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APRIL 2006 WWW.EDMONTONIANS.COM FREEVOL.XVII NO.4

Foreign workers/Wegmann-Sanchez • Al-Jazeera TV/Hogle • Why Edmonton?/Banister

Emma ScottWoman of Vision

Mary CameronWoman Build

Teresa SpinelliTop 100 Woman Entrepreneurs

Connie KennedyRealtor of the year

Carissa Reiniger WomenEntrepreneurs of Canada

THE GIRLS!Let’s hear it forLet’s hear it for

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EDMONTONIANS APRIL 2006

ne day not long ago, I crossedpaths with friends who had recently facedhealth challenges and all are recoveringnicely. Here’s an update on these well

known Edmontonians. Bob Gouin, the black sheep of the Gouin dynasty, had a

heart attack in January and is almost fully recovered. I sawhim while having my Saturday lunch at the Flying Club andhe looked fine. No, he wasn’t flying… but he was just astalkative as usual.

While having dinner before a movie that evening, we metEd Kilbride and his wife Sharon. Ed became ill shortlyafter he opened The Board Room men’s spa in Commerce

Place. It turns outhe had cancer ofthe throat, morespecifically in histonsils. Hesounded a littlehoarse, but Dr.Ollie thought itwas kinda sexy.Anyway, helooked darn goodto me.

Later, as wewere coming outof the theatre,there wasFather MikeMcCaffery. Iwas taken aback:His face looked

like it had been used as an ashtray... little burn-like spots allover. He explained that he had had some treatments toprevent skin cancer and it seemed to be working. I think Iknow how he feels. I get a face peel once a month toprevent the same problem—something about too muchskiing at high altitudes with not enough sunscreen.

Just so you know: I wouldn’t have written about thesethree if they all hadn’t said they were well. We know who’slooking after Father Mike. Bob and Ed should thank theirhigher powers and, at the very least, be thankful we live inEdmonton where we have some of the finest medicalfacilities anywhere. And I hope Ralph doesn’t mess that upwith his Third Way—whatever that is.

Not everyone is as lucky. Virginia Lee Kidd—known far and wide as Ginny—died of cancer in mid-March. She was the widow of Georgewho passed away ofa heart attack 22 years ago. He was one of the originals atCFRN Television. Ginny was one of the great hostesseswhose New Year’s day parties were legend. She was atireless community worker, but what made her such a great

person was her commitment to family and friends. I waslucky enough to be a friend. Her children—Sandy, Caraleeand Jamie—gave the eulogies at the service. Jamieimparted a brilliant and funny portrait of his mom; arefreshing way to relieve the tension and fit the personality.

Because Dr. Ollie runs and teaches marathoners,I’ve developed a great interest in people who runmarathons. Sandra McCallum has set a course for herselfthat’s incredible. I scooped the following excerpts from anews release.

As if running a normal marathon wasn’t difficult enough,local Edmonton athlete Sandra McCallum goes one stepfurther. Nicknamed the “Desert Queen,” McCallum runsultra marathons… in the desert. Sandra, to keep her selfbusy is running six Ultra’s around the world. All in deserts.No male or female athlete has ever done this before: tobreak a world record in hostile deserts.

The total distance for these six races is 950 miles. Her2006 race schedule reads like a travel book, with racestaking her to Africa, China, South America and theAntarctic Desert

No athlete in the world has ever attempted all six races inthe same year, and each race varies greatly in conditionsand degree of difficulty… McCallum will also be the firstand only North American to race the Marathon des Sablesin the Sahara Desert in Morocco a record seven times!

She’s been featured in a number of documentaries andMcCallum, a former TV journalist, is also a well-knownand accomplished public motivational speaker… AndSandra McCallum’s goal of setting a world record byrunning six desert marathons in 2006 is nothing short ofamazing

To find out more about McCallum and sponsorshipopportunities for The Desert Grand Slam, please visitsaharaodyssey.com or [email protected].

Concordia University College of Alberta hasappointedPatricia Warmington the vice-president ofadvancement. What’s advancement, you ask. It’s thejob of creating awareness that Concordia is now a fulluniversity, but with smaller classes, and one-on-oneswith some of the very dedicated professors.

Patricia has been around the fund-raising-for-development business for some time. She was with theUniversity of Alberta medical faculty, KetchumCanada, the University of Saskatchewan, andBloorview MacMillan Children’s Foundation. The jobshe remembers fondly is her time as an on-airpersonality with CBC Edmonton.

By the way, Harry and Muriel Hole have donated alarge sum of money to start the new Hole AcademicCentre. Part of Patricia’s job will be to attract othereducationally-minded people and corporations to fund

future expansions. If anyone can do the job Patriciawill be the one. She has a strong upbeat personalitywith a great sense of humour.

When Mork Agencies calls and says, “Youdidn’t get the big part, but you did get a smaller part of thepatient,” you should ask more questions. I auditioned for acommercial for a client which I’m sworn not to mention. Iwas a guy having a heart attack and the shot was theambulance backing up, doors flying open, two paramedicsexploding out, whipping me out strapped on a gurney,racing up an incline to the emergency room. It took about30 takes and the two paramedics—real ones—wereexhausted by the time we hit midnight.

One of the paramedics was a very attractive young ladyby the name of Tammy Rideoutand the guy was a verybald Layne McIntosh. Both work for Alberta ParamedicalServices Ltd., a company that doesn’t go on emergencycalls but contracts out for large events or corporations thatneed a standby ambulance crew. Based in St. Albert, it alsoarranges those emergency flights from the U.S. back toCanada for the less expensive medical care.

I have to admire both of the paramedics because luggingmy 190 pounds of flesh for five hours is a test no oneshould have to endure.

The last movie I was in I was killed with an axe. Thistime I’m a heart attack victim. I’ve got to get a part where Istand up and don’t die. I hope I’m not getting type cast as acorpse.

I was delighted to see a friend of mine win theVenturePrize at the Edmonton Economic DevelopmentCorp. Chris LaBossiereand Don Riepof ProExamswon the $80,000 prize, something that will come inhandy for a new company. I served on the board of theEdmonton Flying Club with Chris; In fact that’s whereChris and Don met. The original idea was to developan online program for flight exams—a small market.Thankfully they switched to online examinations invarious fields. A wise choice, because the aviationthing wasn’t going to go any where in my humbleopinion.

The VenturePrize has been a boon to many smallercompanies. Remember the trucks with big signs thatsaid 1-800-GOT-JUNK in big print? That was Don.Going from trash disposal to doing business on-line hasto be a nice change. It’s nice to see a couple of youngguys start something that I’ll be able to say “I knew

them when they had nothing—and thatwas financed.” Great luck to you both. ✔

Call Muggsy Forbes at 780.482.4545 or e-mail [email protected]

FUNNYpompous & unfair

By Muggsy Forbes

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Health reportGoing the distance...and winning

Ed Kilbride February 2005 cover

EDMONTONIANS APRIL 2006 3

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HOW LONG HAVE YOU LIVED HEREAND WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST?

To begin, respondents were asked how longthey have lived in the City of Edmonton. Themajority (72 percent) indicated they had livedhere for over 10 years, while 16 percent hadbeen here for five to 10 years, and 13 percentfor five years or less. Next, they were askedtheir overall satisfaction with living in theCity. Almost all respondents (92 percent) wereeither very (58 percent) or somewhat (34percent) satisfied with living in Edmonton,while three percent were neutral, and fivepercent were dissatisfied overall.

Respondents were asked what they likedmost about living in the City of Edmonton.The strong economy and availability ofemployment (29 percent), strong sense ofcommunity (28 percent), and closeness tofamily (25 percent) were the most frequentresponses. Other positive aspects included theproximity to recreational activities (22percent), arts and culture (17 percent), and thesize of the community (six percent).

WHAT CREATES A SENSE OF COMMUNITY?When asked what creates a sense ofcommunity almost half of all respondents (44percent) said their neighbourhood and thepeople that live within it. Family (36 percent),friends (34 percent), and volunteerism (27percent) were also defining factors. Othermentions included the abundance ofrecreational opportunities (14 percent), people

pulling in the same direction (five percent),arts and culture (four percent), and a sense ofsafety (three percent).

Respondents were asked to comment onEdmontonians’ sense of community.Generally, they were positive as 21 percentsaid it was very strong, and 51 percent said itwas somewhat strong. Twenty percent said itwas neither strong nor weak, and six percentsaid it was very or somewhat weak. Thosewho identified a strong sense of communityfelt this way because people stick together andlook after each other, there is a high numberof volunteers in the City, and a high level ofparticipation in community activities. Thosethat rated Edmonton’s sense of communitylower pointed to people being unfriendly orrude, and to high levels of crime.

Finally, respondents were asked what couldbe done to create a stronger sense ofcommunity in the City. The most frequentmentions were reducing crime (36 percent),more community gatherings (24 percent), lessfocus on material possessions (17 percent),more focus on family (14 percent), and lessfocus on work (13 percent).✔

Linda Banister is a certified managementconsultant and the owner of Banister Researchand Consulting Inc., a full service provider ofmarket research and program evaluation services.If you have a question you would like included inthe Edmontonians Poll, contact Linda at780.451.4444 or e-mail [email protected]. For furtherinformation on the firm visit www.banister.ab.ca.

STATIONaving a sense of community is akin tohaving a sense of security and belonging.However, as a community grows, asEdmonton has over the past 10 years, the

social ties that bind begin to strain and becomeincreasingly challenging. For a recent example, one needonly look at the incident involving four Edmonton youthfatally beating a man on a city bus. In the days andweeks that followed, Edmontonians were forced to takea step back and re-evaluate the state of their community.The public outcry and demand for positive change are atestament to the good nature and will of the people ofthis city. For this month’s Poll Station, respondents wereasked what makes Edmonton such a good place to livein and what they feel creates a sense of community.

HHWith Linda Banister

PollPoll

FOUNDERDICK MacLEAN

APRIL 2006Vol. XVII

Published by 399620 Alberta Ltd. on the first day of eachmonth at 333, 10240 - 124 Street, Edmonton, Alberta,Canada T5N 3W6. ©All rights reserved. No part of thispublication may be reprinted or reproduced in any formwithout written permission from the publisher.

Manuscripts: must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Edmontonians is not responsible forunsolicited manuscripts.

