Dave Campbell founded Projection over 50 years ago, and the groundwork he laid continues to steer the company to success. “It all goes back to Dave Campbell, the owner, who is an amazing mentor, a friend to many, and takes care of the people around him,” says Corporate Vice President of National Accounts, Karen Cuviello.

Campbell pioneered the company’s people-first approach, which still benefits customers and employees to this day. “It’s really service before profit,” Cuviello says. “In order to provide a high level of service, we need to take care of our people… Dave Campbell has done amazing things for so many of our people; he created a culture that feels like family.”

This approach has always been mutually beneficial for the company and the people involved, but the commitment has become even more critical as the business expanded in recent years. “Post-COVID, we’re realizing that we have to offer people a better quality of life than they might have at another company,” she says. “We’re really trying to have more than enough people to get the work done and then build new business into the structure that we already have, which is not as easy as it might sound.”

One example of the company’s people-first approach is the extra time off that management is giving to employees, a perk that is particularly important in an industry that requires frequent travel. “For the first time ever, we gave people a free week off in December and we just gave them a free week—we call it summer week—in July because we feel like this industry is so demanding,” says Cuviello. “People are away from their families a third of the year, and we just know that with the talented people that we have, we’ve got to keep them happy.”

The company’s people-first approach also calls for management to recognize that employees’ expectations have shifted post-pandemic. “They got a taste of staying home during COVID, and nobody’s going to travel like they did before COVID,” she says.

Projection’s ability to customize solutions is another secret to its success. The company’s just-right size allows the team to stay nimble and flexible enough to deliver exactly what the client wants. “We’re not the biggest,” Cuviello says. “We’re a medium size, and that allows us to customize some of our services.”

Team members work together across departments to deliver these customized solutions. “For every account we have, there are between three and five departments involved,” she explains. These departments work closely with the client to understand their exact needs and then develop individualized solutions. This means that Projection goes the extra mile as a matter of policy.

“There’s a lot of extra value, things that we do that we don’t always charge for throughout the year that we help our clients with,” shares Cuviello. “You gain customers for life when you begin to add a lot of extra value.”

Indeed, the team values long-term relationships, particularly because they help the company to better understand customer and industry needs and push for their development. Take for instance, “the team that I manage, National Accounts, where we have a direct relationship with associations, or the In-House team where we have an operation inside a convention center. In both of those situations, they’re multiyear accounts. So, we’ve been able to really get entrenched in those relationships.”

The team’s willingness to adapt allowed the business to stay open during COVID and, ultimately, increased its success. “One of the reasons that we’re so successful today is because we made the decision to stay open,” Cuviello says. “The owner was willing to invest whatever he needed to, to keep paying people during that time so that we would come out ahead, and we did.”

The company’s medium size was, again, also crucial to this commitment. Cuviello points out that large, publicly-traded companies may not have the freedom to make those kinds of decisions when profits are down and the company is under pressure to cut costs. “You just can’t do that, right? Your shareholders would not be okay if you kept 300 employees.”

But Projection transformed a difficult situation into an opportunity by making a critical pivot and switching its focus to virtual events. “We really became the first place that our customers came to when they had to figure out how to navigate the virtual world,” she says. The team was “assertive about learning the options that are out there and how we could work with those platforms that were available by providing pre-recordings and video production services associated with a virtual event. So that just strengthened our relationships.”

Projection experienced rapid growth during the pandemic as customers turned to the company as their go-to virtual provider. Now, even if customers need consulting services outside of virtual events, they still come to Projection for assistance, since the team has proven their ability to problem-solve and to take on new challenges. As a result, the growth continues today.

With so much expansion, Projection team members are being very careful to give clients the same care and attention that they always have. “We’re not going to bring on any new business that could put any of our existing business at [risk] of not being a big success,” Cuviello says. “We can make those decisions; we have an owner that supports that type of thing even if we make less money, which is pretty amazing.”

The team is committed to maintaining the company’s core values during its ongoing growth. “That has really been challenging—to keep that culture post-COVID—because half of the people that are with us weren’t with us four years ago,” she says. “So, we’ve got this great culture that people have come into, but they’re all bringing these different experiences.” The goal is to maintain what has always worked well for this team while also adopting new, beneficial ways of doing things. “We’re just trying to keep the best of what we had and add to it.”

Certainly, Projection is well placed to continue its expansion and success. “We’ve got a highly predictable revenue stream and a very scalable operating structure and a management team that’s been with the company for a long time,” says Cuviello. “There’s a lot of opportunity for us.”

As these future opportunities unfold, one thing is certain: the team will maintain its people-first approach for the benefit of all. “Whatever happens will be something that will be good for the employees and good for our customers.” That’s just how this company operates.

The post Where People Come First<p class="company">Projection</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

The firm’s engineering duties cover everything “from the pool edge—or water edge—in: the pool structures, the mechanical systems to keep the water clean, controls, power, and the structural design and waterproofing,” explains Managing Partner Allen Clawson.

This includes planning and conceptual design, water treatment and circulation engineering, hydraulic analysis and modeling, aquatic life support design, structural engineering, and power distribution and controls.

Naturally, Cloward H₂O works closely with architects, designers, and developers. The company’s engineers review project designs as early as possible to ensure these “don’t violate the laws of physics, are constructable, and will work the way [the architects and developers] show it. We strive to bring the creative visions of our clients and designers to life in a thriving, collaborative design process,” says Corry Cloward, President and son of the company’s founder.

A workable infrastructure, much of it buried or hidden, is critical for the success of any recreational water facility. “If you don’t get all the underground elements right, all the pretty stuff aboveground isn’t going to matter because you will have to dig it all up to fix it. So, you’d better get it right the first time,” Clawson points out.

The firm takes on anywhere from 80 to 100 projects a year, roughly half of which are based outside of the United States. The lion’s share of the company’s revenue comes from resorts and the hospitality sector. All of its projects fall within the recreational water market. “We don’t do civil projects; we don’t do water treatment, sewers, drinking water facilities,” explains Dan Aldred, Associate Principal.

“Sometimes aquatic visions start with a napkin and pencil. We specialize in turning those initial sketches into exceptional recreational aquatic environments across the globe through engineering!”

Among noteworthy overseas engineering projects is Deep Dive Dubai, a swimming pool in the Middle East that drops 60 meters for scuba diving and free diving. At present, this is the deepest swimming pool on the planet.

Domestic projects include Glenwood Hot Springs, a Colorado facility that was in need of a lift. “The owners and client decided they wanted to bring it up to par with modern technologies. That project turned out really spectacular,” says Aldred. Glenwood Hot Springs maintains their claim to the world’s largest hot springs pool and with the recent renovations, currently boasts wade-in pools with waterfalls, an impressive water-spraying fountain, an adventure river feature, and numerous soaking pools.

In a similar vein, Cloward H₂O handled engineering tasks at Montgomery Whitewater. “It’s a whitewater rafting and kayaking facility in Montgomery, Alabama. It opened last summer, and it’s exemplary in terms of size,” says Clawson. The facility features a 2,200-foot-long channel for introductory whitewater rafting and a 1,600-foot channel for more advanced enthusiasts. The structure in which these channels were built contains millions of gallons of fast-flowing water. Given this, the margin for error in the construction process was nonexistent.

“It’s an $80 million project, and it had to work the first time. You’re pouring 200,000 cubic yards of concrete, and you’re putting in 600 to 750 horsepower pumps. If you go to turn those pumps on and something doesn’t work or the concrete’s cracked… it’s millions [of dollars] to go and fix it. So, there’s a lot of testing, a lot of validation with computer models, physical models, simulations, and expert opinions on every aspect,” says Clawson.

Ensuring structural integrity is central to everything Cloward H₂O does. While a breakdown in pumping or filtration might be expensive to fix, a leak or collapse could lead to calamitous results and injury. To prevent such things from occurring, the company takes a cautious approach and strictly adheres to established best practices, standards, and building regulations.

