November 2013 by Brandon Chamber of Commerce

November 2013 Inside this issue: GM’s Report New Members Events 2013 Save the Date Presidents Message Cont’d Member Expert Article

CHAMBER at a glance

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a publica on of the Brandon Chamber of Commerce

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Skills Crisis!

C fi ng.

risis is a strong word. However we at the Chamber believe that for our membership it is exactly

So all of the feedback from our membership and the rest of the country indicates the crisis, what do we do about it? All of this forms the impetus of the forma on for the Brandon Chamber Workforce Development Commi ee. Your board and execu ve have had many discussions on this topic over the past several months and we felt we needed to start somewhere to support our members in this top of mind issue. We felt that everyone was out there trying to do what they could for their own employee issues but maybe if we were to collec vely put our eﬀorts together we could accomplish more. This commi ee will be made up of HR professionals, small and large employers in Brandon, educators and others. No one in Brandon has put a group like this together in a room together with a view towards some common goals. Quite frankly many of them compete, either for contracts within the community or for like people resources, so ge ng everyone including our membership to agree that perhaps collabora ng will be more beneficial in the long term and to achieve greater goals will be the ini al focus.

Consider this, it’s es mated there will be 1.5 million skilled job vacancies in 2016, and 2.6 million by 2021 in Canada. Those are staggering numbers. Our membership, in our latest Business Climate Survey cited skilled labour as the largest business concern going forward, and the aforemen oned numbers do not hold promise of that changing for the next decade or three at least. This is not breaking news, nor is it unique to Brandon business. At the recent Canadian Chamber of Commerce Annual General Mee ng it was recognized that the key barrier to Canadian Business compe veness is the skills gap and the conference focus and policy resolu ons keyed in on this area. We had the opportunity to speak with dozens of Chamber representa ves from across the country and it is the common concern and barrier to growth. Remove the occurring and impending oil sector growth from the equa on and we would and will be in the same situa on, as the rest of the country is also indica ng. Add that oil sector growth back in and The commi ee is in its infancy, but in the situa on is only more exaspera ng. addi on to agreeing on the collabora on it has iden fied some key areas to focus

on. Craig Senchuk, Among those Chamber President are; be er communica on of needs to all educa on levels, advocacy on educa on, immigra on planning, coordina on of employers to recruit collabora vely, promo on of Brandon lifestyle, spousal employment ini a ves, be er access to students and ge ng employers engaged to name a few. We think that three key players; employers, government and educators, have and will con nue to play a role in developing solu ons to the situa on. The ini a ves will be far reaching and plen ful but consider just three of these involving the above stakeholders. Employers are and need to con nue to focus on up skilling their exis ng workforce. The labour market reality is that adjustments take me to affect supply of the workforce. Employers cannot afford to stand s ll and many are stepping up the efforts to close the skills (Con nued on page 6)

FROM THE DESK OF...

GM’S REPORT

Shop Brandon

e hear a lot about shopping “local” these days. In fact, in a consulta on session the chamber held last month, it was one of the issues that came up me a er me with the members in a endance. On-line shopping, cross border shopping, and big city shopping (i.e. Winnipeg) has a big impact on our local businesses and ul mately our community. S ll, local consumers are o en uniformed about the benefits of shopping local and the consequences of shopping outside Brandon. Many don’t realize how much local business contributes in money, me, and services to help be er their communi es. We know local businesses have a vested interest in our community’s future. They employ local workers, pay local taxes and are big contributors to local causes and community groups. They contribute hundreds or even thousands of dollars and man-hours to local sports groups or chari es each year. Without people patronizing their businesses, their ability to

contribute to these many community endeavours would diminish. Suppor ng local keeps dollars recycling in our local economy. As much as $.68 of every dollar spent locally returns to the community. When that money is spent elsewhere, it is lost to our local economy. By spending money here, those dollars stay here. The Chamber is commi ed to suppor ng our members and our local business community. We promote local every day to consumers who contact us seeking a business referral. Our membership directory is a great resource of local businesses and we regularly profile members through our various on-line and printed communica on tools. However, we wanted to do more to promote local business. The Chamber has gathered a group of local business owners and formed the ‘Shop Brandon’ taskforce to discuss how to get out the word about the importance of shopping locally and how local businesses

can be er promote the benefits of shopping at their business.