All stories Copyright ©Edmontonians

Publications Mail Agreement No. 40023292Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to:Circulation Department333, 10240 - 124 StreetEdmonton, AB T5N 3W6Email: [email protected]

SHARON MacLEANPublisher and Advertising Director

Telephone: 780.482.7000Fax: 780.488.9317

e-mail: [email protected]

INSIDEFUNNY, POMPOUS AND UNFAIRHealth report/Forbes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

POLL STATIONWhy Edmonton?/Banister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

INSIDE TORONTOPrivate clubs/Reiniger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESSForeign workers/Wegmann-Sanchez . . . . . . . . . . .5

FEATURENetworking/McHugh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Women Build/Finley & Deters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Women of Vison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Top 100/Edmondson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Leading lady/Deters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

MAKING MONEYETF Land/Hiebert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

BIZINTELScience and Tech/Croucher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Media Minute/Hogle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13BizIT/Michetti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Civic Buzz/Norwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

LIVELY LIFESTYLESMenu Magic/Berry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Absolute Bodo/Bodo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

BARB DETERSEditor

[email protected]

COLUMNISTSLinda Banister

Linda BodoCheryl CroucherMuggsy Forbes

Ron HiebertBruce HogleGreg Michetti

W. Daniel MothersillDavid NorwoodCarissa ReinigerNizar J. Somji

Jessica Wegmann-Sanchez

FEATURE WRITERSMurray DonaldsonJanet Edmondson

Kellie FinleyPeter Drake McHugh

Michael O’TooleMarg. PullishyPeter Roccia

PHOTOGRAPHERSLinda Bodo

Terry BourqueCheryl Croucher

Barb DetersFred Katz

GRAPHIC PRODUCTIONRage Studios Inc.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYMichetti Information Solutions Inc.

THIS MONTH’S COVER

Women Entrepreneurs:Scott, Spinelli, Kennedy, Cameron and Reiniger

Cover photo by Fred Katz

No. 4

1717YEARS

C E L E B R A T I N G

ExecutiveWelcome

Do you know of an executive whois new to Edmonton, recentlyjoined a company or newlypromoted? If so, let Cecile Lupulhelp them find their way aroundthe city’s business community.

Call Cecile Lupul today:Phone/fax: 780.922.6413

E-mail: [email protected]

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f you’re planning to spend a bitof time in Toronto and need somethingmore than a hotel room, but less thanan office, maybe this column will help.

There are a number of private clubs inToronto that are great bases for a travelingbusiness person. They can provide an instantnetwork, facilities for meetings or events, andexclusivity.

Each caters to different groups of peoplefor different purposes; you are bound to rubelbows with some of the who’s who ofToronto.

THE NATIONAL CLUB303 Bay Streetwww.thenationalclub.comThe National Club is a veteran in highsociety networking—and that about sums itup. With many influential business leaders inToronto holding corporate and privatemeetings at the club, this is definitely a centrefor wheeling and dealing. Located in theheart of the financial district, The NationalClub is designated a historic site and isbeautifully maintained. This one is definitelyfor those of you who appreciate the finerthings in life.

VERITY 111 Queen Street Eastwww.verity.caVerity has quickly become an it place forwomen around Toronto. With decoratedlounge area, gym, spa, pool, library andprivate meeting rooms, you’ll want to return

to this haven again and again. Men areallowed, but only in certain areas. Guests arewelcome as long as they attend with amember. I am a member, so if you are in thearea, send me an e-mail and I can take youthere.

ECONOMIC CLUB OF TORONTOVarious venueswww.ecot.caThis club does not have walls around it andoffers great resources for exclusivenetworking with key leaders. In its ownwords, “The Economic Club of Toronto is anon-profit, non-partisan organizationdedicated to bringing our members andguests face-to-face with the most importantleaders of our time.” ECOT facilitatessessions with leading politicians andeconomists and gives its members listupdates and information on upcoming events,preferred seating and event discounts.

ONTARIO CLUB 5th Floor, Commerce Court South30 Wellington Street Westwww.ontarioclub.comNow in its 95th year, the Ontario Club ishome to many professionals in the cityincluding Toronto’s diplomatic community.Dating back to Sir Wilfred Laurier, the clubmaintains a traditional atmosphere—butknows when to break the rules. It has longwelcomed members of all races and religions.Ladies, you will be pleased to hear that it wasone of the first men’s clubs to admit and

encourage women members. Manyorganizations such as Women Entrepreneursof Canada and Business NetworkingInternational hold their regular meetings atthe Ontario Club.

CRAIGLEITH SKI CLUB R.R. #3, Collingwoodwww.craigleith.comIf you are more of an outdoorsy person,you might find some of the private resortsin the Blue Mountain region appealing.Although the ski hills are more like SnowValley than Lake Louise, it was still greatto be outdoors at the private resort inCraigleith. I spent a great daysnowshoeing, met a lot of friendly people,ate really good food, and enjoyed thenice—but not extravagant—lodge. Forupwards of $40,000 a year you can havefull access to the ski hills, snowshoe andcross country trails, and the rest of themembership. Imagine how many businessdeals get done on those slopes. ✔

Do you have a Toronto question? Contact:[email protected]

Carissa Reiniger is the founder and presidentof Silver Lining Ltd—silverlining.ws—whichhelps small businesses identify businessdevelopment plans and then usescommunication strategies to ensure theyreach their goals. She splits her time flyingbetween the Silver Lining offices in Torontoand Edmonton.

II

InsideTorontoInsideToronto

with Carissa Reiniger

EDMONTONIANS APRIL 2006 5

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ACQUIRING FOREIGN WORKERS—HOW DOES IT WORK?

ithin the next 10 years,there will be 400,000 jobscreated in Alberta, of which only300,000 will be filled.” These

were the figures given by Dr. Lyle Oberg, speaking fromhis former post as Alberta’s minister in charge ofimmigration at the foreign workers’ readiness informationseminar lunch. The seminar, put on by West EdmontonBusiness Association, Alberta Human Resources andEmployment, andEdmonton Economic DevelopmentCorporation (EEDC), was sold out shortly after it wasannounced.

Oberg added that Albertans are having fewer children:“In the next five to 10 years, our school-age population willalso drop by six to nine percent… What is the answer?” heasked. “Immigration.”

I think he’s hit the nail on the head. The labour shortagehas government offices related to immigration, recruiters,lawyers, and skills training services hopping. My office isno exception, with companies urgently requesting Mexicanlabourers eager to come to Alberta, or alternately wanting totransfer a portion of their manufacturing to Mexico. Dealingdirectly with companies that are looking for solutions mademe truly appreciate the practical nature of the foreignworkers’ readiness seminar, and its step-by-step explanationof the application processes.

Speakers at the forum were from different governmentassociations related to immigration and skills training. Theseminar was geared toward employers that wanted to attractforeign workers, and included a useful information packagewith the forms necessary to apply for them.

How fast can you get them here?It turns out that when an immigrant who qualifies appliesfor residency in Canada through the normal process, it takesfrom two to seven years. Wow! That’s a long time for

skilled people to wait, and for us to wait to get them here.Consensus at the forum was that Quebec has the right

idea in speeding up and streamlining this process.However, employers who haveexhausted their job search within

Canada can initiate aprocess to bring inworkers much

more quickly undertwo different programs.

The temporary foreignworker program may take as

little as a month or two, and allowscompanies to bring in workers for up

to three years. The provincial nomineeprogram (PNP) takes nine to 12months, and allows workers to staypermanently.

According to Alice Wong, AlbertaEconomic Development’s manager of

economic immigration, “The temporaryforeign worker program is basically a testing

period. If you are happy with the worker, youcan retain them under the PNP program.” Still there are some pitfalls: identifying foreign

workers with appropriate qualifications, ensuring theirtraining meets Alberta standards, and retaining the

workers in Edmonton long-term, to name just a few.

And no, they don’t take jobs from Canadians.The seminar stressed that immigrants will not be takingCanadians’ jobs. It is much easier, quicker and cheaper forfirms to hire Canadian residents, and the government hasnumerous skills training programs in place to bring evenmore Canadians to the workforce—specific programs targetAboriginals, youth, and retirees. Hiring foreign workers is alast resort for companies that have exhausted their jobsearch in Canada. And the government ensures thatcompanies pay their foreign employees the “average wagefor workers in the sector in their particular geographicregion,” so bringing in foreign workers is not a way to getcheap labour, contrary to the common perception.

Karen Link , EEDC manager in charge of labour marketissues, has been swamped with calls from companieslooking for staff shortage solutions. Of seminars like thisone, she says, “We plan to run them every two monthsthroughout the year.” So if you’re having problems findingworkers, you might want to get on the waiting list.

MIND-BOGGLING STATS FROM THE GREATER EDMONTON AREALabour shortage, recruitment, speeding upimmigration, and retention of immigrants in theEdmonton area seem to be on everyone’s minds lately.These were also concerns expressed by EEDC’s LoriSchmidt in her presentation Greater Edmonton’sEconomic Outlook for 2006 at theAlberta’sInternational Region February partnership breakfast atthe Executive Royal Inn, Leduc-Nisku. Alberta’sInternational Region is made up of seven municipalitiesclustered around Nisku Business Parkand EdmontonInternational Airport . The breakfast was sponsoredby Trade Aid, a company which “serves as theinternational department for companies who don’t haveone,” according to Derwin Herrera , executive VP.

Schmidt presented a large number of interesting

statistics on the Greater Edmonton area that are newlyavailable on the EEDC website. For instance, did youknow that Edmonton’s GDP growth rate “exceededCanadian growth in nine of the past 10 years” and“exceeded Alberta growth in seven of the past 10years”?

Moreover, “the Edmonton-Calgary Corridor is theworld’s largest industrial corridor with a GDP secondonly to Luxembourg… and is Canada’s strongesteconomy.”

Schmidt also pointed out two other primary industrialcorridors: the energy value-added corridor, extendingnorth from Edmonton to cover $85+ billion in oilsandsprojects; and another potential natural resourcecorridor, extending northwest from Edmonton toGrande Prairie and rich in coal, forestry andagriculture.

Her main point: “All three of these prime industrialcorridors converge in the Greater Edmonton Region.”This phenomenal industrial base heralds tremendousthings for our future—if we can only solve our labourproblem.

ATTRACTING NEW GROUPS OF TOURISTSEEDC has been making inroads to attractingnew groups of tourists. Four tourism companies inMexico have agreed to work together—a first for theserival agencies—with EEDC on a program to bring 900Mexicans to the Edmonton area this summer. TheMexicans would occupy five charter flights, with 180passengers per flight, estimated to bring in $1.8 millionof revenue. If the travel packages are a success, theprogram would continue in subsequent years.

Ken Fiske, vice-president of tourism, events andmotion pictures, is in charge of this program. He wouldalso like to extend it to our winter months. It’s nosurprise that winter has not traditionally been a greattime for tourism revenue in Northern Alberta.

Edmonton—It’s Cooler HereWell, Fiske aims to change that. He launched theEdmonton—It’s Cooler Herecampaign this winter. Hepoints out that many Mexicans may not have seensnow, and tourists from other countries too may want to“experience a winter environment with activities thatanyone can do, not like skiing.” He suggests dogsledding as an exotic alternative. “With skiing,” hepoints out, “one, you have to spend time learning howto do it and, two, you have to get the proper clothingand equipment.”

As reported in last month’s column, the program waswell launched with the two 747s which brought morethan 600 Japanese tourists here on a sojourn to view thenorthern lights in Fort McMurray. Their trip wascomplemented by a day of shopping in Edmonton.