“There are standards for watertight concrete. We not only follow those, but also a whole bunch of best practices we’ve found over the years. We have a highly evolved system of in-house standards that we use for not only structural and piping, but electrical, bonding, grounding, and lighting and everything else you can think of related to water,” says Clawson.

Following building regulations is “just part of doing the work. You have to comply with the local codes and the design, then the local contractors have to build to the design and the local codes. The design and the code can never be in conflict,” he continues.

Concrete, tile, stainless steel, stone, plaster, and synthetic materials such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are some of the main materials used in the company’s projects. Pipes, pumps, filters, and electrical systems are also ubiquitous. Meanwhile, smart technology in the form of sensors, wireless networks, and the Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming more commonplace in recreational water facilities. Smart systems can provide real-time data regarding water temperature, flow, and volume while enabling operators to make instant adjustments.

“They can adjust the temperature of the pool, turn water features on and off, and get real-time data on flowrates and energy consumption. If the client decides they don’t like the color of lights and they want to change it for a wedding event they’re going to have on the deck, a simple flip of the switch and they have different color lights,” says Aldred.

Other new technologies have improved filtration and pumping, while reducing power and chemical usage and enhancing water cleanliness.

The team tells us that outdated budgets have become a significant challenge. Thanks to inflation and material cost escalation, budgets set by clients just two to three years ago might now be wildly unrealistic. “The world has really, really changed and construction has changed as much or more than normal commodities. People thought they had things figured out two years ago and now they’re trying to get it built today [with] a budget that’s two or three years old. We’re not in the same world anymore. That has been a real challenge,” says Cloward.

The company has also changed significantly since it was launched. When Greg Cloward founded the firm in 1975, its mandate was traditional civil engineering. The business began taking on recreational water projects, and by the early 1990s, the focus had shifted entirely to aquatic engineering. Around 2008, he entered into a gradual retirement process and eventually, the company was purchased by a core group of employees.

The firm employs 25 people at present, many of whom are certified, professional engineers. With a growing workload, Cloward H₂O remains on the lookout for new engineering and drafting talent with a broad skill set who can engage in “a specialized branch of engineering. We really get involved in everything. You may be a civil engineer by education and training and experience but you’re going to do an awful lot of mechanical, electrical, and hydrology, among other things. That goes for all of our engineers,” says Clawson.

Job applicants also “need to be up to speed with the latest technology [such as] Revit 3D design,” he adds. Attitude, aptitude, and work ethic, of course, are also requirements for all new hires.

Cloward H₂O attends trade shows for promotional purposes but relies heavily on business relationships to garner new work. The company has established strong ties with various architects, landscape architects, designers, and developers. These partners know that the company does sterling work and frequently connect for new assignments. “Our reputation is by far our most important and successful marketing tool,” notes Clawson.

Going forward, sustainability and innovation are two key areas to which Cloward H₂O is paying close attention. “How can we be more resource-efficient with power and water usage? That’s been an ongoing trend for a lot of years, but the emphasis is heightened now,” says Aldred.

Innovation, meanwhile, is closely connected to what Clawson calls “the amenity wars.” Hotels, resorts, waterparks, and other facilities are locked in a competition to “get a better water amenity, or a bigger water park, or a more impressive aquarium,” he explains.

Be that as it may, landing big, high-profile projects is only one way that Cloward H₂O measures success. Success can also be gauged “by smiles. When you see people using your project and having a great time and they’re kind of pointing it out to their friends and then they go home and say, ‘You gotta go there! We had a great time! You gotta go do that!’ To us, that’s the real success—watching people enjoy what you’ve created,” says Cloward.

With this in mind, Cloward H₂O wants to focus on enhancing its existing services instead of branching out into brand-new specialties. “In five years, I see us continuing to do exactly what we’re doing, just doing more of it around the world. We love what we’re doing. We think we do it well and see no reason to change that,” says Cloward.

The post This Aquatic Engineering Firm Stands for High Standards and Big Fun<p class="company">Cloward H2O</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

“Makloc aims to be a trusted advisor to our clients, and we are looking to take as much work off their plates as possible,” says 11-year company veteran Matthew Blumer, Vice President of Corporate Development and Sales.

Makloc serves a range of clients, especially in the energy sector, including midstream and upstream oil and gas companies, engineering firms, smaller fabricators, and other businesses. Based in Nisku, Alberta, the company is ideally located to serve customers in Western Canada, since it can deploy resources quickly and economically to erect buildings.

Makloc’s experienced team takes on as much scope as possible by working closely with end users. Using this collaborative approach, Makloc creates buildings of all sizes to suit each customer’s unique requirements. This work includes the building itself, structural steel skid, and electrical/mechanical integration services contracted through partnering businesses.

For customers, other benefits of working with Makloc are the company’s business structure and its relationships with other entities. Alberta-owned Makloc is allied with American Buildings and VP Buildings, giving them an even broader range of available products and solutions to offer their customers. Makloc’s services today encompass building design, fabrication, construction, expansions, general contracting, tenant improvement, and project management.

Depending on client needs, Makloc supplies buildings both small and large, ranging from small modular sheds up to large pre-engineered stick-built buildings. Smaller structures are often used as storage sheds, while larger buildings can be used to house major process equipment.

“It’s a massive range,” says Blumer, adding that the company also sells building components for repairs and maintenance. Since Makloc is located on Alberta’s High Load Corridor, the company can ship large buildings across the province and beyond. If customers want to go the modular route, buildings can also be split and shipped in numerous pieces.

Makloc takes its tagline “Helping Companies Grow, Expand, And Meet Customers’ Demands” seriously. Providing everything from small storage sheds up to very large stick-built rigid frame structures, Makloc purpose-builds its structures. For field-erected construction, structures can also be designed to enable expansion in the future, if required.

On the modular side, Makloc’s buildings are used to house electrical equipment, process pipe, pumps, and other industrial process equipment where there is a benefit to assembling the modular building away from the end destination site, which is often in remote locations. “We offer our mod yard to completely integrate a building, test it, and get it to the point where all that needs to be done in the field is essentially plug-and-play,” explains Blumer.

Modular buildings are ready to go once they arrive on site, which minimizes costs and any safety-related concerns that come from doing work in remote locations.

For field construction, Makloc builds everything from storage structures to buildings housing process equipment, pumps, or compressors that are too large to be modularized.

In one substantial project, the company was involved with a major Western Canada pipeline expansion running from Edmonton to Vancouver. Working closely with clients, the company provided over 40 buildings including modular electrical service structures, fire suppression stations, and stick-built pump buildings over a 1,000 km (621 mile) area. “Successfully managing manpower and logistical challenges throughout the project was a testament to our team’s experience and commitment to our customers,” says the company on its website.

On the renewables side, the company is also involved with a Net Zero Hydrogen Energy Complex in Sherwood Park, Alberta. Already well-established in oil and gas, Makloc is pleased to be in the next wave of renewable energy projects as well. “Wherever a significant industrial complex needs to be developed, there’s a need for structural steel buildings,” says Blumer. “So we’re excited to be involved in hydrogen and the future of the energy industry.”

Certified CSA-A660 and CSA-A277 on request, Makloc’s Self Frame Buildings are ideal for everything from storage to field offices and telecommunication buildings to generator enclosures. An innovative interlocking ribbed panel system acts as the primary structural support, maximizing interior floor space. Compliant with the National Building Code of Canada, these Self Frame Buildings come complete with engineer-stamped drawings. Available in a wide variety of colours including Stone Grey, Mist Green, Sapphire Blue, and Gold, the company’s state-of-the-art custom roll-former forms interlocking ribbed panels in just seconds from 18- to 22-gauge sheet metal. “It’s easily switched between wall and roof panels, and 3” and 4.5” rib depths,” says the company. “This allows for quick set-up time and ensures consistent quality on every project.”

