Whether the event was cataclysmic, such as a World War, or overarching, such as the 60s ushering in decades of social change or the beginning of the Information Age in the late 80s, the lifestyle changes that resulted, while profound, were incremental, often only fully recognized in hindsight.

Nothing in recorded history compares with the speed of social change brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, something you could not fail to notice. In the ‘before times’, people enjoyed visits with family, socialized with friends, travelled, attended classes, volunteered. They went to the theatre, the gym, sporting events, places of worship, restaurants.

But mostly? They went to work. Five days a week. Depending on the nature of their work, they met the public, met each other, worked in teams, had chats and coffee, and meetings and coffee.

But all that ended abruptly in March of 2020, with global lockdowns, travel restrictions, and an overnight transition to a new work model – remote work. Two years later, even though restrictions are lifting and businesses opening, not all are returning to on-site work.

It appears that both employers and employees see benefits in remote work. Employers believe employees are more productive without the distractions of an office setting, and moreover, management can reduce expenses by running a smaller facility. Employees appreciate not having to commute, working in a relaxed setting, and being able to respond to a child-care emergency.

Both agree, however, that collegiality, a key ingredient of workplace satisfaction, is missing, and that the loss can lead to poorer performance for businesses in the long term, when team spirit, the relationships that enhance people’s ability to work together, is lost.

Business in Focus spoke with representatives of two Canadian-based companies, both of which had been offering in-person team-building events and business communications workshops before the pandemic. Not missing a beat, they tweaked their programs to accommodate online delivery platforms, and in the process, extended their reach globally.

Brad Whitehorn is the Sales and Marketing Coordinator for Career Life Skills Resources Inc. (CLSR), a company based in Aurora, ON which for over 40 years has provided assessments and resources in the fields of career development, self-understanding, and personal growth.

On its list of satisfied clients are businesses and organizations of all sizes; federal and provincial governments; school boards, colleges, and universities: workplaces where the materials are used by psychologists, career and employment specialists, human resource consultants, and organizational consultants.

Among CLSR’s broad range of product offerings, is the Personality Dimensions™ (PD) program, which creates a framework for understanding temperament patterns by putting complex personality theory into everyday language.

“The crux of it is communication and the ability to understand yourself and others better,” Whitehorn explains. “In the context of human resources in the corporate world it is about understanding your motivation, talents, and preferred way of doing things; understanding how people are different, and then making that connection of what you can do, and what others can do, to improve processes.”

It’s been a successful program since 2003, he says, with qualified professionals from HR departments or counselling offices receiving intensive in-person training, over three days, to become certified PD facilitators and trainers. They could then return to their workplaces and deliver the three-hour program in-person to small groups. But in March 2020, in-person training stopped.

“The idea of creating an online program had been there for some time and some facilitators were experimenting with it off and on, over the years, but it wasn’t until the pandemic came that we started thinking seriously about how we could put everything online as a way to support employees working remotely,” says Whitehorn.

“We wanted to maintain the interaction that made learning enjoyable and use the same activities and workshop ideas. We looked at what transfers easily into a Zoom-type setting, what needs modification, and what doesn’t work.

“What we found was that most of it worked as it was, and just needed tweaks to work with the technology. Breakout rooms are one of the great features created for Zoom platforms, so that means people can continue to meet and work in small groups. In the end, we’re finding that the online workshops are pretty much the same as the ones we were doing in person.”

Whitehorn says that CLSR has received positive feedback from both employers and employees who have been working remotely. “Being taken out of the office you’re accustomed to and thrown suddenly into working at home with no support from colleagues is traumatic.

“We didn’t know how long we would be doing this, and we still don’t know, but an important element of Personality Development ™ is about empowering people and improving their lives, which can extend to personal and family relationships as well, which impacts their work.”

Going online has helped CLSR expand programs, including Personality Dimensions™ globally. In Canada, it is available in both English and French, and now has representation in other countries, including the U.S., Australia, Macau, and Hong Kong (in both English and Chinese), and in Spanish in Mexico.

Chris Hill is the founder and director of Fun at Slixer, a company based in Vancouver, BC, with franchises in major centres across Canada and the U.S., including Calgary, Toronto, Halifax, Boston, Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland. And since the pandemic began, virtually everywhere.

Armed with a theatre arts degree from Mount Royal University in Calgary, combined with entrepreneurial skills honed while presenting murder mystery theatre weekends aboard the Rocky Mountain Express, running between Calgary and Lake Louise, Hill founded Slixer in 2000 as a corporate team-building events company.

Among the events were murder mysteries with professional actors, and other events such as escape rooms and treasure hunts, all of which were designed to build teamwork, trust, communication, and collaboration.

For the first 20 years, all events were offered in-person, but just as in-person work everywhere ground to a halt, so did Slixer’s.

“We all suffered the same thing in March,” Hill recalls. “All of our events were cancelled and inquiries about future ones stopped coming in. We said, we have to pivot.”

Previously, Slixer had been using software developed by Wildgoose UK, an award-winning team-activity company, for those in-person events that required corporate employees to solve puzzles or follow scavenger hunt clues on smartphones, but the lock-down hastened the introduction of completely virtual programming.

“We had a lot of virtual meetings – every day, in fact – discussing how we could present our programs virtually. The timing was quite fortunate because it was at the same time that Zoom was making inroads and developing break-out rooms. We immediately saw the advantages of matching our technology with it and bringing in our live actors to interact with the participants.”

In less than three months, Slixer events were up and running, not only in North America but around the world, first with virtual quizzes and scavenger hunts in April and May and then on July 1 with Manor House Murder, the first in a series of murder mysteries that includes Murder on the Train and Murder on the Slopes.

“Employers see value,” says Hill. “The 90-minute programs get everyone together. Businesses had all started doing Zoom meetings, but what we do is add fun. We are gamifying it and bringing together people who otherwise might not team up. For example, a company can choose to break up the HR department, and the accounting department and mix them up and it brings a level of camaraderie you wouldn’t get otherwise,” he says.

“When people are working remotely, they feel they have been left out of the corporate culture, but when employers provide this program, workers feel valued and appreciated, so it’s a real benefit.”

Many of Slixer’s clients are large multinationals, including Perkins Coie, an international law firm headquartered in Seattle, with offices across the U.S., China, and Taiwan; and other household names such as Spotify, Microsoft, Telus, Morgan Stanley, and Etsy.

March 13, 2020, the day Ontario went into lockdown, was an especially discouraging day for performers who are part of the gig economy, says Tara Baxendale, an actor and singer who lives in Toronto.

“For the six of us involved in the first online performance [of Manor House Murder] on July 1, 2020, it was the first time we had been able to perform with others in three and a half months. It was the first light at the end of the tunnel after we’d been locked down in our homes. We are all incredibly grateful to Chris because it meant we had an opportunity to perform when almost no one else in North America was getting to perform at all,” she says.

