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VOL.XVII NO.3

MARCH 2006

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Edmonton AIRPORTS The

Big Spoke

in this hub Viruses rare/Michetti • New from Toronto/Reiniger • Monitoring breakthrough/Wegmann-Sanchez Reg Milley President & CEO

pompous & unfair FUNNY

The naked truth Birthdays, boobs, and book launches

By Muggsy Forbes

T

he award for raciest book launch

of the season goes to Maren Corner. The internationally recognized stylist and businesswoman presides over Networks Corp, a salon and day-spa around the corner from Earl’s Tin Palace. It’s from this palette-palace that the selfconfessed décor junkie tests her latest whimsies. In 1999, this magazine included Maren as part of a feature on dining for the millennium. She used ancient tomes for place settings and individual herb baskets with small scissors so guests could flavour their own plates. A few years later, her Marilyn Monroe table won best tablescape at the annual Fashion for Compassion fundraiser.

Birthday boy Sine got bussed by Dwayne Samycia

has been a pillar of the Mormon Church for many years—he got the call in 1962. Recently, the couple has been operating the Edmonton Employment Resource Centre, a church sponsored employment agency for young people on Whyte Avenue. They served as the directors for three years. Cec says he had a moment of idiocy when he agreed to help his son-in-law with his potato harvest in Washington. He still has nightmares about trying to back up a semi-trailer.

Cec’s granddaughter, Raquel Russo, called him from London where she was working as a nanny. The 19-year old was touring Buckingham Palace when she saw an amazing sight. She looked behind an artifact and her mouth dropped open. There on the wall was a picture of her grandfather presenting a gift to Queen Elizabeth on behalf of the city. How many people do you know who have a photo hanging in Buckingham Palace? Now you know one. The Purvis’s are a great family.

man’s shoes. Before you know it, he’ll be at the annual meeting of Imperial Equities (Sine’s company) rattling off all the reasons to buy shares. Sine’s kids shared some of his many idiosyncrasies: Never trust him in control of a boat—ask him about the story.

Among the well-wishers were much-awarded developer Greg Christenson, Nancy Power, Ted Power, Graham Hicks, Neil and Jean Wilkinson and Phil Klien who held court.

My friends are getting older. Liz Clark just turned 60 a couple of weeks ago. She’s the better looking

Olivia Butti, Liz and Dr. Ollie

Lost another old buddy. Ken Newman passed away a few weeks ago. He was mayor of Jasper Place from 1957 to 1964—the last one before amalgamation.

Ken held many jobs… I think it was a toss up between being a cowboy and mayor as his favourite. We hunted together for many years: ducks, prairie chickens, pheasants among other game. Ken never really got over being a cowboy; he walked kinda bowlegged, talked slow and thoughtful, with a great sense of humor. The kind of guy you want to spend a glorious autumn day with.

Left to right: Tammy, Ivette, Linda, Brianna and Roberta were body-painted by Maren, seated, and photographed by John Lypian.

I was surprised as anyone when I read that

Had a chance to grab lunch with Edmonton’s

Person’s unknown played a good joke on Sine

former mayor Cec Purvis and catch up on our lives. He was mayor from 1977 to 1983, and alderman from 1966 to 1974. We’ve known each other for many years, and thanks to him I got to meet the Queen, take the inaugural flight on British Airways to London, and visit NORAD under a mountain in Utah. All memorable because Cec and wife Clare are such good traveling companions. Cec

Chadi. A while back, his picture was in the Journal’s Sunday birthday section with the number 65 under it.

Very nice except that Sine is only 50. Although it was corrected a couple of weeks ago, wife Sehan and friends conjured up a party at Sorrentino’s downtown to make up for the joke. The evening was emceed by Sine’s youngest son; 11-year old Allen has to be following in the old

©2004, 2005 Scott Kay, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All images and logos are trademarks of Scott Kay, Inc.

Now Maren has published her own book titled, No Gluing & Screwing, none of Martha’s doing! It’s a 90page glossy how-to for the novice creator. And she’s outdone herself this time with an inspiration for her cover page…the body-painted model named Linda matches the dresser. Her book comes equipped with a body-painting guide for the adventurous—like these topless young ladies who graced her book launch last month. Oh-la-la.

Seemed like more men than usual were absorbed in the idea of decorating, as well.

Northlands Park had changed the name of Klondike Days to Capital Ex. I’ve been a Northlands shareholder for a lot of years and hadn’t even had a note about the change.

As far as I know, none of us was notified—goes to show where shareholders fit. Maybe they were trying to sneak the change past us. When I saw the blurb about Edmonton’s Capital Ex, I thought the name was about as exciting as a prostate operation.

K-Days never got to be an internationally recognized event, but I have my doubts Capital Ex will do much better. The new name doesn’t set it apart from hundreds of exhibitions in Canada. As an entertainment venue it may do well, but you’re only as good as your last big show. I’m concerned.

half of a well known volunteer couple. Don and Liz have been involved in many of the city’s most successful fundraisers. As you can see from the picture, taken by good old Jim Tustian, the elderly know how to have a lot of fun. Now that she’s getting on and has given up her exercise business, Liz has equipment for sale. Check it out at http://www.setyourpace.ca/Equipment.htm. Then call 780.481.3390 or e-mail successforyou@shaw.ca

I enjoyed Paula Simons’ Journal column on Guys and Dolls, produced by the late Joe Shoctor in 1960. Her dad Norm was a member of the cast. I knew every person mentioned in her piece, and worked with all of them at one time or another. I thought I was probably in it. So I started calling around: Paula said she heard I might have been in it; Norm didn’t know; Ginny Vogel, the choregrapher, couldn’t remember but at least said I should have been. So I’m sending out this SOS. Can anyone remember me in the show? Just e-mail or call me please. You’ll help someone with a failing memory and I’m not even that old yet. ✔ Additional reporting by Edmontonians’ staff.

Call Muggsy Forbes at 780.482.4545 or e-mail mforbes@edmontonians.com

Scott Kay Vintage Platinum Collection EDMONTONIANS MARCH 2006

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Poll

CELEBRATING

17

STATION T

YEARS

With Linda Banister

he winds of change are blowing strongly in Canada in 2006. In late November last year, Canadians were told they would once again be hitting the polls in early 2006, the first winter election campaign since 1980.

Throughout December and January, the federal parties rallied to gain support. In the end, it was Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party who would topple the Liberals’ 12-year reign and secure a minority government. This month we asked Edmontonians for their thoughts on the recent election and on the future issues facing the Conservatives and Canada.

