In a popular New York Times article, C. Nicole Mason, president and chief executive of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research says, “I think we should go ahead and call it a ‘shesession’.”

Mason coined the term to highlight the disproportionate impact of the economic disruption of the pandemic on women.

According to the institute’s analysis of labour department data, women were hit by 60 percent of the job losses. But here’s the twist: as the virus continues to mutate and cause havoc, there are glimmers of hope that we are seeing the start of a recovery – and women are leading the entrepreneurial charge.

And why not women? The realities of the pandemic, like the increased need for childcare services and remote learning responsibilities, and job cuts in women-populated hospitality and retail, have led to a surge in necessity and flexibility entrepreneurs.

These entrepreneurs are a new breed. Our usual definition of new business founders are “opportunity entrepreneurs,” most likely to start a business during good economic times to take advantage of positive market conditions. But as many women are now unemployed or underemployed, starting their own businesses is necessary to finding flexible employment. For many, it’s the only way they can handle domestic duties and pay the bills in times of uncertainty.

These entrepreneurs of necessity are products of economic crisis and they are more likely to seek traditional employment as soon as market conditions improve, and a suitable position comes available. But that might be changing.

Numerous reports have shown that women were most likely to leave their place of employment to manage childcare responsibilities because of COVID lockdowns. A survey from Syndio, a software company specializing in pay equity, indicated that 14 percent of women had considered leaving their jobs due to home-life demands.

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) recently stated that it is the entrepreneurs who drive economic recovery and are integral in helping communities rebound after catastrophic events. Just as disasters are a destructive force, entrepreneurs are a creative force, and as more women take on these roles, they will be the catalysts in helping us all bounce back.

According to American Express and the 2019 State of Women-Owned Businesses, women account for 42 percent of business ownership, up remarkably since 1972 when the number was just under 5 percent.

Interesting, too, many women who are taking on these new roles are over the age of 50.

“Society doesn’t place enough importance on the experience and wisdom that women have gained over their careers, particularly when it comes to relationship-building and leadership abilities,” Debbie White, founder and CEO of brand strategy company Frankly Deb, told Forbes Magazine.

“There are plenty of myths floating around about 50-plus women – namely, that they aren’t relevant or tech savvy, that they’re uninspired or don’t want to work hard but in my experience, these are false.”

Entrepreneurs in their 50s are twice as likely to be successful as compared to their younger cohorts. The key ingredient in this success rate is experience. Women approaching mid-life have honed leadership and relationship skills that are critical to grow a business.

Also important, this demographic of women is credited with controlling more than 70 percent of all consumer spending, Forbes reports. So they can easily relate to what this groups wants.

“Women in their 40s and up influence both their parents’ and children’s spending, control most household purchasing and generally have more money to spend, making them a real economic superpower,” says White.

“Look at it this way: if the women on this planet were a country, it would be the most powerful country in the world in terms of sheer buying power.”

GEM reports that women-led start-ups thrive when there are supportive government initiatives and policies. A 14-year panel studied women’s entrepreneurship and concluded that the U.S. lacks in providing sponsored entrepreneurial programs, research and development grants, and reducing market entry burdens and regulations.

The fix means foundational changes. Government sponsored entrepreneurial programs funded through local community organizations could provide women with important training, mentorship and coaching as well as access to markets and market information and much needed venture capital.

Despite women being in position to accept venture funds and grants, access to this capital remains a challenge for women.

New data from All Raise, a non-profit group for start-up founders and venture capital investors, reveals a record $156 billion in venture capital flowed into the tech industry in 2020 but only 14 percent went to women entrepreneurs while 86 percent went to all-male founding teams. As part of the study, All Raise counted any start-up with a woman founder or co-founder and discovered that only 2.3 percent of funding raised went to all-women led start-ups.

To overcome such inequities, some women have opted to create their own venture funds but for the most part these are funds tend to be less significant.

The trend toward not funding women-led businesses continues with federal grant programs for research and development transfers with only a tiny percentage going to female-led business. Again, women are at a disadvantage as R&D leads to important commercial innovations and market share.

While there may be an assumption that all entrepreneurs have equal access to participation, funds and supports, ‘A Gendered Look at Entrepreneurship Ecosystems,’ a 2019 report in the journal Small Business Economics, found that this is not always the case.

Researchers say that women are at a disadvantage in most aspects of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, highlighting that support for childcare would encourage more female participation in entrepreneurship.

Despite these market barriers, there are some positives to note when it comes to funding and outreach support for women in business, including the Eileen Fisher Woman-Owned Business Grant, Plum Alley and the Female Founders Fund.

The Eileen Fisher Woman-Owned Business Grant provides support and leadership programs for women and girls. To be eligible, businesses must be focused on social change or the environment, have a three-year track record and revenues not more than $1 million annually. The grant of $100,000 is awarded to five to ten businesses each year.

Check out 2019 grant recipient the Cleo Institute’s Florida climate crisis campaign that has melting animal sculptures drawing attention.

Plum Alley Investments is a private membership platform that influences the shape and future of women-led businesses by investing in their companies. It offers its members curated opportunities to invest in private companies with the aim to get capital to the most promising women entrepreneurs, provide a powerful experience for these entrepreneurs and a positive return on investment to investors.

Vyv, for example, is a women-led company that has created antimicrobial LED lights for home, public and industry with the goal of reducing costly and deadly infections.

The Female Founders Fund is an early-stage investment fund led by women. It focuses on e-commerce, web-enabled products, marketplaces, and platforms with disruptive and innovative ideas.

Success stories include Base, the at-home lab testing and smart app combo that helps people to improve their sleep, stress, diet and more with insights into their body’s data through blood and saliva monitoring, and Boon + Gable, a virtual personal shopper that delivers hand-picked fashions to your home.

Clearly the way we work has been forever disrupted by the pandemic and women entrepreneurs are playing a critical role in the economic “she-covery.”

“You have a lot of women leaving the corporate workforce, opting for a more flexible environment by creating their own companies,” Alison Wyatt, co-founder and CEO of Female Founder Collective told Forbes. “A large portion of small businesses are actually run by women.”

That’s a good thing, says Wyatt’s partner co-founder and fashion magnate Rebecca Minkoff, as women bring a different approach to building business:

“I think sometimes women can shy away from wanting to be too tough or too strong because, you know, we get judged more harshly. And I’ve just taken a stance that you can be empathetic, you can be kind, but you can also be very strong and demand excellence and I felt like that’s been the right move for me as a leader in order to see people succeed.”

The post Entrepreneurs by Necessity<p class="company"> Women Driving Economic Recovery</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, CUA was founded in 1948. Now with eight branches located in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) in a 50-mile radius, and a robust digital and mobile presence throughout the province, it serves over 20,000 members.

CUA provides a wide range of services, including personal banking, a wealth management services division, a commercial banking centre, and a dedicated customer contact centre. You could call CUA a perfect example of “the little bank that could” except for one important thing – it’s not a bank in the traditional meaning of the word.

Instead, CUA is a financial cooperative, where account holders are also shareholders. That, along with expertise in the Halifax market, are what truly differentiate it, defining the services it offers to individuals, businesses, non-profit organizations, and the wider community. This includes partnership with external organizations such as the Halifax Chamber of Commerce and Junior Achievement Nova Scotia, and the Community Partner Program, through which CUA members can access special offers at over 200 businesses.

In February 2016, CUA was recognized as a B Corporation (commonly referred to as a B Corp), having received certification from the international body that recognizes the work of for-profit entities that believe in using their business as a force for good, essentially those which put the needs of the community before profit.

Marie Mullally, President & CEO
It was our pleasure to speak with Marie Mullally as she enters her 11th year at the helm of CUA. She tells us that it’s one of the best organizations she has had the opportunity to work with.

“A big part of it is the culture and the way in which we serve our members,” she says. “It’s very much a community-based institution that is making a material impact on the lives of its customers, but also having an impact on our overall community.”

A graduate of Dalhousie University in Halifax, with Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Business Administration degrees, she says that she has a deep interest in business, but also a “really strong connection to the public sector, as my father had been a long-term provincial and federal civil servant, and I was always intrigued by the impact that sector has on the lives of the people it serves.”