Previously, when on stage, she had worked mainly with other Toronto actors, she says, “but now I regularly work with improv actors who I have never met in person from across Canada – from Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Montreal – and have begun work at 6 a.m. because of the time zone in Sweden where Spotify keeps offices, for example. So, despite the pandemic dividing everyone, it has brought people together, and even transported us around the world.”

The post We’re In This Together<p class="company">Keeping Colleagues Connected, While Apart</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Ben Lamb, 1Berkshire’s Director of Economic Development, remarks how many saw the Berkshires as a safe refuge during the pandemic, especially for its lush outdoor space. This natural beauty, he observes, has both boosted the area’s growth and continued to support its many artistic programs.

“There’s been a really big appetite for all of the offerings that our arts and cultural scene has historically had, and I think that the motivations to access those things is as high, if not higher than it was coming into the pandemic,” he says.

He notes that the Berkshires was seeing major development leading into the pandemic and that growth is now resuming. “2019 was a banner year for the Berkshires,” he says, “and I see us getting back into that pace in fairly short order.”

Since 2016, 1Berkshire has consolidated the interests of the Berkshire Economic Development Corporation, Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, Berkshire Visitors Bureau, and Berkshire Creative into a singular organization that embodies the goals of those entities and creates new layers of high-impact synergy to positively impact the Berkshires. In this evolving industry landscape, 1Berkshire’s goals through its work with the Tech Impact Collaborative are to develop the Berkshires as an inclusive tech economy ecosystem and bolster a rural innovation hub identity in the region.

As the pandemic has decisively proven the feasibility of remote work in many technology jobs, Lamb and his team are taking advantage of the Berkshires’ lower cost of living, quality of life, natural beauty, and proximity to larger metropolitan areas like Boston and New York City to bring in entrepreneurs and innovators.

Perhaps the largest driving force behind this new growth is the Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC). Opening just before pandemic shutdowns in late February 2020, the BIC has thrived and consolidated the interests of many local business owners to provide a common space to strategize, and as restrictions ease, growth is continuing to accelerate. “Over the last six weeks, it’s been amazing to see the place re-activated with bigger groups,” states Executive Director Ben Sosne. The BIC is also countering the workforce crisis with educational programs, giving workers the skills they need to succeed in the modern economy.

These educational programs are taking a particular interest in the next generation. The BIC’s BeTA program ushers youth into a pipeline of innovation, placing them into internships and shadowing opportunities. “This program, through and during the pandemic, has been this crucial gravitational point that continues to grow and change, and I think we’re going to see more of that as we go forward,” says Lamb.

The program aims to give local students the skills they need to remain closer to home, developing their career path in the Berkshires, rather than heading for larger cities. Other educational programs are geared toward the later career workforce, as retirement ages increase and workers want their skills to remain relevant.

Additionally, 1Berkshire and the BIC are capitalizing on Massachusetts’ leadership position in technology jobs. Sosne says that the drive and talent among its residents were already there—all that was needed was space. “By creating a physical hub for these companies, it allows us to interact with these agencies in a way that they’re more effective,” he says.

This technology leadership continues through state support, as federal and state funding are now supporting educational programs and hiring incentives. The state government is recognizing rural equity and increasing funding to more rural areas, and the Berkshires is the most rural area in Massachusetts. These programs will allow area businesses to offset operational costs through green energy investments like state-subsidized solar panels, or gain hiring incentives through salary subsidization.

A new red tape-cutting measure, the Community One Stop for Growth, amalgamates twelve grant programs into a single application pipeline. “That allows us to work with businesses, potential businesses, developers, and agency partners to apply for the best chance of getting those resources into their hands so they can be immediately put into action,” Lamb says.

This support is helping to drive the spirit of partnership even further. “We’ll talk about who we’ll bring around a table like it’s nothing, like it’s second nature,” Lamb says, mentioning the ease to bring together college professors, local delegates, non-profits and state agencies. “It’s not an afterthought to bring these agencies together. They’re already there.”

This cooperative mindset helped the region weather the worst of the pandemic and is continuing to inform 1Berkshire’s decisions. “We’re actually working as an organic, interconnected beast, if you were, toward that collective impact approach to economic development and innovation as it applies to the regional economy,” Lamb says.

The result of these efforts is a thriving digital entrepreneurial community in life sciences, aerospace, financial technology, and other sectors. 1Berkshire’s Berkshire Blueprint 2.0 outlines new developments in advanced manufacturing, agriculture, and healthcare, as well as enhancing the region’s hospitality and tourism. “Every corner you look around, innovation and entrepreneurship are happening, and that’s really exciting,” Sosne says.

This work catalyzed the bold development of the Tech Impact Collaborative. Since late 2020, it has provided a common space to develop opportunities for technology innovation in a rural network. Through cooperation with The Center on Rural Innovation, the collaborative continues to begin developing new opportunities, particularly focusing on inclusive programming that supports people of color, immigrants, and the formerly incarcerated. Communication with the business community ensures steady growth and that the organization remains cognizant of the rapidly changing needs of modern business.

Lamb says the Collaborative is the culmination of years of planning and work. “This is that next big step for us: to be able to really scale our digital ecosystem here so that we are advancing as fast as, if not faster than, the rest of the Commonwealth,” he says. Sosne says that as both the BIC and the Berkshires as a region have both grown, some work involves stepping back and assessing the region’s strength, particularly in its proximity to other metropolitan areas across New England and the Northeast.

He places his faith in its talented residents and readily repurposed infrastructure, thanks to the Berkshires’ industrial past. “These are huge assets that we bring to the table,” he says, “and we want to be right out in front of that. We really think that there’s a lot of potential here, and we’re excited to double down and do it in a coordinated, strategic way.”

This strategy of recruitment and retention will hopefully help keep the cost of living manageable as the Berkshires continues to grow. 1Berkshire operates a job site, offering only opportunities with salaries of $40,000 or higher or their hourly equivalents, and Lamb relates that it is bringing in new applicants. “That’s been extremely successful over the past three years. We’re actually growing the system right now. It’s going to have a big bump in the next couple of months.”

1Berkshire is also being proactive in focusing attention toward civic essentials like affordable housing, schools, and transportation. A recent housing strategy has outlined sixty actions to ensure families can still call the Berkshires home. As a result of this, 1Berkshire can continue to focus the area’s resources and major players to guarantee a united vision and approach.

In Lamb’s view, it is an obvious choice. “We know that we need to be doing those things in order for everyone to be pulling on the rope in the same direction,” he says. 1Berkshire is also a strong advocate of Massachusetts’ West-East Passenger Rail, which aims to bring high-speed rail to link Boston to Pittsfield, in the Berkshires. As the Berkshires area connects to three other states, this would further aid the region’s development.