Carolynn Cancade, General Manager

While educa ng consumers to the general importance of shopping locally is important to ensuring local dollars are spent here, the commi ee wants to encourage businesses to explore the reasons why consumers should shop at their business. What sets you apart? Is it great customer service? Is it an exclusive product line? We will encourage you tell your story and what makes you be er in the coming days. Stay tuned. As said by Michael H. Shuman in Going Local "Going local does not mean walling oﬀ the outside world.” Most of us enjoy visi ng other areas both in the US and across Canada. In an ever growing on-line world, consumers have access to a mul tude of products. It is really about thinking local first. Buyers don’t have to shop local every me to make an impact, but we need to encourage our consumers to think diﬀerently and educate them on the real power of direc ng more of their dollars locally. Local business is the life of our community and the stronger local business is the stronger our community will be.

Carolynn Cancade General Manager Contact Carolynn by phone at 204-571-5342 or by email at gm@brandonchamber.ca

www.brandonchamber.ca

MEMBERSHIP

Welcome to our New Members member

SPOTLIGHT

A&L 201 Rosser Avenue Brandon, MB R7A 0J8 P: 204-727-5817 E: info@algetacƟve.com

Shane DeMasson represenƟng Prairie View Insurance Brokers Rob Starkell, owner / chief consultant at CloudWest Compu ng & Consul ng Canada, knows a thing or two about change. Whether talking about career moves that have taken him around the world (living and working in twelve ci es across eleven countries) or the many unique and diverse business projects that make up those 18 years of experience, change has been the only constant. “Change to me”, admits Rob, “is invigora ng! It keeps work fresh and helps to develop new skills. Yet, change is one of the largest problems encountered by businesses every day. Whether it is a small change to job descrip ons, or a major overall of a business’s manufacturing or service delivery processes, it always surprises me how much people resist change”. Prior to star ng CloudWest in Brandon (his hometown) this summer, Rob built a career around project management of large-scale business process changes for Kra Foods, Virgin Cola, Wyeth, and Pfizer Pharmaceu cals. Mainly these projects centered on new computer applica on developments, but also included more strategic projects around cost saving and cost elimina on.

Unit B– 510 1st Street Brandon, MB R7A 2X1 P: 204-720-4123 E: sdemasson@prairie-view.ca

Synergy Land Services Ltd. 1506 Park Avenue Brandon, MB R7A 1J4 P: 204-728-4400 E: gerrydavis@synergyland.ca

Human Resource Management AssociaƟon of Manitoba 1810– 275 Portage Avenue Winnipeg, MB R3B 2B3 P: 204-943-1109 E: admin@hrmam.org

Wine Adviser To garner success on a project, eﬀec ve change management is as important as delivering the scope of the project, and it starts at the beginning. Involving key stakeholders (not just management) up front is important in gaining support. It not only ensures their valuable input is considered, but also makes them part of the solu on, so it is harder to rally against the imminent changes. Rob’s new business, CloudWest Compu ng and Consul ng, focuses on the changing informa on technology landscape with what is commonly known as Cloud Compu ng. For more informa on on CloudWest, cloud compu ng, and other services oﬀered by Rob Starkell, please visit cloudwest.ca, or contact Rob directly at 204 724 4242.

750– 14th Street Brandon, MB R7A 4V3 P: 204-728-1126 E: wineadviser@wcgwave.ca

AssociaƟon of Fundraising Professionals, Manitoba Chapter P.O. Box 644,Stn. Main Winnipeg, MB R3C 2K3 P: 204-832-1512 E: whirlwind@shaw.ca

Rockhouse ConstrucƟon 35-14th Street North Brandon, MB R7A 2T5 P: 720-4620 E: tylerhay@gmail.com

Scinocca’s Corporate PromoƟons 320– 10th Street Brandon, MB R7A 7J8 P: 204-761-6279 E: jason@golĩrandon.com

www.brandonchamber.ca

EVENTS

Chamber Events 2013-2014 September WestJet Luncheon September 19, 2013 Mr. Ferio Pugliese, President of WestJet Encore addressed a crowd of approximately 330 chamber members on Thursday, September 19th. He commended Brandon for the level of engagement the business community has within the City, “We’re always impressed with the recep on we get in Brandon”. Ferio, shared WestJet’s plan for success within the Brandon area, and provided more informa on on the role local business can play in their success. Thank you to our major sponsor, Sunrise Credit Union, and also to our booth sponsor, the Brandon Regional Health Centre Founda on. Congratula ons to Lauren Hiltner of Western Financial Group who won the door prize donated by Sunrise Credit Union.