It’s encouraging to see a campaign that focuses onattracting this new wave of knowledge-hungryecotourists. This approach beats apologizing for ourwinters.✔

Jessica Wegmann-Sanchez, Ph.D., is Directorof Corporate Communications forBIDMEXICO International Inc., anEdmonton-based company specializing inforeign business development in Mexico. E-mail: [email protected]

GREA

TER EDMONTON

INTERNATIONAL BUSINE

SSBy Dr. Jessica Wegmann-S

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6 EDMONTONIANS APRIL 2006

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or heaven’s sake, let’s notrile the waters. It has been nearly40 years since women’s liberation sweptNorth America—long enough that most youngwomen have no idea of the status they used to

occupy in the crazy, male fun sort of Todd Bertuzzi world.What’s the trouble with that?

SAME OLD, SAME OLDIt has taken this long for the movement to meet themainstream and begin moving from revolution torenaissance—a new reality. Much of the stridency is goneand this time some (confident) men seem quite at homewith a sea change in how women are set to impact theCanadian economy over the next decade. It is nothing lessthan a quiet revolution made possible, in part, by the adventof technology. Still, many women realize that, after all thistime, they are not fully accepted by their male counter-parts—those who set the level of the glass ceiling and therules for admission to the old boys’ club.

At worst, women say there is an unsettling hypocrisyabroad in the land that equates women’s values in life andthe work place as small-pond values, a helpless under-classof those sometimes perceived as the victims of an unluckybreak in the genetic sweepstake. Male chauvinism is aparticularly attractive part of the Alberta landscape. Here inthe buckle of the Bible belt, no Brokeback Mountaintypes,tree huggers or folks with an alternative opinion need apply.Too harsh? Perhaps, but perhaps not… hmmmm.

WE UNDERSTANDEven men trying to keep a low profile can be seen ashaving wilful incomprehension. Women feel they aredialoguing with the deaf. These arethe lads in the band who are oftentimes their own best audience, deaf toa world that is changing—mustchange. The model of ‘at daggersdrawn’ is helpful for no one.Particularly in Alberta, there is a hugeproblem. Not just the increase infamily violence and child poverty, butthe skills demand that is outstrippingAlberta’s and Canada’s ability tocope. Compete or perish. There arenot enough skilled people to run theeconomy, and more and more busywomen are choosing family over amale employment model. Startingtheir own businesses is offeringincreased possibilities to have both.Or, as one dejected female self-starterput it, “I just got tired of being treatedlike a second-class citizen. My careeris important but my family is my lifeand they come first. I decided if I hadto drop out to drop in with my family,

that’swhat I would do.”

And that’s the point a new generation ofwomen is making. What society can afford to dismiss soeasily the talents of half its population? Damn, the otherhalf must be gods.

A well travelled female population with good educationalstandards has for too long inhabited the arcane groves ofacademia and the devastated landscape of public service.Despite the sea change, the wealth of experience argues thatwomen continue to be less valued than their male brethren.

All the social engineering and decades of governmentalgood intentions have amounted to a lot of dead trees withwriting on them—but with not much recognition of thedifferent roles that men and women play in society and thefact that they think differently. Any married man or womanwill speak to this truth, evidently a harder sell in the toughmasculine—though not always manly—world of business.

Now women think they have discovered a new path. Apath that may accomplish what good intentions have failedto in the past. From Signal Hill to Tofino, women are re-writing the rules of work and increasingly becoming yourboss. Surprisingly, the sky has not yet fallen. Economics aredriving big change.

According to Alexandria Favret, owner of TaffyProductions Inc. in Edmonton, “Women are creating threetimes as many businesses as men, and there are over821,000 women entrepreneurs in Canada, contributingover $18 billion to the economy.”

Those statistics reverberated with Alex. In February,

she launched the local chapter ofeWomenNetwork, a wheat-rootsorganization of women business

owners and professionals who arecommitted to supporting and transacting business with

women. The obvious question follows.“Good heavens, no. We are not male bashers. We are

not against men. We love men and we appreciate whatthey add to living a full and happy life but,” she addsominously, “we are women competing in a maledominated society, and the decision-making processes aredifferent and we’re not interested in pretending to bemen.”

eWomenNetwork is different than a plethora of othersuch organizations in that each member is showcased andgiven the opportunity to ask for what she actually needs.It is, if you like, the art of being. Being who you arebefore what you are. Men are often defined by their jobs;women not so much. This, psychologists agree, is notnecessarily a bad thing.

ISO26000—SAY IT ISN’T SOFavret explains, “I think most networks follow atraditional male model: He who collects the mostbusiness cards at an event wins. We don’t do that. Unlessyou actually have something you can do for someone,then we strongly suggest you don’t give out yourbusiness card… this is what makes us different too. It isnot about what can these people do for me, but aboutwhat you can do for someone else.” Sound a little hokie?Think about this.

The well-respected International StandardsOrganization (ISO) in Geneva is working on a checklist

for companies that want to measure anddemonstrate their adherence to virtue.The new guidelines will be available in2008 as ISO26000 and soundsuspiciously like what is already beingpromoted by eWomenNetwork.

The Standards are different fromregulations but, over the past 20 years,ISO made its worldwide reputationagreeing and publishing technical normsfor industrial processes and products.This independent, nongovernmentalfederation of national standards bodies(best known in Canada for its ISO 9000series on quality management) has beenmoving steadily toward the higher-profile business of setting standards.Guidance for social responsibility mayseem a stretch for the organization, butit is reconciling them with businesses,governments and activist organizationssuch as Amnesty International,Greenpeace and TransparencyInternational.

The facts, ma’am—just the factsIn 2001, more than 1.5 million women—14 percent of the total female population aged 15 andover in Canada—were living alone, more than double the total in 1971. Seniors are by far themost likely women to live alone—half were aged 65 and over. They may be the lucky half,having raised their children. Women with children are increasingly doing without men. Therewere more than one million single moms in Canada in 2001.Twenty percent of all families withchildren are headed by single moms, more of whom are working. In 2004, 65 percent of allwomen with children under three were employed, more than double the figure in 1976.According to a StatsCan study, Women in Canada, the number of households headed by singlemoms should be of interest to policy makers and employers: 38 percent of such families fellinto the low-income category in 2003. Only 13 percent of families headed by single men werelow income. In fact, women continue to earn about 70 percent of what men earn in theworkplace. As a result, they are leaving it in droves for the greener pastures of control overtheir lives and incomes… with the respect (and perhaps the envy) of their co-workers.

Sure, there could be other reasons, but the wealth of what is being said argues on the side ofchange and, tired of waiting, women are setting out on a distinct path. Don’t assume this iscompassion over business acumen—it is both. Men may have something to learn aboutdecision making and life outside the known world of male bonding. ✔

Men don’tknow what they don’t

know–but women

know

By P. Drake McHugh

FF

Walk a mile in her high heels

7EDMONTONIANS APRIL 2006

Proof_3______PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

THE QUALITY OF LIFE MODELKaren Hughes, associate professor of Women’s Studies atthe U of A, has a balanced view of the here and now. Shesupports a group called Women Entrepreneurs of Canada, anon-profit that has enjoyed stellar growth. She’s slated toaddress the Toronto chapter at its April meeting.

“The big thing is that numbers have grown dramatically,”she says, “and the diversity is different. We have thetraditional business set but, increasingly, there is anothergroup who don’t necessarily want a big business. For them,the challenge is to balance family and work; quality of lifeissues are paramount.”

She sees generalities about anything as being dangerousand possibly inaccurate. “If you talk to men going intobusiness for themselves, it is independence and a chance tomake more money… that could be the case for somewomen too, but women say they want independence andthe ability to balance family needs with business. In part,Hughes suspects that technology, the ability to work fromhome, and the increase in knowledge-based work may bedriving the phenomenon. “Women want to make moneybut often that isn’t what drives them, they want to have awell balanced life that they can’t get with manyemployers.” However, she argues that 15 years ago therewas much less cultural acceptance of women being inbusiness for themselves. And she says Alberta is “a leaderin the entrepreneurship trend.”

BUILDING BRIDGESMaybe, but Texas is no slouch either. Sandra Yancey knowswhereof she speaks. With a young family and a record ofmajor corporate accomplishment, she threw it all in becauseshe wasn’t enjoying her work. Now she runs theinternational eWomens Network.

She’s the first to say she could never have begun theorganization without her husband’s support and, when shelearned that Canadian female entrepreneurs start business atthree times the rate of men, she knew she was on tosomething. In the U.S., it is two-to-one women over men.

A CAUTIONARY TALE“A lot of what we are talking about,” Yancey says from her

hotel room in Edmonton, “is contacts, relationships—andthis has nothing to do with counting the number of businesscards you can collect. We, as women, must develop anetwork that works for us. Men have their way ofnetworking and women have too. If you join our networkand ask ‘What can they do for me?’ we’re probably notwhere you want to be. But if you believe that helping othersis important, you can do very well with us.”

Evidently, Yancey is on to something. There are 90chapters of her organization and about three new ones openeach month. In her previous unsatisfactory career, she dealt80 percent with males. So, she admits there is learningcurve for her too. Yancey cannot be drawn into criticism ofmen, “I think they’re wonderful,” but she relates the storyof faulty communication between the genders: “For years, Iwanted flowers for Valentine’s Day and, for years, myhusband gaveme a lovelycard anddinner out…nice, but Ireally wantedthose flowers.I talked togirlfriendswho said Ishould tellhim I wantedflowers, and Isaid, ‘It’s notthe same ifyou have toask for them.’Then Irealized howfoolish I was.It may not bethe same, butyou will havethe flowers. Most men will do anything for their wives. Wetend to think they are mind readers. If you don’t share withthem what is important to you, they will never know. I’vehad wonderful flowers wherever I am in the world eversince, and a very strong relationship. We all learn—somefaster than others.”

FEET IN TORONTO, HEART IN EDMONTON In Toronto, Carissa Reiniger echoes the observations. Asthe founder and owner of Silver Lining Ltd. in both cities,she lives her life on airplanes between Toronto andEdmonton. Her company works to help companies developand execute marketing plans including aspects of PR,marketing, advertising and events. She tried the corporateworld but, while she appreciated the lessons learned,decided it wasn’t her cup of tea.

“I just saw it as a lot of big companies spending millionsto do exactly what their competitors were doing; where’sthe challenge or the business sense in that?” She sits on theboard of WEC and is Edmonton’s top promoter toTorontonians. On May 11th she’ll be in town to launch thenewest WEC chapter. During the event, participants will bejoined by a video feed from the Toronto WEC Conferencetitled “Think Big: Creating Sustainable Growth,” featuringguest speaker Carol Hyatt from New York.

Reiniger is adamant about the value of WEC. “Our

website has 10,000 hits a month and we are a very credibleresource. We’re very much thinking in terms of a Canadiannetwork, a resource for members where they can one-stopshop and meet and know the people who have been in theirsituation. Why would you be trying to re-invent the horse…do all this on your own when there is a group of womenwho have been there/done that and want to share theknowledge?”