The main development organizations of 1Berkshire and the BIC are leading the Berkshires into a bright future as the region continues to grow. Its history of teamwork brings decisive action followed by measurable results. “We’re able to get around the table together, brainstorm together, and then act and take tactical approaches to making things happen,” Lamb says, commenting on the stereotype of arduous government studies sitting on shelves with no further action. “In the Berkshires, that’s never going to be the case as long as 1Berkshire is involved.”

He says that the Berkshires has firmly formed its identity as a new digital economy, and it is just getting started. “Whether it’s this year or next year, this identity of the Berkshires becoming a true home for innovation and center of gravity in a rural space is going to be a narrative that you hear more about, because it’s something that we’ve identified as a capacity to grow into, and we see the assets and the gaps and how we’re going to fill them,” he says. “We’re charging full speed ahead, in that respect.”

The post A Growing Digital Innovation Hub in the Heart of New England<p class="company">1Berkshire and the Berkshire Innovation Center</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Sharing this knowledge with potential residents and businesses is the responsibility of the Wiregrass Economic Development Corporation, an organization dedicated to promoting, protecting and boosting responsible economic development endeavours that result in job creation and retention and an increased tax base that enriches residents’ quality of life.

The Wiregrass Region is home to businesses representing a wide range of industries, including several key clusters that encompass aerospace/defense, sophisticated manufacturing, automotive, agribusiness, and food warehousing and distribution, which are all well-positioned for ongoing expansion.

A workforce known for dependability, combined with strong industry-education relationships, produces an ideal environment for business growth and development in the Wiregrass Region.

“I’m thrilled to be a part of an organization such as the Wiregrass Economic Development Corporation,” says Executive Director Jesse Quillen, who took over the position six months ago. “Obviously, the reputation of the organization throughout the state in the southeast is well-known, and I’m excited to be a part of that.”

Quillen is determined to continue the good progress made previously to ensure future success, even in tough times. “The organization’s all about creating and retaining jobs, growing the tax base and improving the quality of life in Coffee and Geneva counties,” he says.

That’s best accomplished by recruiting specific and targeted industries, which in Wiregrass are aviation, healthcare, and food and beverage distribution.

The Wiregrass Region is ideal for innovative manufacturing firms, thanks to a skilled workforce with experience creating items ranging from diecast equipment parts to architectural components, with an emphasis on technology.

“KP12 education here in the Wiregrass has been something I’ve been really excited about since arriving,” says Quillen. “There are multiple programs available to our kids in high school and of course the community colleges. We have multiple opportunities for them to begin training in specific career areas.”

“We’re training young people to be part of a growing healthcare industry and giving them skills to work as a CNA or LPN and eventually advance to being an RN. We create that pathway for our young people.”

There’s also the Alabama Aviation College (AAC), a valuable resource for the aviation and other industries in Alabama. Part of Enterprise State Community College, AAC offers programs in airframe & powerplant, avionics, AAC Certificates, mechatronics and commercial driver’s licenses (CDL), with additional skills that are immediately transferable to the region’s thriving aviation industry.

“The job demand for those skills is through the roof, and the dean of the school tells me that just about every student is immediately employed,” Quillen says. “That’s kind of cool, and not just earning a wage but getting really good wages between $60,000 and $80,000.”

In 2019, Enterprise Community College, which introduced its mechatronics program – a multi-disciplinary field of study that involves mechanics, electronics and computing – was recognized by NC3 (National Coalition of Certification Centers) as a “School on the Rise.”

“It’s a combination of all those things that used to be taught singly, but you now have to be a jack of all trades” says Quillen. “This is the program that helps young people accomplish that. It’s really cool to see things that are being taught these days. To compete today you need that or you just get left behind. We try hard to keep up.”

On the food warehouse and distribution enterprises side, the Wiregrass Region is a great location, where residents include both Ben E. Keith and Sysco.

“We have those two entities with a huge presence here in the Wiregrass, which obviously gives us a huge opportunity to attract even more similar- or complementary-type businesses,” Quillen says.

Ben E. Keith, one of the largest family-owned distribution corporations in the U.S., has its Southeast regional headquarters In Elba and New Brockton, along with two warehouse locations.

Sysco runs its huge Sysco Gulf Coast factory in Geneva. Sysco is a global leader in selling, marketing, and distributing food goods to restaurants and other consumers.

“Ben E. Keith moved into their new facility in January of 2022, just a short while ago,” says Quillen. “That’s a 400,000 square foot facility located on Highway 84. We’ve given them good access and reach throughout the Wiregrass Region.”

While in the past they’ve had about 200 employees, the new facility gives Ben E. Keith the ability and capacity to grow to almost twice that size. “And of course, that’s the goal,” Quillen adds. “It won’t happen immediately, but they’re on that journey now and doing quite well.”

Alabama will also soon be able to build its fifth veterans’ home, due to federal funding of $39 million from the U.S. Veterans Administration. This will cover 65 percent of the home’s construction costs, according to officials from the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs, while the remaining 35 percent will be paid for by ADVA.

Quillen says that the $70 million project will eventually employ around 200 people, and is scheduled to come on line in 2024.

The 182,000 square foot facility will provide long-term care for Alabama veterans, housing 175, creating jobs, boosting the local economy, and, most importantly, allowing the town to give back to a group of dedicated Americans who have fought for their country. The house will be built on 108 acres near Enterprise, off Highway 51 just north of Yancey Industrial Park, an area chosen in part due to the huge veteran population in Coffee County.

“We’re very excited about having that, and just another reason why we think healthcare’s going to continue to be a growth sector for us,” says Quillen.

In the aerospace/defense arena, Fort Rucker, in Dale County, is home to the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence, which is the principal training location for Army Aviation. Specialized avionics and aviation mechanics’ training is available at Alabama Aviation College, and Dale’s County’s M1 Support Services provides aircraft repair and modification, flying support, and supply chain management.

At its Ozark Service Center, Bell Helicopter provides OEM-direct services, and aviation simulation technology and equipment companies also contribute significantly to the aerospace and defense industry in the area.

“Fort Rucker’s impact in the Wiregrass Region is huge. “Estimates are that the total economic impact is around $2 billion in this region.”

With about 6,000 active-duty personnel on base presently and an additional 2,000 civilians, there are about 2,000 military retirees locally.

“Everywhere you turn here there’s a veteran and somebody who’s serving, and that’s a great thing,” says Quillen. “We love and appreciate our veterans in Wiregrass.”

That also relates to approximately 27,000 jobs directly related to Fort Rucker and the military, he adds. The military sector employment exceeds Industries in the region such as agriculture and food, as well as healthcare and hospitals. “It’s a huge sector with a huge impact in Wiregrass,” Quillen says.