FOUNDER DICK MacLEAN

MARCH 2006

Vol. XVII

No. 3

SHARON MacLEAN Publisher and Advertising Director Telephone: 780.482.7000 Fax: 780.488.9317 e-mail: info@edmontonians.com edmontonians.com

INSIDE FUNNY, POMPOUS AND UNFAIR About birthdays/Forbes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

INSIDE TORONTO Top spots/Reiniger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS Japanese connection/Wegmann-Sanchez . . . . . . . .5 FEATURE Flight plath/Brost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Air Mikisew soars/Donaldson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 CAANA/Donaldson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

DID YOU VOTE IN THE LAST FEDERAL ELECTIONS? 92% Percentage

POLL STATION Federal election/Banister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

CORPORATE ETHICS Building equity/Somji . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

8%

MAKING MONEY You ain’t seen nothing yet/Hiebert . . . . . . . . . . . .11

BIZINTEL Science and Tech/Croucher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Media Minute/Hogle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 BizIT/Michetti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Civic Buzz/Norwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 LIVELY LIFESTYLES Menu Magic/Berry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Absolute Bodo/Bodo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 BARB DETERS Editor

editor@edmontonians.com COLUMNISTS Linda Banister Linda Bodo Cheryl Croucher Muggsy Forbes Ron Hiebert Bruce Hogle Greg Michetti W. Daniel Mothersill David Norwood Carissa Reiniger Nizar J. Somji Jessica Wegmann-Sanchez FEATURE WRITERS Les Brost Murray Donaldson Peter Drake McHugh Michael O’Toole Marg. Pullishy Peter Roccia PHOTOGRAPHERS Linda Bodo Terry Bourque Cheryl Croucher Barb Deters Ed Ellis Gordon Henderson GRAPHIC PRODUCTION Rage Studios Inc. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Michetti Information Solutions Inc.

THIS MONTH’S COVER

Indicated that they hadn’t voted in the federal election.

First, respondents were asked if they had voted on January 23rd, 2006. The majority of respondents eligible to vote (92 percent) indicated they had placed their vote in the ballot box, significantly higher than the national average of 65 percent. Those who did not cast their ballot indicated they were either ill, out of town, out of time, uninformed or uninterested in the campaign.

Next, respondents were asked if they had voted in the 2004 election. Similar to national results, when a record low 60 percent of eligible voters turned up at the polls, significantly fewer respondents (80 percent) indicated they had voted two years ago.

WERE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE RESULTS? Percentage

BUSINESS WITHOUT BORDERS Angle funding/Mothersill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Indicated that they voted in the federal election.

63% 25% 12% Indicated they were satisfied with the results of the election

Indicated they were not satisfied with the results of the election

Indicated they were unsure

The majority of respondents (63 percent) indicated they were satisfied with the outcome of the 2006 federal election, while 25 percent said they were not satisfied and 12 percent were unsure. Those who were satisfied said they felt this way because they supported the Conservative party (36 percent), felt it was time for a change in

government (34 percent), disagreed with the policies and conduct of the Liberals (11 percent), and felt the outcome represented the views of the nation (nine percent). On the other hand, those who were dissatisfied with the election’s outcome would have preferred another party to have won (46 percent), were concerned about the policies and political stances of the Conservatives (12 percent), or were just not interested in politics (eight percent). Interestingly, 23 percent of those dissatisfied felt this way because they would have preferred the Conservatives secured a majority government.

Almost half of all respondents (45 percent) felt the Conservative minority government would serve a similar term as the Liberals before them, that is, one to two years. Nine percent said they would last less than one year, while 14 percent felt they would survive three to four years, and 21 percent said they would last a full term. When asked how well they thought the Liberals would be as the official opposition, 44 percent said they would do a very or somewhat good job, while 13 percent were indifferent, and 32 percent felt they would do a poor job.

WHAT ARE THE PRIORITY NATIONAL ISSUES? Finally, respondents were asked what major national issues they would like to see the Conservatives tend to while in office. Health care was the overwhelming choice among Edmontonians as 63 percent felt this was a major issue for the Conservatives to confront.

Addressing education (33 percent), taxes and the GST (29 percent), trade relations with the U.S. (23 percent) and the environment (18 percent) were also mentioned frequently by respondents as major issues. ✔

Executive Welcome Do you know of an executive who is new to Edmonton, recently joined a company or newly promoted? If so, let Cecile Lupul help them find their way around the city’s business community.

Call Cecile Lupul today: Phone/fax: 780.922.6413 E-mail: cglupul@hotmail.com

“

”

Linda Banister is a certified management consultant and the owner of Banister Research and Consulting Inc., a full service provider of market research and program evaluation services.

If you have a question you would like included in the Edmontonians Poll, contact Linda at 780.451.4444 or e-mail at lbanister@edmontonians.com. For further information on the firm visit www.banister.ab.ca.

Reg Milley President and CEO, Edmonton Airports Cover photo by Terry Bourque Published by 399620 Alberta Ltd. on the first day of each month at 333, 10240 - 124 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5N 3W6. ©All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Manuscripts: must be accompanied by a stamped, selfaddressed envelope. Edmontonians is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts.

All stories Copyright ©Edmontonians Publications Mail Agreement No. 40023292 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation Department 333, 10240 - 124 Street Edmonton, AB T5N 3W6 Email: info@edmontonians.com

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Inside Toronto with Carissa Reiniger

A

fter moving to Toronto from

Edmonton almost two years ago, I felt a bit like a fish out of water. For the first time in my life, I didn’t know exactly what to wear, where to go for lunch, or how to get from point A to point B. When doing business, these are things you need to do with confidence. Since then, I have learned the ins and outs of Toronto life: the restaurants of choice, the ideal meeting spots, the media to call to get a story out.

It would be great to see many more Edmontonians not only doing business in Toronto, but feeling confident as they go about it.

This new monthly column will give you my insider’s scoop on how to navigate the Toronto scene—and look like you’ve been doing it for years. To be more effective at bridging the Edmonton-Toronto gap, we need to know exactly how to use Toronto’s resources to our advantage.

There are more independent one-off restaurants here than anyone can keep track of. Torontonians eat out all the time and where you’ve been lately is always on the agenda for water cooler talk. For both business and social purposes, in a city like Toronto, your restaurant of choice sends an important message.

So… you’re in TO and planning to take a client out— where do you go? These are my top picks: Kit Kat—an Italian restaurant known for great and reasonably priced food. I have been many times… dinner for two is about $50. The ambiance is trendy but casual; dress is business casual. This is ideal for a client you have known for a while or a prospect who is more casual. 297 King Street West, 416-977-4461; and 117 John Street, 416977-8890, toll-free at 1-800-513-9633. Contact: Johnny Carbone. kitkattoronto.com Jump—the power lunch destination right downtown.

Lunch or dinner, I’ve always been impressed. The price point is mid-level and the food is quite good. The staff is more formal, but very good at their jobs. This is ideal for a client you’re trying to impress just a bit. Commerce Court East, 18 Wellington Street East (west of Yonge), 416-363-3400. jumpcafe.com

The Foggy Dew—I discovered this pub very close to my condo.

With a huge wrap around patio, this is the perfect place to go for a beer at the end of a summer day.

Located in one of the up and coming trendy neighborhoods, the price point is low, the food is good, the patio is great. 803 King Street West, 416-703-4042. foggydew.ca George—the place for high expense accounts and your best suit.