Upon qualifying as a chartered accountant, she worked for the Department of Finance as an economist creating tax policy. She spent 22 years in government, ten of them as president and CEO of a crown corporation.

She says she was fortunate enough to work with governments “which were keen on improving the way they delivered services to both individual and business customers. I also had a lot of opportunities in those years to experience both the public sector and the private sector and to apply key business principles. And I did love business!”

She admits she didn’t choose this direction with a clear career path mapped out, “but when I was contacted by a recruiter in 2010, I was intrigued. As I learned more about banking and this company, I became keenly interested in being part of it. Banking is a great career path for anyone who loves business and loves to help others achieve their financial goals.”

Customers, investors – one and the same
Asked how CUA benefits clients, Mullally explains that the very nature of the structure of a financial cooperative is beneficial in that the customers are also the owners of the company; in other words, they are the shareholders.

This is in direct contrast with traditional banks, where the shareholders can be large institutional investors, such as pension plans, and they are not always the customers. “In our world, the customers and the investors are one and the same.”

This means that everything CUA does “is for the benefit of the customer because we don’t have a separate group of shareholders that we have to focus on for appreciation of their share value.

“Here, the goals of the customers are the same as the owners. Banks have to focus on publicly traded companies and keeping their shareholders happy while also trying to make their customers happy. But they are two separate groups and sometimes their interests can diverge, or even be in conflict.”

The absence of conflict at CUA is reflected in the way service is delivered. As a small banking institution, every financial benefit that accrues at CUA automatically goes back to the members, as “we reinvest in the business to provide better service, and better pricing and product offerings,” says Mullally.

One of CUA’s unique products is its “No Down Payment Mortgage”, which, as Mullally explains, is a great example of how the community is supported by creating access for first-time homebuyers who haven’t had the opportunity to build up funds for a down payment. They may have just graduated from university and started working, have clear potential and are financially responsible, but need a hand up to get them to the next stage of their lives.

“This plan,” Mullally says, “allows them access to homeownership by providing them with up to five percent of the purchase price in the form of a loan or line of credit that would cover the cost of their down payment.

“Very few financial institutions provide that kind of product, but we think having the ability to purchase a home is important and we see this as part of our community investment, part of building a stronger community.”

Big help to small business
In addition to helping individuals get off to a good start, CUA also offers a small business loan program developed with the provincial government, which gives it the ability to finance up to $500,000 for start-ups and gives entrepreneurs access to funding they might not otherwise be able to obtain.

Says Mullally, “We think it’s critical to make funding accessible for small businesses because they are key to the economic growth of any area.”

This partnership with the government has enabled CUA to offer financing to companies that don’t have a proven track record, including ones that may be new to the market and are looking for someone to take a leap of faith based on their concept. But before CUA offers that financing, it carefully vets applications on a case-by-case basis which looks at the viability of the business plan, and the character of the owner.

There’s also CUA’s Energy Efficiency Financing Program, which finances energy-efficient upgrades like LED lighting, solar panels, and heat pumps for homes and businesses at a very low interest rate. This has been one of the highest growth programs over the last two years.

CUA helps non-profit organizations, too. “We have a large base of organizations within our membership,” Mullally says, “and we work with them in a similar way as we do with our small businesses. We become a connector point and a relationship builder to help them with what they are trying to achieve as an organization.”

Investing in the community
In 2015, CUA introduced the Community Investment Grant Program, distributing financial grants to local businesses, non-profit organizations, and community initiatives in HRM. It has since expanded the size and scope of the program to include the entire province.

Over the last seven years more than $240,000 has been distributed directly to 70 recipients selected by CUA’s Member Advisory Council, based on each submitted project’s potential for a positive economic, social, or environmental impact on the community.

In 2021 there were 19 recipients, each of whom reported back on what was achieved by the funded project, describing quite exceptional results.

Mullally tells us the story of one recipient, Greenii Inc., a Halifax start-up that recycles paper waste and produces chemical and bleach-free paper bags from discarded newspapers and flyers. By reducing community use of plastics, the company’s efforts have had a measurable effect on the environment.

CUA’s funding enabled Greenii to purchase technical equipment that reduced production time by 50 percent, in the process creating seven new jobs. Five of them went to immigrant women and two to youth with disabilities, “so this is a great example of how impactful a relatively small amount, just $8,500, could be. Not only did [the funding] benefit the environment, it improved the operation and created jobs in marginalized areas of society where there is less opportunity to find employment.”

Another project Mullally describes involved the South Shore Sexual Health Centre, located in the Town of Bridgewater, which used its grant to fund their TRANSformation Closet Initiative, which supports youth in accessing gender-affirming gear during their transition process.

“We recognize the importance of diversity and inclusion, but we were amazed by the number of young people – which doubled the original estimate from 30 to 60 – who will be able to leverage this program to support their gender affirmation.”

In conclusion, she adds, “There’s a broad spectrum that we support through the social impact criteria of the Community Investment Program that will make Nova Scotia become a more accepting and inclusive place. I am very excited that we’re going to deliver this program again in 2022.”

At time of writing, CUA had earmarked $100,000 for the program. Applications were received between Jan 11th through the 28th, and CUA received over 500 applications requesting more than $4 million combined. The team is currently in the process of evaluating the submissions, and will be announcing the recipients on March 14th.

The post The Better Way to Bank<p class="company"> CUA</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

The businesses and communities in the two cities are seamlessly connected, and this led to a key change in the structure of these municipalities. Recently, Hanover and Lebanon merged their chambers to create the Upper Valley Business Alliance.

Discussions of merging the chambers of Hanover and Lebanon have been ongoing for years, though the timing was never quite right until late 2019. “It came up again, and I think that the climate in our region was such that we recognized that we have a regional economy, and it made more sense for the two organizations to combine forces and combine resources as well,” says Upper Valley Business Alliance Executive Director Tracy Hutchins.

“We have a saying: ‘We’re not your father’s chamber anymore,’” says Hanover Town Manager Julia Griffin. “As businesses have become more interconnected, regions have become more interconnected, and to keep pace with rapid changes that were happening in the business sector, we had to start thinking beyond the old model that always worked and be much more forward-thinking in terms of what support and services to provide to member businesses.”

The Upper Valley Business Alliance can provide a wider breadth of services now than it did as individual chambers. Its goal is to support the local economy and promote the Upper Valley as an ideal place to live and a great place to do business.

Demonstrating its commitment to economic development, one of its new initiatives is the Upper Valley MedTech Collaborative, supporting the medical technology industry, a segment of business that is rapidly growing in the Upper Valley. Many technology companies have moved into the Upper Valley because it is an excellent choice for businesses and families.

Upper Valley MedTech Collaborative Chair Greg Lange explains that the initiative was formed to bring together all the groups in the region that focus on medical technologies and medical innovation to encourage collaboration. “It takes a village to grow med-tech companies. It’s very hard to do it on their own, and we have this wealth of experience and expertise in the Upper Valley, so our goal is to make sure people know that we’re all here working on similar things and to connect people regularly. Over the last few years, we’ve identified fifty to sixty different med-tech entities that are all working on some kind of medical technology here in the Upper Valley.”

To connect these like-minded businesses, the collaborative hosts pitch nights and conferences and provides numerous opportunities for the community to learn about funding options such as reimbursement strategies. These opportunities help business owners understand how to manage their intellectual property as it is being developed.

Between the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth, Dartmouth Medical School, and the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, the Upper Valley region has become a medical innovation hub. The Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center is the largest medical facility in northern New England, and the convergence of all three entities generates a significant amount of research through collaboration. The Upper Valley MedTech Collaborative strives to nurture and advance this growing part of the region’s economy.

To support the area’s growth, the Upper Valley Business Alliance also focuses on workforce and talent development. Some of its initiatives are legacy programs from the Hanover Chamber such as Meet Up Upper Valley, which has been ongoing for several years. This employee retention program involves some of the largest employers in the area. Many of the larger employers recruit from outside the region, and the program helps people who have relocated in feeling more at home in the communities of Lebanon and Hanover. Retention rates are much higher with newcomers when they have the opportunity to connect with new people, make friends, and set down roots.