WORKING SMARTER, BEING HAPPIER“I think more than anything, this is about relationships,”explains Reiniger. “Women network and expressthemselves in different ways than we see in the malemodel. We are looking for a real connection rather than a‘contact’ and I think that is a very female way of doingbusiness and reaching out to people. If you understand thatand understand costs involved in losing good people, thenyou go with the flow. For a lot of Albertans, making the bigbucks is what life is about but for others quality of lifereally matters… You have to keep saying that until peoplestop chuckling and realize that you really believe this. Formany women money is important, for many others there ismuch more to a quality life. They are willing to sacrifice toachieve that greater quality. Fortunately, a lot of menunderstand this concept too.”

In 2004, two-thirds of employed women in Canada wereinvolved in teaching and nursing or related healthoccupations—occupations that traditionally are somewhatflexible and employ a full complement of ‘people’ skills.

Final word goes to a working female colleague with ayoung family and a shared job in a forward-lookingcompany that didn’t want to lose her skills. “If we stillhaven’t got the model for this after all these decades, howmuch are we wasting on not adapting the workplace for theretired who, along with women, have great skills?”

Evidently, the answer lies out there in the Albertaheartland somewhere past the next election and perhapsdecades and a recession away. Meantime, you guys want togo for a beer? ✔

Carissa Reiniger of WEC

Sandra Yancey ofeWomenNetwork

Alex Favret of eWomenNetwork Edmonton

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Ter

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Proof_3____PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

t’s 8:00 AM on themorning after thebiggest snowfall ofthe winter. The

kitchen at Habitat forHumanity is full of women.They had actually arrivedearly—anxious to beginconstruction on the first fullday of Habitat forHumanity Edmonton’sWomen Build.

“These women are doingsomething today that willchange the way tomorrow

will be for two low-incomeEdmonton families,” saysMary Cameron, a partner in

Westfile Partners Inc. Sheand Susan Green are co-chairs of Women Build and

together, they assembled aboard of directors for the

project.Habitat’s motto “a hand up,

not a hand-out” means thesehomes are not given away. They

are sold to the Partner Families—at no profit and financed with no-

interest mortgages. However,

families are required to contribute 500hours in the building of their house,another Habitat home, or working inHabitat’s ReStore.

“The response from volunteers andsponsors has been overwhelming. Weneed 20 people per day for 75 days… andwe’ve got 90 percent of our workforcesigned up. And, we managed to raise$185,000 from three corporate sponsors.That amount includes $10,000 fromEdmonton Glenora Rotary. This is anincredible community.” The majorfinancial contributors are ATB Financial,Alberta Real Estate Investment Network(REIN), and Home Interiors & Gifts.Other local businesses are contributingskilled labour, materials, and even lunchesto feed volunteers.

When Cameron and Green met withPCL Construction Management Inc.executives, they negotiated not for amonetary contribution but for expertise.PCL agreed to the secondment of KarlaHorcicia, one of its project coordinators,for the eight-week duration of the duplexconstruction. Horcicia, a civil engineer,graduated from the UofA and will serve asconstruction site supervisor. “We are sograteful to PCL for this gift. While

WOMEN

BUILDWOMEN

BUILD

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Mary Cameron, co-chair Women Build


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quantifiable, the contribution Karla willmake is immeasurable,” admitsCameron.

Since its establishment in 1991,Habitat for Humanity Edmonton hasbuilt over 60 houses in northeast andcentral Edmonton, Spruce Grove, StonyPlain and Leduc. Three houses werebuilt in 2004, nine in 2005, and 16 arescheduled for 2006.

The Women Buildprogram of Habitatfor Humanity International wasestablished to encourage the involvementof women in the construction of houses.Women make up 50 percent of Habitat’svolunteer force, yet often due to lack oftraining or confidence in their own skills,their impact on the build site may notmatch their true potential. The program,through both pre-build training and apredominately female work environment,encourages women to more confidently

participate in Habitat’s projects. Habitat for Humanity Canada has

proudly embraced the Women Buildprogram: Homes have already beencompleted in Ontario, Saskatchewan,and Alberta with four more buildsplanned for 2006. In 2002, an all-womencrew built a duplex in Calgary. TheHabitat Edmonton Women Buildkickedoff last September with a “Panda Build”involving the women’s athletic teams atthe UofA. Designed to create awarenessand foster involvement in the project,the teams built garden sheds in friendlycompetition, and sales of the shedsraised $2000 for Habitat.

Brenley Bennett, project manager ofWomen Build, felt “the event was a greatway to begin promoting the WomenBuild. Since our kick off, we have had550 women sign up for this build. Theseare volunteers who, we hope, will

develop a relationship with Habitat andcontinue to support us in future builds.”

Some of these new volunteers areexecutives and professionals… othersare teachers, students, homemakers,skilled crafts and trades people. Overall,the volunteers will contribute more than10,000 woman-hours on this project.

“Habitat is always looking for volun-teers,” explains Cameron. “There areways for people of all skill levels andabilities to participate. From servinglunches to serving on one of Habitat’scommittees to doing modified duties onthe build site—every one of ourvolunteers plays an important role.”

There are also internationalopportunities to volunteer with Habitat.Cameron recently returned from buildingin South Africa. “The woman we werebuilding the house for told me she hadnever had a permanent roof over her

head… she lived and slept exposed tothe elements everyday,” recountsCameron. “It’s a moving experience—tomake such a difference in someone’slife.”

Green adds, “Building interna-tionally—like building locally withWomen Build—is about so much morethan construction. It’s about families andcommunities working together to buildhope for the future.” ✔

On April 11th, the Edmonton WomenBuild will kick off with the officialground breaking ceremony at 12012-67 Street in the Montrose neighbour-hood. For more information on Habitatfor Humanity Edmonton’s projects—tovolunteer or to sponsor—contactBrenley Bennett at 479-3566,extension 233, or e-mail her [email protected]

Project Manager Brenley Bennett with Leah Redmond, journeyman scaffolder andmember of Local 1325 Carpenters Union.

Project Manager Brenley Bennett with Leah Redmond, journeyman scaffolder andmember of Local 1325 Carpenters Union.

Photos by Terrry Bourque

Volunteers Sister Jeannette Filthaut SP, Shelley Gernard, Joan Kristensen, Susan Tremblay, Lori Arndt who has beenworking weekly with Habitat for a year, and Jocelyn Weleschuk.

Volunteers Sister Jeannette Filthaut SP, Shelley Gernard, Joan Kristensen, Susan Tremblay, Lori Arndt who has beenworking weekly with Habitat for a year, and Jocelyn Weleschuk.


Proof__0_____PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

There’s a secret buzzing all overGreater Edmonton that we can’t

wait to tell you about…

“ I was attending a special eventand had borrowed a straplessblack dress, but it was a little

snug,” remembers Nadine Jolson.“A friend suggested the wrap.”The mineral soaked bandages“felt kind of like a corset,” saysNadine. But it was worth it.“I rushed home to try on thedress and it was loose. I couldwear it and actually breathe.”

“You start by recording yourbefore measurements,” says LindaPerras of Suddenly Slimmer. “Wecheck jaw, neck, forearm, wrist,

bust, waist, abdomen, hips, upperthighs, lower thighs, calves and

ankles. Then comes thetreatment itself.”

1. The wrap. You are wrappedfirmly with elastic bandages

soaked in warm mineral solution. 2. Get your blood pumping.

Light physical activity revs upcirculation.

3. Remoisten. Every 20minutes, the mineral solutionis applied. After 60 minutes,

the wraps come off.

Why it works?The wrap detoxifies the body.The body can get overloaded

with toxins becauseit cannot keep upwith the filtration

process. Themore toxins inthe body, the

morelymphatic

fluidincreases to

protect cells.You force

out toxins.Once the toxins

are gone, thelymphatic

fluid decreasesand you loseinches. It is

not water loss—rather, anexchange of minerals for toxins.

That’s a Wrap!Call Linda Perras

at Suddenly Slimmer Day Spa

pedicures. manicures. facials. aroma therapy message

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Phot

os b

y Te

rry

Bour

que

he Westin banquet room was bursting at the seams with patronshonouring the 2005-06 Women of Vision at the 11th annual awardsluncheon. Bursaries and awards were presented to eight youngwomen to further their studies. The Women of Vision, profiled

each month on Global television, shared their inspirational stories. Orlene Lacey presented her bursary to Ewelina Lukaszewski who is enrolled in

the School of Business at the University of Alberta. Other bursaries to YoungWomen of Vision included RBC Financial Group to Christine Hyslop, studyingfinance at MacEwan; Canada Safeway to Qiuhong Han, food science at the UofA;Rexall to Haehyun Hong, pharmacy at the UofA; Mark’s Work Wearhouse toStephanie Gonder, design and exhibit presentation at MacEwan; and TELUS toLinnea Lyons, education at Concordia University College. MacEwan Collegepresented Alayna Ward with one year’s tuition, and a donation from the Womenof Vision luncheon will send high school student Dani Trudgeon to the CanadianNational Junior Achievement Conference.

TT

Lesley MacDonald, the producer and host of Womenof Vision, is shown here presenting to Bev Halisky—

December ‘05, owner of Driving Miss Daisy, said,“The best classroom is at the foot of an elder…”

Jelena Mrdjenovich—January ‘06Boxer, World Featherweight Champion“My discipline comes from my passion.”

Ewelina Lukaszewski andpresenter Orlene Lacey

Emma Scott—April ‘05 Bridal fashiondesigner and owner Emma Scott Design“Fashion should empower, not dictate.”

Melissa Blake—March ‘06Mayor, Regional Municipalityof Wood Buffalo“..weight of the world is amindset, not actual.”

Pierrette Requier—October ‘05Author, poet, counselor“Europe never left mygrandmother...”

Shauna Seneca—September ‘05 Founder, Co-Executive Director Bent Arrow Healing Society“Elders were my teachers.”

Sharon MacLean—June ‘05Publisher, Edmontonians

“Know it’s a good thing to stickthrough hard times.”

Larissa Sembaliuk Cheladyn—May ‘05Artist, Art by Larissa“My first canvas was an egg.”

Sandra Grenneis—February ‘06Composer, Mary’s Veil“… surrounded by a community of faith”

Jan Henderson—August ‘05

Clowning, FoolMoon Productions

“Secretly, everyoneis a clown.”

Nicole Poirier—July ‘05Sport Director,

World Masters Games“…everyone can compete.”

Cathy Roozen—November ‘05 Cathon Holdings

“I sound more like my father…”

Cathy Roozen—November ‘05 Cathon Holdings

“I sound more like my father…”

Women of Vision


Proof_ 2____PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

TERESA SPINELLI, PRESIDENTItalian Centre Shop Ltd., Edmonton#26 in 2005 PROFIT ranking$15,201,897 revenue in 2004The Italian Centre Shop, located in the heart ofEdmonton’s “Little Italy”, carries a wide selection offoods imported from Europe and around the world.Spinelli grew up in the store, opened in 1955 by herparents, Italian immigrants who began their businessimporting food and newspapers for homesickcountrymen. As a baby, she sat on the counter, as a girl,she worked behind it and, now, at 44, she is presidentof the grocery retail and wholesale business. Sinceimplementing a profit sharing plan with her employeestwo years ago, Spinelli has found a big difference in theattitude of her staff—“Everyone feels like the owner.”