Count on a dinner for two to cost about $300.

Known to be one of the best in Toronto, choosing George is guaranteed to garner you a bit of respect.

111 Queen Street East, 416-863-6006. georgeonqueen.com The Social—the scene of many trendy events lately. If you have to fill a couple of hours after dinner, you’ll want to head here to check out the crowd. In typical TO fashion, this used to be an old, kind of desolate area. Quickly becoming popular, this bar is changing the tone of the neighbourhood dramatically. 1100 Queen Street West, 416-532-4474. thesocial.ca Sassafraz—is where you’ll find the who’s who of Toronto. Right in the heart of Yorkville, it’s a popular place to spot celebrities during the Toronto Film Festival. With a price point that won’t break your budget—dinner for two is about $100—it’s worth checking out once to see if it suits you. 100 Cumberland Street, 416-964-2222. sassafraz.ca

Terroni—a great casual lunch or dinner location. Jeans are entirely appropriate, but it is not uncommon to see a suit. This place will make you think differently about pizza forever.

There are a couple of locations and I have never met anyone who does not love the restaurant. 720 Queen Street West, 416-504-0320, 1 Balmoral Avenue, 416-925-4020; and 106 Victoria Street, 416-9550258. terroni.ca Mr. Greek Mediterranean Grill—ideal for those of you staying near the airport. I had dinner there with Rick Bronson of Edmonton’s The Comic Strip a couple of months ago. I can honestly say that I have never been to a restaurant with more friendly staff.

The food was really good, the service was great and the price point was low. Various locations. mrgreek.com Czehoski—right in the heart of Queen West. And the chef is making headlines all over Toronto. This tiny restaurant has a very authentic, cozy atmosphere, and food that will beat anything else you’ve tasted. A great place to take a client for a late dinner. 678 Queen Street West, 416-366-6787. czehoski.com So, next time you make a trip out East, offer to pick the meeting spot. Everyone in Toronto is impressed by someone who knows where the hot spots are. ✔ Do you have a Toronto question?

Contact: carissa@edmontonians.com Carissa Reiniger is the founder and president of Silver Lining Ltd—silverlining.ws—which helps small businesses identify business development plans and then uses communication strategies to ensure they reach their goals.

She splits her time flying between the Silver Lining offices in Toronto and Edmonton.

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the U of A, and the completion of first-round clinical trials by Capital Health on patients in the Edmontonarea. Key members of her team include Sapporo Medical University’s Dr. Toshio Ohyanagi, systems integration; and the U of A’s Dr. James Miller, software; Steven Sutphen, hardware; and Anne Walley, office manager.

How does it work?

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PSST... MEESTER, WANNA BUY A WATCH?

H

ow would you like to be able to monitor most of your vital systems through your wrist watch? Have your watch remind you to take your medicine or alter your prescription for you? Request that you check your blood pressure? Or have an ambulance sent the minute your child has that deadly allergy attack at a friend’s house or you have a stroke…without you or anyone else making a phone call?

Photo by Terry Bourque

Dr. Masako Miyazaki Inset: Dr. Toshio Ohyanagi

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The patient wears a wrist watch monitor—in technical lingo the Wearable Pulse Sensor—and keeps a small wireless station at home. These two devices are in wireless communication with a central server system that monitors a number of patients’ devices and relays the information back and forth between the hospital staff and the patients.

The patient’s pulse is taken constantly by the watch and any irregularity is immediately relayed to the system to alert hospital staff. The watch also reminds the patient to collect information: for instance, having diabetics plug in their blood glucose monitor so the information can be transmitted immediately to the server to process the reading, and only alert a doctor or nurse if there is a problem. Messages to patients appear in scrolled text on their watches.

B

This device is particularly useful for every family that has worried about what good the emergency call button grandpa wears would do if he had a stroke and couldn’t press it. But Miyazaki stresses that the monitor will not only serve for emergency situations or for the ill and elderly. “You should really maintain your health.” And for people who are ill or elderly, “Why not be at home?

Happiness is a state of mind. Why can’t we provide more care to patients in their own homes?”

Miller further clarifies how the device could relieve the burden on the health system: “A lot of patients have problems adhering to their treatment regime and need some prompting.” The watch reminds them to take measurements or medications, and helps them do it. So, fewer doctors appointments, fewer sick people who didn’t understand or remember their treatment regime, and more ill people able to stay at home.

Miyazaki also explains, “Due to its technology base, the equipment is highly flexible and adaptable, and can be used in a number of different modes and additional purposes. For example, many elderly people in remote locations experience isolation. As a by-product of using the technology, they will be provided with a regular and consistent connection to the outside world. The system also allows for customization, both of the language and of the content, for audio and visual reminders. This would allow, for instance, for an elderly aboriginal person in Northern Alberta to be reminded to check her blood glucose levels in her own dialect, and have the message pre-recorded in the voice of a friend or relative.”

From idea to product development Miyazaki, working in occupational therapy, initiated this project in 2001 because of her concern for her patients: She was frustrated working with patients in a hospital setting, covered with wires. She couldn’t get a good reading of their vital signs during normal living. This is when she thought up the idea of the unobtrusive watch monitor that patients could wear all the time. “Even demented patients won’t take off a watch—it’s something familiar and normal.”

She then approached Japanese systems engineer Dr. Ohyanagi, and together they worked with Seiko Instruments to develop the initial prototype. From there the project grew.

And why base it in Edmonton? Miyazaki came here from Japan because she felt Canada was a very open society with many opportunities, especially for women: “I came to Canada to bring the high tech from Japan and to marry that with the Canadian frontier spirit.”

Ticking toward commercialization

Dr. Masako Miyazaki, Dr. James Miller, Steven Sutphen and Anne Walley.

THE JAPANESE BORDER AND ALBERTA BEEF And since I’m on the topic of Edmonton’s business with Japan... Not only did the Japanese border reopen, but it was accompanied by a nationally televised publicity campaign promoting the high quality and safety of our beef. When the first shipment of Canadian beef—3.4 tonnes from the Cargill Foods High River plant—arrived, the importing Japanese supermarket chain, Hanamasa held a promotional event for distributors, importers and retailers. The event, heavily covered by the media, was graced by numerous Canadian flags, pictures of Alberta, and attractive young women in white satin jackets emblazoned with the proud statement “Canada Beef” in red below a maple leaf.

However, additional promotions were postponed in light of Alberta’s new BSE case, on the heels of Japan finding a cattle backbone in a U.S. shipment and closing the border to American beef.

Even so, Japan has made no move to cease Canadian

Replenishing the Japanese beef market

Relieving the burden on the health care system

And it talks in Cree, too!

Sound futuristic? Not anymore. The Wireless Wearable Physiological Monitor project that submitted its application for a North American patent in January, provides patients with a wrist-watch monitor that can do all of this. The project’s principle investigator and integrator is the University of Alberta’s Dr. Masako Miyazaki, who has pulled together a team of Japanese and Canadian companies and governmental organizations—including Japan’s Seiko Instruments and MI Laboratories, Western Economic Diversification Canada, the Government of Alberta, U of A, and Capital Health.