With Michelin North America as a major employer, the Wiregrass region might also be considered a key intersection in Alabama’s burgeoning statewide automotive industry, with Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, Mercedes Benz, Honda, Hyundai, and Toyota all based in Alabama.

In the agriculture field, peanuts, poultry, and paper are among the significant products produced. Pilgrim’s Pride and Wayne Farms are two of the largest employers in the agriculture sector, and more than half of the peanuts in the U.S. are grown within a hundred miles.

But despite this flourishing and diverse range of employment options, one of the biggest issues the region faces is sourcing workforce.

“That’s probably everyone’s biggest challenge right now,” Quillen says. “But the reason I believe Wiregrass is going to be successful is that we have the means to fix that problem, which is KP12 education as well as career technical training.”

There are also several projects currently being worked on for the automotive industry – an advanced manufacturing sector – that over the next year or so could equate to a couple of hundred new jobs, adds Quillen.

He says COVID has definitely played a role in the labor force challenges, but not in the way most people might assume.

“Whether or not COVID caused the labor issue, there were certain weaknesses that existed and got really exposed during COVID,” he says. The region also lost a lot of people to early retirement, people working virtually at home, and those who told us they aren’t in the workforce anymore – they’re just tired of it,” he shares.

“Our work force is now – here anyway – almost back to full employment pre-pandemic levels. That’s good, but it’s also challenging in that if it’s full employment, then where are you going to get your new employees from?”

Despite those ongoing challenges, Quillen has no doubt the area, and its residents, will grow and flourish along with the businesses it continues to attract.

“We have really good programs and educational systems that will enable us to build the skilled workforce the industry needs,” he says. “When you’re talking about employing hundreds of new people over the next year or two, you need the mechanisms in place. We can meet the challenge.”

The post Southern Hospitality – Soaring High in Wiregrass Region<p class="company">Wiregrass Economic Development</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Caglia Environmental built the state-of-the art Cedar Avenue Recycling and Transfer Station (CARTS) in 2004 as a next-generation facility. “That was perfect for the needs of the community at the time,” says CARTS Division Manager Mike Ledieff. However, the company continued to evolve as technology advanced. “As time progressed, the markets changed internationally and domestically and the Caglia family made the decision to upgrade the facility with one of the industry leaders, CP Manufacturing, to the most current and efficient technology in the industry to produce the most pure recyclables possible. These substantial upgrades decreased the amount of waste being landfilled.”

When single stream blue recycling can materials arrive at CARTS, all the material must be carefully sorted. “That recycling truck has a lot of different materials in it,” Ledieff points out. “We have to get more advanced in our sorting technology in order to provide quality recoverable materials to domestic and international markets.”

In partnership with CP Manufacturing, the team added four optical sorters that utilize near infrared technology to properly identify all the different materials grades comingled in the recycling stream. The technology differentiates between trash, plastic, cardboard, paper, and more, then separates it all. “In a perfect world,” Ledieff says a human is capable of “performing about 60 picks a minute.” This is far below what infrared technology can handle—upwards of 130 picks per minute. In addition to being more consistent and more efficient, the near infrared technology also improves safety.

The CP Anti-Wrap Screen™ is another notable technological advancement to CARTS. Flex-packaging and film are becoming increasingly common in the material stream but unfortunately, these items often wrap around standard screen shafts. The CP Anti-Wrap Screen™ utilizes high-agitation discs and extra-large rotor shafts to stop the wrapping and lower the risk of jams. This allows paper and containers to pass through CARTS without complications.

Caglia Environmental complements its high-tech machinery with human talent to ensure the best outcome. “We have a multitude of quality control stations that currently have human labor making sure that all the commodities that go out of our facility are clean and we’re not shipping residual trash to our in-market partners,” Ledieff explains.

He adds that it has become increasingly important to ensure the quality of material shipped overseas, particularly due to China’s Green Sword initiative. “What our vendors have done is really take a closer look at the recyclables that have gone to China and made sure that they are pure. We wanted to stay ahead of that and ensure strong relationships with our partners.”

Indeed, sustainability is at the forefront throughout the sorting process at CARTS. This commitment is seen most clearly in “our efforts to ensure that we are recovering the [greatest] amount of recyclable materials within the single stream recycling using this technology from CP Manufacturing… everything that needs to be recycled can be recycled,” Ledieff says. “So [we are] reducing the impact of volume going to the landfill.”

The team’s sustainability efforts have certainly paid off; CARTS diverts from landfills more than 70 percent of the source separated material. Much of this waste is repurposed into raw materials that will be transformed into new consumer products. Food wastes are de-packaged, then diverted for animal feed or sent to anaerobic digesters that convert food waste to biogas that is used to produce electricity. CARTS itself is powered by landfill gas from the adjacent Orange Avenue landfill, which is no longer in operation but still owned by the Caglia family. In fact, the company generates enough electricity to not only power their facility, but to sell back to the local utility company as well.

Caglia Environmental maintains close ties to its community. “The Caglia family’s been involved in the local Fresno community for almost a hundred years,” Ledieff says. “We are very involved with local service groups, we give tours of our facility on a regular basis, we’re constantly in the community educating about proper recycling techniques—what can be recycled and what can’t be recycled.”

The team is especially committed to educating the public on proper battery disposal. “Lithium-ion batteries are a huge issue throughout the country when it comes to being highly combustible and causing fires,” Ledieff says. “The last thing we want is a fire, no matter where it is to occur, because of an improperly disposed-of lithium-ion battery. The environmental impact, the damage impact, is substantial. So we are working with local cities and counties to educate commercial businesses and residents on proper disposal of lithium-ion batteries—and any household batteries or hazardous waste for that matter—and making sure that we are good stewards of our environment and educating the community.”

Caglia Environmental has faced recent challenges due to the pandemic, particularly when it comes to maintaining staff. The solution has been to continue to place an emphasis on “engaging with our employees,” to encourage them to stay with the company. In addition, management has made a substantial effort to make the work environment more appealing. “Obviously we work in an industrial environment that may not be the most appealing to everyone, but as a company we provide a positive work environment for our people, and we have an amazing company culture, so we really do our best.”

The effort has resulted in impressive employee retention rates. “We have tenured employees that have been here over twenty years,” Ledieff says. “In our industry that’s remarkable and it says a lot about the Caglia family and their dedication to the employees. Having a positive company culture that takes care of their employees has been a benefit in a very challenging time for staffing.”

Another ongoing challenge is keeping up with state and federal regulations that change frequently. “Our solution for that is really partnering with our fellow industry members throughout the state and the nation and making sure that we are not only in compliance with regulations, but attempting to stay ahead of it by implementing new technologies,” Ledieff shares.