Fulfilling a long held ambition, Spinelli is opening asecond Italian Centre Shop on 51st Avenue and 104thAStreet on July 1st. The 13,000 square-foot store willhave a pastry shop and a coffee shop.

EVELINE CHARLES, PRESIDENT & CEOEvelineCharles Salons & Spas, Edmonton#36 in 2005, #48 in 2004 PROFIT ranking$10,368,224 revenue in 2004Growing from a one woman “cut-and-colour”hairstyling service in rural Alberta to a vibrant chain offull service havens offering hair fashion services,esthetics, massage, hydrotherapy and branded skin- andhair-care product lines, Eveline Charles has establishedherself as a an innovator in the salon and day spaindustry. Living her motto “Think Big, Grow Big”Charles now employs over 250 people in locations inEdmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. She recentlyopened the EvelineCharles Cosmetology and EstheticsAcademy in Edmonton.

JACQUELINE SHAN, PRESIDENT, CEO & CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICERCV Technologies Inc., Edmonton#57 in 2005 PROFIT ranking:$6,416,732 revenue in 2004Jacqueline Shan has combined traditional Chinesemedicine with modern scientific research to make CVTechnology’s COLD-fX a welcome addition toCanadian medicine cabinets. Addressing consumers’uncertainties about the effectiveness and consistencyof natural health products, Shan and her teamdeveloped and patented ChemBioPrint technology,which ensures that each batch of the herbal remedy isconsistent and provides the benefits it should.Clinical trials have shown COLD-fX to be effectivein both preventing and treating colds and fluinfections.

When Shan assumed the role of president and CEOin 2003, her mandate was to commercialize theproduct, resulting in a significant growth in sales ofCOLD-fX and its sister products REMEMBER-fX formemory enhancement and mental alertness, AD-fX toenhance focus and attention, MENTA-fX tonormalize mood, CELL-fX for bone and joint pain,and PRESSURE-fX to normalize blood pressure.

PATRICIA BOERSMA, PRESIDENT/GENERAL MANAGERTridon Communications, Fort McMurray#85 in 1999, #83 in 2000, 66 in 2001, #55 in 2002, #49in 2003 PROFIT rankings$9,149,147 revenue in 2002Tridon Communications has supplied communicationequipment and services to Northeastern Alberta since1981. With over 50 staff in Fort McMurray andAthabasca, Tridon is a full line Motorola dealer and anauthorized TELUS Mobility dealer and customer carecentre. It provides a range of services from pathstudies, RF engineering, tower maintenance, evacuationalarm systems, mine truck dispatch systems, AVL/GPS,wireless LAN, surveillance camera systems and remotesite access, to satellite telephony and wireless datasolutions.

Having put a buyout plan in place, Boersma soldTridon in 2005, and has moved to St. Albert. The ideaof retirement isn’t sitting well with her, so she’sconsidering various avenues of interest, includinginvolvement with not-for-profit foundations andemployment support groups.

BARB PIERSON, PRESIDENTBarb’s RV Place, Lacombe#73 in 2003 PROFIT ranking$5,826,816 revenue in 2002Barb Pierson was a waitress and a hair stylist beforeembarking on a career in RV sales. Working her way upfrom cleaning trailers for her father at Wolf Creek RVto selling them at Lacombe RV, she opened her ownfull sales and service facility in 1999. Four years later,Pierson made PROFIT’s list. Located on seven acres inLacombe, Barb’s RV sells everything from tent trailersto full size motor homes. Her family based business isequipped with full service bays, storage facilities, alarge parts department, and RVs—lots of RVs.

ISABEL BERNETE, MANAGING DIRECTORPC Corp., Edmonton#31 in 1999, #52 in 2000, #50 in 2001 and #30 in2002 PROFIT rankings$13,268,000 revenue in 2001Every business woman needs state of the artinformation technology and gorgeous shoes. IsabelBernete delivers both. Bernete is co-owner of the PCCorp Group of Companies, providers of IT solutionsfocusing on government, education and small tomedium business with stores in both Edmonton andCalgary. As such, she was included in PROFIT’srankings for four years in a row. Revenues reportedlyexceeded $30 million in 2005.

Last year, Bernete—originally from the SpanishCanary Islands—took a giant step in a new direction,opening enPrivado, a shoe company that favours“high-touch, highly social and emotional shoeshopping.” Bernete has taken shoe shopping out ofthe mall and introduced shoe showings andwarehouse outings in her stylish downtown loftlocation, private home or office viewings, and onlineshopping—service and luxury appreciated byEdmonton’s “well-heeled” women.

DEBI DEBELSER, PRESIDENTNWP Inc., Blackfalds# 8 in 1999, #23 in 2000 and #19 in 2001 PROFITrankings$21,600,000 revenue in 2000The only woman in northern Alberta to make thePROFIT Top 20—twice—in the last seven years, DebiDeBelser excels in a traditionally male field. The NWPgroup of companies, started by her father MikeChwelos, manufactures and refurbishes oilfieldproduction equipment, and transports pipe andequipment to the oil patch. DeBelser started as a part-time sales person in 1979, opened and managed thecompany’s first expansion branch in North Battleford in1981, and became president of NWP in 1993. Herstrategies of superior customer service provided bylong-term employees, and diversification for growth—from sharing her expertise with interesting start-ups toacquiring small operating companies—have helpedkeep NWP Inc. viable in a cyclical business.

LINDA ELLITHORPE, CEO & GENERAL MANAGERAllSports Replay Ltd., Red Deer#100 in 2001 PROFIT ranking$2,818,000 revenue in 2000Like many new businesses, AllSports Replay wasconceived in frustration. When Linda and RoyEllithorpe were unable to find good used cross countryski equipment for their young family, they opened theirown new and used sporting goods store in the old busdepot in downtown Red Deer. Once they got the ballrolling, outlets in Edmonton and Lethbridge were soonto follow, and the product line was expanded to includenew fitness equipment sales and rentals. While theoriginal Red Deer store has been sold, the companycontinues to offer affordable gear to athletes of all ages.Ellithorpe now lives in Lethbridge.

ELIZABETH PRZYSIEZNY, PRESIDENTCando Oilfield Supplies & Rentals Ltd., Nisku#27 in 1999 and #27 in 2000 PROFIT rankings$15,288,000 revenue in 1999In September 2003, Commercial Solutions Inc.purchased Cando. Edmontonians was unable to contactPrzysienzny.

CLAIRE CONGDON, PRESIDENTCongdon’s Aids to Daily Living Ltd., Edmonton#98 in 2000 PROFIT ranking$2,322,000 revenue in 1999Claire Congdon started the Ostomy Care Centre in1970, to provide products and support to peopleafter ostomy surgery. The company, now known asCongdon’s Aids to Daily Living, grew over theyears to meet the needs of customers facing avariety of medical challenges. Offering equipmentsales and rental to clients ranging from weekendwarriors with sprained ankles to people facing longterm physical challenges, Congdon’s has remaineda leader in home health care supplies. Thecompany is run by Karen, but her mother Claire,now in her 70s, comes to the store daily.

Top100By Janet Edmondson

ach year, PROFIT magazine publishes its ranking of Canada’s top 100women entrepreneurs.Edmontoniansreviewed the 2000 through 2005 lists,and focused on Alberta business woman headquartered from Red Deernorth. Ten were identified—many of them achieving the PROFIT W100

designation more than once... ranking from eight through to 100... and reportingannual revenues ranging from $1.52 million to $15.2 million. PROFIT reports that“over the past three years, the W100 have seen their annual revenues rise andaverage of 85 percent.”

Their backgrounds are as varied as their business endeavours. Their commonalityis their drive, determination and dedication. They are innovative and creative. Moreimportanty, these women are representative of countless others who successfullymanage their businesses and lives in cities and towns throughout Alberta.

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Teresa Spinelli


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s there ever a time you tire of beingat the top of your game? “Never.”How many firsts can you achieve inyour career before it becomes

passé? “I don’t know… I’m not done yet,”laughs the entrepreneur.

You just know Connie Kennedy has noplans for slowing down. After 38 years ofunprecedented commitment to and successin the condominium market, she hasbecome an icon in the real estate industry.

Earlier this year, Kennedy was named the2005 REALTOR® of the Year at the(coincidentally) 38th Annual EdmontonRealtors Ball. From among the 17nominees, she received an overwhelmingendorsement by the selection committee forher outstanding service to the industry andto the community. No surprise to hercolleagues. That it took so long… well, thatwas a surprise.

In late March, Kennedy was againfêted—this time by more than 70 co-workers from Re/Max Real Estate Central,family and friends. Bill Briggs, owner of thebrokerage, described Kennedy as the“industry expert in the province. She’s beenwriting and re-writing condominiumlegislation for more than 30 years. Connie isan exemplary broker-owner who givesgenerously to local charities.” A portion ofeach of her sales is donated to theEdmonton Realtors’ Charitable Foundationand to the Children’s Miracle Networkthrough the Stollery Children’s HospitalFoundation, and she is a strong supporter ofthe School Hot Lunch Program and theoutreach program and Robertson-WesleyUnited Church.

Briggs also alluded to her legendaryreputation—particularly the stories fromthe days when she headed the first, andprobably only, all female real estatecompany—but told no tales. Anothercolleague beamed, “She’s a fabulousperson,” and joined five others in singingCondo Selling Queento the tune of DorisDay’s What Will Be, Will Be.

Dressed in her signature power red,Kennedy admitted, “I’m ecstatic. Beingnamed Edmonton’s REALTOR® of theYear is the pinnacle of all the awards Ihave received... because it is given by mycolleagues, my peers. That’s what makesit so special.

“Real estate is my passion. I love everyminute of it—except for the odd client.It’s a wonderful career. To you youngrealtors just starting out, this will be adifficult year… dealing with multipleoffers. Stay through this year, and youwill stay forever. Leave and you will missout on a rewarding profession.”

The list of Kennedy’s accomplish-ments, awards and accreditations fillsclose to two pages, single-spaced. “Shehas tremendous knowledge of thebusiness,” said Darlene Strang, her ex-daughter-in-law. They have been partnersfor 17 years, and both have been in thetop 10 realtors in Canada for the pastthree years.

Since serving as a consultant on thefirst condominium project in Canada—Brentwood Village in Edmonton in1969—Kennedy reckons she has soldthousands of units. “Some of them, twoand three times.” ✔

“Hi. It’s Connie.”By Barb Deters

II

Leading Lady

xchange Traded Funds(ETFs) are powerfulinvestment products that givethe individual investor some

of the same sophisticated tools thatinstitutions have been using for years. Thefirst few ETFs mimicked popular indiceslike the Dow Jones Industrial Average, theNikkei and the S&P 500 but, in the pastcouple of years, they have spread theirreach far and wide into many niche areasof the investment world. Now you can ownETFs that give you exposure to bonds,commodities and even emerging markets.Finally, retail investors can builddiversification into their portfolios in a waythat is both easy and inexpensive.