Makloc’s interlocking, self frame building system has been a popular offering from the company for decades and is widely used in Western Canada’s oil and gas sector. A tried and true cost-effective building solution, these structures are perfect for customers seeking robust structural steel construction. Much longer-lasting than wood—and with ULC fire-rated wall systems—their structural integrity particularly suits industrial applications.

“The great thing about the interlocking wall system is you eliminate the need for a skeletal, structural rigid frame,” says Blumer. “Then you’re going to have columns and secondary steel creating more congestion inside the building. So, when someone is working with a self frame building system, you get a clean, flat interior wall system, optimizing space in the building.” The only limitation is size, and how large the building can be before it requires a rigid frame.

Both main product lines, self frame and rigid frame buildings, can be customized. “Between the two of them, there’s a tremendous amount of customization that can go on,” says Blumer. To ensure quick supply, the company stocks ample amounts of steel coil.

For the sake of efficiency and respect for timelines, all customers are assigned a dedicated project manager for their project. Serving as the primary point of contact, project managers coordinate with internal and external stakeholders, adhere to customers’ unique processes and quality requirements, and provide schedule updates. Depending on client knowledge, PMs walk them through the process with approval drawings and designs and outline each stage of the project from design to final turnover.

To maximize efficiency and help with budgets, traceability, and project scheduling, the company has invested in STRUMIS, an innovative steel fabrication management information software. “We’re constantly investing in technology and expanding our facilities,” says Blumer, noting that the company recently expanded its capacity by 30 to 40 percent. By investing in staff and technology, Makloc remains cost-competitive while maintaining the highest level of quality.

With about 100 employees and scaling up at present, Blumer expects staffing levels to soon increase by another 15 to 20 percent, based on workload. “We’ve been in business for over 50 years, so we have a lot of really great industry partners and clientele who have been with us for decades,” Blumer shares. “For us to grow and ensure we continue to grow, we need to continue to diversify our client base, while consistently supporting our loyal customers.”

He says that “the main focus is organic growth, and part of that comes from improving efficiencies so we can increase throughput. That is supported by deploying new technology—whether that’s leveraging new tools to optimize business processes, investing in robotic CNC equipment for streamlining production, or expanding our production facilities.”

The post Buildings That Work Where Most Buildings Won’t<p class="company">Makloc</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Headquartered in Brighton, Michigan, with offices in Cleveland, Grand Rapids, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Greenville, South Carolina, the company has also recently made a geographical expansion in order to serve even more customers.

“Prior to COVID hitting, several of our suppliers approached us and asked us if we would be interested in expanding further south,” says Spencer Sargeant, President. “Originally, it was just southern Ohio and southern Indiana and potentially Kentucky, and we jumped at the opportunity to do that.”

The onset of the pandemic, however, threw a wrench into those plans. “In our business there are a lot of face-to-face meetings and there’s a lot of onsite work,” says Sargeant. “But we hired some people who managed through that, and we also made some significant investments in inventory. Coming out of COVID, we were positioned to take some market share from some competitors who went the opposite way in basically decreasing their stocking levels and getting rid of as much product as they could as they figured this lull on business was going to stick around for a while.”

The company continues to invest in more people in those southern markets, he adds, as H.H. Barnum feels it’s a good market where the company can bring value to customers via stock, value-added product, and value-added services.

“We did buy a lot of inventory, and after COVID ended, it took us over a year to get our inventory down to where it normally would be,” says Ed Koza, Owner and CEO. “But it was worth the move.”

This ongoing commitment to quality service and growth has resulted in admirable recognition for the company, winning SMC distributor of the year in 2024 and previously in 2017—the only two years it was awarded. The company has also been named among the Top Workplaces USA for three years running. “We’re very proud of that. We have a great, great staff,” Koza says. “They’re the heart and soul of the business. We take recruiting extremely seriously and we have a reputation for taking very good care of our employees. That helps with our recruiting.”

Approximately 95 percent of H. H. Barnum’s recruiting is through word-of-mouth, he adds. When the company announces it’s expanding and is looking for certain job functions, it’s almost always somebody within the company who finds a qualified candidate, an impressive feat.

“We realized the employees are the lifeblood of our business, and we don’t just say it, we take it extremely seriously,” Koza says. “We do everything we can to provide value to our employees. We have a matching 401(k) and a very nice working environment. We pay above scale because we know we’ve got the best in the business, and we don’t want to lose them to somebody offering them more money.”

Respect is a vital component at H.H. Barnum Company, especially when it comes to the company’s 280 employees who may have family or health issues to deal with. “We throw the vacation policy out the window when somebody’s in trouble,” says Koza. “When people have to take six months off, we keep paying them, because we want them to go take care of their family and then come back to work when they’re ready.”

This compassionate mindset has predictably resulted in “almost no turnover,” Koza adds.

The company is also pet-friendly, complete with a dog park so employees can bring their dogs to work. “It started when I got a dog, because I’d never had a dog before,” he shares. “I thought, ‘why don’t we have this?’ I started bringing my dog to work and thought everybody should be able to bring their dog to work. So we probably have a half a dozen dogs in the building every day.”

“We have a wall of pets, too, on our back wall,” adds Sargeant. “There are probably 60 or 70 dog and cat portraits up there.”

Creating that kind of atmosphere and showing employees you care about them in all facets of their lives goes a long way to fostering loyalty within the company. “We also have a lot of smart people,” says Koza. “We have good systems and we’ve always been very conservative,” which has meant, for example, having the cash on hand to expand without the need to borrow. “We’ve been doing this for a long time, and we’ve always been smart with money. The owners don’t try to suck the money out of the company—we keep investing in it.”

H.H. Barnum also houses more inventory than its competitors and turns quotes around quickly, he adds.

“Our response time is the key,” Sargeant agrees. “Especially with the internet these days, and with younger generations who are looking for answers or looking to purchase something. They want to take care of it right away.”

As a company, this means being “very responsive” to customers and giving good answers that provide value. “There are a lot of people in our business who sell everything under the sun,” says Sargeant. “If you try to do everything, you end up not being good at anything. We try to limit our line card, and we try to focus on those products and pay attention to the suppliers who support us.”

H.H. Barnum’s suppliers appreciate that. “They know if they’re on our line card we’re going to pay attention to their product, and we’re going to try to grow it as best we can.”

Barnum’s exemplary company morale and excellent customer service are “cornerstones” of the business, says Koza. “I’m a really demanding shopper; from the beginning, I wanted to model Nordstrom’s. I just cannot stand subpar service, so we’ve always set the bar really high. Our customer service manager is an engineer. We sell technical products, and we want somebody who can help educate our customer service team.”

This is another nod to the company’s ongoing dedication to value-added service. Prior to Koza taking over the business from his father, H.H. Barnum was focused more on the process side, but has changed direction toward the automation space, which has been growing a great deal for many years.

“That’s primarily been our focus, the automation side of the business,” says Sargeant. “I think that’s been very helpful in terms of us finding new markets and in growing the company.”

Koza estimates that around 20 percent of sales is hands-on value-added work, going through the shop doing some kind of assembly or modification action to a standard product, which a lot of the company’s competitors don’t do. “We also have tech support staff of 30 people—a very high ratio for the total number of employees we have. We have a lot of customers that call and ask us to help them integrate our products and even our competitors’ products into their control platforms. So there’s a lot of value as far as a tech support side of the equation as well.”

“We can generally take care of most customer problems, and do it quicker—and a lot of times better—than they might see from the actual manufacturer,” Sargeant says.

The company has also increased its kitting over the past few years: taking a variety of different components, putting them together in a package, and giving it one part number so the customer can order and invoice one part number.

“It’s everything they need for maybe one specific machine they’re building,” he says. “It saves them a lot of time and money on the purchasing side as well as on the receiving side. They know when they get that box it’s going to go to a certain type of machine and it’s everything they need for that machine in one box.”