After more than 80 years in business, the third generation of the Caglia family remains at the helm of the company. Looking ahead to the next eight decades, the team is eager to keep up with the latest, most advanced recycling technologies and techniques. “We’re a fully integrated regional facility,” Ledieff says. “And as the needs of the community increase, we want to be there to fulfill those needs—if it’s organics recycling, biomass, we are looking at all of it. We want to be the flagship facility for the local community. There are a lot of big things on the horizon for us.”

The post High-Tech Sustainability<p class="company">Caglia Environmental</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

As trends such as smoothies, juicing, and weekly meal kits continue, there is also a growing market for specialty pet food geared towards improving food quality for our four-legged friends. Dry kibble is highly processed. Some of the best brands use fresh meat as the first ingredient, although many others use meat meal, a mixture of meat, fat, and bones that is cooked down several times before it is condensed into kibble form.

“I always say that over-processing is never good. You derive things from nutrients, and that’s where the idea of raw comes from. It’s just literally as little processing as possible. It means you get the freshest, most bioavailable foods,” says Geraldine Brouwer, owner of Canadian pet food manufacturer Big Country Raw.

Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, Big Country Raw is providing the pet food industry with frozen complete meals designed for all life stages of dogs and cats. The meals are a combination of meat, bone, organ meat, fruits and vegetables, as well as beneficial vitamins and mineral oils. It also offers pure formulas with the meat, bone, and organ meat alone.

The frozen meal product lines make up roughly eighty percent of the business; the rest is in frozen raw bones and an extensive line of supplements. Vitamin and mineral supplements can help with a pet’s specific health needs, and chewing raw bones is a great way to keep a dog’s teeth clean. Quail eggs, duck eggs, goat milk, and bone broth are also available as frozen supplements.

Big Country Raw’s products are primarily sold in pet specialty retail chains across Canada including Pet Valu, Ren’s Pets and Mondou. A small portion of the business, and one that is just beginning to grow, is its product line called Hungry Hunter, available in PetSmart and select grocers.

Committed to sustainable packaging, Big Country Raw formed a partnership a few years ago with StanPac Packaging, known for manufacturing with sustainable forestry materials. “We have transitioned a large majority of our packaging to paperboard packaging, addressing the fact that we are trying to move away from plastics and look for more sustainable packaging sources,” says Brouwer. “We’re the only Canadian pet food brand right now using paperboard packaging for our container.”

She explains that paper is stronger than plastic and better equipped for storing in the freezer because it does not crack or break. Also, the company’s packaging is approved by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), signifying that all of the paperboard used in the making of its containers is from sustainably managed forests. The paperboard packaging transition has had a bit of an education curve for the customers, but Big Country Raw understands that the result is worth the effort.

The team at Big Country Raw is no stranger to raising awareness in the market. When the company first began, one of its main objectives was to educate the public that raw food for pets is not dangerous. Today, raw food has gained a great deal of acceptance, and pet stores are now installing walls of freezers to carry frozen raw products.

Before the raw pet food industry made such big strides in manufacturing, people would prepare their pets’ raw food at home, which can be unsafe. Big Country Raw and other manufacturers are now able to provide balanced, complete, and safe raw diets that were not necessarily available fifteen years ago. Fortunately, the industry has seen much progress and that trend is expected to continue.

Big Country Raw’s growth within this new market has been quite rapid. When it was founded in 2012 by Geraldine and her husband Rob Brouwer, there were only a handful of part-time employees. By 2020, the staff count was at seventy-five, and in the last two years, the number of full-time employees increased to 150.

Headquartered in Smithville, Ontario, a small rural community in the Niagara region, the company has always been very community-focused. It obtains raw material from local suppliers whenever possible, including corrugate from Whitebird, and its duck and turkey suppliers are within an hour of the Big Country Raw processing plant in Smithville.

The pet-passionate employees have the benefit of working for a living-wage employer because Big Country Raw truly cares about the quality of life of the people helping the company reach success. “It’s always about ensuring that there’s a great work-life balance. We have a lot of flex schedules, and we have a lot of families, so a lot of referrals end up coming to work here as friends and family join them,” says Brouwer. “We are proud of the work culture that we’ve created and really proud of the people that work here.”

The leadership believes in a collaborative team approach and is focused on making decisions as a group. “We always say you never work a day in your life if you love what you do. That’s a big part of us choosing people to work here and choosing leadership. People that really love being in the pet space, love pets, and are passionate about how we’re changing lives and changing the pet industry by bringing this kind of product to market,” says Brouwer.

One advantage of partnering with Big Country Raw is its direct distribution model. Usually, in the pet specialty market, the manufacturer sells to a distributing partner, which takes the product and distributes it to multiple brands. When Big Country Raw was founded, this method would not work for the raw category because the pet specialty distributors were not equipped with freezers and the ability to distribute frozen products. These circumstances forced the company to go directly to the store to sell its products, and after ten years in business, it has continued with that model.

Even though the pet specialty retailers are now installing freezers and distributing partners have refrigerated trucks to offer fresh and frozen delivery, Big Country Raw recognizes the advantage of its direct distribution. “We’ve always managed that whole supply chain ourselves. I think it sets us apart because we can keep our costs and our quality in check,” explains Brouwer. “We can improve our quality and keep costs in control because we don’t attach any cost or margin to distribution.”

Direct distribution is also useful in getting feedback about the products being sold. The close contact and communication with retailers has helped Big Country Raw expand its portfolio and offer better services at a lower cost.

In 2020 when people started working from home due to the pandemic, there was a massive increase in pet adoption. Shelters reported that by summer, they had been emptied. This increase in the number of families with pets combined with a new perspective on the benefits of fresh, healthy foods led to more business for Big Country Raw.

“We noticed that there was a ton of traffic on our website, with a lot of people asking these questions and researching raw foods for their dogs and cats. We’ve had a lot of growth through COVID, and our year over year growth exceeded the category growth,” says Brouwer.

The challenges that have come with the pandemic are the unavoidable supply chain issues affecting every industry. Big Country Raw uses novel proteins such as duck and rabbit, and when the restaurants were not operating at their usual pace, these sources of protein were not as accessible because they were not being processed. Now, the company is dealing with inflationary pressures. There have been cost increases on everything from packaging to raw material, making the exit from COVID-19 more difficult.

According to Brouwer, the Canadian pet food industry is ahead of the U.S. in integrating raw products. Although the industry is still in the early stage as far as adoption of raw feeding, with roughly five percent of pet food purchases in raw food, she anticipates that it will grow by fifteen to twenty percent over the next five to ten years.

Big Country Raw’s rapid growth comes with its fair share of challenges and pressure, but the team is excited about the progress being made in the frozen raw pet food space. “It’s like Christmas all year round around here. We’re always on the move,” says Brouwer. “I see our business continuing to grow, and I’m really thankful that there’s this much interest in it. I still love all the stories from people that call and send us messages on social media about how raw has changed their pets’ life for the better. That’s really the reason why we started this; it was just about pets having healthier lives.”