The project is well advanced with a recent grant from

the service based here, and with manufacturing shared overseas.

Another part of the plan is that one day, using nanotechnology, the sensor will be “imbedded in the tissue or swallowed,” says Miyazaki, “We could even create a sensor made out of your own body tissue.” This idea, however, is still in the future.

Where does the project go from here? After all the clinical trials are finished, says Miyazaki, “There will be some further product development, a premarket trial and commercialization.” Because of the NAFTA agreement, the product can be commercialized right away throughout North America, with the plan to eventually market the technology globally.

And the plan is for the project to continue with collaboration between the Edmonton area and Japan, with

imports. After all, the recent detection of BSE proves our tough monitoring system works. And according to Lotte Elsgaard, communications manager for Canada Beef Export Federation, “The Japanese have been here and inspected our facilities, our food safety and animal health measures, and surveillance systems, and they all meet the Japanese protocol for export to Japan.”

The market is especially important to Alberta because of the demand for some of the parts of the cow (offal) that are of little interest in other markets. When borders reopened in December, it was to “boneless and bone-in meat, as well as to offal from cattle 20 months of age and under, based on full SRM (specified risk material) removal.” In 2002, Japan bought more than $67 million worth of Alberta beef. Maybe we can get back to these numbers for 2006.

NORTHERN EXPOSURE Two-sold out charter flights of Japanese tourists flew into Edmonton enroute to Fort McMurray to experience the aurora borealis. The 640 passengers on two 747s were welcomed at a special ceremony.

They boarded 16 buses to Fort McMurray to see the northern lights and visit the oilsands. A day of shopping and taking in attractions in Edmonton was also on the agenda. The group was accompanied by Professor Shigeru Minami of Osaka University, a specialist in aurora borealis, who served as interpreter.

Edmonton Tourism and Travel Alberta joined with All Nippon Airways to organize the tour. Says Ken Fiske, vp of tourism for Edmonton Economic Development Corporation, “There has not been a charter of this size to Edmonton in at least the past 10 years. Winter tourism is becoming a much more viable opportunity.”

I usually think of February as our least attractive month for tourism. Brrr! Obviously, the fascination with our beautiful auroras outweighs the disadvantages of the temperatures for this new wave of ecotourists. ✔ Jessica Wegmann-Sanchez, Ph.D., is Director of Corporate Communications for BIDMEXICO International Inc., an Edmontonbased company specializing in foreign business development in Mexico. E-mail: jsanchez@edmontonians.com

EDMONTONIANS MARCH 2006

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Photo courtesy Canada Beef Export Federation

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Photos by Terry Bourque

Flight path Reg Milley and Co. on fast track

By Les Brost

P

eople have love-hate relationships with airports. That’s not surprising… airports are contradictory places. An airport can have the sweet syncopation of a grooving jazz trio, or it can give a whole new meaning to the word ‘chaos’—all on the same day. The weak and the mighty, the old and the young—all on their own journeys, linked through the complex organism that is an airport.

Like any other organism, an airport evolves to meet the demands placed upon it. Edmonton International Airport is on a dynamic path of change. In many ways, its growth—and its growing pains—mirror the challenges faced by our province as it adapts to a new role as one of Canada’s main economic engines.

Greater Edmonton needs to be prepared for the opportunities and challenges that come with rapid growth. The potential is huge—if Edmonton can collaborate and partner with northern communities whose resources drive that expansion.

Edmonton International Airport is at the hub of much of that growth. It directly employs 180 people who are among the 3500—the population of Fairview—working for the various airport partners and businesses. In one capacity or another, most cater to the needs of roughly 4.5 million travelers who pass through the security gates annually. Others handle and manage 200,000 tons of cargo every year. The airport generates 8200 person-years of employment annually, and contributes $1.4 billion to Alberta’s economy. Canada’s fifth largest airport racked up an estimated $85+ millions in revenue in 2005, and embarked on a 10-year, $89.5 million capital development program.

So what about the future? The inevitable push to develop our massive northern resources will drive exponential economic growth, creating even greater challenges for the International and its satellite airports— City Centre, Villeneuve and Cooking Lake.

There will be unprecedented increases in commercial and charter air services to transport people and goods to Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie and beyond to other development magnets.

Will this guarantee dramatic growth for Edmonton International? Consider the aggressive promotion by Calgary and proposed expansion plans by Red Deer for initiatives designed to capitalize on opportunities in the north. What are the implications of the launch of the “Newfie Express”—Air Canada’s recently announced Fort McMurray-Toronto-St. John’s service—for the Inernational?

Maximizing the opportunities for growth will require effective leadership—and that makes the leadership team very important. Yet most Edmontonians know very little about the people charged with managing and shaping the future of Edmonton Airports. Who are they? What are their priorities? How will they work with other stakeholders—particularly municipalities like Wood Buffalo, Grande Prairie and Peace River?

Edmonton Airports President and CEO Reg Milley is a sports fan, and he uses a sports analogy to describe the nature of airports. “Airports nationally are like members of a relay team. Members of the team have to be able to run very, very fast on their own. Yet they are completely dependent upon each other for overall success. If one

member of the team falls, or if the baton is dropped during the hand-off, the team is in trouble. Like relay team members, each airport is independent of other airports.”

He also uses the relay race analogy to describe the operations of individual airports. If one member of the airport team—anyone from ticketing agents and baggage handlers to the folks who sell coffee—struggles in his assignment, it impacts the entire team. There is a collective need to adapt to changes outside individual control.

What kind of person takes on the challenge of leading such an interdependent team and complex business?

Milley says he loves to communicate, and thrives on challenges and opportunities. His management style leans toward inclusion and collaboration, and he likes to keep an “open door and an open mind.”

This fall, Edmonton Airports will host the first annual regional air service development workshop to find innovative solutions for communities.

He has had one constant passion in a business career that has taken him across Canada, working in the energy and air transport industries. “What really drives me is to take something that others say can’t be done and do it. I love working with others to achieve common success.

My job is not to knock down doors, it is to give others the keys.”

He is candid about the challenges of operating a major airport. Running a business is not always about being a warm and cuddly person. There comes a time when tough decisions have to be made, and tough action taken. How does Milley approach the tough calls? He sees himself as a manager who doesn’t rush to decision and who communicates the rationale for his decision. “When I make the tough call, you may not like the decision I

make, but I will always explain what I do in terms of the strategic thinking and long-term forces behind it.”

After 14 months at his post, Milley has put together his executive and senior management group. “I rely on my team and need my team more than they need me, because I don’t have all the answers.” Who are they and what do they do?

Running the operations side of a major international airport—and its satellites—is a demanding job, definitely not suited for the feint of heart. Milley says vice-president of operations and services Diane Trenn is up for the task.

“She has a huge focus on customer service.” Trenn has a 23-year history with the operation.