Although the end result is what has kept the company successful for so many years, H.H. Barnum’s employees and its people are what make the difference, agree both Koza and Sargeant. “We’re always trying to bring in somebody better than ourselves,” says Sargeant. “And it’s a real testament to the company itself that people don’t want to leave. They stay and they do the work, and they don’t want to leave.”

Being “great at the basics” is a point of pride for H.H. Barnum, adds Koza.

“We never want to lose anybody, so we try really hard,” he says. “If you were to ask us what’s the key to our success, I would say maybe 90 percent of it is the people. And when you have great people working together as a team, you can figure anything out.”

The post Keys to Success: Providing Value to People and Products<p class="company">H.H. Barnum Company</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

“We believe we’re leaders in the industry,” says Tom Todoruk, National Sales Manager. “We operate under the belief that we want to drive the bus and we want to lead the industry. We have a crack R&D team here that spent a great deal of time and energy reviewing and evaluating our equipment and making changes to the equipment.”

Once you look through the history of this technology, he adds, it becomes clear that others in the industry are essentially following Tempeff’s lead.

“If we do something or we incorporate something in the equipment, we find our competitors will say, ‘that’s a great idea, let’s do it,’” says Todoruk. “We spend a lot of time, energy, and of course, resources, on improving and innovating our equipment. We’ve never told a customer, engineer, contractor, or rep that we don’t or won’t do something. That’s not what we do.”

Tempeff takes requests, suggestions, and requirements from customers and will spend the time and money to evaluate those requests for changes or modifications. If the team can accommodate, they will, and if not—which rarely happens—they will provide alternatives.

“If you give us an idea, we’ll evaluate that and if we think it’s marketable, we’re going to start to incorporate that in our equipment,” Todoruk says. “It’s a symbiotic relationship between our customers and us. Ideas we originate here from R&D we incorporate into our designs, and inform our rep network, which means engineers, contractors, and government entities.”

Customers also ask Tempeff to develop innovations with them, putting ideas together and incorporating them into equipment to make the mechanical design a little more seamless. “That’s one of the things that I’m proud of,” Todoruk adds.

Customer service is indeed a top priority for the company, although Todoruk prefers using a different term. “I would phrase it more as being responsive to customers’ needs. It’s not just service, because service implies that it’s an after-the-fact thing; whenever I hear service, I always think something’s wrong. We’re responsive to customers’ needs. If a customer wants to put a non-traditional component in our unit, we look at putting it in and nine times out of 10, it will be incorporated.”

In looking at seamless design from the engineering point of view as far as installation and ultimately, the end customer’s usage of the product, Tempeff has also started to incorporate other companies’ equipment into its own, such as controls. This helps reduce footprint and create a seamless operation—if there’s an issue, there’s only one person to contact.

This extends to Tempeff’s desire to always include the human factor in its operations, particularly to help customers when assistance is required. “We still have a little bit of automation, but once you figure out if you need to talk to R&D, sales, shipping, or accounting, when that phone rings, there will be a human there to answer your questions or give you advice. And that’s extremely significant.”

Those questions could pertain to Tempeff’s innovative DualCore products that help form the backbone of the company.

Because of the harsh environments in many parts of North America, air treatment is expensive. Air ventilation is crucial to the health of a building and, consequently, the well-being and productivity of occupants. Due to its extreme efficiency and resistance to frost, DualCore® technology upends the current state of heat recovery systems on the market, utilizing technology that constantly recovers energy throughout the day, preventing frost from accumulating.

This offers greater energy efficiency independent of outdoor air temperatures, resolving the long-standing issue of energy-robbing defrost techniques. Since there is no need for a defrost strategy, DualCore® architecture is far more energy-efficient under all circumstances, making true operating costs attractive in terms of efficiency and savings.

“The advantage of a DualCore Plus product is it will help reduce condenser sizes,” Todoruk explains. “This has the tendency to bring down your total mechanical costs because you can now use smaller condensers and smaller condensing units and reduce peak demand charges because of the high efficiency you’re gaining from the equipment itself.”

With conventional equipment, once it starts getting cold outside and the outside air temperature is freezing, traditional energy recovery equipment will have to incorporate a defrost mode in their equipment. When you incorporate a defrost mode, you’re designing your mechanical design as if you do not have any energy recovery because your system isn’t functioning during colder temperatures. “There’s no requirement for that defrost strategy with our equipment—none whatsoever. The cores won’t frost up, you’ll get continued energy efficiency.”

This technology is also part of the company’s commitment to helping create a greener, more sustainable environment. “The product itself screams energy efficiency and reduction in greenhouse gases,” Todoruk says. “If you’re using natural gas, you’re burning a lot of gas during the winter months to heat your space. To take that down from 100 degrees to 15 degrees or 12 degrees, that’s a lot of savings and a lot less greenhouse gas could be hitting the atmosphere. And this is equipment that can be installed commercially, industrially, and residentially.”

And Tempeff’s commitment to the environment is present in more than just the equipment it manufactures, he adds. The company is also dedicated to reducing and recycling waste—for instance, the aluminum sheets used for its heat exchangers are specially sized to limit waste.

“What we’re ultimately doing is paying more money to have this aluminum manufactured in a particular size for us to limit waste, and any waste we have on the aluminum is recycled,” Todoruk says. “Whatever it is we’re using, we tend to purchase as close to local as possible. We’re going to try and buy locally first and if that’s not the case, we’re going to go further until we can find a place close to us that offers good product at competitive price.”

This is done both for efficiency and to cut down on transportation costs and reduce diesel fuel emissions. “That’s part of the thought process here of ‘recycle and reuse.’ We do try to practice what we’re preaching.”

Tempeff is also looking to expand. Using manufacturers’ reps to go to market means it has local representatives in all the Canadian provinces and a majority of the U.S. states that represent its product.

“One of the reasons for the bigger push into the U.S. is it’s just a darn big market,” Todoruk says. “There are a lot of people there. It gets cold in certain parts of the U.S., but because the winters aren’t as long nor as severe, they’ve had a slower adoption process. They’ve looked at things a little bit differently, but now, through a lot of government initiatives, requirements, the change in standards, they’re crying out for this type of equipment, things that meet certain efficiencies and goals, and our product definitely fits that bill.”

Tempeff has been working with its rep networks and as a manufacturer will go out with its reps to various engineering firms to demonstrate the virtues and value of a product, including the benefits of green energy and overall system simplification.

“If you have equipment that’s constantly needing maintenance, what does that involve? That involves a phone call to somebody: somebody has to jump in a truck, or parts have to be flown in, and there’s a greenhouse gas effect. So, if you build reliable and durable equipment, you’re eliminating a lot of that, or at the very least reducing that. It’s greater than the sum of its parts here. It’s not just our equipment, it’s what our equipment allows within the boundaries.”

To that end, Tempeff is involved with industry groups such as NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) in New York State, and NEEA (Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance) in the Pacific Northwest, which has done an “amazing” job through the BetterBricks program to increase awareness into what’s available as far as equipment to bring down energy costs—and to create the desire to do it. Ultimately, it’s not just going out and trying to sell the product, Todoruk says; you’re also extolling the virtues of going green overall.

“Not only do we talk the talk, we walk the walk,” Todoruk says. “We actually care. If there’s a problem with our equipment, we’re going to fix it. If you need something specifically done, if you want to make our equipment dance, we’re going to do our best to get that equipment to dance to your tune.”

There’s a company-wide desire to do that, he adds, and that all dovetails back to being a leader in the industry. “I believe it’s that commitment that keeps us out in front—the fact that we believe in this technology for a whole bunch of reasons, not just because it’s simply a business.”

Of course, there is an altruistic factor, he adds. Most rational people believe that greenhouse gas emissions are harming the environment and impacting the climate, and if there is viable technology out there that is reasonable and cost-effective and can be easily implemented, Tempeff will strive to do its best to bring it to fruition.

“I think it’s our duty to relay that information to end users and to engineers to draw their attention to the availability of this product and what it can do not only for the building, but what it can do for the world in general,” he says. “We hold it to our heart here, the way that we manufacture the equipment.”

