Valuemed Celebrates 30 Years The company launched when the world was changing, but then it turned the tables and challenged what the industry could be. by Nerissa McNaughton
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aluemed Professional Products Ltd. was born on the cusp of a changing world, and thanks to visionary Candi Johnson, president and COO, the company flexed, adapted and thrived. Now, 30 years since its humble home office beginnings, Valuemed is a growing Canadian manufacturer and distributor of top-of-the-line healthcare products and equipment for the entire continuum of medical, dental and alternate healthcare professions. Operating from a 30,000 square foot distribution facility in Edmonton, and with warehouse and branches in Saskatchewan and Ontario, the company’s 40 employees work to deliver products quickly to any location in Canada, including very rural communities and major urban centres. From diagnostic, treatment and interventional products, to coffee and tea, Valuemed is the one-stop-shop supplier that pairs premier products with outstanding support and customer service. “I founded Valuemed in 1988 because I had been working with a variety of different health care related companies and loved the business. I believed I could build it and used the opportunity to start with supplying examination gloves to the healthcare market when those became an essential tool in infection prevention,” says Candi. “I was working fulltime, but I took an
opportunity and started the company by working on it during the evenings and weekends. I was never afraid of hard work or change, and failure was not an option.” Remember, this was the ’80s. Not only was the internet non-existent (the primary communication mode was a landline telephone and a fax machine), the expectation for women with young children was to go into established marketing models, not to build something from nothing and then compete for clients and product distribution rights. But Candi’s vision quickly paid off. Within months, she opened a warehouse, and in 1993, her husband Wayne joined Valuemed fulltime. “There was a lot of shipping, receiving, box moving, paperwork – things that we just couldn’t get done on evenings and weekends anymore,” explains Candi. Wayne’s fulltime commitment was the beginning of what morphed into a family company. Their son Chris joined the company fulltime in sales in 2003 and today, he works as the sales director. The company has seen many periods of very rapid growth: a major location change and an expansion into the
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Valuemed Professional Products Ltd.
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hospital business in 2005, a company acquisition in Saskatchewan in 2013, the launch of Valuemed branded products in 2012, and a distribution centre in Ontario along with another major 1,500 product line increase in 2016. Valuemed now serves organizations across the country on national contracts with equipment and supplies.
those who want to meet in person and people who want to do it all online through EDI,” says Chris. “We recognise that. In our marketing and in our service, we do it all. We offer all those mediums to our clients and to our staff. We have team members that are skilled in generating online services, and we have others that are at their best face to face.”
“Entrepreneurs work a lot,” admits Candi. “I work many hours, but when I want my largest smile, I just look at my three grandchildren: Willa, Peyton and Declan.”
Chris continues, “We value our customers and want to make working with us as efficient as possible. That’s why we have these options. We are here to serve the customer, and if the customer wants someone to phone or visit them every week, or if they want to email or order online, we want to offer that.”
“Valuemed has endured much during a very changing marketplace and time,” continues Candi. “If you think about what’s happened in the last 30 years, many people wouldn’t even know what it was like to work on manual accounting systems or to rely on a fax machine. In small business, a lot of things were not computerized. Wayne moved us into technology. For a small family business, that was a big feat to take on.” Valuemed continues to rise to the challenge as technology changes. A major benefit of launching in the pre-tech world is the ability to span the needs of every client. As Chris explains, “The new tech out there (social media, etc.) brings new opportunities and new ways to get your message out. There aren’t just one or two channels anymore.” However, many people still use that fax machine! Why? Because today it’s still an easy and still effective way to communicate. “There are people who want to use print media, those who want to use digital media, people who want to talk on the phone,
From stuffing envelopes and mailing flyers from the kitchen table, the agile company now routinely consults with professionals, planners, nurses, physicians, dentists, builders, managers, contractors and architects to help them outfit their hospitals, surgical suites, or practices with the products and equipment Valuemed supplies. It is the service and product training that Valuemed offers that gives its clients complete confidence and long-term relationships. Valuemed was recognized with the National Distribution Company largest sales growth award in 2013. “We won the overall award for North America!” says Chris. “This Canadian company, against all those American distributors in that giant market!” For Candi, the awards, the 30 years, expanding to serve the national healthcare market, having her family join Valuemed, the
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Medicom would like to Congratulate Valuemed on their 30th anniversary!
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