October Small Business Week Kickoﬀ Luncheon October 21, 2013 Manitoba Chambers of Commerce President & CEO, Mr. Chuck Davidson shared his vision for Small Business in Manitoba with the chamber membership at the Chamber Small Business Week Kickoﬀ Luncheon. The lunch marked the start of a week packed full of valuable workshops for local entrepreneurs and small business owners. Milestone anniversaries were celebrated at the luncheon, the Chamber would like to again congratulate the following businesses on their anniversaries:

x x x x x

Westoba Credit Union, 50 years Sunrise Credit Union, 5 years Raynor Bookkeeping, 25 years Walker Business Services, 10 years Cando Contrac ng, 35 years

x x x x

Crystal Hotel, 130 years Patmore Nurseries, 130 years Alterna ve Landscaping, 15 years Victoria Inn, 35 years

Thank you to our major sponsor, Entrepreneurship Manitoba, and our booth sponsor, The Brandon University Bobcats for their generosity. Ne e LePage of Westoba Credit Union was the lucky winner of Entrepreneurships fantas c door prize!

www.brandonchamber.ca

EVENTS

Top Le : October Luncheon booth sponsor, The Brandon University Bobcats. Top Right: Manitoba Chambers of Commerce President, Chuck Davidson with Brandon Chamber of Commerce President, Craig Senchuk at the October Small Business Week Kickoﬀ Luncheon. Bo om Le : Lauren Hiltner, from Western Financial Group won the door prize at our September Luncheon, donated by our major sponsor, Sunrise Credit Union. Bo om Right: Reg Helwer, MLA Brandon West poses with Mr. Ferio Pugliese, President of WestJet Encore.

B R A N D O N

C H A M B E R

O F

C O M M E R C E

P R A I R I E

M O U N T A I N

H E A L T H

16th Annual Best Boss Awards Congratula ons to Trevor Hallson of RBC, Royal Bank and Kevin Boyd of Career Connec ons Inc. Both were named 2013’s Best Bosses on October 9th, 2013. The Brandon Chamber of Commerce and Mental Health Services Brandon would like to thank everyone who sent in their nomina ons, and made the event a success!

Congratulations!

THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2014 Help us in making this year’s Annual Dinner another great success! Contact the Chamber for more information on sponsorship opportunities. 204-571-5344 or external@brandonchamber.ca

@BdnChamber www.brandonchamber.ca

Save The Date 5

Working for you... (Con nued from page 1) gap with focus on their exis ng employees. Employers need to rethink and reconsider their role in the training, learning and development of employees. This is diﬃcult for many SME’s when cost, me and lack of human resource capacity are key challenges, however the need to develop exis ng employees will become an ever increasing business impera ve. Merely hiring or immigra ng the right skilled person for the job will not always be an op on. We are going to need to apply the same energy and resources to people planning as to designing our business strategies.

diverse needs of businesses based on sectors and regions. x

days for an on -site MBA program. The point is that educa on wants to respond to the community needs but we need to communicate those needs. Perrin Bea y, Many small businesses will not be able to apply for the program because Canadian Chamber President has been they cannot aﬀord to pay the fee per telling members “Pick up the phone and worker and they are the ones most in call a post-secondary ins tu on, or be er s ll, visit your local campus. need of assistance.