USING ETFs TO PLAY THECOMMODITIES BOOMDonald Coxe and Jim Rogers are two ofthe smartest financial strategists on WallStreet. Both say that we are in a globalcommodity bull market that could last for15 to 20 years. If they are right about thecycle beginning in 1998, there is stillplenty of time to get in on the action.

To play, investors can either purchaseshares in publicly traded resourcecompanies or, with the help of some newfinancial products, invest directly in theunderlying commodities themselves. Withmany resource companies trading at two ormore times their net asset value, manyanalysts are saying that the stock route isgetting expensive. The underlying resource—whether it be gold, oil or wheat—iscurrently the cheaper way to get exposure.

In the past few months, there have beena number of new Exchange Traded Fundscreated to give investors direct exposure tocommodities. If investors want to owngold, they can buy streetTRACKS GoldTrust (GLD-N). The trust is backed bygold bullion that is literally segregated andheld in the vaults of a financial institutionby a trustee. Each share is backed by 1/10of an ounce of gold.

In early February 2006, Deutsche Banklaunched the DB Commodity IndexTracking Fund (DBC-A). The fund’s basecommodity weightings are 35 percent lightsweet crude oil, 20 percent heating oil, 12.5percent aluminum, 11.25 percent corn,11.25 percent wheat, and 10 percent gold.On the TSX, Uranium Participation Units(U-T) are now trading. Units are made upof physical uranium oxide concentrate thatis stockpiled by Denison Mines.

In the next few quarters, we should seeadditional ETFs trading that are backed bysilver bullion and crude oil.

DIVERSIFYING THE DANGER ZONEThe pharmaceutical sector has drawn a lotof attention from value investors, becausestocks in this group have seen their shareprices drop 50 to 75 percent. Most of thecompanies are fabulously profitable, haveAA and AAA credit ratings and arebenefiting from the huge demand for theirproducts that is being created by agingbaby boomers. The problem with owningany one stock is litigation risk. Merck sawits share price cut in half when it announ-ced that Vioxx caused an increasedincidence of heart attack and stroke amongits users. Within weeks, billions of dollarsworth of class action suits were initiated.Instead of risking being burned by a singlestock, ETFs allow you to diversify yourrisk by owning the entire group. A purepharmaceutical play is the PharmaceuticalHolders (PPH-A). PPH represents an indexof 21 of the biggest names in the drugindustry.

Income trusts have outperformed theTSX Composite by a wide margin over thepast five years. Yet, in spite of their overall

success, an increasing number ofindividual issues torpedo in price whenthey cut their cash distributions.Accounting and financial reportingstandards are less rigorous for trusts thanfor their stock brethren. It has been harderfor investors to identify those trust unitsthat are getting close to the financial dangerzone because of this. ETFs allow aninvestor to make a bet on the entire sectorrather than an individual security. IncomeTrust Sector iUnits (XTR-T) are anexcellent proxy.

Emerging markets are another areawhere you are better off owning a broadcross-section of these markets rather thanmaking individual security or even countrybets. Political instability, tenuous economicpolicies, debt crisis and religious disruptionare just a few of the problems that canquickly turn a promising investment into afinancial black hole. The MSCI EmergingMarket ETF (EEM-A) offers a broadmandate in one simple investment.

INVESTING BY STYLEAcademics have left us with a ratherimpressive body of research on the successrate of various investment strategies. Theirconclusions are that over the past 50 years,value stocks outperformed growth stocks,high dividend paying stocks outperformedlow dividend stocks, and small cap stocks—especially small cap value stocks—outperformed larger ones.

Knowing which styles are the mostprofitable makes it easy to build a portfoliothat focuses on the best outcomes. InCanada, an investor can buy ETFs like theiUnits Dividend Index (XDV-T) and theTD Select Canadian Value (TAG-T). Sincethere currently is no small cap ETF, theS&P/TSX MidCap iUnits (XMD-T) wouldbe a reasonable proxy. Here, stocks tend tobe much smaller in size than typicalcompanies in the U.S. so our mid–capstocks are quite comparable to their smallcap ones. In the U.S., the Vanguard SmallCap Value Vipers (VBR-A), the DowJones Select Dividend Fund (DVY-A) andthe S&P 500 Barra Value Index (IVE-A)are ETFs that encapsulate the threestrategies with the highest probability ofproviding long-term returns.

INVESTING FOR INCOMEBonds can be a difficult asset class to addto the individual investor’s portfolios.Except in rare circumstances, bonds don’ttrade on public markets, so it’s difficult toget accurate information. ETFs allow theinvestor who doesn’t have access to a goodbond trading desk the ability to play in thesame leagues as pension funds andinsurance companies, the major buyers ofbonds. In Canada, iUnits offer ETFs thatrepresent inflation-linked or Real ReturnBonds (XRB-T), short term bonds(XSB-T), and a broad bond marketindex (XBB-T).

ETFs AS PORTFOLIOENHANCEMENTExchange traded funds give the individuala way to reduce risk and place money intoareas previously unavailable. As moreETFs come to market, average Joes willhave even more enhanced tools fromwhich to profit. ✔

Ron Hiebert, a director atScotiaMcLeod, teachesinvestment classes at GrantMacEwan College. Theauthor of Wealth Buildingcan be heard weekdays at

7:34 am, on CFCWradio (790 AM).Contact him at 780.497.3215 [email protected]

EE

MAKINGmoney

By Ron HiebertWhat’s new in ETF Land?

ph: 780.454.2975 • fax: 780.482.2819www.tbphoto.ca • [email protected]


Proof_2____PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

Edmonton is becoming known asa hotbed for biotechnology R&D. Andone area where the expertise here reallyshines is in the field of improved diag-nostics for disease. Two companies onthe rise are Picomole Instruments andChenomx Inc. Picomole hopes to cashin on your bad breath and Chemomx hasits eye on your metabolites.

I was first introduced to JohnCormier , the man behind PicomoleInstruments, at a VenturePrize

reception at the Alberta ResearchCouncil. It was only during our chatabout setting up an interview that werealized we both had offices on the samefloor in the same building. John had justmoved into the Research TransitionFacility on the U of A campus which

explained why we hadn’t run into eachother before.

And what does Picomole Instrumentsdo? Well, it measures picomoles.

“Picomole is a scientific term,” saysJohn. “A picomole is one trillionth of amole. I just thought the name soundedreally cool. And it’s a way of setting ourambition right in our name... our goal atPicomole Instruments is developinginstrumentation that can detect apicomole of a given analyte in anexhaled air sample.”

In other words, John is talking abouttechnology that can measure trace gasesat less than parts per billion. Hence histag line:your eyes to the world unseen.

What’s unique about John’s approachis that he’s developing an instrument thatcould be used in a doctor’s office toassess a patient’s health or out in thefield to detect environmental pollutants.You might think of it as a sophisticatedbreathalyzer unit. You blow into it, andthe physician can tell from the analytesin your breath what is making you sick.

“We’re tentatively calling the instru-mentLife Sense.It reflects the fact thatthe technology will allow us toinvestigate many different areas ofmedicine from oncology to diabetes. Itcould be deployed in a lot of waysranging from research settings tohospital emergency rooms to doctors’offices and clinics. We see it as having alot of potential in pediatrics and geriatriccare. Veterinary medicine is another areawhere we can make a big impact withthis technology.”

John sees applications in toxicology,occupational health and safety andenvironmental monitoring using thesame platform technology.

The idea for the Life Sense instrumentevolved out of John’s post doctoral workat the National Institute of Standards

and Technologyin the U.S. “My background is in atmospheric

science and we were interested indeveloping instrumentation that wouldhelp us with problems like globalclimate change and ozone depletion.NIST was interested in developingstronger links with its sister organizationacross the road, the National Institutesof Health. And so, it suddenly seemedto me there might be somethinginteresting in looking at exhaled air. Istarted digging around the scientificliterature and, sure enough, some verysmart people were working on theproblem. But the technologies they hadbeen using were mostly based on gaschromatography spectrometry, whichjust didn’t lend itself to beingcommercialized for routine use in adoctor’s office or other convenientlocation.”

What John has done to advance thisfield is to develop an extraordinarilysensitive technique for quantifyinganalytes in a breath sample. Despite theadvanced technology involved, theinstrument itself is so simple it does notrequire much technical skill on the partof the end user. And it’s affordable,allowing it to be used in ways thatcouldn’t be done with more cumbersometechnologies.

So when is this wonder machine goingto hit the market? That is still down theroad. “We have a working concept andwhat we’re looking for now is themoney to actually build this instrument,”says John.

Picomole has gotten to this stage withfinancing from friends and family. Nowthe call is out for bigger investors tocarry the company to next level ofprototype development and beyond.Among it’s advisors is Dr. DavidWishart, a well respected researcher and

developer of bioinformatics tools at theU of A. “Right from the first instance,”acknowledges John, “David was clearlyaware of what the potential was for thistechnology to complement his ownresearch.”

Given John’s enthusiasm and vision, itwon’t be long before you can go for ablow on the old Picomole and knowwithout a doubt what’s behind youraches and pains and other ailments.

Top marks for enthusiasm alsogo toAlex Cherniavsky, the globalaccounts manager for Chenomx Inc.Alex is new to his position but he’s on amission to get the word out aboutChenomx, another Edmonton companythat’s changing the way disease isdiagnosed.

You might think there’s a vowel ortwo missing from Chenomx, but it’sdrawn from the roots of chemical andgenomics, which also gives you a clue tothe correct pronunciation of thecompany name.

As Alex explains, Chenomx is asoftware company started in 2000 as aspinoff to commercialize technologydeveloped at the University of Alberta .The software is used to do metabolicprofiling analysis based on metabolitesfound in samples of your urine or blood.It’s a quick and inexpensive way to helpin the diagnosis of hundreds of diseases.Pharmaceutical companies like Pfizerare using the Chenomx software to testthe safety and toxicological effects ofdrugs in clinical trials.

This is all part of the new field of

Science&Tech

The Arab Al-Jazeera TV satellitenetwork is launching a 24-hour English-language news channel, thus enablingNorth Americans and other Westerners tojudge whether it’s a legitimate newsorganization. Or whether Al-Jazeeracombines news and propaganda as a frontfor Osama bin Laden, Taliban membersand Al-Qaeda terrorists who regularlymurder children and women, torture anddecapitate individuals, kidnap peacemakers,destroy religious institutions and intimidatethe masses.

Al-Jazeera has about 45-million viewersof its Arabic satellite network, butskepticism about its journalistic attributesexplains why the CRTC rejected itsapplication for a Canadian license.