The post Climate Care: Walking the Walk for a Greener World<p class="company">Tempeff</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Headquartered in Truro, the province’s hub, Divert NS is the registered business name for the Resource Recovery Fund Board Inc., a not-for-profit organization established by the province of Nova Scotia. Leading by example, it aims to champion sustainability through a combination of stewardship programs, education and awareness initiatives, and strategic partnerships, while providing new opportunities and approaches to waste diversion and reduction.

Such an organization is unique in Canada, because while there are agencies in all provinces doing some of the things Divert NS does—such as operating the Beverage Container Deposit Refund Program—there is no other provincial organization with a mandate as comprehensive.

To learn how Divert NS has helped make Nova Scotia nationally recognized as an innovator in waste diversion solutions, we spoke with Kurt Laskow-Pooley, the organization’s Director of Programs and Development.

The circular economy
Underpinning the organization is the concept of the circular economy, which Laskow-Pooley defines as “a system or model where materials and/or products are kept in circulation for as long as possible. It is the opposite of the traditional system where a material is used to create a product, that product is consumed, put into waste, and goes to a landfill.”

In a circular economy, that material is recycled. It is either made into a new product or enters a closed loop system in which waste material is used to create the same product it was made from—for example, bottles which can be made into new bottles, which closes the loop.

The focus of the circular economy is on changing how ‘waste’ is used and how it can be seen as a resource, rather than junk to be discarded in landfill, which creates a whole set of new problems for the environment and human health, including water and air pollution.

“Waste diversion is climate action,” says Laskow-Pooley. “Municipal landfills are responsible for approximately 23 percent of Canada’s methane emissions, so we want to reduce the amount of waste material that is created and keep as much of it out of landfills as possible,” he explains.

“We want to change people’s mindset about waste, because all ‘waste’ is not necessarily ‘waste,’ and should be seen as a byproduct of manufacturing and a resource that can be used to create another product.”

Beverage containers and used tires
Recycling beverage containers and used tires in Nova Scotia alone saves 47,869 tonnes of GHG emissions each year, which is the equivalent of removing 7,298 cars from the road annually, and worth $1.4 million under carbon pricing. In addition, it creates local jobs and stimulates the circular economy.

Divert NS partners with 77 Enviro-Depots across the province that collect, sort, and count returned beverage containers, resulting in one of the best container return rates in Canada. Placed in compaction trailers with moving floor technology which crushes the containers, thereby making transportation to the large sorting centre in Kemptown more economical, they are then shipped to processors to be made into various products.

Plastic and glass bottles make up 38 percent of the beverage containers, with plastic bottles reused to make everything from new beverage containers to automotive parts, while glass bottles are ground and used for things such as septic drainage.

Aluminum cans make up 58 percent of the beverage containers, which are sent to be processed in the U.S. where they are turned into items such as new beverage cans in as short a turnaround time as 60 days.

The remaining four percent are Tetra Paks and Gable Tops, which are converted into premium sustainable recycled fibres used in paper and tissue products.

Through the used passenger tires program, which sees Divert NS partnering with retailers across the province, Nova Scotians can return up to four regulated used tires at a time for recycling to any tire retailer in the province, free of charge. The one-time environmental fee is paid at purchase to support the cost of collecting and processing the used tires. As a result, more than one million used tires are diverted from landfills each year, with the majority going to two Nova Scotian processors with which Divert NS has contracts.

Up to 70 percent go to Halifax C&D where they are cut into small pieces to go into Tire Derived Aggregate (TDA) to be used in civil engineering projects. Up to 30 percent goes to Lafarge Canada in Brookfield, which uses the tires for Tire Derived Fuel (TDF) as an alternative to coal. According to Laskow-Pooley, TDF is a well-established and accepted research-based technology used around the world, including regions with some of the strictest emissions standards, and has been approved by the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Climate Change.

In addition to running those two programs successfully, Divert NS provides funding for waste diversion to the seven solid waste regions within the province and also provides funding for activities such as education and awareness campaigns, internships, scholarships for Grade 12 students, innovation, and research. It’s a testament to the power of the circular economy model.

Mobius Awards of Environmental Excellence
The circular economy model dovetails not only with environmental concerns regarding sustainability, but also with financial concerns businesses might have, especially when applied to the manufacturing sector. When waste materials can be used to create new products, manufacturers see a significant cost reduction, which can be passed on to consumers or reinvested in the company to make it even more sustainable.

For the past 24 years, Divert NS has been recognizing environmental leaders, businesses, and organizations that demonstrate a strong commitment to succeeding in the circular economy with the Mobius Awards of Environmental Excellence. Laskow-Pooley explains the thought behind the award’s name, ‘Mobius,’ “chosen to reflect the idea of moving forward or being mobile. That kind of environmental sustainability moves us forward each year.”

The recent recipient of the 2023 Mobius Large Business of the Year award was Neocon International, with a Canadian presence in Dartmouth. What they’ve done exemplifies how a manufacturer can participate seamlessly in the circular economy and remain both environmentally sustainable and financially viable.

This company manufactures products for the automotive industry—products such as cargo liners, seat protectors, and all-weather floor mats. One of its environmental initiatives involves grinding up the material remaining after the products are cut to shape and sending it back to the supplier who creates new material from it that can be integrated into their process, thereby avoiding the landfill and reducing the cost of producing new material.

“Our innovative funding programs are a driving force for creating a circular economy within the province and that resonates deeply with me,” Laskow-Pooley shares. “I think it is great to be working with individuals who are passionate about what they do, and that is so rewarding.”

EPR for PPP
In December 2021, the Nova Scotia government committed to EPR for PPP (Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging, Paper Products, and Packaging-like Products) as part of the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act, and in August 2023 appointed Divert NS to administer and oversee the program, which will shift responsibility for curbside recycling programs from municipalities to the producers of packaging and paper products.

Under this new program, which Laskow-Pooley says is scheduled to become fully operational on December 1, 2025, “producers will have to meet recycling targets that, over time, will encourage more eco-friendly packaging and reduce single-use plastics.”

It will standardize provincial recycling programs, reduce the amount of waste disposed of in landfills, and incentivize producers to reduce the amount of consumer packaging they produce. It will also shift the physical and financial obligation of collecting, sorting, and processing curbside recyclables to producers and away from municipal governments and taxpayers.

The shape of the future is circular
“I think that in the last few years, public perception is shifting,” says Laskow-Pooley. “Businesses are seriously taking into consideration how they can improve their organization, lower operating costs, and be environmentally sustainable. Innovation is a key part of that in terms of processes and in terms of the products created.”

While much of the change Divert NS is seeking to bring about is large-scale, the organization is also working with individuals and small groups, inviting people to consider a world where nothing goes to waste. The organization is providing awareness and educational material featuring practical suggestions about how to achieve this through its online videos demonstrating how swapping, sharing, thrifting, and repairing can keep products out of the landfill.

In 2022, Nova Scotians sent over 400kg of waste, per person, to the landfill. When something breaks, it’s only too easy to replace it, but there are options to make simple repairs, as Divert NS’s new online repair resource guide shows.

The organization has also developed online tools useful for small groups surrounding swapping and sharing which help foster community engagement and get everyone involved, protecting our planet while helping consumers live more economically.

As Laskow-Pooley concludes: “We have a very small team of 28 people, but everyone here is so passionate about what they do as experts in the areas of waste diversion. We still see over-consumption, we see waste, and we know things don’t change overnight. But we also see hope, and we see that, through our comprehensive mandate, touching so many areas, we are making a difference.”

The post Leading Nova Scotia to a Wasteless Future<p class="company">Divert NS</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

“We are really committed to advancing growth and investments in Prince Albert,” says Community Development Director Craig Guidinger. “We want to be seen as a community that is open for business. We want to be seen as a community [that is] excited and enthusiastic about pursuing opportunities that drive our city’s progress, not only within the corporate limits of the city, but also throughout the region. That is really important to us. We are always looking for ways that we can advance infrastructure, create those partnerships, foster economic diversity, and be true champions of economic sustainability and prosperity.”