Obviously the problems we have; growing economies with need for more employees, versus the alterna ve is a x Businesses need less barriers and great situa on even with the future skills regula on, not more, to manage the gap exis ng now and looming. There is no situa on. silver bullet solu on to improving the picture. A comprehensive response will The medium and longer term solu ons involve government, the educa onal include be er collabora on with educa onal ins tu ons. This comes from system and most importantly employers. both a group perspec ve and direct This commi ee which is being established employer involvement. We con nue to for the needs of the next decades will be have more collabora on from the playing a key role in cra ing that Brandon Chamber with ACC and BU. We response. also cannot start too early and will con nue to work through our commi ee with BSD. Employers also have a role to play. There are hundreds of examples of how an enterprise has worked with an Craig Senchuk, President ins tu on to meet their specific needs. The University of Waterloo was born from Brandon Chamber of Commerce It will duplicate provincial programs, crea ng more bureaucracy.

Where the government’s role ends and an employer’s job begins is somewhat a grey area when it comes to solving the problem of the right skills for the jobs available, but it cannot be argued that government does not aﬀect the situa on. At the AGM, the Canadian Chamber passed a resolu on that the federal government, instead of implemen ng its own Canada Job Grant program, nego ate with the provincial governments to renew labour market agreements that are set to expire in 2014. While the Chamber supports the objec ves of the ini a ves to encourage industry pu ng it together based on a Craig can be reached at hiring and on the job training, we feel the specific need. The University of New implementa on of the program presents Brunswick developed a program in just 90 president@brandonchamber.ca several drawbacks, in par cular: x

It fails to take into account the

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MEMBER EXPERT Closing the SoŌ Skills Gap

company’s internal rate of return and bo om line. We are only star ng to see a small glimpse of the 2020 skilled labour shortage, which already has companies crying for the right people. Many companies are already having to hire lowskilled workers to fill skilled posi ons. Without adequate so skills, there will be a limited or convoluted transfer of knowledge from the highly skilled workers that are climbing the ladder or the mul tude of Baby Boomers that are preparing to re re; knowledge that might otherwise be lost. When inves ng in training for your people, you want to ensure they have the tools necessary to accept and understand the informa on rapidly, accurately and easily. You want them to be able to retain and use the We can point fingers and blame as to why there has been a decline, we can choose to informa on and pass it on to others in put blinders on and fail to acknowledge the order obtain a prosperous, sustainable problem, we can even argue that so skills outcome. should be taught in schools or postsecondary ins tu ons OR we can focus on Think your company is too small to be considered at risk or to find benefit? 98% of resolving the issue that is dras cally businesses in Canada have less than 100 affec ng today’s workforce. employees. Around 5 million people work So skills seem to have taken a back seat to in small enterprises or about half the technical skills, yet they are the core factor private-sector labour force. Investment in skills could bring a 1390% return on in employee engagement, reten on, investment over 5 years for the economy as quality leadership and posi ve morale. All a whole. of which have a huge impact on a ou may have read several of my ar cles pertaining to the shortage of so skills, the need for leadership skills or the requirement of quality workers. You may have reviewed the numerous papers published by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and other research firms and individuals regarding the labour shortage and desperate cry for increased training of workers. To summarize, over the past many years there has been a decline in necessary skills such as Communica on, Cri cal Thinking and Mo va on. These are just few of the so (essen al) skills that are required to perform organiza onal roles effec vely and at peak efficiency.

Canadian Investment trends show that the training investment per employee, in current dollars, has dropped from $1,116 in 1993 to $688 in 2010. That is a 38% reduc on. How is this solving the problem? I respect that business owners want to save money, but inves ng in your labour force has a greater chance of a higher return than most stocks. Savvy business people realize that training their workforce in so /essen al skills has benefits beyond loyalty, reten on, engagement, a rac ng the right employees and crea ng a posi ve work culture; there is also great monetary gain and a compe ve advantage. Closing the gap is simple; be proac ve and train your people now! There are quality training providers closer than you think, ones that have viable solu ons that oﬀer flexibility to fit your specific needs. Contact one now and see how they can assist you in crea ng posi ve results and increase your success…before it is too late. By Charlo e Larocque, CHRP, Master Prac

oner/ Coach, Master ius Opes Trainer Spirit Staﬃng & Consul ng Brandon Inc. and ius Opes Training Center Charlo e can be reached at charlo e@spiritstaﬃng.com