $7 million music room, as well as roof and building envelope upgrades, and offers vocational as well as academic programs. Mayor Smook’s seven children are all graduates of R. D. Parker Collegiate, and she notes that some of the school’s graduates are now in various leadership positions both in Canada and abroad.

There’s also the University College of the North, a post-secondary institution offering Bachelor of Nursing and Bachelor of Education degrees, among other programs, and the University of Manitoba’s Northern Social Work Program.

So, with a great sense of Thompson coming together in the light of these many recent achievements, will the Mayor and her Council take just a little time to rest on their laurels? Mayor Smook is ready with a resounding no. “We’re still working behind the scenes, and this is just the start of more good things coming to Thompson.”

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