To be sure, Prince Albert is well positioned for ongoing economic growth and development. The surrounding region is rich in natural resources including timber, agricultural products, and minerals, offering significant economic potential. The local economy is built upon a diverse range of industries from agriculture and forestry to mining, retail, and healthcare. Tourism is another strength, and the city is a destination for sports, culture, and outdoor recreation. “This economic diversity creates a stable foundation for new businesses and industries seeking to establish themselves,” says Planning and Development Manager Michael Nelson, A.Sc.T.

Prince Albert’s outdoor recreation opportunities draw visitors and provide a high quality of life for residents. “Prince Albert is renowned as a haven for outdoor enthusiasts, boasting an abundance of lakes, rivers, and parks that cater to a variety of recreational activities,” says Nelson. “Residents and visitors alike can indulge in hiking, cross-country skiing, mountain biking, kayaking, boating, hunting, fishing, and camping within our beautiful landscapes of the region.”

Within the city limits, outdoor enthusiasts enjoy access to the renowned Little Red River Park. “It is recognized as one of Canada’s largest municipal parks,” he says. “It features extensive trails suitable for biking and hiking, as well as a hill that transforms into a prime spot for skiing and snowboarding during the winter months along with many cross-country ski trails that are groomed. This diversity of outdoor amenities makes Prince Albert an ideal destination for those seeking an active lifestyle and unparalleled access to natural beauty.”

“In addition to its recreational offerings, Prince Albert is celebrated for its exceptional quality of life, providing ample opportunities for career advancements and family life,” he continues. “The combination of vibrant urban amenities and immediate proximity to stunning natural areas underscores the city’s appeal as a place where residents can thrive both professionally and personally.”

A hub for higher learning, Prince Albert’s educational institutions encourage innovation within the city and attract intellectual capital, as well as support the local workforce. Local post-secondary institutions include the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Polytechnic, First Nations University of Canada, and Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native Studies and Applied Research.

Several new development projects are currently underway or have been recently completed within the city. One Sky Forest Products’ new, $250 million, world-class oriented strand board (OSB) facility is creating hundreds of new jobs and will have a sizable, positive economic impact on Prince Albert and the surrounding area.

As well, Prince Albert’s hospital is undergoing a major upgrade. “The Victoria Hospital expansion project is a monumental undertaking for Prince Albert and its surrounding region, representing the largest single investment in the city’s history at $898 million,” says Nelson.

The project focuses on the construction of a new acute care tower that will be integrated within the existing facility. The additions will include an expanded emergency department, a rooftop heliport, larger operating rooms and day surgery facilities, dedicated spaces for pediatrics and maternity care, a state-of-the-art mental health unit, and enhanced medical imaging capabilities, including northern Saskatchewan’s inaugural MRI service. Also notable, the project incorporates a culturally significant space for First Nations and Métis communities. The work is scheduled for completion by 2028.

The project will significantly boost Victoria Hospital’s capacity from 173 to 242 beds, increasing healthcare access for the local community and enhancing available services. “This transformative initiative underscores a commitment to advancing healthcare infrastructure, improving patient care, and meeting the growing healthcare needs of Prince Albert and the surrounding areas,” Nelson shares. “This significant expansion will bring many new career opportunities in healthcare for the residents of the city.”

Meanwhile, construction on the $117 million Aquatics and Arenas Recreation Centre began in 2022 and is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The project includes two arenas with increased seating, larger ice surfaces, and expanded dressing room facilities. Strategically located within a development area known as the Yard District, the single-building facility consolidates multiple recreational amenities within one structure.

Specific features include dedicated areas for lane swimming, diving boards, water slides, and a leisure section with a wave pool and lazy river. A planned second phase will see the construction of a 4,500-seat arena and event centre, cementing the city’s place as a recreational hub and destination for large events. The state-of-the-art facility will make Prince Albert a particularly ideal host for regional swim competitions.

“On top of the aquatics and arenas centre, the city has also been making significant investments in some of our other recreational amenities as well, which has created huge economic growth within our city,” Guidinger says. This includes upgrades to the city’s ball diamonds. The community hosted the WBSC Junior Men’s Softball World Championship in 2018 and the WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup in 2024, and will host the WBSC Men’s Softball finals next year. “Events like that attract hundreds of people to our community,” he says. “It results in millions of dollars of investment in our community. Kudos to Prince Albert City Council and all of the volunteers and everyone stepping up to make that happen, because they have made a huge impact on the community. And we expect the Aquatic Centre and the rinks to do just the same.”

The city is actively partnering with Indigenous communities in its development efforts. “In Prince Albert we are very lucky to be surrounded by Indigenous First Nations and Indigenous communities,” he says, noting that 43 percent of the population identifies as Indigenous. “We’ve got some excellent partnerships and urban reserves in the city.”

These reserves include those of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, Prince Albert Grand Council, Sturgeon Lake First Nation, Montreal Lake First Nation, and Piapot First Nation.

“Those partnerships have really increased construction and economic development across the city,” he continues, “and it’s really impacted, on a positive side, the local economy and Indigenous communities. Our Prince Albert Grand Council, which is actually made up of 12 Indigenous communities in the area, is a key partner for the city on all sorts of projects.”

For example, The Prince Albert Grand Council is a major partner in the expansion of Victoria Hospital, highlighting the cooperative efforts between the city and Indigenous leadership to positively affect the surrounding region.

The ongoing partnership “really underscores the cooperative efforts between the city and Indigenous leadership as we enhance healthcare services, infrastructure, and recreational facilities, and reflects a shared commitment to the community as a whole,” he says. “So overall, the presence of these urban reserves in Prince Albert has really spurred economic growth, community development, and those types of partnerships. We heavily rely on our surrounding First Nations, because they really contribute to the collaborative initiative to benefit the entire area.”

Indeed, local leaders are eager to keep pursuing opportunities that drive the city’s progress. “The combination of economic strength, educational resources, and cultural amenities makes Prince Albert an attractive location for new development and investment,” Nelson summarizes. Initiatives that focus on enhancing infrastructure, fostering economic diversity, and championing sustainability are all on the agenda.

Maintaining strong partnerships will continue to be key to this ongoing success. “Collaboration with those stakeholders is really pivotal,” Guidinger says. “We will continue to do that in a collective way, so that we can maintain Prince Albert’s standing as a vibrant and appealing hub for residents, businesses, and investors alike.”

The post Investing in the Community<p class="company">City of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Local leaders have made a concerted effort to support specific sectors—including manufacturing, information technology, transportation, and warehousing—with incentive programs. “We’re really trying to reinvent and utilize them as we move forward,” says Economic Development Director Clifford Cross. For instance, the city’s Enterprise Zone program supports prospective businesses through sales tax abatement related to site development. “That’s a big one, especially now with the [rising] cost of material,” Cross says. This tax break essentially “brings the cost back to what it would have been, six, seven, eight years ago. So that’s an incentive that we really like to use if we can.”

At over nine square miles, Belleville’s Enterprise Zone is large enough to allow a significant number of developing businesses to take advantage of the offer.

Businesses can also take advantage of Belleville’s multiple Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts, which allow the city to enter into individual development agreements with prospective developments and businesses. “They can provide them a myriad of things that range from property tax abatement all the way through special business district tax incentives to help fund projects, either through reimbursement of cost or potential bonding and infrastructure programs,” Cross explains.

Local leaders are strategically approaching development with a new, carefully thought-out plan. “The City of Belleville just completed and adopted its first ever comprehensive economic development strategy,” Cross says. “What that economic development strategy focused on was the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that any community faces. And what we also did was identify how we could best move forward in promoting business, attracting business, retaining business, working with larger business partners, working with mom and pops, and, ultimately, looking at it in terms of, ‘how do we best move forward as a city?’” he explains.