For owners looking to make the transition to raw pet food, it is recommended to start with a graduated approach to ease any digestion discomfort. Also, it is never too early or too late in a pet’s life to switch to a raw food diet. Many people choose to begin with a raw bone for dogs, and then start topping kibble with raw food before offering complete meals. Once they see the difference in their pet’s life, the benefits of feeding raw are undeniable.

Improved joint and bone health, heightened immune system, reduced stool volume and odour, and better dental health are just the beginning. Overall, raw food delivers a higher quality of life for our beloved four-legged family members.

Brouwer concludes with another great reason to make the switch. “Communication is hard with our pets right; they don’t talk to us and we just have to read their emotions. We know when they’re happy or sad, and mealtime is the one time that we can really serve them. It’s just really rewarding to do that with [raw] food.”

The post Ten Years of Progress in Raw Pet Food Manufacturing<p class="company">Big Country Raw</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Over time, founder Jim Kastner has made it his mission to challenge the status quo and continually educate customers with relevant industry information, putting their many customers on the path to meeting their specific goals and objectives. The future of real estate is no longer about delivering four walls to tenants; instead, it’s about creating a unique, personalized customer experience that fosters meaningful interactions, collaboration, and productivity. Delivering this will require a service provider with a unique combination of capabilities that seamlessly integrate across the physical and digital realms, and Unisource believes that data-driven decisions based on real-time insights are critical when losing the gap between strategic and tactical.

Pioneering the concept of Furniture Management Services in 1987, Kastner is adamant the company is not your typical furniture dealer, but a workplace strategy and services company that enables their customers to meet their objectives and enable frictionless change. Today the company aspires to enable the agile office of the future and improve the employee experience through the adoption of integrated workplace services, technology, strategic space planning, creative design, and made to order product solutions.

Unisource Solutions is not your typical furniture dealership. They are a thought leader that views themselves as a direct extension of their customers’ facilities departments. By empowering their clients with valuable insights about their workplaces, they help identify strategies in line with their customers’ short-term and long-term objectives.

The changing office

Growing up in the industry – his father had a successful Steelcase dealership – Kastner remembers unloading the first-generation Steelcase panel they received. Entirely through organic growth, Unisource Solutions today operates out of a 200,000 square foot service center and has over 200 full-time employees, including Designers, Strategic Account Managers, Project Managers, Move Managers, Certified Ergonomists, Customer Service Representees, Installers, Movers, and Warehousemen.

Throughout the pandemic, Unisource Solutions mobilized to meet the requirements of companies deemed essential. “Industry giants like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Raytheon, and Amgen are only a few of the essential organizations we supported,” shares Kastner. With many workers told to stay at home during the pandemic, some companies found they needed less space, and reduced their square footage.

With most workers told to stay home during the pandemic, today, organizations are reevaluating their workplace requirements. “It’s time to change how we think about work,” says Kastner. “The relationships between workers and firms are changing radically. Today it’s about managing the experience from hub to home. Welcome to the experience economy – a new workplace model, one that rehumanizes how we manage the workplace,” he posits.

“My guess is, you’re going to see organizations across the board reduce their footprints anywhere from 24 percent to 38 percent.”

This is why the company’s workplace analytics solution is so important. “Understanding your workplace occupancy levels, activities, experience, agility, and cost objectives is paramount when tasked with turning workplace strategy into a sustainable strategic platform,” says Kastner. “If done well, a good workplace strategy will allow organizations to get the greatest return on their investment.”

Realizing many customers are reducing their workspaces by about 30 percent, Unisource is on hand to help them navigate the sometimes overwhelming amount of information and detail, and help them communicate to their employees, movers, and installers.

The importance of agility

Workplaces are much more than desks and chairs. A well-designed office is not only functional but attractive.

Big believers in informing customers, Unisource provides clients with PDFs to educate them about workplace strategies and services, including The Agile Office Transformation Handbook: Best Practices on Transitioning into a Balanced Workplace. An agile office is about more than designing workplaces to be flexible; it’s also about influencing employee needs and behavior, and improving how they work.

The agile office is defined differently for every customer, and it starts with understanding what they do through workplace analytics, and where they are now from an employee experience, satisfaction, and engagement perspective. An agile workplace is end-user driven, and that can change on demand, explains Kastner, and business success today is measured by employee satisfaction and engagement.”

“We’ve produced a solution we are calling Strategic Space Planning. It’s a customized set of services based on our understanding of current and evolving requirements and incorporates a customized solution from hub to home. Strategic Space Planning includes Design, Change & Project Management, Moves, Adds & Changes, Ergonomics, made to order product solutions, fully web-enabled management tools, measuring employee satisfaction and engagement levels, and benchmarking industry best-in-class cost to manage change and growth,” explains Kastner.

“We’ve come up with a program that we’re calling strategic space planning. It’s a great package because it does all the design work – and we have 24 full-time designers – based on our understanding so that the design is in line with their culture and their experience, and when we see agility, it’s how quickly it needs to change, and at what cost.”

Sustainability leaders

While some companies talk about environmental responsibility, Unisource Solutions has been putting words into action for decades, including reuse (and resale), recycling, repurposing (including donation), and disposal as a last resort.

Following the principles of environmental and social responsibility, Unisource is committed to Net-Zero for the future of the planet.

With an environmental policy including pollution prevention measures, supporting charities through donation programs, and even refusing excess cardboard packaging, Unisource diverts tons of product from landfills, refurbishing used chairs and other items for a second life.

“Sustainability has been in our DNA since day one,” says Kastner. The company’s Sustainability Commitment 2022 report (https://www.unisourceit.com/wp-content/uploads/Unisource-Solutions-Sustainability-Commitment-2022.pdf) discusses the company’s impressive track record on sustainability, including 428 tons of reused/recycled metal in 2021, 86 tons of wood (pallets), and cardboard and e-waste being diverted from landfills.

Last year alone, Unisource’s sustainability initiatives realized 565.5 tons of reused or recycled product and materials, over 50 non-profit organizations and charities receiving furniture, and more than $100,000 US in savings to end-users.

Taking a common-sense approach to the environment, Unisource realizes that while some components of office furniture – armrests, for example – may be worn or broken, the rest of the chair is in good shape. Rather than transport thousands of items to landfills, these products are taken to the company’s warehouse where they are repaired and redeployed.

In the case of AT&T, the world’s biggest telecommunications company, Unisource saved the company significant costs and reduced its carbon impact when AT&T consolidated its Los Angeles operations. The project included working with a liquidator to disassemble and remove products not suitable for new locations, all at no cost to AT&T.