As the Upper Valley Business Alliance was launched, it was approached by talent recruitment and human resources members from the Upper Valley Dual Career Network, a longstanding program in the area. The program was put together to address the workforce needs of the spouse or partner of a person who is relocating to the Upper Valley. It was a logical choice for this program to move under the umbrella of the Upper Valley Business Alliance, as it already has a robust system of business members who could provide services or employ the trailing spouse.

Another program that the Upper Valley Business Alliance has taken under its wing is the Young Professionals group. It was operating on its own for quite some time, but as can happen with volunteer organizations, the leadership roles changed, and this led to a lack of consistency for the program. Fortunately, the program is one more great fit for the Upper Valley Business Alliance and becomes another way to attract and retain good people in the area.

The rural Upper Valley region is well suited for growth and development for several reasons. Its convenient location at the intersection of two interstate highways puts it within easy reach of Boston, Montreal, and New York City. Its airport also has daily flights to Boston and New York, and it can take private jets as well.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the region has seen an increase in its population as more people look to move away from urban areas. “We offer a remarkable quality of life here, and I think we just really have the best I think of everything, and we are seeing what some places are calling COVID refugees or climate refugees. More people are relocating to New Hampshire and Vermont, and they’re finding their way into our region,” explains Hutchins. The employers in the Upper Valley tend to pay higher wages compared to the rest of the state, and the unemployment rate is lower. The region’s resiliency through the pandemic has been extraordinary.

Lebanon was recently ranked the tenth city in the United States for in-migration numbers during the pandemic. Griffin says those who live there were not surprised by that ranking. “The benefits of being in a somewhat more rural but sophisticated area line up with the benefits of escaping more densely populated areas when you’re concerned about a virus like COVID. So, we’re now galloping to try and catch up with the desire of folks to perhaps find places to live on a long-term basis that feel a little bit safer than densely settled urban areas.”

One challenge that routinely comes with rapid economic growth is housing development. Finding affordable housing for everyone who wants to relocate to the Upper Valley is a struggle, and because there has been such high demand, housing prices have risen. Fortunately, Hanover and Lebanon have both been proactive municipalities in working towards building new housing with a commitment to sustainability, and the prices are now starting to level once again.

The future development of the Upper Valley depends on its ability to establish more housing. “We’ve got 1,400 residential units under construction or approved right now, which is very significant for a city of this size, where we’ve only got 7000 pieces of property,” says Lebanon City Manager Shaun Mulholland. “We’ve got more on the drawing board that are critical to addressing this problem to allow adequate space for people to live, and hopefully, that will drive some of the price down when those units become online.”

Sustainability in housing development is a priority for the Upper Valley. Hanover and Lebanon are partners on the renewable energy front and two of the leading communities in the state of New Hampshire that are moving aggressively towards a sustainable future. “I think the growth and development that we do here has an opportunity to be very sustainably focused, and quite frankly, the younger generation workforce is looking for that kind of housing,” says Griffin.

The Upper Valley is experiencing a lot of success in creating more supportive renewable infrastructure, including integrating public transportation with electric vehicles. “We have the opportunity to appeal to that segment of the next generation that’s looking for something that meets their desire to live in a greener environment, both literally and from a renewable energy perspective,” says Griffin.

This rural, sustainably-focused region is full of potential for people who value a close-knit, fun community as well as opportunities for education, business, and medical innovation.

“This is an amazing part of the country to be in, just in terms of the indoor/outdoor sports activities,” says Lange. “Also, you can’t underestimate the power of having an Ivy League college and a major academic medical center and what opportunities that brings for culture, affluence, and education.”

The post Creating Opportunity—Together<p class="company">Upper Valley Business Alliance</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

The town got its name from Colonel Juan N. Seguin, who fought in the battle alongside Anglo settlers. These early inhabitants were enterprising and industrious, building homes and other structures from a unique local product called ‘limecrete.’

Today, about two dozen of these buildings still exist. Rich in history, the place once described as “the prettiest town in Texas” was initially built on agriculture, mills, oil, and manufacturing.

Originally founded in 1937 as the Seguin and Guadalupe County Chamber of Commerce, the organization was created to maintain uniformity in the commercial usage of the city and town, says Chester Jenke, President at the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce.

“The secondary aspect of the Chamber startup was to acquire, preserve, and disseminate valuable business information as well as promote the interest of trade and increase the commercial transactions within the community,” says Jenke. “All of these aspects still hold for the Seguin Chamber today. We still promote the common economic interest of all the commercial enterprises within our community.”

Strength in numbers

Almost 90 years after its founding, the Seguin Chamber continues promoting its members and all the community has to offer. With a population of just over 30,000, the town remains relatively small, but its spirit is abundant, and the local pride in the town is contagious.

As spirited as the town, the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce continues to promote the interests of its more than 585 active members, ensuring that every opportunity to grow commerce is grabbed with both hands. From individual members to small businesses, government entities, and large manufacturers, the Chamber advocates on behalf of all, ensuring “commerce continues to be unimpeded throughout the city, county, and state,” says Jenke.

For members, other benefits include networking opportunities, and the opportunity to showcase their products to locals via events like Showcase Seguin and Business in the Park, which sees over 30 businesses represented at each event. At the monthly Chamber luncheon, members from every branch of commerce come together to discuss their businesses, challenges, and successes.

Taking over as President in October 2021, Jenke says he has used the startup period to define chamber programming and services to ensure the best value for members. As businesses grow and develop, programming needs need to adapt.

This has become especially true during the past two years of the pandemic, which required reviewing and revising member-based programs. Before his current role, Jenke served as VP of Economic Development, which he says was an immense benefit.

“Most chambers are either economic drivers or membership-based advocacy and training providers – the Seguin Chamber is a mix of both of these worlds,” says Jenke. “Understanding the business aspect of business development and expansion for small business has been a valuable piece of knowledge. I hope to further this with new programs in 2022 that deliver small-business training resources to all of our local businesses as these continue to grow.”

Recent initiatives

Like most chambers across the United States, the Seguin Chamber is funded through business-owner membership fees or investment fees, with a small portion of the operating budget funded through private donations.

To continue to drive the interests of members, the Chamber implemented two changes this year.

The first, a revised Chamber 101 training course, provided a jumpstart to new chamber members and demonstrated to them how chambers operate and the benefits for their businesses.

The second initiative, coming this spring, will see Business Showcase, a business-to-business event, and Business in the Park, an outdoor business-to-consumer event where companies can feature their products to potential customers. This year, the theme of the Business Showcase is ‘Totally 80s,’ which will see booths outfitted in ‘80s style, and occupants dressed in clothing from the time.

“This is a fun event that allows the businesses to not only connect with each other but connect with the community as well,” says Jenke.

Location, location, location

Even with its relatively modest population, Seguin has access to a workforce of over 350,000 within a 30-minute drive from the city. Combined with a median age of 39 and median household income of $61,000 this makes Seguin especially attractive.

These factors, combined with a low sales tax rate of 8.25 percent, mean that businesses have access to an enviable pool of workers, and can stretch their every dollar so much farther.

Many employers, including Caterpillar, Vitesco Technologies, Commercial Metals Corporation (CMC), Guadalupe Regional Medical Center, and Tyson Foods, offer plenty of career opportunities right inside the city limits of Seguin.

The city is targeting specific industries, including manufacturing operations – such as machinery and automotive facilities – and the retail sector. And with a growing population, the needs of these and other business types will continue.

At present, 11,000 new home plans are working their way through the approval process. Combined with over 3,000 new home plans for the “unincorporated” area just outside of Seguin in Guadalupe County, this makes retail operations very attractive in its target sector.

“Seguin’s current retail trade area has a population of over 100,000 people,” says Jenke. “With the explosive growth in Seguin and Guadalupe County, this number is expected to rise exponentially over the next five years.” This growth will see the city’s existing population of 30,000 push past 50,000.

For residents and businesses alike, Seguin offers ideal access to roads, ports, and air travel.

For a start, it is situated on several major Texas crossroads. Interstate 10 runs east and west from coast to coast, with Seguin located about midway between coasts. State Highway 130, in Seguin, is a toll road helping motorists access Interstate 35, which runs to Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. These highways, says Jenke, provide ample opportunity for companies to move their products throughout the U.S.

“If an overseas shipment is needed, the Port of Houston is about two and a half hours from Seguin to the east and provides convenient port access for goods being shipped out of the U.S.