The new economic development plan specifically emphasizes partnerships with Belleville’s neighboring communities and promotes the area’s lifestyle advantages. “In today’s world, I think economic development is really about a more regional approach and the quality of life that you offer your business partners and their employees, and the families that already live here or could potentially come here,” says Cross.

As a result, “Our economic development strategy really focused on the need for us to be good governmental or inter-governmental partners with our local businesses, with our neighboring communities, with the county, and quite honestly, the region as a whole,” he continues. “We’ve opened up the eyes of the community and our potential businesses [to the fact] that we’re not just focused on what’s best for Belleville, but what’s best for Belleville while benefiting the county and the region as a whole. We’ve looked at that as, ‘let’s be successful for St. Clair County, the region, and the State of Illinois.’”

At present, Belleville is in the process of implementing technology to attract new businesses and showcase the city’s advantages. “One of the things we’re looking to do is get a little more up to date,” Cross shares. “We’re really looking at taking our software and our technology and creating some sort of tracking system that helps us identify and track our businesses and our business partners.”

Such a database would give the city the ability to target businesses that are the best fit for Belleville. The city will likely partner with an outside organization to help identify retail strengths and needs and develop a plan that utilizes that information to “promote our community to those businesses that are the best fit for us.” The goal is to “promote Belleville not only regionally, but nationally, and get our story out there.” This communication will emphasize to business owners that the city has “that quality of life that meets their demands.”

Certainly, Belleville has the infrastructure needed to support incoming business, especially along the Route 15 corridor, which the city is working to promote. “We’re in a pretty good position,” Cross says. “We think we’ve got the infrastructure in place; it’s just a matter of reinventing that corridor and re-promoting that corridor.”

The city is putting a particular emphasis on anchor developments, which will then naturally lead to additional development. “We need to bring in those anchor developments that will bring people here, and that’s what we’ve really focused on—building anchored developments to attract other businesses that come with them in strategic points throughout the city, utilizing that infrastructure,” Cross explains. “It’s just a matter now of finding the perfect partners and the anchor developments to build around that infrastructure.”

With a solid plan firmly in place, the city is more than ready to welcome these anchor developments—and much more. “We’ve developed that road map and how we’re going to strategically move forward with that road map. That gives us the tools to move forward [and] redevelop in certain areas that need it and then have new development that really is appropriate in moving the city forward, while focusing on the healthy balance of the live/work/play environment.”

With a roadmap already laid out for healthy development, the next concerted effort will be on getting the word out. “We want to promote that high quality of life and sustainable economic growth and development,” says Cross. “We think that will bring in the business, once we tell that story. That’s the big thing: once we let people know we’re here and open for business—that we’re prepared—we’re really going to take off and move forward with our economic growth and development.”

City leaders will be careful to preserve the character of the community while welcoming this rush of new development. “The major planning goal for us is to ensure that we continue to cherish the character of our downtown,” Cross says. “So whatever way we go from an economic development standpoint, we want to keep our downtown as the crown jewel it is.”

When looking ahead, another future goal is to continue that strong focus on bringing new business to Route 15. “We want to reinvest and really focus on Route 15 and what we can bring there because, like all communities, we need to have that economic growth. Communities need to have that sales tax-generating revenue to be successful; that’s just the reality of today’s world. But we want to have that without taking away the charm and the beauty of a 200-plus-year-old community.”

This vision for the future requires careful planning, which, fortunately, is already accomplished, giving the city the guidance needed for lasting success. As Cross summarizes, “We’re taking a strategic approach in how to move forward to become a sustainable economic partner throughout St. Clair County, Metro East, and in the State of Illinois.”

The post Belleville is Open for Business<p class="company">City of Belleville, Illinois</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

The conference is presented by ASIS International, a professional membership organization for the security sector, and will see nearly 20,000 participants attending both in-person and virtually, as well as 470 companies and organizations exhibiting.

The first annual meeting of what would become GSX took place in 1955, which was also the inaugural year of ASIS International (then known as the American Society for Industrial Security). Although that initial meeting only had 32 attendees, it would grow to 10 times that size by 1957, becoming an annual seminar from then on. By 1973, the meeting grew to a full-blown exhibition that included various seminars; then, in 2018, it became known as the ASIS Global Security Exchange.

The name change was made to recognize the event’s increasing global presence and considerable size in terms of participants and events, as well as the thousands of connections and exchanges made and the content generated therein, that take place over the yearly conference. GSX takes a 360-degree perspective of security in all aspects (physical, cybersecurity, corporate, et cetera) to provide attendees with a wealth of information and practical applications for the latest security solutions.

The theme for GSX 2024 is “Taking Security Higher,” which will see a focus on the elevation of skills and abilities as well as the security profession itself, and on creating a more resilient global society. The topics on display at this year’s GSX range from the macro to the micro, with global security taking a center stage position, as well as leadership and accountability therein. With ASIS International being a global organization, Chief Global Learning Officer for ASIS International Christine Peck says of the conference that everybody is there to do important work—they are about the business of making the world safer.

“We are proud that our global event has established itself as an essential industry gathering, renowned for both its significance… as well as its commitment to inclusivity,” she says.

The programming of this year’s GSX is in service to this theming, with additional topics including school security and safety, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, cyber information security, critical infrastructure, civil unrest, risk management, and more. There will also be additional sessions centered around professional development, like mentorship and leadership, road mapping a successful career, and executive presence.

Several keynote speakers will be featured throughout the conference: Sanna Marin, former Prime Minister of Finland, who will speak on the role of geopolitics in global security; Commander Kirk Lippold, a retired U.S. Navy officer, who will educate on the importance of leadership and integrity during challenging times; and finally, Dr. Rana ed Kaliouby, an Executive Fellow of Harvard Business School, will explore the risks and opportunities related to human-centered approaches to AI (artificial intelligence).

As always, many providers and experts will be sharing information and new technology around security and protection in specific areas. The conference boasts a range of organizations that are vast in terms of the types of groups that exhibit and produce education at GSX, Peck says. On the GSX show floor, there are four stages of education and events by vendors and subject matter experts who submitted content proposals specific to each stage. Vendor partners and organizations both large and small host their own educational programming in both their booths and in classroom spaces at the host hotels.

Peck says that GSX is not just a chance to hear about what’s happening in security, but an opportunity to interact with the newest concepts personally. “There is not a time during GSX where there is not a learning experience taking place,” says Peck. Attendees will have the ability to take technologies, processes, and critical thinking and use them immediately upon returning to their organizations.

One topic that has been of concern to the security sector in recent years is the use of AI and ML (machine learning) in introducing new security technologies and improving tried-and-true methods. GSX will feature many companies furthering the responsible use of AI in the industry and looks to feature several sessions throughout the conference on the responsible usage of these tools, the potential benefits of them in areas like data and risk management, and even case studies and tangible examples of the ways in which AI and ML are already being used in the field. There will hardly be any opportunity better for security professionals to learn about these burgeoning tools than at this year’s GSX.

Another method of exploring hot topics in security today will be through the conference’s Game Changer sessions, centered around the idea of Black Swan risks, being extremely hard-to-predict events that can be hugely impactful. A handful of speakers representing organizations like the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, California School of Forensic Studies, Global Center on Cooperative Security, and more will look to educate security professionals on Black Swan subjects ranging from organizational resilience in the face of such situations, to combating organizational mistrust, to the reaffirmation of the importance of security in a global context.

There is also a cultural aspect to security that will be represented through various talks and panels at GSX. These sections will speak to the mindset one must cultivate for working and being successful in the industry, as well as how it continues to present opportunities for historically marginalized people. Peck says that the world is not getting any less risky these days, and security professionals are on the frontlines in the most troubling and high-stress situations in both physical and digital domains, like school shootings, weather disasters, data theft, and cybersecurity breaches. Several sessions during the event are focused on maintaining mental health as well as physical and mental resilience.