“In the old days, they would decommission it, and it would go to a landfill,” says Kastner. “When we’re decommissioning a building, one of the first things we do is look at that product, and we see what other facilities within AT&T could use it. We put this product on our website and inform facility managers across the country of all this product that’s available. So instead of them having to go out and buy new, they can access this product that no one even knew about and reuse it internally.”

Sometimes, refurbished products are warehoused for future projects; in other instances, chairs and other items are put into containers and shipped to Africa. “And we recycle an awful lot of stuff.”

For a major computer technology leader, Unisource took chairs that no longer functioned properly but still had usable arm caps and transferred the arms to other chairs so they could redeploy the product.

“We get very creative,” says Kastner of the company, which also recovers panels and refinishes desks if needed. Before making any repairs, Unisource works with customers to make the best possible business decisions. Does it make sense to take all the furniture out of the facility, refurbish it, and put it back in another facility? Would it be better to sell used products on-site to someone in need and buy new?

These questions and others are considered before making any decisions. “We do a lot of financial analysis before we do anything because we are always putting customers’ interests first,” comments Kastner. “A lot of times, new is a better decision.”

Partnering with customers

From existing clients downsizing or relocating to new customers eager to furnish their space, Unisource is there every step of the way.

Sometimes, customers are unsure of their needs. The company’s dedicated staff will meet with them, discuss specifics like square footage and the cost of real estate, and gain an appreciation of what their objectives are on a business level. This helps determine the activities taking place in their facilities, the frequency of those activities, and the experience of a customer’s objectives to create a roadmap.

This year, Unisource Solutions was proud to receive Haworth’s Best in Class Dealer distinction, which is reserved for only a handful of premier dealers.

Along with sourcing from over 300 suppliers who align to the company’s values – people, planet, and profit – Unisource is behind Platform, a product line it manufactures itself. A full line of customizable products for workplace and retail, and as hospitality furniture, Platform serves to reflect the brands and cultures of the companies Unisource works for. This includes well-known clients such as Google and Warner Music, with logos, branded colors, and more, all at a great price.

“We look for suppliers who are incredibly flexible,” says Kastner. “A lot of manufacturers can respond to big, planned events, but 90 percent of what we do is unplanned, so they’ve got to respond quickly to any unplanned event regardless of size. Our average invoice is very small, and the manufacturers who support us know that and respond as quickly to a small job as they will to a big one.”

Working on ergonomics, workplace analytics, site services, product solutions, e-commerce, and more, Unisource Solutions is constantly aware that the office needs of its clients are evolving. This includes everything from workplace design to acoustics.

“What separates us from our competition is that there are a lot of people who say they can do that, but a lot of them just want to sell furniture. We are in that business because we will help you tactically get it done. We have the manpower to implement whatever strategy you come up with, where most companies don’t,” says Kastner. Attacking challenges is not an occasional adventure, he believes – it’s a way of being.

“There’s a huge amount of change going on in our industry right now. People are looking at how they’re going to reuse space. And we are helping our customers navigate and implement the workplace of the future.”

The post Strategy with Analytics, Design, Services and Made to Order Product Solutions<p class="company">Unisource Solutions</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Working primarily in its home province of Nova Scotia, the Dartmouth-based business also performs jobs in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. A general contractor focused on lump sum commercial, hospitality, and retail work, Seagate has honed a reputation for quality, professionalism, and on-time/on-budget project delivery.

Seagate was founded in 2004 by Robert Scammell. Co-owners today are John Fredericks, with Seagate since 2004, and Steve Harris, joining in 2011, who between them took over the privately held company in 2018.

Since then, the company has grown steadily, with the co-owners overseeing estimates and project management. As a general contractor, Seagate’s staff of 13 – including project managers, site superintendents, safety officer, administration and accounting – handles all aspects of every construction or restoration, ensuring works create minimal interruption and are completed to meet client schedules.

Loyal staff, loyal clients

“Robert [Scammell] was set to retire, and both John and I were long-term employees, so it was a logical transition,” says Harris.

“Everybody who worked with the company the day the ownership changed is still here. Since then, we’ve added to that staff. But we were left with a great, very qualified team of people, and they stayed with us. We’ve added to that staff with similar-type people who we feel are compatible, experienced, and are helping us grow.”

Building on the foundation they’d been given working with the previous owner, Harris and Fredericks continue to uphold the values they learned from close communication with clients, discussing projects, and building mutual confidence as they set scheduling and time frame targets.

They came to believe in the power of cooperation and collaboration; of addressing potential issues before they became problems through pre-construction consultation, meticulous design-build processes, and superior construction management.

“It was a very good, planned approach to the industry by the previous owner. We wanted to continue with that, and we feel we are. We’ve built a strong reputation in the industry, stepped up the volume a little bit, built some larger-scale projects, and are continuing to grow each year.”

Relationship building

Some general contractors do their job, and nothing more. The opposite is true at Seagate Construction, where Harris and Fredericks work non-stop at their relationships with clients, which sees them taking on work with the same customers repeatedly.

“The majority of our clients are repeat clients, people we’ve worked for in the past, and they are comfortable with us,” says Harris. “We have a strong reputation in the industry of being fair to deal with and producing quality work.”

The Murphy Hospitality Group, Value Village stores, Loblaw Company Limited, and many others have praised Seagate’s professionalism and respect for budgets, their work under tight deadlines, and their ability to handle the unexpected.

Prince Edward Island-headquartered Murphy Hospitality Group has retained Seagate for several projects, including the Gahan restaurant, Pickford & Black, and the Barrington Steakhouse & Oyster Bar. “Based on their experiences with us during those projects, they asked us to help them with the Nordic spa in PEI,” says Harris.

A work in progress, the Mysa Nordic Spa & Resort (https://mysanordicspa.com/about-us/) will become PEI’s first Nordic spa and resort. Built on 18 acres on St. Peters Bay, the project is slated for completion by early summer.

Renovating an existing resort with a lodge and some cabins, Seagate Construction is involved in many areas, including a new hot pool, cold pool, relaxation building, spa building, and more.

Why Seagate?

Clients seeking companies to handle commercial, hospitality, retail, industrial, institutional, and historic renovation works come to Seagate Construction for many reasons, including accountability. Taking on jobs valued from $10,000 to $10 million, Seagate prides itself on being responsible, professional, and able to face the challenge of working in and around occupied spaces.

“You have to be pretty cautious of everybody else in the area, tenants and whoever we are working around,” comments Harris. “Our goal with that is to minimize issues for our clients. If we’re not paying attention to the needs of people in an occupied space, it can cause a lot of problems for the client, and that rolls downhill.”

Known for its methodical planning, project coordination, and communication, “Seagate Construction approaches every project as an opportunity to create long-term relationships,” according to the company. From the first meeting, to discuss project outcomes, to scheduling and completion, Seagate works with clients every step of the way.