“When you add in the access to two international airports – San Antonio International Airport 30 minutes to the South and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport 45 minutes to the north – travelers have many flight options available to them, both domestic and international.

“Seguin’s location between the two airports provides a great opportunity for business travelers.”

Quality of life

From restaurants to microbreweries, festivals to fine arts, the City of Seguin has it all.

Every year, the city salutes the Pecan during Pecan Fest, a festival that sees residents celebrate Seguin’s Famous “World’s Largest Pecan.” From small amusement parks to Broadway shows in one of the city’s historic theaters, there is fun and entertainment for all ages.

For golf enthusiasts, Seguin is home to Starke Park Golf Course with 18 holes nestled along the Guadalupe River, with huge Pecan trees along the course.

In confirmation of its old-time charm, downtown Seguin is listed on the National Register for Historic Places. This is an opportunity for residents and business owners in the 27-block historic district to receive incentives such as federal tax credits, local tax abatements, and permit-fee waivers to encourage property owners to refurbish and maintain the buildings in their historic state.

The Texas Main Street program assists with architectural design in the historic district. And together, the Texas Main Street program and the Seguin Main Street program have provided funding to businesses that have preserved the heritage of the buildings.

For the betterment of the community, Seguin continues investing in itself in many areas, including health and education. This includes millions of dollars invested in the Guadalupe Regional Medical Center (GRMC).

One of the only city/county-owned hospitals in Texas, the GRMC employs more than 700 employees and over 100 skilled physicians in a world-class facility not supported by tax dollars.

Named one of the best places to work in the nation by Modern Healthcare, GRMC was recently awarded an “A” grade for hospital safety by an independent institution grading hospitals nationwide.

“The hospital is consistently on lists of the “Best of…” for their services – such as the November 2021 list of the top 10 percent in the nation for joint replacement. This is a list that evaluates over 4,500 hospitals nationwide,” says Jenke.

That same month, GRMC became one of the first facilities in America to install a Twin Robotics X-Ray system, allowing physicians to perform diagnostic imaging of patients, providing a much broader range of diagnostic tools in a single room. “The Guadalupe Regional Medical Center is second-to-none,” adds Jenke.

Educational offerings

In terms of education, Seguin has two area school districts: the Seguin Independent School District, and the Navarro Independent School District. Both schools have a great sense of pride and are striving to ensure graduating students have the skills they need to succeed post-high school.

Recently, Seguin added a Construction Trades Department, where students earn industry-recognized credentials to quick-start their career in construction trades. Navarro is also working through a recently passed bond election, which will expand the high school to meet the needs of future students.

Post-secondary education options include Texas Lutheran University – home to over 1,400 students. There is a great sense of “TLU Bulldog” pride on its 185-acre campus. Its students enroll in four-year liberal arts, sciences, and professional studies in 27 program majors, 37 program minors, 64 specializations, and other programs. And, established in 2008, the Central Texas Technology Center is a workforce development center that has been instrumental when prospective new employers visit the region.

In a time of strong residential growth, the City of Seguin continues to do an outstanding job of keeping infrastructure current and progressive. This forward-looking approach has ensured that there is opportunity both for future businesses to locate in the region, and for future residents to find ample housing options, Jenke explains.

“There are also opportunities that remain available for new job creation and a new workforce to help support these businesses. The Chamber is a partner with the city and the county to assist with the growth and the new residents that are moving here.”

The post Where History Meets Business<p class="company">Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Against this backdrop of change, automation and COVID-19-driven hybrid working scenarios are leading the biggest changes in labour choices that women have seen in recent memory.

In a piece titled Could The New Hybrid Workplace Turn Some Women Into Second-Class Employees? for Forbes magazine this January, Naz Beheshti underlines some harsh realities that many women, especially mothers working remotely, are faced with at the moment. Some of these include what has been dubbed America’s first female recession, named as such since four times as many women as men exited the labour force during the original COVID-19 wave.

In many cases, this appears to be due to more housekeeping and primary caregiver duties resting on the shoulders of women. Furthermore, the article reports that fewer than two-thirds of the women who left the workforce during that time have returned to their positions. It also notes that many corporate female leaders are looking at easing the demands of high-pressure careers to accommodate their responsibilities at home.

Amid these social and economic shifts, women in the workforce must adapt to the equally radical evolution of technological advances in the workplace. This will affect not only when and how they work but also what they do. With significant percentages of manual work being passed onto automation, experts advise that, while job losses are happening and more are forecast for the future, women who commit to continuous education and invest in building unique skill sets will reap better jobs and remuneration.

A recent report by McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), The future of women at work: Transitions in the age of automation, highlights the importance of women remaining flexible and up-to-date in terms of their education. A willingness to move and hone abilities is also important to consider if they are to stay abreast in the ever-changing technology race. The report also notes that by remaining mobile and current, women stand to secure higher payment for their efforts than is currently the case. In contrast, it predicts that those who do not stay ahead of the curve may have a much tougher time.

The study, conducted in 2019, sliced across twenty nations and thirty markets and stated that as many as 40 million to 160 million women may be forced to shift gears economically by considering positions that demand more sophistication than before. The types of jobs that will be increasingly available to women tend to be dictated by geography, whether they work in established or fledgling economies.

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics has noted that women’s participation in the workforce began to rise in the late 1940s, sped up by 1970, but reached an apex in 1999 at sixty percent. By 2018, 57.1 percent of women worked, and the decline is projected to continue.

However, the McKinsey Global Institute study shows that, in contrast to the Bureau of Labor Statistics projections, female employment could rise by as much as one-fifth of current rates, which adds more than 170 million extra positions to the existing number. The report also notes that the three markets that will see the most growth in female employment are “healthcare and social assistance, manufacturing, and retail and wholesale trade.”

A 2018 study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that over 50 percent of positions in managerial and professional occupations were filled by women. That includes just short of 20 percent of software developers, slightly fewer than 30 percent of chief executives, and fewer than 40 percent of lawyers. Compare this to the fact that women make up nearly 90 percent of professional nurses and over 79 percent of elementary and middle school educators, plus over 60 percent of accountants and auditors according to recent studies, and one gets the clear impression that they are, more often than not, difficult to replace with automation.

More good news is that, according to McKinsey’s projections, the United States, alongside Germany, stands to gain the most new technology-driven occupations and extra existing positions globally. It also shows that human work will be turned toward activities at which women typically excel and machines cannot perform, namely team management, knowledge and experience application, and handling interpersonal relationships.

All in all, while our workforce foundations are indeed shifting and changing, the outcomes may well be better than we could ever have imagined as long as we stay the course.

The post Women’s Work<p class="company">How Is It Changing?</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Meeting this need, Gainsborough Waste began its operations in 1994, investing in its first new Mack truck in 1996.  A few years later in 1999, the Carls courageously moved forward with the formation of their portable toilet company titled Texas Outhouse, which has become a staple of exemplary service in and around the gulf coast. Fast forward over 20 years with Texas Outhouse, a newly identified market segment led to the purchase of its first high-end restroom trailer in 2016. Quick success in this new market led to the 2017 creation of a new standalone division adorned with its own logo, social media platforms and website, titled Luxury Event Trailers (LET).

Privately held, both businesses are under the same ownership, with Noble Carl serving as Gainsborough’s President and brother Paul R. Carl as Vice President.

With some overlap among employees in areas such as accounting, sales, customer service and maintenance, all entities have a strong company culture, which allows for decisions like purchasing new trucks to be made fast and easily. “It makes a great environment for growing your revenue,” says Larry L. Wheeler, Gainsborough’s Business Development Manager.

Today, Gainsborough has grown to about 30 drivers, half a dozen mechanics, a dedicated office staff of over a dozen, and two dispatchers. On the LET side, the division runs under Special Events Director Craig Ray, who operates the division with an assistant, three drivers, and three technicians.

Pandemic pivot

For some businesses, COVID-19 resulted in chaos; for others, it created new opportunities and a way to step up and help others. Known across Texas for its professional service and ability to handle virtually any customer need, Gainsborough Waste continues to work with customers during the worst pandemic in a century.