Al-Jazeera could demonstrate theauthenticity they seek with a series ofdocumentaries on life for Muslims inother lands, beginning with Canada. Thekickoff for Al-Jazeera would be showingArabic viewers that spectacular CBChour-long documentary done forAlberta’s 100th birthday.

Produced by Jim MacQuarrie , and

shot by Kent Martens and JasonKokot—all with CBC Edmonton—thedocumentary dealt with two youngLebanese Muslim peddlers from thesame valley in Lebanon who arrived inAlberta at the turn of the last century.Ali Hamdon brought his 16-year-oldbride Hilwie to Fort Chipewyan.Saleem Shaben brought his 13-year-oldson to a small Southern Albertacommunity at about the same time.They didn’t know each other butCanada’s first mosque played a role inbringing them to Edmonton, eventuallyjoining their families in marriage andbusiness through the highly successfulShaben and Hamdon enterprise.

Both families would become leadersin their communities, plus fostering intheir children a love of this land, and adeep commitment to make adifference—a commitment that hassurvived and blossomed withsucceeding generations.

My next assignment for Al-Jazeeraand its Arabic news channel would be adocumentary on the 6,000 internationalstudents, including many Muslims,currently studying in Albertauniversities and colleges, and who willsoon be allowed to work off campus.

Many will return to their homelands asfuture democratic leaders. Others willnot because of the terrorism which still,rules supreme at home, and where one’svery existence can be determined byreligion and skin colour.

My third assignment for Al-Jazeera’sArabic TV network would be adocumentary on Edmonton’s HarryAinlay High School where the 2,200students staged a phenomenal culturaldiversity week. Those students speak anincredible 75 languages at home. Theentire week saw them work together inharmony, entertain in ethnic dress plussell foods from their native lands—proceeds of which were given to charity.There are no bombs planted in lockers,no knifings within the school and nostudents dying from bombs or rifles asthey walk to or from school.

Al-Jazeera would also find the samepeace and tranquility evident at ouryearly Heritage Festival, whererepresentatives of 50 to 60 countriespitch tents side-by-side to sell ethnicfood and provide entertainment. It’s likea mini-UN but without the animositywhich too often dominates thosesessions.

Other ongoing stories that Al-Jazeera

could show on both its existing 40-million Arabic network, and the newforthcoming English-language newschannel, would be on the EdmontonMuslim and Jewish Associationheaded by up Larry Shaben and SolRolingher; the love and marriage ofSaul Katz (Jewish) and Genoa Chadi(Lebanese); and the public, private andreligious schools where girls areallowed to attend.

So Al-Jazerra, if you’re truly a newsorganization wanting to be compared tothe likes of CNN, CTV or CBC, let’ssee what you’re prepared to do to right-fully earn that honour. Oh yes, onefurther thing: The 35,000 Muslims wholive in Alberta will be happy to corro-borate everything I’ve said—as well aspromise to assist you in doing legitimatenews stories of great value to yourviewers. Providing, of course, thatyou’re the least bit interested. ✔

Bruce Hogle is the formernews director at CFRN TVand recently retired headof the Alberta PressCouncil.

Media Minutewith Bruce Hogle

Continued on page 14

INTELINTELBizBizAlex Cherniavsky

John Cormier


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metabolomics: the study of lowmolecular weight compounds and theanalysis of spectra or signaturesgenerated when the metabolites areexposed to the very strong magneticimpulse generated by a nuclear magneticresonance machine.” Knowing thespectra allows you to trace themetabolites that are linked to particularstates of health, disease or toxicity.

There are over 1300 known metabo-lites in the body. Chenomx hasincorporated into its database over 200so far for analyses as disease markers.Previously, the analyses of the spectratook days and had to be done by hand.Running them through the Chenomxsoftware reduces that profiling time tominutes.

Says Alex, “Right now we’re focusedon pharmaceutical companies andacademic research, but getting this intodoctors’ offices is certainly in the plansfor the future.”

And while health is the main concern,the Chenomx software even caught theattention of Husky Oil . According toAlex, “You can even check the metabo-lites in wine or any other liquid sample.So I would assume they’re using it forsome kind of oil analysis.”

Currently Chenomx has a partnershipwith Varian Inc , one of the world’sleading suppliers of NMR spectrometers.The software is updated every 6 months,and Alex says a new version is expectedout in May. The best part is, no one else inthe world offers what Chenomx does.

And finally, Scanimetrics. What ishappening at Scanimetrics? A whole pileof new people have just been hired.They’re moving into all the empty officesaround me on the third floor of the RTFbuilding. And there’s even a hint theymight need to take over my office.President Steve Slupskyis keeping hislips absolutely zippered, but even thatdoesn’t hide the big, big grin on his facethese days. So what was that I heard at theVenturePrize celebration about raising $4million in investments? ✔

Cheryl Croucher is anEdmonton broadcastjournalist and host ofInnovation Alberta. You canhear the program on CKUARadio Tuesdays at 8pm ordownload it when you visit

www.innovationalberta.com.E-mail [email protected]

WHAT’S’ NEW FOR THE SMALLBUSINESS OFFICELike most small firms, yourbusiness IT department is probably a guycalled Jerry.

Most often, it is you—the companyowner—who must look out for newhardware, software and solutions... frompersonal computers to backup applic-ations to colour printers. Here’s a littlestrength and direction to help yousurvive.

One new application clearly worth alook-see is Adobe Acrobat 3D, one ofthe new releases from Adobe. I had achance to kick its software tires lastweek and I must say I am impressed.

While I believe most businesses coulduse it, the program is most applicable todesign engineering and technical publi-shing. It is primarily aimed at creativeprofessionals in manufacturing industriessuch as automotive, aerospace andindustrial machinery, and those in thearchitecture, engineering andconstruction market. For starters, youcan easily create a PDF file from severalsources including Microsoft Word, Excelor WordPerfect documents. It evenconverts web pages to PDF. The strength

of this program is how it easily converts3D models from the major computer-aided design (CAD) formats and turnsthem into Adobe PDF files. You onlyrequire Adobe Reader to view them.Every construction/engineering shopshould have this application—if for noother reason than to help create“fillable” PDFs for distribution tocustomers, sub-contractors and vendors.

Adobe is beefing up its product line tohelp prepare for the upcoming scrapwith Microsoft , which will releaseAdobe-style products later this year andin 2007. For example, Microsoft’sExpression family of competing toolsincludes Acrylic Graphic Designerwhich is described as a painting,illustration and effects tool; SparkleInteractive Designer, a user-interfacedesign tool; and Quartz Web Designer, alayout and deign tool for actual websitecreation.

Speaking of Microsoft, you maywant to download the beta version ofInternet Explorer 7.0 which will bereleased at the same time as Vista. Theparental controls are impressive, thesearch view is nice and you will wonderhow you made it without the multi-tablayout. From a business spending angle,Vista will include antivirus software, soyour antivirus software costs shoulddrop. However, watch for the WindowsDefenderAntiSpyware application tosoon carry a price tag instead of the freedownload it is now.

The absolute hottest colour printerto buy right now is the Hewlett-Packard 2650n. This is an eight-pageper minute colour unit that is good forcompanies that print 10,000 to 15,000pages per month. It comes with a 250-sheet paper tray, is networkable right outof the box (thus the “n” in 2650n). The$500 price tag makes it affordable.

Keep in mind that the “time-to-first-page” is slow (20 seconds) but once itgets going, it’s fine.

Finally, Greg’s software tip o’ themonth is also on colour, and how itrelates to the organization of yourMicrosoft Outlook e-mail settings. Weall use Inbox rules to re-direct our e-mails to one of our folders based on whoit is from, the subject line and so on.However, another good way of handlinge-mails is by using colour.

To do this, simply highlight an emailand from the menu bar, select Tools andthen Organize. Your screen will display abox where you select Using Colours.Pick a colour for the e-mail and, fromthen on, any e-mail from that sender willbe highlighted in that colour.

For example, I use teal for all my e-newsletters; red for personal e-mail andgreen for my key clients. Simple. ✔

Gregory B. Michetti of theAlberta-based systemsintegration firm MichettiInformation Solutions, Inc.can be reached viawww.michetti.com or e-mail

[email protected].

A welcome sign that the city ofEdmonton is exerting its influence comeswith the announcement that it ispartnering with the Canada WestFoundation to investigate new strategiesto build, manage and maintain municipalinfrastructure. The research is an integralpart of its development of a 30-yearsustainable infrastructure financialstrategy which will address ongoingchallenges in one of Canada’s fastestgrowing communities.

According to Mayor Stephen Mandel,“Infrastructure is an investment that

returns quality of life dividends.Edmonton has made great strides inplanning for our infrastructure needs—weare leading the way with many of ourefforts. The Canada West Foundation’sexpertise and perspective will be veryvaluable as we work to secure ourinvestments and plan for growth andmaintenance over the next 30 years.”

The joint research project willinvestigate circumstances specific toEdmonton to determine available alternatestrategies and support required to ensurethat City Council’s adoption in January ofthe renewed Infrastructure Strategyissuccessful over the long-term. This would

enable the City to be very specific aboutthe delivery of programs and services, andto meet its obligation to citizens to spendtheir tax dollars wisely.

Roger Gibbons, president and CEO ofthe Canada West Foundation, welcomedthe opportunity to collaborate on thisproject, noting that “Edmonton has led thenational municipal infrastructure debate,and it is great to work with a team that hasbeen so influential in building innovativeresponses to the infrastructure challenge.”

Edmonton’s strategic approach toinfrastructure asset management hasresulted in international recognition as oneof North America’s most progressivejurisdictions by such authorities as theAustralia Institute of Public WorksEngineering, the Federal HighwayAdministration, the AmericanAssociation of State Highway andTransportation Officials, and CanadianPublic Works Association. The City hasalso been approached by municipalitiesacross Canada, the U.S. and around theglobe who wish to learn more about itsinnovative system. When the study iscomplete, the results will be shared withAlberta cities and towns, the Federationof Canadian Municipalities’ Big CityMayors Caucus, the provincial andfederal governments, as well as thegeneral public.

The significant growth in passengertraffic through Edmonton InternationalAirport in 2005 (10.4 percent over 2004,to 4.51 million passengers) seems to becontinuing: January 2006 traffic increasedby more than 11 percent over the samemonth last year. Reflecting growingdemand, both WestJetand Air Canadahave announced additions to existingschedules.

On a seasonal basis (June 24 to October28), WestJet will offer daily non-stopservice between Edmonton and Halifax.As well, it will increase daily non-stopfrequencies on routes between Edmontonand Vancouver to seven, Victoria to three,and Winnipeg to three.

Meanwhile, Air Canada has upped itsdomestic and trans-border service. “Weknow our customers appreciate the choiceand convenience of non-stop flights yearround,” says Marc Rosenberg, vicepresident of sales and product distribution.“The addition of new, state-of-the-artaircraft to Air Canada’s fleet allows us todeploy the right aircraft to meet traveldemand, while offering more frequencies

and superior comfort for our customers inEdmonton.” As of May 1st, the airline islaunching non-stop flight to Los Angelesusing 75-seat Bombardier 705 aircraft.New daily, year-round non-stop servicebetween Edmonton and Montreal will useits sleek new 93-passenger Embraer E190aircraft. Incidentally, both of these newaircraft offer executive and hospitalityclass seating, so business travelers will behappy.