Citadel Hill Town Clock

A classified federal heritage building owing to its historic significance and associations, the Citadel Hill Town Clock is one of the most recognizable structures in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As an example of Palladian architecture, Parks Canada has described it as “characterized by a symmetrical and balanced composition, monumental scale and elegant proportions.”

An important part of Canadian history, the famous clock has been fixed-up over the years but hasn’t had a total renovation since the 1960s.

Seagate took on the renovation of the structure, including painting the entire exterior, attention to some copper roofing, and adding gold leaf to the ball on top of the clock.

For the clock restoration, the company retained the services of a local horologist to disassemble the clock and ship the parts away for re-plating and refinishing with 24-karat gold leaf on the hands and numerals. Completed in 2019, this important work took about a year from start to finish.

Building on trust

Aware that Seagate is only as strong as its people, the company works with its own tight list of qualified subcontractors when it bids on projects. “We typically do 40 to 50 projects a year,” says Harris. “Some are smaller jobs. In 2021 we did 43, and in 2020 we did about 30.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the construction industry was deemed essential. Although the pandemic created challenges, it also saw the company at its busiest in years. “I think once everybody realized the safest way to do things, we all moved forward as an industry, and I don’t feel that it slowed our industry in Nova Scotia.”

Growing at a controlled rate that’s acceptable to management, Seagate is bringing new staff to the business in the right numbers to ensure that the company can keep its performance steadily moving ahead.

“We’ve had a little growth bit by bit each year and we want to continue that,” says Harris, “but again, we want to do it smartly. It’s easy with the way the markets are right now. Volume-wise you can grow as much as you want because there’s ample opportunity. But if you get it, and you become too busy, then you don’t do that work as well as you should, which also has financial implications.

As we grow, we keep adding, but not taking huge jumps at a time – we’re trying to be strategic about it all.”

The post Serving Atlantic Canada<p class="company">Seagate Construction</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

The result is that a robust research and development drive is on to protect employees from physical harm in increasingly modern ways. Based in Arlington, Virginia, the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) reported on March 1 this year that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is looking to create “centers of excellence to provide improved research and development around personal protective equipment and technology (PPE and PPT).”

PPT incorporates clothing with technology to achieve hybrid protective wear often capable of responding to body temperatures. Such ‘smart’ clothing and gear can be designed to alert the wearer of dangers such as extreme heat, toxic gases, or dangerous materials like some metals.

The ISEA media release stated that “ISEA applauded the effort to encourage innovative thinking,” which would improve occupational health and safety. It also said that “In a letter to the NIOSH National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL), ISEA has outlined the needs for PPE and PPT research and provided an overview of potential projects and issues in multiple areas of safety.”

As part of these efforts, the association further reported that it is looking toward including a couple of PPE fabricators as part of its board of advisors. The ISEA has spotlighted several areas of future study for the NPPTL, including climate change and its impact on PPE, “public-private partnerships to share advanced machinery and technology,” and much more

In an article featured last year by management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, the PPE market has increased “from $13.5 billion in 2019 to an estimated $24.3 billion in 2024,” with protective clothing expected to occupy around $5.4 billion of that space within two years. This while market studies company Fortune Business Insights predicts the global PPE market growth to hit $92.86 billion around 2027. The McKinsey report counsels that, to position themselves optimally, PPE fabricators would do well to study the trajectories of the fastest growing players in the markets most in need of their products, in addition to optimizing efficiency and capabilities.

As a result, the competition is growing as North American companies continue to contribute to the field of making the world of work a safer place by protecting workers’ respiratory tracts, eyes, skin, hands, heads, ears, feet, and lives especially when working at extreme temperatures, heights, speeds, or depths.

With environmental temperatures rising, heat stress risk is one of the main considerations when designing personal protective gear these days. Considering that there were nearly forty heat-related deaths per year and well over 2,500 annual, dangerous, heat-related illnesses needing time off as reported to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from 2011 to 2019, the time is ripe for improved measures.

One brand making headway in the PPE market since 1983 is Ergodyne. Headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota, this company prides itself on creating ‘tenacious work gear’ that includes some of the most effective cooling gear available in the mainstream US market today. Turning to advanced fabric varieties and other smart design elements, its range includes everything from hard hat cooling gear to cooling vests.

Its Chill-Its range of terry cloth hat liners, shade rims, and sweatbands are designed to give the wearer a comfort level that is significantly higher than that of a traditional hard hat, while its Chill-Its high visibility safety cooling vests employ ‘polymer-embedded cooling technology,’ offering around half a work day’s lightweight heat protection to outdoor workers. In addition, its innovative, knitted material arm sleeves have properties such as an ultraviolet protection factor of up to 50+ and a rapid cooling feature activated by moisture. The design diverts the wearer’s perspiration from the skin when the product is not wet, ensuring all-day comfort.

Hearing protection has been around for quite some time but is also seeing technological additions. Honeywell, one of the world’s largest PPE manufacturers in 2021, offers in-ear hearing protection headphones complete with Bluetooth connectivity or digital AM/FM radio among its selection.

But it is not only protective clothing that is currently in the spotlight. Office designers are also continuously improving comfort levels with controlled ambient temperatures and ergonomic furniture. Just as with clothing, this sector is also introducing modern fabrics and materials to improve employee comfort as much as possible.

Anti-fatigue mats are just one example of this. Smart Step’s premium performance mats are proudly and entirely manufactured in the United States from locally-sourced, appropriate, and safe materials. These mats promise to “help protect employees from serious health risks associated with static postures and reduce injuries, sick days, and worker’s compensation claims.”

Its quality assurance boasts a ten-year warranty and comes complete with such safety characteristics as a secure grip-to-surface feature, bright highlights for easy identification, as well as an engineered top surface that allows for a stable foot grip to prevent slipping. These mats are already a favourite in the hospitality industry, the salon and fitness market, and industrial, medical, and other fields.

Chairs, of course, also remain fundamental to worker safety and comfort even in home offices. Chiropractor Dr. Randi Jaffe recently advised readers of The Strategist to invest in adjustable chairs that allow for “90-degree angles at the waist and knees.” Her favourite is reported to be the Herman Miller Aeron Chair, singled out over nearly two decades for its superb back technology that adjusts as the user moves, offering continued support throughout, whether the user is tilting the chair at an angle or not. Being short, I am forever grateful for chairs that allow my feet to touch the floor and am particularly impressed with the small, medium, and large sizes in which the chair is fabricated, making it an option for a wide range of body types.

While there are many concerning issues happening in the world right now, it comes as a great comfort to know that there are qualified teams of people out there taking care of the small details that make everyday life safer and more comfortable, especially at work.

The post Keeping Workers Safe & Comfortable<p class="company">Health and Safety in a Changing World</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.