Successful marketing in the highly competitive airport industry depends upon a solid knowledge of the industry players. Vice-president of marketing Peter McCart, on board since December 2005, is a former Air Canada executive. “Peter is able to bring the perspective of the airline industry to the decision-making table, and that is incredibly important” acknowledges Milley.

The bean-counting side of the the ledger is no small feat, either. Ralph Peterson, vice-president of finance, chief financial officer and corporate secretary, leads the development of the five-year strategic plan and annual business plans. Having joined Edmonton Airports in January 2003, he has spent his professional career in audit and finance. “Ralph is a solid financial watchdog.

He knows finances… he knows balance sheets… and he asks the right questions.”

Peter Martyniuk is director of infrastructure, a position he has held since August 2004. Planning and developing infrastructure at airports becomes even more challenging during periods of rapid growth. Edmonton International will hit traffic growth targets well ahead of schedule, and will be challenged to meet the capacity expectations of its customers.

The team sees their people as their competitive advantage. Managing the “people file” is human resources director Garth Heizdzen. Appointed in November 2005, he has a background in psychology and human relations practice. And, since the summer of 1997, communication director Traci Bednard has become the familiar face, answering to the media. “Traci is the most strategicthinking communication person I have ever known,” says Milley.

Have these players gelled into a team? The CEO thinks the answer is yes. “We have grown from being a group of individuals into a team that is capitalizing on the individual strengths that we bring to the table. The team is now solely focused on where we need to go in order to succeed.”

Regarding Air Canada’s Newfie Express, Milley says “I think it’s fantastic. It makes good business sense, and will generate more traffic at Edmonton International.” Air Canada has already announced extra daily flights from Edmonton to Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie.

Edmonton Airports is also actively seeking directs flights to China—a good move should Canadian Natural Resources decide to use Chinese labourers to build its tank terminals at its $10.8-billion oilsands project.

The board of directors of the Edmonton Regional Airports Authority has identified revenue diversification as a priority. Since the International has more land than EDMONTONIANS MARCH 2006

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Ralph Peterson

Diane Trenn

any other Canadian airport with scheduled air service, there is a strategic need to develop new and complementary land uses for revenue generation.

Where is this airport headed? Milley and his team have picked their destination of choice. “We want to be a customer focused, dynamic airport that positions this region in the best possible light. Our airport will be a business that talks to customers and exceeds their expectations.”

A good idea for Edmonton. For Milley, one important message that came from his first year sitting in the president’s seat. “I didn’t fully understand the amount of emotion that was generated by the City Center Airport issue. A year ago, there were days when the issue took up 85 percent of my time. On bad days, it took up 95 percent. It was evidence of the importance of listening to people and working with them.”

Ownership of the City Center property was a factor in the downtown airport controversy. The City of Edmonton owns the approximately 500 acres on which the airport is located and has the final say in property use. The Airports Authority has been granted a 50-year lease to operate the property as an airport.

Because Edmonton is Alberta’s capital, ramifications of the Authority’s decision to limit the usage of City Centre were felt across the province. Northern and southern Albertans doing business with government, in particular, need to travel to Edmonton. The easy access to downtown from the City Center Airport resulted in significant cost, time and stress savings. Local businesses that had emerged and grown to fill the needs of the airport

TEL: TEL: 780.454.2975 780.454.2975

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Peter Martynuik

customers also raised concerns about the changes.

Inevitably, the move to change the status of City Centre ran into fierce resistance, sparking a political fight.

MLAs and municipal leaders from the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in the north to the County of Lethbridge in the south, and Chambers of Commerce were involved in the debate—on all sides of the issue.

The legislated accountability and governance structure for regional airports—not readily transparent to outsiders—added to the complexity. The board of the Edmonton Regional Airports Authority comprises 15 members: Six are appointed by the City of Edmonton, two each by the federal government and the board itself, and one each by Leduc, Sturgeon, Strathcona and Parkland counties and the City of Leduc. There will soon be provincial representation on the board, reflecting the government’s interest in airports as economic facilitators.

Although these members are appointed by the various jurisdictions, their fiduciary responsibility is to the Authority. It is noteworthy that there is no barrier to the federal and provincial governments making board appointments representative of northern interests. As part of its accountability architecture, the board holds two public meetings twice yearly and consults with a business advisory group, composed of 20 local business leaders.

Given this level of consultation, why would Edmonton Airports take such a contentious decision?

As part of planning for future growth, the board of

Traci Bednard

the Authority had identified key priority needs: to grow and strengthen relationships with stakeholders; to address issues pertaining to capacity, human and financial management issues; and to address challenges inherent in controlling a growing business and to refine Edmonton International Airport’s brand.

These were some of the strategic considerations that drove the decision to change the status of City Center Airport. While resistance to limiting scheduled air services at City Centre has not disappeared, Milley sees a slow healing of the scars of the dispute. He believes that a strategy of communication and building win-win relationships is taking root. This fall, as part of that strategy, Edmonton Airports will host the first annual regional air service development workshop. It will bring together smaller communities and air service providers to find innovative ways to enhance service to those communities.

The Edmonton Airports team dreams big dreams.

Can big dreams come true? Is it in our interests to resolve today’s challenges in ways that position the community to seize long-term opportunities?

If we want to see the city continue to grow and prosper, we have an interest in building a cohesive, efficient air service network. If we want to position our city as the focal point of the emerging powerhouse that will be tomorrow’s Canada, we have an interest. Reg Milley and his team appear to share these aspirations.

Their success will be our success. ✔

E-MAIL E-MAIL terrybourque@mail2.westworld.ca terrybourque@mail2.westworld.ca

EDMONTONIANS MARCH 2006 Proof_

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The eagle soars Air Mikisew lands business of the year award

By Murray Donaldson

I

n the Cree language, the word mikisew means eagle.

Eagles fly proud, say the elders.

And so it seems fitting that a small airline bearing the Cree name of the eagle could reverse its fortunes and go from near collapse to winning Business of the Year in Alberta’s hottest economic region.

In November 2005, Air Mikisew was awarded the title by the Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce.

“That, in 11 short months, from near death to being the community’s business of the year is a very exciting accomplishment,” says Dale Monaghan, marketing and communications manager for Air Mikisew. The airline has been flying the route between Fort Chipewyan, Fort McMurray and Edmonton for about a decade.

Access in and out of Fort Chipewyan by air is virtually a necessity—this year more so than others. For most of the year there are no roads into Alberta’s oldest continuously settled community, located 286 km further away from Edmonton than Fort McMurray, and home to around 1,200 people. Only when the weather is cold enough in mid-winter can hardy, four-wheel drive vehicles traverse a unique ice road into Fort Chip.

The warm winter this year delayed freezing, so the scheduled air service that brings people and cargo in and out has been more heavily relied upon.

When the airline that provides the service—one that is owned and operated by the Mikisew First Nation—teetered on the verge of collapse, a determined

group of people approached the problem with passion, seeking consensus and finding the best solution for everyone involved.