With a disaster-relief function in place dealing with crises like hurricanes, floods, and fires in Greater Houston, and providing services to relief workers setting up camp in states like Florida or Louisiana, Texas Outhouse was already well-equipped. Able to provide 200 toilets and 10 roll-off dumpsters in just 24 hours, the company is large enough to respond in times of emergency without affecting its existing customers.

“In the toilet division, we have 17,000 to 18,000 toilets, about 75 pump trucks, and six high-volume tankers,” says Wheeler. “In a small or medium-sized company that has far fewer trucks, that would affect their normal business, so they couldn’t do it.”

At its 23-acre key site at 950 McCarty Street in Houston, the company has masses of room for storage and also has the only private wastewater treatment plant in Texas. Accommodating a Type 5 transfer waste disposal station, the site is also large enough to park about 125 trucks.

Growing through the challenges

Before 2020, hand wash stations and hand sanitizer stations were small business segments for Texas Outhouse – but that all changed with the onset of the pandemic. With COVID-related protocols in place, job and construction sites that previously ordered just one handwash station or hand sanitizer station were now asking for many units. Two years later, demand for units and consumables remains high.

“Instead of just once a week, customers now want you to service them multiple times. It’s kind of a new category that sprang up, and it has really blossomed,” says Wheeler. He adds that about 99 percent of the units are rented on a temporary basis. Customers specify the duration of the job, with stations priced accordingly.

Previously used mainly at construction sites, manufacturing plants, and refineries, these wash and sanitizer stations have seen widespread use at COVID testing or injection sites such as NRG Stadium (previously Reliant Stadium) in Houston, where there may be hundreds of people in line at any one time.

Along with delivering and setting up these stations, Texas Outhouse drivers also handle cleaning, water tank and paper towel refills, waste disposal, and more. “It’s a big part of the business across the United States. People who used to manufacture a small amount of these products are now manufacturing a lot, and a lot of new companies have sprung into business.”

Luxury Event Trailers has also shifted gears during the pandemic. Pre-COVID, it was the company’s fleet of 50 luxury trailers – outfitted with high-end amenities such as marble, wood finishing, air conditioning, and piped-in music – that was in high demand, rented by wedding planners and other customers.

Now, the company’s fleet is growing into a more diverse mix of sizes and interior formats – enabling LET to answer the call for virtually any requirement from both existing and new customers.

Lockdown on price

Despite the industry-leading quality of its range of offerings, LET keeps its pricing largely in lock-step with its local competitors, whose fleets are usually composed of far less expensive models, often with many accumulated years of wear and tear.

“We also service brick and mortar stores and restaurants during restroom renovations and water/sewer outages,” says LET’s Craig Ray. “Chemical plants and refineries are another common customer of ours, in addition to school districts and film production companies. The list goes on.”

During the early days of the pandemic, the market for LET’s rentals shifted. Although customers hosting events like church gatherings and barbecues sometimes put things on hold because of social distancing, the healthcare market skyrocketed. “During COVID, the Texas Outhouse division and Luxury Event Trailers just boomed completely,” says Wheeler.

Now that special events are opening up again, the company is being called upon for luxury trailer rentals, and still has equipment at COVID sites.

None of the company’s 50 trailers are brand-identified, a deliberate move on the part of LET. “If somebody’s having a million-dollar wedding, and they hire us through luxury event trailers, they don’t want our name splashed on the side, they want it to look generic,” says Wheeler. “When people go in, they are shocked at how nice they are.” See LET luxury trailers at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxrACtzNhyI.

Looking to the future

The team at Gainsborough Waste, Texas Outhouse, and Luxury Event Trailers looks forward to the future and a post-pandemic world. LET has reached the point where it not only leases out trailers but now has a business segment selling new and used units.

Gainsborough Waste and Texas Outhouse are both expanding, and on the lookout to acquire smaller toilet businesses and roll-off companies, and when the time is right, a site to build a new transfer station.

Along with frequent updates to its website, the company uses a marketing firm to promote itself and is active on LinkedIn and social media sites like Facebook. In keeping with the company’s spirit of genuine Texan generosity, it often answers calls for help from competitors.

“We’re big enough where, if our competitors get in trouble, they’ll call us and say, ‘Hey man, I need a couple of your roll-off boxes, can you help me out?’ or ‘I need 100 toilets,’ or ‘I need 50 ‘handicaps’, can you help me?’” says Wheeler, “and we absolutely help our competitors. It’s been a really great way for us to grow in this market.”

The post Always Moving Forward<p class="company">Gainsborough Waste</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Because not only is it noticed, but a poorly ventilated kitchen also threatens the integrity of the entire foodservice delivery model, affecting the quality of the food, the health of the staff, and the enjoyment and environment of the diners.

Happily, ventilation systems designed and installed in commercial kitchens by ZVS (Z-Ventilation Solutions) don’t get noticed—a good sign that they’re working well.

Based in Columbus, Ohio, ZVS, provides complete turnkey, customized solutions for commercial kitchen ventilation systems in restaurants, hospitals, and institutional cafeterias, reaching the national marketplace through Paradigm, a unique network of foodservice agencies.

To learn more about the turnkey solutions ZVS offers to foodservice consultants, architects, and design dealers specializing in the planning of commercial kitchens, we join Mike McGuire, Managing Partner of Zink Corporation, the holding company for ZVS, and Wilson Villarrubia, ZVS Director of Ventilation Services.

Although ZVS only began life as a stand-alone brand six years ago, as McGuire explains, it’s a subsidiary of Zink Corporation, a 45-year-old company from Columbus, Ohio, with eight offices across the mid-west. Zink Foodservice, the original rep group, began as a family-owned rep business in 1976, marketing and selling commercial foodservice equipment, and over the years expanded to to Zink Corporation, which includes equipment, smallwares, tabletop, furniture, distribution, service and ventilation.

In 2017 there were some major changes, with Jim Zink and McGuire, who had been with Zink Corporation for 33 years, becoming Managing Partners, after the company was sold to its employees via an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) Trust.

“This means that everyone now has a stake in the business,” McGuire says, “and it has been very successful. Since the employees, who number 80 in total, are all stakeholders, the profitability and growth of the business is important to them.”

Another major change was to set up ZVS as a stand-alone subsidiary, dedicated to designing, engineering, and installing ventilation solutions, with Wilson Villarrubia as Director of Ventilation Services.

What started in the Midwest, has now expanded to North America. ZVS is licensed to design and engineer systems that meet building codes in 49 states and markets its customized solutions through Paradigm, a national organization of 200+ foodservice representatives. Paradigm, of which Zink Corporation is a founding member, maintains 18 offices and 28 culinary centers through the U.S. It is, as McGuire says, “leading the reinvention of foodservice representation.”

What differentiates ZVS from other companies which may stock and sell hoods, or fans, or various ventilation system components, is the combination of ZVS’s design, engineering, and sales teams which bring together a unique level of knowledge that allows them to provide comprehensive customized solutions for commercial kitchens.

The team focuses on all aspects of a project, “above and below the hood,” says McGuire, explaining how the team can consult and add value to any aspect of the project, “from rooftop to tabletop.”

McGuire describes Villarrubia as having extensive engineering and ventilation experience. “He brought the expertise to get us started, and spearheaded ZVS, which has grown to include 16 employees. Now we have engineers, CAD drawing experts, a support process engineer, and a client services team.”

“We have an extensive team that can work on complicated designs. I am either directly involved in each project or overseeing the coordination details with my team and our installation team run by Steve Bosworth,” Villarrubia states.

The entire process of creating a complex ventilation solution takes about a year, according to McGuire. “We are involved in the early stages of design for the restaurant, hospital, school, or other institution and the system has to be engineered to work in that specific building, so we work on the engineering at the front end. Everything is built specifically for that job, and referenced for that job, so nothing is built ahead of time—it’s design, build, install, test and balance.”

What ZVS offers is a seamless process from the project’s start to its completion. According to the company, “project managers coordinate all aspects of the project beginning with site survey, design, costing, engineering, CAD/Revit drawings, permitting, BIM, and construction meetings, and installation through final testing and balancing.”

As it’s a turnkey approach, all risk transfers from the customer to the experts from ZVS who are accountable for all aspects of the project. This includes, in addition to the design, the domestic manufacturing of all the system components. These parts include the specific combination of hoods, canopies, ducts, fans, controls, pressure controls, fire suppression, and filters to the specifications set by ZVS, with ZVS retaining all rights to their brand.

