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W e d n e s d a y, F e b r u a r y 4 , 2 0 1 5 ED M O N T O N J O URNA L e d m o n t o n j o u r n a l . c o m
CAPITAL IDEAS c apital id e a se dm o nto n .c o m
P R O J E C T L E A D E R : K A R E N U N L A N D , 7 8 0 - 4 2 9 - 5 2 6 0; k a r e n @ c a p i t a l i d e a s e d m o n t o n . c o m
COMMUNITY QUESTION:
UPCOMING:
What has your company done to 11 be involved with your community? Entrepreneurs share how they give back
FEB
Learn from Alberta’s Best
FEB
Alberta’s Best — Nominee Reception
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CAPITAL IDEAS Brandon Scott, co-founder of Benchmark Mortgages Inc. (benchmarkmortgages.com), says that it’s all about sharing the love. “In addition to our ongoing corporate support for the Alberta Cancer Foundation, we love to showcase the great local businesses in the communities our clients call home. We feature local businesses in our newsletters and on our social media pages. It’s a small way we can thank them for making Edmonton and the surrounding areas so special, and it’s how we stay connected to the people in the communities we work in.” PHOTO SUPPLIED BY: BRANDON SCOTT
“I personally sit on the Chamber of Commerce board, vice-chair the Downtown Business Association board, and sit on various other boards and committees. My business partner, Ronda Nedelec, is currently the president of Kids Up Front and also sits on multiple boards and committees in the city ... We love and support anyone on our team that supports the wonderful city that we live and work in!” — Alyson Hodson, president and CEO of Zag Creative — zagcreative.ca
“Community is a main stakeholder for the locally owned Chateau Lacombe Hotel … Whether it be sorting clothes at the Mustard Seed, peeling carrots at Meals on Wheels, soliciting funds for the CBC Turkey Drive, serving at Operation Friendship, donating to Homeless Connect, or even cleaning up litter from the neighbourhood, we appreciate the opportunity to give back to our great city.” — Sherry Parker, director of sales and marketing for The Chateau Lacombe Hotel — chateaulacombe.com
“Park Power supports local charities through our Community Partner Program, which donates 10 per cent of its profits to our partners. As the face of my company, I am a conscious capitalist and support communitybased groups and initiatives. I believe in making positive contributions to both local capital and social economies through Park Power.” — Kris Kasawski, principal at Park Power — parkpower.ca
“Each year, we fundraise and participate in the Easter Seals Drop Zone in support of Alberta Easter Seals, our charity of choice. Other annual contributions include participation in the TRAC 10K, Hockey Helps the Homeless, and we never say no to requests for donations to charities involving children.” — Faith Grant, president of Rejuvenation Health Services Inc. — rejuvenationhealth.ca
“Our staff are encouraged to participate in the community, and do so by serving on boards of various not-for-profit organizations, volunteering their time to organizations, donating blood to Canadian Blood Services, or donating to the office charity of the week. On a corporate basis, Grant Thornton LLP makes a donation to Santas Anonymous instead to sending cards and gifts to clients at Christmas. The Ronald McDonald House and Make-A-Wish Foundation are also recipients of financial support. The Grant Thornton Foundation has also been established and donates to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada, Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada, and Breakfast Club of Canada.” — Rick Martens, senior manager at Grant Thornton LLP — grantthornton.ca “I have become involved in the Edmonton Task Force on Poverty. As someone who has lived in poverty for most of my life, it’s important to me that we start doing real work towards ending it. It is my belief that ending poverty will only help our economy to grow, and help our society to realize new opportunities.” — Deirdre StLuke, corporate storyteller at Deirdre StLuke “We’re part of an incredible organization that does so much to support local initiatives. Being an Alberta-based financial institution, we have the services of a big bank, however, all our profits stay right here in our province so we can support arts initiatives like Symphony In The City and the Fringe, all the way to sporting events like the Tour of Alberta and the ATB Golf Classic that put Alberta on the map.” — Desmond Chow, senior financial advisor at ATB Securities Inc. — is.atb.com/poitraschow “Working as a freelancer with BE3Designs, I was able to facilitate the Edmonton chapter of Ladies Learning Code in an effort to help teach beginner-friendly computer programming to our community.” — Bree Emmerson, owner of BE3Designs — be3designs.ca “I’m proud of my advertising agency team and their commitment. Five of our team members are on boards in our community, and our agency is a sponsor of Compassion House Foundation and volunteers our services to this great cause.” — James Morrissey, principal of The Met Agency Advertising — themetagency.com