As well, Air Canada is enhancingservice on existing routes. Using the newEmbraer 190, its non-stops to Ottawa willincrease to two daily. Direct flights toWinnipeg increase to three daily, using the

smaller 50-seat Bombardier CRJ-200aircraft. Both Fort McMurray and GrandePrairie gain an additional daily flight, andsome of these flights will feature the CRJ-200 as well.

The future looks brighter with theseadditions to the already established newerroutes to U.S. hubs (San Francisco, SaltLake City) and existing ones (Seattle,Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Chicago). Let’s hope Air Canadawill bring more of its new aircraft toEdmonton where demand exists—Edmonton-Houston, for example seems tobe a natural fit for the regional jets.

In my view, the most significantimprovement is yet to come: a scheduledyear-round route to Europe—preferably toLondon and Frankfurt. I’ve dealt with thisbefore, and I’m not sure how optimistic Ican or should be. But given the expandeddomestic and USA schedules, maybeairline executives are taking notice.

Congratulations to the Universityof Alberta School of Business, which hasagain finished in the top 100 in theprestigious and influential FinancialTimes of London2006 Global MBAsurvey. The School ranked 98th overall,which may not seem that significant atfirst glance. But considering when onerealizes that literally thousands of MBAprograms around the world are eligible,the ranking means a great deal. Moreover,in the Times’top 10 schools in eachcategory, ranging from top salaries inindustry to best in accountancy to best infinance, the UofA finished in the top 10for best in economics, ranking alongsidesuch other schools as the University ofChicago, MIT’s Sloan, Yale School ofManagement, and the number-one rankedbusiness school overall: the University ofPennsylvania’s Wharton School ofBusiness. With McGill, Toronto andYork universities each garnering oneplacement, Alberta was the only otherCanadian school to achieve a top-10ranking.

In a competitiveeconomy, the placementof a business school inelite ranks such as this is aglobal recognition of localexcellence. And no otherschool in Alberta can saythat. ✔

David Norwood is a freelance writer/editor. Contact [email protected]

Civic Buzz

BizIT 101

Continued from page 13

Mayor Mandell Phot

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Ter

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The daily rewards and challenges havetaught me a great deal about people, honestyand trust. Not for the feint-hearted, it isindeed a challenging way to earn a living.Just when you think you are going to win therace, a yellow flag comes out and cautionsyou to shift down and take a pit-stop.

What are the essential ingredients ofbuilding a successful company? An eagerentrepreneur, unyielding passion, and a wellresearched business plan. What makes anentrepreneur successful? An unwaveringbelief in her vision for the company, herwillingness to stick-with-it, and a disregardfor minor obstacles such as divorce,litigation or a possible prison sentence.

CONNIE JACKSON ALTERITY INTERIORS www.alterityinteriors.com • 451-8848Alterity: A state of being different. Conniehas been driven by these words since shefirst started designing at eight years of age.Today, her design firm offers imaginativesolutions by creating interiors that reflect thespaces her clients deserve. She findsinspiration in her customers, claiming that

there is nothing more magical or rewardingthan witnessing a satisfied customer at theend of a project.

Frustrated with the lack of high qualitytraditional paints available in Edmonton,Connie secured a Farrow & Balldistributorship and expanded her businessinto the retail sector. But, working retailduring the day and designing for clientsevenings and weekends soon proved to betoo much for Connie—she found herself

missing the freedom she had once enjoyedwith her home-based business. Undaunted,she arranged to find a new retail venue forFarrow, began the process of closing-out hershop, and turned all of her energies to hertrue passion: interior design.

You can find Connie wheeling aroundtown armed with a trunk load of samplesand innovative ideas…ready to throttle thenext project.

DEBBIE SLOAN DELADORA HOME 10344-134 Street • 989-5334Two years ago, Debbie arrived at del Adora

for a job interview and ended up buying thecompany. After spending 15 years as a stay-at-home-mom, she offered to work for freefor six months if the owners agreed to teachher the mechanics of running a store. Debbieobserved and learned; recognizing whereimprovements could be implemented andhow customer relations could be enhanced.She then purchased del Adora, and wentabout the business of putting her plans intoaction.

With a keen sense for quality merchandiseand impeccable presentation, Debbie hascreated a haven for customers seeking thefinest in linens, bedding, bath products,robes and fragrances. Classical musicgently drifts through her boutique.Debbie appreciates the value of her loyalstaff, giving her the freedom to go onbuying trips (I tracked her down inAtlanta), and the luxury of spendingquality time with her family.

This self-taught entrepreneur’s visionfor the future? Gear up and corner thelinen market in western Canada. ✔

Contact [email protected]

After the 9/11 tragedy, eventhe local catering scene tookenough of a nosedive that Gailfound herself re-inventing hercareer. But like a phoenix rising,she has emerged as strong asever with Seasonal SolutionsLoft Cooking Classes.

“One of my passions has beencooking from the age of five.It’s very nurturing, verytherapeutic. A year-and-a-half afterGourmet Goodies, I still loved food… andthe idea of cooking classes popped intomy head.”

In today’s fast paced society, we have awhole generation of young people relyingon fast food and take-out, instead ofcooking at home with friends or lovedones.

Gail, a big supporter of the slow foodmovement, says people need to rediscoverand take control over good, healthy mealsthat ultimately affect our health. “Peopleshould know what they’re eating, what’sgoing into their foods. We’re justbeginning to have an influence there.”

In addition to teaching brunch basicsthere are classes on soups and salads,dessert basics, and market fresh cooking—with a tour of the downtown Farmer’sMarket to pick ingredients.

But Gail doesn’t stop there. She doesfood consulting for the agriculture, foodand hospitality sectors. She’s also workingon an Alberta Industry Showcase at theSmithsonian Institute in Washington fromJune 30th to July 11th.

If this isn’t enough, our kitchen diva isleading a culinary tour of New Zealand inFebruary 2007. And to round out her busyschedule, Gail is working on a cookbook.

“I have enough recipes, I think it’s time.The challenge now is to find a focus. Ihave some interesting catering stories—people who shall remain nameless. Itwould make a great tie-in.”

Gail put me to work preparing a greatsalad that we shared with some friends.

CREOLE SALAD WITHREMOULADE DRESSING1/2 lb. bacon 2 tsp. salt1 tsp. black pepper 1/4 cup flour1/4 cup cornmeal 2 eggs, beaten8 slices tomato 1/2” thick

1 Tbs. onion powder 1 Tbs. garlic powder4 cups romaine lettuce-diced1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper1/2 cup remoulade dressingIn a heavy sauté pan, sauté the bacon untilcooked but not crisp.

While the bacon is cooking, combinecornmeal and seasoning in a mixing bowl.

Dip each tomato slice in flour, then eggwash and finally cornmeal blend.

Remove bacon from pan, and frytomato slices for 2 minutes each side overmedium heat. Handle gently so as not todisturb the coating on each piece.

Arrange lettuce in the centre of a saladplate, and drizzle with dressing. Top withbacon bits and place tomato pieces on top.

Serve while tomato and bacon arewarm. Serves four.

REMOULADE DRESSING1/4 cup red wine vinegar1 cup olive oil1/4 cup parsley chopped1/4 cup Creole mustard1/4 cup celery, diced fine1 Tbs. garlic, chopped1/2 cup green onions sliced thinly1 Tbs. paprikasalt and pepper to tasteIn a bowl, mix together the vinegar andmustard. Add the olive oil slowly,whisking until the three ingredients areblended well. Add the rest of theingredients.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

For more information about Gail’scooking classes, call: 437-0761. Forinformation about the New ZealandCulinary Tour, call Vanessa Ward at429-5960. ✔

Contact [email protected]

MenuMagicwith Chef John Berry

with Linda Bodohen we think of a diva of cooking inEdmonton, the name Gail Hallimmediately comes to mind.

Her first venture was Gourmet Goodies,a popular catering firm that she parlayed into a $3-million ayear business with 65 full-time staff and 35 part-time staff.

WW

Gail Hall, Chef John, George Brendin and his wife, Kerry Milligan.

Gail Hall, Chef John, George Brendin and his wife, Kerry Milligan.

Photo by Al Gerard

asten your seatbelt… it’s going to be a bumpy ride.I have spent the last 30 years navigating a circuitof hairpin turns and straight-aways from thecockpit of my business, constantly redefining my

role as an entrepreneur. FF

LIVELYlifestyles

Connie Jackson

Luxurious bedding and accessories

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Management buy-outsapproach with caution

Management buy-outs (MBO) are becomingmore widespread in light of our current marketconditions. There is an abundance of availablecapital and plenty of private equity groups readyand willing to back management groups thatcan’t finance the buy-out on their own. MBOsprovide managers with an opportunity to owntheir own business, but there are risks associatedwith this process and extreme caution should beexercised before embarking on this course. Oncethe process is started it is very difficult to stopand if you do change course you can easilyalienate key employees.

When management groups do not havesufficient equity to finance the purchase throughtraditional means, they often expect theassistance of the owner in closing. Typically thevendor will carry part of the cost as a vendortake back, subordinated to all the third partyfinancing. There is usually an expectation thatthe owner will discount the price to theemployees in recognition of their hard work anddedication. There may also be an expectationthat the owner pay extraordinary bonuses to thekey employees, that they in turn can apply asequity in financing the purchase.

In our experience the best deal was an ownerwho asked for a million dollars for a businessthat was worth considerably more and toldmanagement to pay him at a rate of $100,000per year for ten years. In another, the owner seta selling price far beyond the market value of thebusiness. Although this precluded managementfrom getting initial financing, they agreed to paythe price on the condition that closing bedelayed and all distributions paid during thisperiod be deducted from the price. Managementwas extremely successful in operating thecompany and consequently the distributionswere significant. When the time came to close,the outstanding purchase price was modestcompared to the company’s performance andthe deal was easily financed. A win win for all. Inanother case, the employees were reluctant toclose. After initial discussions with the owner andmore involvement in the process, considerationssuch as debt, personal guarantees and nervousspouses put them off. This left them in a positionof trying to tell the owner, without offending orseeming disloyal, that they did not want tocontinue.

MBOs provide many advantages includingmore confidentiality than a sale to an outsidebuyer, flexibility, good public relations in themarketplace, reduced competition andintegration issues but there are many factors tobe considered. If you are thinking of selling toyour employees we would welcome theopportunity to share our experience and discussthe process with you. Please [email protected] or call us to arrange aconfidential meeting. For more informationabout Foundation Group, please visit our websiteat www.foundationgroup.ca.

Stephen W. Kent, CA(780) 448-9099

ACQUISITIONS, DIVESTITURES & CORPORATE FINANCE

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Edmontonians Apr06