Monaghan was a key player in keeping Air Mikisew alive and well. His drive came not just out of professionalism, but from a love of the north he has developed during 15 years of working in the region. Born and raised in Edmonton, and a graduate of the University of Alberta, he went north to Slave Lake where he spent 12 years in municipal management, focusing on business, economic and tourism development.

Showcasing the beauty of the lake took hold of him.

When he became the northern marketing manager for Travel Alberta, he saw a need to connect the communities. Instead of every community marketing itself, Mohaghan built Team Alberta North to promote the area to international circles, successfully creating what he calls the tourism “powerhouse of the north.” That led to formation of the Northern Alberta Tourism Alliance in 2000 that marketed Edmonton as the gateway to the north, Jasper as the playground, and northern Alberta as a cultural mosaic of lakes and rivers. A year later, he project managed the 2001 Meet the North conference and exposition.

Based on his knowledge of the north and the relationships he had built over the years, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Pearl Calahasen, MLA for Lesser Slave Lake, parachuted Monaghan in as her executive assistant. Subsequently,

Calahasen encouraged him to seek other opportunities. “She said, ‘You really understand what it means to forge relationships on social, cultural and business levels between the aboriginal community and the mainstream community,” recalls the 38-year old.

With that in mind, Monaghan’s thoughts turned to Fort Chipewyan for which he had developed a soft spot when he assisted the Discovery Channel in filming a piece on Wood Buffalo National Park. He made a call to Archie Waquan, then chief of the Mikisew Cree First Nation, and expressed an interest in serving on his team in some capacity.

Soon, Monaghan was on board and, in early 2004, progress was being made on what was blossoming into an exciting Fort Chipewyan and Mikisew tourism strategy.

They had come a long way from the days when the community was overly reliant on southern-based, profit-oriented airlines. If fly volumes were not high enough, they would leave and the community would have to plead for another carrier to come into Fort Chipewyan. So, in the early 1990s, the Mikisew First Nation bought Contact Air. “Mikisew said, ‘We are never again going to be at the mercy of anyone to ensure our community is connected to the world for health, for social, for business and for everything else,’” explains Monaghan.

By the turn of the century, Air Mikisew was in growth mode and things were looking up. It was further encouraged by the Authority’s efforts to

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Photo by Gordon Henderson

Dale Monaghan

attract 19-seater planes to the facility and scheduled airlines of small capacity to operate out of City Centre.

But, within three years, the eagle’s wings were in a flap.

First, the Edmonton Regional Airports Authority announced a ban on 19-seat airplanes from City Centre Airport and, shortly after, on scheduled service flights.

This was a frustrating and potentially devastating decision for Air Mikisew: Half of its flight activity was between Edmonton and Fort McMurray, half between Fort McMurray and Fort Chipewyan.

“If half the operation were to disappear, the entire airline would have closed its doors,” Monaghan points out. “If your operation is in northeastern Alberta— Fort McMurray specifically—where do you go but north and south. There’s nothing east and west.”

With no other flight options and no real opportunity to sell the airline and move into another business sector, the Mikisew First Nation realized its only option was to keep the airline flying. At one meeting, the elders stressed how vital it was to the community that the airline survive.

“The council said, ‘We cannot fail.’

And we had to ensure success in convincing Edmonton that our airplanes —running 10 people out and 10 people in, three times a day—are in no way a threat to the viability of the International Airport.

“Most of the businesses, including the one I represent, have huge interests in international travel. We own Mikisew Sport Fishing, Alberta’s largest flyin fishing company. I would say 80 percent of our clients come from the international market. They all come in via the International Airport. About $600,000 of flying a year comes from our floatplanes. Well, if we don’t have an effective way to get the international people into our operation, we would lose $600,000 and all the benefits of running the sport fishing company.

“We’ve always said that we’re not

against the International Airport. All we are trying to do is present the opportunity of a dual airport strategy because we have interests in both airports.”

So it was a matter of survival for the airline. But what Monaghan stresses as more important—what Air Mikisew wanted—was for all sides to work together to create an economic union between Edmonton and the north that would benefit both regions.

It grew into a northern Alberta-wide lobby effort. With no real marketing budget to speak of, sending letters was the best they could do to try and convince Edmonton Airports leadership that they were not trying to determine the fate of the city and its airports, but to become and effective complement to the International Airport.

Just before Christmas in 2004, Air Mikisew announced it would defy the ban, continue to fly into Edmonton.

“We were willing to face the consequences for what we believed in,” Monaghan recalls. As a result of the defiance, the ban was lifted and a shortterm solution was worked out.

“That happened to coincide with the arrival of Reg Milley [as president of Edmonton Airports], who I believe is an astonishing, visionary fellow that sees the bigger picture, and very openminded to talking through differences to find mutual opportunities.”

Monaghan appreciates that Milley seems to understand what ‘win-win situation’ means, and hopes his record of working to provide satisfactory results to stakeholders will ensure success for everyone.

Air travel is a lifeline for the Albertans of Fort Chipewyan; it was their passion that convinced the Authority to think about the City Centre Airport within a dual airport strategy.

Monaghan feels that the information gathered back in 1995 that supported closing the municipal airport may be old news in terms of how relative it is today.

“If you look at factors, such as in

1995, there were $500 million dollars of announced economic development in northern Alberta. Today it ranges between $50 and $80 billion. The economic factors in terms of the importance for connectivity between Edmonton and northern Alberta, primarily Fort McMurray, are suggesting that you’d be irresponsible not to look at how important it is to connect on all levels—ground, tire and in the air—the prosperity of Wood Buffalo and the ability for Edmonton to be more than just a jingle of Gateway to the North but actually be the gateway and the supplier to the north.”

With that in mind, Monaghan sees the Business of the Year Award as a testimony to the leadership and unfaltering support of the Mikisew.

“I think a big success of Business of the Year is the vision of the Mikisew being an entrepreneurial First Nation, not wanting any special treatment but wanting the ability to work with partners on mutual successes. That’s the guiding light of Mikisew.”

Monaghan still gets choked up with pride when he talks about three aspects of the nomination that led to winning the award: the proud name of the Mikisew was always honoured; keeping the airline alive was very much about providing a vital service to a community; and Air Mikisew staff integrates and connects people from three communities.

And so for the future, Air Mikisew is looking to build on its success thus far, and support Edmonton’s interests in being the gateway to the north.

“We have solidified our operational systems. We have 11 planes, 21 pilots, 64 staff and a reservations system in place, and an excellent maintenance department. All we are going to do is batten down the hatches. We want to support the gateway to the north philosophy… We want to succeed with Fort McMurray’s growth… We want to honour the oldest community in Alberta and its interests to never again be cut off from the world.” ✔

Groundbreaking opportunities await you in Northern Sunrise County.

With an abundance of natural resources, a vibrant cultural heritage and a population of industrious and innovative people, Northern Sunrise County has established itself as a county open for business.

Alberta’s four strongest economic drivers can all be found in Northern Sunrise County: one of the province’s largest oil sands deposits, forestry, agriculture and tourism— you will find it all here.