Many GSX members have transitioned from global industries closely related to security (i.e. military, fire safety, law enforcement) which in turn helps them become successful security professionals. However, the stressors of these situations take a toll and are felt daily, which jeopardizes the safety of individuals, their families, and their organizations. Mental health and well-being, therefore, must be made a priority to support them and it is an aspect of GSX that is shared throughout the year with members.

Similarly, ASIS is dedicated to inclusion at all events and in all situations, Peck says, and wants to build a security community that is as dynamic as the world that security professionals strive to protect. This year, sessions and community meetups are in place to highlight the role of women in the security industry, as well as for the promotion of inclusive work environments and challenges faced by those attendees in the LGBTQ+ community and all those who wish to make the industry more welcoming for new voices and ideas.

GSX executives and organizers aim to continue to be thought leaders in—and megaphones for—the industry, using their leverage to give security professionals a voice. For nearly 70 years, GSX has set the standard for security excellence. “This is where the global community comes together as leaders and to create a more secure world,” says Peck. This year’s conference, as always, promises to equip attendees with the necessary skills to combat security threats and let them come home feeling refreshed and renewed, ready to make their businesses more resilient for a market in need of their security services.

The post Raising the Bar in the Security Industry<p class="company">GSX 2024</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

With one of the world’s most productive agricultural economies, the province of Alberta brought in $22.2 billion in revenue in 2020, more than any other province. According to Alberta WaterPortal, in 2021 there were over 41,500 farms in the province, representing 22 percent of Canada’s total number of farms and 32 percent of Canada’s total farmland, second only to Saskatchewan.

The province has an abundance of arable land, sunshine, and the processing facilities and infrastructure to support the sector’s operation, but as land is developed for industrial and residential uses, the availability and quality of those farmlands continue to be depleted. This is exacerbated by changing weather patterns and the frequency of severe weather events.

Confronting challenges head-on
While struggle is not new to Alberta’s farmers and ranchers, the last several years have been particularly challenging as drought conditions are worse than in the 1920s and ’30s when the provincial economy was crippled by a persistent dry spell. Dry conditions lead to soil erosion and irreparable crop damage.

Warmer temperatures and colder winters also create an environment for pests to thrive, leading to infestations and the need for pesticides or other forms of defence. All these issues are pressuring farmers to create comprehensive risk management and business plans that recognize all the contingencies that may arise in a year. For some, the outlook is bleak. Yield expectations continue to be down, especially in south and east Alberta, while northern Alberta is experiencing 50-year lows of moisture, with a lack of snow in the winter and insufficient volumes of spring precipitation leading some communities to declare an agricultural state of emergency.

Paired with higher-than-average temperatures, this looks like disaster on many fronts. It also creates perfect conditions for wildfires, which require water to be extinguished, placing an even greater strain on available resources and the people who depend on them, and worsening the water shortages currently being experienced in the province.

As it stands, fracking activities have been halted, municipal water use has been curbed, and industrial uses have been reduced, all markers of how far-reaching these impacts are. As water becomes more scarce or valuable, prices could be impacted. This could also affect water flow agreements. Some farmers and other licensees have already had to revise usage agreements and reduce their water use.

Alberta finds itself in a unique situation as other provinces also rely on the water from its rivers. The Prairie Province Water Board was established in 1948 to ensure that available resources were shared fairly between Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, an agreement that was changed in 1969 via the Master Agreement on Apportionment (MAA).

Farmers will have to confront these challenges head-on, a big task given that weather and wildfires are out of their control. Sometimes adaptation is forced but necessary, and that is what is happening in Alberta currently.

A sector in adaptation
In Alberta, as in many advanced economies around the world, agriculture is in transition—partially because change is inevitable, but also because innovation is necessary. Variable weather patterns and seasonal conditions are placing excessive strain on arable lands and crop production.

The agricultural sector is adapting to these conditions and seeking to remedy its sudden vulnerability through the adoption of advanced agricultural practices. Conservation tillage can increase soil carbon storage and reduce fossil fuel use while increasing productivity, offering lower operating costs and carbon emissions while promoting climate resilience, improved moisture infiltration, and nutrient cycling via a comprehensive nutrient management plan.

And, while climate change is often viewed purely negatively, it can also mean shorter and milder winters with longer growing seasons and higher average temperatures. These conditions can support crop diversification efforts, and farmers can employ crop rotations that provide better disease, insect, and weed resilience. Farmers can also take advantage of different crop types: shorter crops like lentils or those that require less water, like wheat and barley.

But even low-water crops need some water, and when resources are restricted, this will make little difference. At present, canola, an important crop in Alberta, has been impacted, and farmers are unable to capitalize on higher prices for this commodity, adding further insult to injury. Input costs, including those of fuels and fertilizers, continue to increase but yields do not, and for this reason more and more farmers are looking to technology to improve productivity and efficiency in the interests of profitability.

Tech-enabled solutions
Industry isn’t the only sector undergoing a technological revolution. Very often we hear about Industry 4.0, but agriculture, too, has undergone a renaissance when it comes to its rate of tech adoption. Farmers and ranchers can utilize advanced technology in their cropping and livestock systems, support the transition to a low-carbon economy, and adapt to climate change-related impacts by adapting their methods and adopting new and useful advancements.

Technology can be used to support precision agriculture in several ways. Advancements in satellite mapping, automation, GPS-enabled equipment, biotechnology, sensors, and artificial intelligence (AI) are providing support to farmers in achieving higher yields, less food waste, and better pricing of the foods being produced.

Part of this is fueled by the ever-improving flow of data and information. Data-enabled decision-making can help farmers identify the sweet spot where crops grown according to conditions and sent to the right market, at the right time, for the best possible price, in the safest possible way.

Indeed, Alberta is among the leaders using autosteer and drone technology, as well as other tech-enabled ag solutions. According to Statistics Canada, four years ago nearly a third of all farms in Alberta reported using autosteer equipment, a rate higher than the national average. This is due in part to the types of crops grown, but also demonstrates the province’s commitment to adopting new technologies. This is also true of drone use: Alberta has the third highest rate of drone use (higher than the national average) as well as use of sensors that allow farmers to monitor weather, crop diseases, moisture levels, and other conditions, helping to proactively mitigate threats to their crops.

There is, however, a cost associated with all these investments, and farmers who’ve had several lean years will need support to find the wherewithal to take up these tech-enabled solutions.

Investing in innovation
Organizations like Alberta Innovates are advancing agri-food innovation through funding initiatives to better leverage data and tech-enabled solutions that help improve productivity and yield and reduce inputs and emissions for a safer and more sustainable food supply. The organization and the province seem to recognize the impact that agriculture has from an economic standpoint, but also the role it plays in employing Albertans and providing the food supply necessary for a healthy, sustainable community.

Through these initiatives, technology can be adopted at a greater rate and the infrastructure for a tech-enabled sector can be built to ensure that everyone has access to these developments.

Some challenges that need to be addressed include intellectual property and the propensity to keep innovation for oneself or commercialize it at a price not everyone can afford. Given that agriculture is key to community, how the technology and solutions are delivered must include equity and fairness so that the gap between haves and have-nots does not continue to expand.

Initiatives that can be undertaken without the need for extensive capital investments include the development of a long-term water management plan, which may require collaboration with government to improve efficiencies across the entirety of the farm’s management using technology and data. Governments also must do more to improve environmental conditions, including the restoration and preservation of wetlands, which will require them to balance development and sustainability more thoughtfully, supporting agriculture as an economic driver and reinforcing the food supply chains on which communities rely.

Alberta’s agricultural sector stands at a crossroads, where the challenges posed by climate change, resource scarcity, and economic pressures call for a transformative approach. Embracing technological innovations and sustainable practices is not merely an option but a necessity to ensure the long-term viability of farming in the province. While the path forward involves significant investment and collaboration between farmers, government, and innovators, the potential rewards—higher yields, reduced environmental impact, and a resilient food supply—are well worth the effort.

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