When it comes to installation in a new building, McGuire says that ZVS becomes part of the construction schedule. “There is a lot of coordination with other trades to accomplish a project this complex. We essentially become part of the construction team to provide a seamless process from inception through final inspection.”

Villarrubia describes the process as “a balancing act between design, product, and installation, which is completely managed by the ZVS team, all of which are dependent on one another. If not done right, one small component can affect the overall performance of the solution. As an example, if the system is drawing out too much air, it will affect something as simple as opening the door into the facility. If not pulling enough air, it becomes immediately evident due to odors, smoke, or a space that feels too warm.”

To maintain a proper hood system’s efficiency, it must be kept clean. One of ZVS’s ‘secret weapons’ used to accomplish this is Woolguard Hood Filters, which capture 98 percent of grease before it even enters the exhaust system. Their use also increases the overall safety and efficiency of the establishment, because, with a cleaner hood system, the entire exhaust system, the hood, the rooftop fans, HVAC, and other equipment will run more efficiently.

The welcome result is significant savings. Kitchens that once had to clean quarterly find they only have to do so yearly, saving on water, chemicals, labor, and downtime.

As Villarrubia explains, the big difference between a ventilation system like the one ZVS provides and an air conditioning system, is that traditional AC systems recycle and cool, “but we actually exchange the air. We also offer products that help in the overall facility through dedicated outside air systems on the rooftop that bring in 100 percent air from the outside. We are bringing in fresh air continuously and taking air out continuously.”

ZVS offers “a portfolio of products and services that allow us to design products based on performance and not product restrictions.” This includes associated mechanical, electrical, and plumbing services, and project management that “ensures ZVS can provide the right solution for every job.”

McGuire calls ventilation “the most complex piece of a project when building a kitchen. It’s very technical and very few people across the country are proficient at it. To have the expertise to do it is a unique skill set. It’s not a commodity business; it’s a design-engineer product and that’s what we do at ZVS.”

The post A Seamless Process from Inception to Final Inspection<p class="company">Z-Ventilation Solutions</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Thanks to its solid reputation in the industry, many market leaders trust Kewaunee to create their laboratories. “Because of our heritage scale, we do it right. We’ve already figured it out. We know all the certifications you need to follow. We know all the pitfalls. We’ve done most of the labs in America,” says Chris Willetts, Marketing Director. Willetts also points out that the company’s scale and that of its processes “lead to quality and reassurance.”

To achieve optimum laboratory ergonomics and aesthetics, Kewaunee Scientific Corporation provides custom solutions tailored for clients in markets such as higher education, healthcare centers, pharmaceutical research outfits, forensic crime labs, industrial chemical fabricators, and research and development labs.

Achieving top-quality equipment, safety, and modernity through development, technology, and design, this niche laboratory specialist offers innovative fume hoods, casework, workstations, surfaces, workbenches, and more with full-service manufacturing and installation.

“At Kewaunee, we pride ourselves on quality and design. The way that we build our products meets a tough specification of the Scientific Equipment and Furniture Association (SEFA), [which] is a unique specification to the laboratory world,” says Willetts. This involves testing furniture performance while loaded with weights to simulate use. Quality control is performed randomly in batches, ensuring consistency throughout the process.

Based in Statesville, North Carolina, the company has a phenomenal reach, serving customers across the globe from its facilities here and in Bangalore, India. Since research demands and protocols are always evolving, the company prides itself on its speed and skill in adapting to international markets and industry needs. Clients benefit from a close relationship where every detail is seen to and they are supported every step of the way.

The company is especially well-known for combining exquisite wood and alternative, less common materials such as aluminum and specialized resin with familiar laboratory elements such as stainless steel. In addition, its powder coating system contains no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to ensure the safety of both people and products.

“The beauty of Kewaunee is that we’re the only place that [combines] wood, metal, and resin manufacturing on one site. That allows us to combine those materials with accuracy and reliability,” Willetts adds. “This reliability doesn’t only mean the reliability of the product, but also reliability of delivery.”

Tracking the origins and quality of the wood it uses is a priority. The richness of its grain and its strength primary factors, but the warm earthiness it lends to these traditionally spartan workspaces is desirable, especially considering the number of hours people work in them.

After more than a century in the laboratory business, Kewaunee knew to embrace the restrictions that came with COVID-19 regulations, turning it into an opportunity for growth and improvements. One such development included introducing new software that handles product configurations. It also renders complete elevations and drawings as well as three-dimensional files that enable automatic fabrication by way of computer numerical controlled manufacturing.

“We have a team of engineers who can customize elements of standard products to fit [clients’ needs]. With architects’ styling and design, we build a lot of custom elements, so that it fits what clients need,” says Willetts.

The company’s energy-efficient, proprietary Venturi port technology also allows air that typically tends to sit in the corners of fume hoods to move upward and outward with the central air, resulting in improved extraction power over workstations. Some of its most popular products include its range of inventive fume hoods.

To adhere to disability regulations, these hoods have to be in line with eye level. Instead of lowering the unit, as is sometimes standard practice elsewhere, Kewaunee’s ADA hood is on par with the standard hood level but is elongated to look good and balance visually within the greater design. For ease of use, these hoods have handles rather than knobs, while control buttons are positioned lower than those of other hoods.

Extending this flair for design and customization further, the company has created a lookbook with examples of its offerings, technology, and details of its design elements. “Here, clients can read about projects, understand about different product types, colors, and possibilities. We created it so that architects and [other] clients can finger through it and choose elements,” Willetts tells us.

Moreover, Kewaunee offers three dynamic furniture systems that can stand alone or be combined with other fixed systems. These systems adhere closely to SEFA’s strict standards governing the safety of these modular units. An interesting trend that Willetts points out is that more former office spaces are being converted into research laboratories. The current approach is to kit such spaces out with appropriate furniture around the periphery. Then, modular, mobile units are installed in the center to where gas and electricity are supplied through cables via the ceiling. This allows technicians to adapt the space to suit their needs, something at which Kewaunee’s design teams excel.

Its distribution warehouses allow it to store furniture and equipment over short periods for clients that are in the process of constructing labs to allow them to furnish according to their unique schedules. “The idea is that when a lab is getting built, [the client] might want the top floor’s [furniture] this week, and then maybe the bottom floor in three weeks. We can do that rather than having to purely rely on manufacturing to get that done for them,” Willetts says. The service also results in less risk of damage to furniture standing around on unfinished sites awaiting installation.

One recent project was completed for the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Charlotte. The building, built in an L shape, has complex demands over several floors. Ensuring continuity, the same high-end wood features throughout the building, including the research laboratories and classrooms.

“Because of Kewaunee’s size and our eye for wood—which is handpicked—we have a lot of consistency in how we construct,” says Willetts. The company was able to procure large batches of the same color and quality of wood for the entire and sizeable UNC project. The resulting uniformity is breathtaking, and, as the company belongs to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), its wood is traceable to the trees of origin.

Kewaunee Scientific Corporation especially values its teams. “We build the foundation for scientists that create breakthroughs that push the human race forward. [Our people] know the purpose of what they do,” Willetts says. This purpose-based approach to fulfilling customers’ needs has allowed the company to deliver excellence where others were not always able to.

To meet healthcare needs with the increased demands of dealing with COVID, the company has created a new brand as part of its existing menu of products. The Everhutch healthcare furniture and equipment line focuses specifically on the needs of this sector, with products like procedure carts and cabinets. These drug cabinets come on wheels, complete with a range of helpful accessories. “We have looked at all the different problems that customers have. It follows the same quality of our lab casework, so now labs can benefit from [those stringent standards],” says Willetts.

“There is a strong focus on durability and infection control,” he adds, also highlighting the fact that these products are not “a whole bunch of imported elements that are assembled”. Instead, they are locally produced from quality engineered, rolled steel, fabricated and assembled at its facilities.

“Your healthcare cabinet should be loaded and then physically tested. [It should] have this specification. Labs have to meet chemical resistance, load [requirements], and things like that. We’re bringing scientific-grade quality into the healthcare environment,” Willetts says.