“Our employees are actively involved with several not-for-profits by sitting on boards, donating time and money, and promoting these causes as we are able.” — Earl Shindruk, president of Optimax Benefits — optimaxbenefits.ca “Community involvement is not an activity that happens separately from core operations. Every move a company makes impacts its community, for better or for worse. Hiring, firing, marketing and procurement are all hugely socially powerful. My business would be classified as a social enterprise by most, but I wonder why we allow any business to survive if it doesn’t serve a social purpose.” — Nadine Riopel, founder of The Savvy Do Gooder — nadineriopel.com “We offer ‘unity spin classes’ as a way to encourage our clients and the public to fund raise for charity initiatives. Earning 50 per cent of the proceeds, it allows them to offer their supporters a unique method of fundraising, and helps create a sense of teamwork when they join together for a motivating and challenging spin class.” — Jordan Law, owner of Spinunity Cycle Studio — spinunity.ca “We have a branch called Soothing Spaces that does room makeovers for sick children. We have done the fundraising and found volunteers for a local boy, and we work with Make-A-Wish to grant the wishes of children in their program. It is incredible to be able to create a soothing room for a child, where he or she can be happy and fun-loving.” — Heather Plante, founder and director of Soothing Angels — soothingangels.ca “Through the years, I’ve involved myself in many areas of my community. I’ve served with the Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, Victim Services Unit, Ag Society, and also served as a councilor for the Town of Morinville. I’ve found that by giving back, you can give in ways that money can’t. We also donate to countless organizations every year and are proud to do so!” — Sheldon Fingler, CEO of Infinite Event Services — infiniteeventservices.com This question was posed by Daniel Dromarsky, capital partner at Enviro-Plus Business Services Corp (enviro-plus.ca), as part of our Community Question series. To submit a business question of your own, visit capitalideasedmonton.com/ask.
Alberta Women Entrepreneurs’ full-day program for entrepreneurs who want to take their businesses to the next level Where: Shaw Conference Centre (9797 Jasper Ave.) When: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission: $150 to $175. Tickets at aweinspiringentrepreneurs.com
FEB
An event to honour AWE’s 2015 Celebration of Achievement Award nominees Where: Shaw Conference Centre (9797 Jasper Ave.) When: 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Admission: $60 to $75. Tickets at aweinspiringentrepreneurs.com
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“Welcoming the Sheep” 2015 Lunar New Year Gala A celebration encouraging businesses in Edmonton to support cultural diversity from all four corners of the city. Where: Chateau Lacombe (10111 Bellamy Hill) When: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Admission: $98, or $788 for table of 8. Tickets at neba.ca
For more great events, visit capitalideasedmonton.com/edmontonevents.
“We focus on building beautiful infill housing in McCauley. We include homeless people through the Bissell Centre to work on the homes as much as possible, and we help the neighbours clean up their own yards and fix their fences. We leave all recycling in front neatly for easy pickup, and don’t allow sharp or dangerous objects in bins in case anyone falls in. Being extra nice to our homeless community is a site rule!” — Evelina Mannarino, CEO of Evelina Developments Inc. — EvelinaDevelopments.com “We are super-involved with our community; from our annual commitment to providing a pro bono website to a worthy charity or community event, to staff individually volunteering for organizations, we believe in helping make Edmonton a great place to live and play.” — Nyssa Cromwell, digital marketing consultant at Nyche Marketing — nychemarketing.com “We offer several options to our team members, including paid work days that they could use towards helping a charity. We match donations to organizations like United Way, and we also sit on various non-profit boards like the Stollery, University Hospital Foundation, and Kids Kottage. There are so many ways to engage the community and help, which is not only rewarding for the team, but great for building goodwill and customer appreciation.” — Ashif Mawji, CEO of NPO Zero — npozero.com
CAPITAL QUESTION: What have you done to increase your customer base? A business doesn’t survive without growing, and that means expanding the market for your goods or services. With that in mind, Wellington Holbrook, executive vicepresident of ATB Business, would like to hear from you: What have you done to increase your customer base? You can answer the question in two ways: • Open today’s Capital Ideas email if you’re a member, or • Visit capitalideasedmonton.com We’ll publish the best answers, along with your business name and website address, on Feb. 11. For more great information on what business owners in Alberta think, visit atb.com/businessbeat.
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