If you are looking to expand your business or if you are an entrepreneur with a new business idea, Northern Sunrise County Economic Development can help.

If you are looking to build an additional location or are looking to relocate, Northern Sunrise County has opportunities to suit your needs.

For more information contact Renee Bernier, Economic Development Officer, at 780-624-0013. Email us at rbernier@northernsunrise.net or visit our offices at the corner of Highway 2 and Highway 688.

Architect Vivian Manasc

Northern Sunrise County Bag 1300 Peace River, Alberta T8S 1Y9 rbernier@northernsunrise.net www.northernsunrise.net

EDMONTONIANS MARCH 2006

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formally establish their group and a little more than a year ago CAANA—the Commuter Air Access Network of Alberta—was born.

The 60-plus members recently approved their Alberta Commuter Air Passenger Strategy.

Ultimately, the strategy calls for working toward an effective dual airport plan and a viable provincial commuter air network providing efficient movement of people throughout the province.

Dale Monaghan, CAANA board member and marketing and communications manager for Air Mikisew, doesn’t see the group as any kind of threat to the Edmonton Regional Airports Authority, but as one that can effectively represent small commuter airlines and the communities they serve.

“I think it’s a very important organization…

To me, it’s a perfect tagteam and both organizations should see it as that, and get on with a dual airport strategy that can, for the next Photo by Gordon Henderson half-century, make Edmonton and the north a prosperous team.” or a number of years now, a group of A major concern for CAANA is that restrictions on stakeholders with an interest in keeping air travel into Edmonton are going to affect the Edmonton’s City Centre Airport healthy economy. CAANA contends that commuters—and and vital has been busy working to defend shoppers—from Grande Prairie used to come to Alberta’s commuter air service.

Edmonton, but they are now flying over the city to They believe that the airport is vital to more than Calgary and some are even taking flights to Edmonton, but the northern regions of the province Vancouver. and, indeed, Alberta as a whole. With increasing While many large cities across the continent and in interest in their efforts, the stakeholders decided to

Off the ground and organized

By Murray Donaldson

F

corporate ETHICS

By Nizar J. Somji

E

ntrepreneurs, as they near the end of their working life or get close to their retirement goal, reflect on where the time went. The energy, the effort, the commitment and, of course, the many personal sacrifices made by the entire family are part of this reflection. Understandably, these entrepreneurs do not want to throw away everything they have worked toward their entire lives… they need to find a way to cash out. In modern business terms, they need an “exit strategy.”

Often times, entrepreneurs get so caught up in running their businesses that their personal finances suffer. They may not be in a position that will enable them to retire comfortably and maintain their desired lifestyles. For those individuals, the ability to sell the businesses they have built—for a price that reflects the true value and rewards the effort they put into building the businesses—may serve as a retirement nest egg.

Unfortunately, building equity in any business is not automatic; it requires a well planned and executed strategy. For some businesses, this strategy is even more critical as equity is not easy to value—or worse, it is tied directly to the founder. For example, businesses with less than $5 million in revenue—or professional practice type businesses such as physicians, dentists, investment brokers, insurance brokers—can be difficult to value. Thus, the owner must embark on a deliberate strategy well before retirement to ensure the equity is built and his or her lifetime efforts are fully rewarded.

Some business owners are lucky enough to have offspring who are in a position to take over thus retaining the equity within the family. However, there is a growing trend whereby the offspring are reluctant or unwilling to continue the family business.

It is important to set clear objectives when planning

10

Europe are looking to adopt the dual airport strategy, Edmonton is ahead of the game in that we already have both airports.

The City Centre Airport is a necessity as it allows efficacy of business, according to Gary Friedel, chair of CAANA. Not just in favour of the City Centre Airport for itself, he says the province needs to support all small airports and realize that they will only supplement what the Edmonton and Calgary Internationals are doing.

“A network of airports is required to make the system work. If you start handpicking and saying certain airports can’t be a part of that, you’re going to kill the whole system. The commercial traveler—the one that wants to come in to do day-to-day business is not connecting elsewhere—is not providing the business that the international airport should want or need. They come in, do their work and go back home.

People are willing to pay quite a premium for efficiency. In the business world and the government world, it’s worth quite a bit of money.

Don Grimble, CAANA board member and executive director of the Kingsway Business Association, supports Friedel.

“We’re concerned with Alberta air service. There is a network of airports that is required for all of them to survive… If you break one of the strands of the network—especially one of the strongest strands— then the whole thing falls apart.”

With the strength of economic growth in the province, CAANA believes such a network is vital to continue growth in all regions. Municipalities themselves are beginning to realize that value and are increasingly supportive of such a transportation network.

“We even have municipalities that don’t even have scheduled air service… and have joined CAANA because of what we believe in, and what we are trying to promote. This isn’t just people coming to Edmonton to do business: This is Edmonton businesses who provide jobs to people in Edmonton doing business in the regions effectively and efficiently,” says George deRappard, executive director of CAANA. He concludes, “Edmonton claims to be the capital city. Well, if people throughout the province of Alberta need to do business with government, that’s why the capital City Centre Airport is important as a component of a regional commuter air system. But if you want to be the capital city, shouldn’t there be efficient access by the people of the province?” ✔

Building equity an equity strategy. For example, do you want to cash out and move completely out of the business? To retain a minor engagement? To gradually withdraw? To use the business as an income base?

Much of this will depend on the diversification strategy the entrepreneur had while building the business. A model that allows for gradual withdrawal or some form of continuous long term income makes sense for many, with the added advantage of spreading the tax load over a period of time.

“You have to give some to get some” they say, and it is no different in building the equity within your business. One of the most effective ways of defining equity, especially in a professional practice type of business, is to engage long serving or trusted staff in initial ownership. With spiraling salary costs, creating a model of earned equity for key individuals to take ownership in the business by giving up part of their bonus or salary increase serves both sides well. It improves cash flow for the business and allows the entrepreneur to keep a larger portion of current profits.

And, it allows key individuals to take an ownership position without sacrificing their current standard of living. This can be a very powerful model when developed properly.

The key is to engage the right people in ownership, to develop a transparent financial and management arrangement, and to have the right shareholder agreement in place.

Consider a dental office. If the key dental staff (hygienists, office manager, other dentists) share ownership in the business, it forces the definition of value and equity while the entrepreneur is still fully involved. The subsidiary—but critical—benefits include improved retention, amazing staff loyalty and dedication and a singular focus on growing the

business and controlling costs. If an entrepreneur gave up 20 percent of the business ownership, the return would likely more than compensate for dividing the profits amongst a larger base.

Once the equity model is defined and the business is valued, the entrepreneur may choose the appropriate exit strategy, including giving more ownership to other stakeholders or investors over a period of time. It is critical that the goodwill also shifts over time from the entrepreneur to the employee-owners or other stakeholders so that the business beyond is sustainable without the founder.