Inspired by a strong leadership team with the will to drive the company forward, Kewaunee Scientific Corporation is set to increasingly embrace virtual and augmented reality. It will also continuously advance computer-automated manufacturing. At the base of this is the understanding that collaborative laboratory workspaces are the key to meaningful development.

With its mixture of seasoned and skilled craftsmanship and young up-and-coming talent, the company is perfectly positioned for this. It will, therefore, by solving laboratory problems one design at a time, continue to be a foundation builder for scientists who create the future.

The post Kewaunee Scientific Corporation<p class="company">Kewaunee Scientific Corporation</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

GP Transco comes to market with a fresh approach to trucking. In an industry known for being slow to embrace change, its commitments to technological advancement, honesty, and punctuality reap tremendous benefits for its drivers and clients. Plus, as it owns more than three-quarters of its fleet, the firm has complete control over where its trucks go and when.

For most of its drivers, driving for GP Transco is such a pleasure that the company has earned the 2020, 2021, and 2022 Best Trucking Company to Work For Award from Smart Trucking, a news and information site for the trucking industry. Safety comes first and the company spares no expense to ensure that its trucks are equipped with the smartest technology available.

Thanks to leaders with such diverse backgrounds as aviation, finance, and IT, GP Transco has assembled a collection of practices unique to this company and to the industry as a whole. In addition, the firm runs its business in a way that secures consistent pay for drivers, which has translated into high driver tenure.

It is headquartered in Joliet, Illinois, with a second office in Carson, California and has been featured on Inc. 5000 for five years, taking the 4,334^th spot late last year. This follows its superb performance and a 65 percent growth rate for 2021. GP Transco also made Crain’s Fast 50 for four consecutive years, achieving the fortieth position last year. It also featured in first place on truckdriverssalary.com for offering the best remuneration packages, benefits, and driver satisfaction in the industry. Moreover, it was rated one of Chicago’s Top Workplaces by the Chicago Tribune – a recognition that is nearly unheard of in the trucking industry.

“That’s uncommon for trucking companies. A big part of it is because we are so transparent with our drivers,” says Sergey Bort, Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Business Development. This naturally resulted in securing a pool of drivers that is among the best in the industry. Open communication and ample support establish relationships of trust between management and the drivers, who are considered in everything the company does right down to its marketing campaigns.

The company came to life in 2006 when President Gedas Poviliunas, who was working toward a finance major at the time, put two trucks on the road. Just over a decade later, he was joined by its Chief Executive Officer Dominic Zastarskis and Executive Vice President Amos Savickas when the company merged with ZA Transport in 2015.

The company’s unique offering lies in its combination of state-of-the-art services and great relationships. It includes automatic load status updates, historical load data, fleet safety artificial intelligence, route optimization, one-point customer contact, advance load planning, sitting truck alerts, and much more.

Today, it is the proud owner of a signature fleet, consisting mostly of Daimler Freightliner Cascadia semi-trucks branded in a stylish shade of teal. Despite each truck being completely kitted out with impressive safety features like collision prevention systems and tailgating notifications, the company goes above and beyond to equip each vehicle with additional technology to further enhance driver and cargo safety as well as overall comfort.

“The biggest part is really treating your drivers with respect. Trucking companies are… known for not being super transparent or respectful toward their truck drivers. We… try to turn that around by really talking to our drivers as much as we can about their preferences. We know that when you have happier employees that are well compensated, they tend to perform better and tend to be more enthusiastic about driving safer, in a fuel-efficient manner. It all feeds into one another,” says Bort.

“Technology done in a good way while being communicated to your [team] in an honest way is key to having a fleet that is as safe as possible,” he adds. The company’s striving toward continuous improvement also drives its ecological responsibility. Trucks are fitted with electric power units (EPU) to ensure that overall gas emissions are significantly lowered by cutting down on idling time. The power units allow for the same comfort levels in the air-conditioned driver cabins while saving fuel.

Technology plays a big part in the company’s efficiency, and to achieve optimum performance of its trucking management system, the firm hired its own development team to create functional software that is sophisticated yet simple to navigate. The subsequent OpenRoad TMS management system helps track and match vehicles with clients while handling geotagging, tracking, notifications, fuel consumption, and more, easily and efficiently. This cloud-based tool has brought about a shift from the old way of doing things where clients would often call drivers to track their progress only to slow delivery and distract the driver from his or her driving.

The program augments each vehicle’s running time while automating administration tasks like invoicing, maintenance tracking, and fuel consumption management. It also provides real-time feedback on driver and fleet manager performance. OpenRoad TMS was tested and improved over half a decade to attain nearly perfect overall efficiency.

“At GP Transco we like to be early adopters of a lot of the different technologies that allow us to prevent incidents from happening,” says Bort. One such partner is based in California. Technology leader Samsara developed an electronic logging device (ELD) that is far ahead of the standard cloud-based programs and hardware originally mandated by the government in 2017. Unlike when drivers had to keep handwritten logbooks of their travel distances and hours, the device now takes care of recording the details. Before this technology, “drivers could keep multiple logs if they wanted to earn more or the companies would push them harder to make more money. The result was drivers who were exhausted and truck companies taking advantage of drivers, and therefore, it wasn’t safe for them to drive,” says Bort.

As those in the industry know, ELD systems now capture travel information automatically and cannot be faked or changed. GP Transco started installing Samsara’s enhanced version of ELD technology in 2015, since which time the product’s functionality has improved even further. Among its newer features are driver-facing cameras, so each of the company’s trucks is fitted with two cameras – one facing the road ahead and one recording the driver.

Driver-facing cameras are not mandatory and come with an earnings incentive for those who choose to include them in their cabs. “As far as I know, we’re the only company that makes these cameras optional and pays drivers for having them as opposed to just making them mandatory,” says Bort, also pointing out that drivers tend to accept the offer due to the transparency provided by the company. These cameras do not deliver live feeds but are rather activated by actions such as sharp braking or harsh turns, alerting the company’s safety team which then checks on drivers to confirm their safety and offer support if needed.

A three-dimensional scanner inside each camera also detects head motion which, in turn, alerts the safety team of dangerous behaviors such as engaging with a mobile phone or nodding off while driving. Reports are assessed to establish a course of action to avert and avoid road incidents by alerting the driver to self-correct.

“These [technologies] are cool because it combines instant notification of our safety staff with privacy because these are not systems that are constantly recording the driver. So you get the best of both worlds,” Bort says.

These capable professionals using top-quality software have resulted in many potentially serious incidents being averted. In the unfortunate event of an incident that leads to litigation, the footage can prove drivers’ innocence, further safeguarding its teams. The company’s safety managers each handle around fifty drivers, keeping them safe while helping to ensure that goods arrive on schedule. Currently, the company moves, on average, about 20 percent consumer goods, 30 percent appliances and electronics, 25 percent paper and packaging, 20 percent tools and automotive products, and 5 percent food and beverages.

In 2020, the company proudly inaugurated its modern forty-thousand-square-foot facility, which is now the headquarters of the operation. This site includes 24-hour access to amenities like a basketball court and gym, showers, vending areas, full kitchen, laundry room, several lounge areas for drivers, and ample space for a maintenance department that ensures full safety code and standards compliance at all times. There is also enough space for its plus-sized fleet of 520 semi-trucks and over 700 trailers.

This has been great for growth, helping the company go from a ratio of 72 percent owner-operators in 2018 to 75 percent company drivers in 2020. Today, over 85 percent of GP Transco drivers are company drivers. GP Transco is also acutely aware of the vast number of older drivers retiring from the industry. For this reason, its marketing department is focused on pitching to a younger yet experienced driver demographic that appreciates the use of modern technology.

Amid huge market shifts, the company continues to cultivate an open mind and a keen eye for quality mobile applications with built-in document scanners and other technology to keep it performing at its best. “It makes [our drivers’] life so much easier. The more of these redundant, annoying tasks you take away from drivers, the safer they end up being because when you’re doing something as serious as pulling 40,000 pounds worth of freight, the fewer things that you have to concentrate on… the better. There are so many studies showing that multitasking is kind of a joke, no matter who you are. It’s like [being] a pilot. You need somebody fresh, without thirty things on their mind that they have to keep a close list on,” Bort says.

The intense supply chain pressure may not yet be a thing of the past. However, GP Transco is riding the crest of sustainable, steadfast growth and will continue to benefit its clients and its drivers as best it can. With this goal, it has its eye set on doubling its fleet over the next five years.

COVID-related increases in haulage demand continue to benefit trucking firms, so its continued reinvestment will stand the company in good stead in years to come. Considering that the trucking industry moves most of all the country’s consumables and commodities, GP Transco is committed to improving the industry’s overall image.

“COVID woke people up. They looked at empty shelves and started asking ‘who is replenishing this stock?’ At the end of the day, it is truck drivers doing it,” Bort says, relating the privilege the company had to collect 600,000 pounds of medical supplies from an airplane with twenty-four trucks within twenty-four hours, one of many COVID-related projects the company has completed over the past two years. “It was a really good way of showing people not to take this safety net infrastructure [and truck drivers] that we have in place for granted,” he adds.

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Taking on projects for clients in government, residential home construction, manufacturing, institutional and other areas, Valcoustics works with architects, engineers, planners, developers, and builders to create innovative, informed, and successful solutions for any acoustical challenges.

“We focus exclusively on acoustics, noise and vibration. It’s a niche field that can be further separated into environmental acoustics, architectural acoustics, structural vibration, and monitoring,” says Michael Lightstone, in charge of project management and business development for Valcoustics. “The business has evolved over the years. We do a lot more construction noise and vibration monitoring and structural vibration assessments than we did before.”

Noise pollution control
Sound drastically affects the quality and outcome of our daily lives, reflected in the many services Valcoustics provides.

From building design – room acoustics, sound isolation, noise and vibration control – to construction noise and vibration monitoring, environmental noise and vibration studies, wind farm noise, and more, Valcoustics has played a pivotal role in noise legislation policies and served as an expert witness before land use tribunals and sometimes the courts.

One of Valcoustics’ key services is developing acoustical procedures, training seminars, design standards, and guidelines for clients Canada-wide.

This includes many initiatives that touch on Canadians’ daily lives such as Environmental Noise Guideline NPC-300 for the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP); the Ontario MECP Offshore Wind Farm Noise Model Assessment; and Acoustical Design Guidelines for Ontario, British Columbia and Federal Courthouse Facilities.

When the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and the Railway Association of Canada (RAC) released the revised “Guidelines for New Development in Proximity to Railway Operations,” Valcoustics was retained to provide seminars for planners and acoustical consultants throughout the country on the proper use of the guideline. When the City of Toronto recently updated its noise bylaw, Valcoustics created a manual for By-Law officers to govern implementation and was also retained to train the officers entrusted with enforcement.

“We also regularly train municipalities on issues of noise, mostly in the context of land use planning,” says Lightstone of the company, which has provided training seminars for staff from the Region of Peel, Mississauga, Hamilton, London, and other cities.

Decades of sound experience
As a student, Al Lightstone (P.Eng.) had a keen interest in sound and acoustics. While at the University of Toronto, he took an undergraduate course in acoustics in engineering school, taught by Professor George Henderson, who also had a busy consulting practice.

Soon, the young Lightstone was working in Henderson’s lab as a teaching assistant, deepening and broadening his knowledge and skills. This led Henderson to expand his private practice that he started in the 1950s, which is the origin of Valcoustics.

Dr. Lightstone has been involved in the field of acoustics with Valcoustics for over 50 years, with 2024 marking Valcoustics’ 70th year in business. Today, the company continues evolving into environmental, architecture and similar areas to meet the needs of clients from the east coast to the west.

And as provinces like Ontario focus on more housing and urban intensification, construction is bustling, with noise fast becoming a critical consideration in terms of urban disruption and planning.

“We are a company that’s always looking to provide practical, innovative, team-based solutions,” says Lightstone, “and we are usually part of a multi-disciplinary team addressing the client’s objectives. Understanding that, we put our best foot forward to make sure that the best possible outcome happens for the project.”

Partnering for project success
Thanks to Valcoustics’ unique experience in specialized services, much of the company’s business is through word-of-mouth and repeat clients. As a business-to-business enterprise, Valcoustics works frequently with government and large corporations as well as with architects and other engineering firms. “We know what we are,” says Principal Engineer and Chief Executive Officer John Emeljanow, who has been with the company since 1989.

Valcoustics has regularly been engaged on large P3 (Public Private Partnership) works in Ontario, including the new Toronto Courthouse and the addition to Michael Garron (formerly East General) Hospital. The company recently participated in Phase 1C for CAMH, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and expansions/renovations to Mount Sinai and St. Michael’s hospitals.

With Valcoustics expanding its footprint across Canada, works under construction or recently completed include the Abbotsford Courthouse, the Riverview Hospital (Coquitlam), the Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops and the Penticton Regional Hospital Patient Care Tower Project, all in British Columbia.

Other large interprovincial projects include the Calgary Cancer Centre (Alberta), the new Corner Brook Acute Care Hospital in Newfoundland, and the Mills Memorial Hospital Replacement in Terrace, British Columbia. Abroad, Valcoustics was instrumental in the Canada Pavilion for Expo 2020 in Dubai, and in design for Four Seasons Hotels projects, such as the Nile Plaza Hotel in Egypt and others. From time to time, Valcoustics has had the opportunity to undertake a variety of projects internationally in the U.S., Europe, Central America, Asia and the Middle East.

“We are expanding our footprint in terms of where we’ll do a lot of work,” says Emeljanow. “Before, although we have done lots of work elsewhere, we were naturally focused on southern Ontario; now, we are expanding across the country. And even though Valcoustics sounds very specialized, acoustics has broad application. We have our toes dipped everywhere.”

Today, in addition to the offices in the Greater Toronto Area, the company has staff in Vancouver, Ottawa, and Kingston with plans to keep expanding.

Essential work
As hospitals and other types of projects that the company takes on were deemed essential, COVID-19 hasn’t slowed down the volume of work.

Not all the company’s doings are directly related to construction. Valcoustics is involved with land use planning processes, as well as pre-design and facility planning and development activities in the background – all related to acoustics.

The company is busier than ever, especially with developers and municipalities initiating projects to address the housing shortfall in Canada. That said, finding good, passionate people to work for the company remains a challenge. Since it is rare to find applicants with an appropriate background, the company emphasizes training, explains Lightstone, who has been with the company since 2005.

“It’s not like mechanical engineering where you have a mechanical engineering degree and can start being productive on day one in a junior job. The acoustics field is so broad and interdisciplinary – for example, involving environmental, planning, architectural, structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering aspects – and we are doing a little bit of everything. There are very few specialized acoustical programs in the world, and obviously there’s lead-up training to get people to where we want them. The broader you make it, the longer it takes to become a specialist.”

Once a client…
The company aims to become involved early on with projects including acoustical feasibility and due diligence studies, noise regulations, secondary plans, land use and environmental approvals, detailed design, noise-control features, and more. As Valcoustics gains new clients, it remains involved with existing clients, a number of whom have been with Valcoustics for many years, some for decades.

One of the company’s longest annual contracts has been with the Walker Brothers Quarry in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Kicking off with initial approvals and acoustical audit measurements, Valcoustics began its journey with the company in 1988.

Another long-term client is Redpath Sugar, a continuing relationship which first started in 1995. Located on Toronto’s waterfront, the Redpath sugar refinery is a major Class 3 (heavy) industry located in an area transitioning from wholly industrial/commercial to a combination of industrial, commercial, institutional and newly built/under construction residential developments, where noise and vibration and land use compatibility are critical considerations.

“We work from rezoning and official plan amendment all the way to the end of construction,” says Lightstone. The company assists wherever it can, including in design, sound isolation, and mechanical noise control. And once construction has started, Valcoustics is there to perform vibration monitoring when required to protect adjacent facilities.

“Acoustics may seem very specialized, but people don’t realize how it impacts our everyday lives,” says Emeljanow. “It’s where we live, it’s how we travel, and it’s where we work, with noise control, speech intelligibility and privacy being relevant in all.

It’s where we play, and entertain, from churches to theatres – noise is everywhere. You don’t necessarily recognize it until you start thinking about it. It’s very broad in terms of what we get involved with.”

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