This model works well for businesses where the client list is a major part of goodwill. For example, consider some of the more successful investment brokers who have within their portfolio millions of dollars of investments from a range of investors. It takes a group of individuals to manage and execute the entire portfolio, even if the entrepreneur is the primary client contact point. In a shared ownership environment, client retention and the success of the portfolio become a shared focus. Introducing the team to clients will help to ensure continued and uninterrupted business after the founder leaves.

There are many models for defining, maintaining and sustaining equity. The key is to have a strategic plan and to execute it, thus allowing the entrepreneur to exit the business with the fruits of their long years of labour intact. ✔ Nizar J. Somji is the president and CEO of Matrikon Inc., which trades on the TSE under the symbol of MTK EDMONTONIANS MARCH 2006

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money MAKING

By Ron Hiebert

I

f asked to pick a technology-driven sector of the economy, probably the last thing that comes to mind is heavy oil. The total amount of oil trapped in these porous rock formations in Northern Alberta is estimated by the AEUB—Alberta Energy and Utilities Board—to be around 2.5 trillion barrels. Only five percent of that total is deemed to ever be recoverable by surface mining. This resource is still in its infancy. So far, energy companies have managed to prove up about 178 billion barrels of this reserve and, of that amount, only 35 billion barrels, or 20 percent, is accessible through surface mining.

The remainder will have to be extracted using other technology.

Mining the oilsands has been taking place on a commercial level since 1967. Over that period, the expenditure of huge amounts of capital combined with large doses of trial and error have transformed the extraction plants around Fort McMurray from glorified science projects into viable businesses. It has taken four decades of hard work to learn how to profitably extract oil from sand using mining technology. How we get at the other 95 percent will require time, money, and a great deal of innovation. Let’s look at some of the leading contenders.

IN-SITU RECOVERY The process of recovering bitumen from oilsands other than by surface mining is called in-situ recovery. In-situ is Latin for “in place.” It refers to the process of removing the oil while leaving everything else—mostly clay and rock— where it is. The key to the future for in-situ recovery will focus on the application of heat to the bitumen. At room temperature, bitumen is about at hard as a hockey puck.

You basically have to melt the stuff to reduce its viscosity enough to cause it to flow to a well bore to be pumped to the surface.

CYCLICAL STEAM STIMULATION—CSS This is commonly referred to in oil patch parlance as “huff and puff.” High pressure steam is injected into an oil bearing formation at temperatures over 300ºC for one to two months. The formation is then allowed to soak up the heat and steam for four to eight days, before the oil starts being collected. Using this method heats the reservoir sufficiently for the oil to flow to a collector well for up to 12 months before the process has to be repeated. CSS recovery rates typically fall into the 20 percent to 30 percent range.

without borders BUSINESS

By Daniel Mothersill

F

ormal Angel investing is a relatively new discipline in Canada. Five years ago, it was not a term that was commonly recognized or understood. Today, it has become an essential part of the financing ecosystem for start-up companies in this province. In the last year alone, about a dozen facilitated Angel groups have been formed across the country. While this can hardly be classified as a statistical explosion in the formation of Angel groups, it does portend a very positive trend.

While Canadian-only statistics on the scope of Angel investing are currently being compiled by the National Angel Organization, in the U.S. in the first half of 2005, Angel group investments in North America totaled $11.0 billion, according to the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire. About 26,000 entrepreneurial ventures received Angel funding in the first half of 2005. And an average of four-to-five investors combined their resources to fund these entrepreneurial ventures. For 2004, Angels in North America invested $22.5 billion into start-ups, covering 48,000 deals.

Venture capital plowed in $22.9 billion in 2,910 deals.

That is an astounding amount of both due diligence effort and dollars committed by Angel investors.

Based on these North American stats, we can estimate that some $2 billion will be invested by Canadian Angels in 2006. That is expected to roughly match the VC contribution for all stages of funding.

The reality is that Angels continue to be the largest source of seed and start-up capital in North America.

Angels have made an excellent contribution, but more Angel activity is clearly required to bridge the financing gap. According to Sustainable Energy Canada, there is a $5-billion Angel funding gap in Canada for start-ups.

This is particularly important when you consider that the vast majority of start-up companies rely on some kind of Angel funding. Without that money they would live in an entrepreneurial limbo, floating between conceptualEDMONTONIANS MARCH 2006 Proof_

You ain’t seen nothing yet STEAM ASSISTED GRAVITY DRAINAGE—SAGD Advances in horizontal drilling have opened up a whole new method of heavy oil extraction called SAGD. This new technology allows holes to be accurately drilled horizontally over long distances. In a heavy oil application, two horizontal wells are drilled, one underneath the other for lengths up to 600 metres. Steam is then injected into the top hole. It heats the oil in the formation, which flows with the help of gravity into the bottom pipe, and then onward to a collection pump at the far end. It typically takes six to nine months of steaming to coax maximum oil flow out of the sands. Recovery rates are expected to be between 40 percent and 60 percent.

BURNING GOLD Most of the steam produced for either SAGD or CSS comes from the burning of natural gas. This has two problems. The first is price. When natural gas was $2 per MCF (thousand cubic feet), it was an extremely cheap fuel.

Now, with gas prices over $15 per MCF, this has dramatically changed the economics. Natural gas has become the North American fuel of choice because of its ease of use and modest environmental impact. Critics say that directing such a valuable and increasingly scarce commodity toward the lowly task of producing oil is the equivalent of using gold to create lead.

The other issue is availability. Energy forecasters have always banked on the vast natural gas reserves of the Mackenzie River Delta to bail out our hydrocarbon addicted society when those of the Western Sedimentary Basin become depleted. But now all those utilities that use gas to create electricity—and all the suburbanites who use it to heat their homes—will have some competition. It will come from the over $100 billion in projects that are going to be built over the next 20 years to extract heavy crude in Northern Alberta. If all these plants use natural gas to produce steam for extraction and upgrading, it has been estimated that 100 percent of the gas reserves in the Mackenzie Delta would be consumed by just these activities alone—leaving no gas to flow to hungry consumers in the south.

VAPOR BASED RECOVERY PROCESS—VAPEX The VAPEX process injects gaseous hydrocarbon solvents into the oilsands reservoir, which reduces the viscosity of the bitumen and promotes recovery. By replacing steam with a recoverable solvent, VAPEX reduces the need to burn natural gas.

STEAM ASSISTED GAS PUSH—SAGP As a variation of SAGD, steam assisted gas push combines a limited amount of gas with injected steam. The gas acts as a solvent, helping to transform the tar into liquid. When compared to SAGD, the SAGP process could cut steam consumption by as much as 70 percent.

TOE-TO-HEEL AIR INJECTION—THAI This has to be the gnarliest of the extraction technologies being tested. If it works, it will improve the energy efficiency of heavy oil extraction by a large order of magnitude. In simple terms, large volumes of oxygen are injected into a heavy oil reservoir. This high-pressure air creates a wave of combustion that spreads through the formation. This heats the oil and causes it to flow.

It is claimed that the THAI process might ultimately recover up to 80 percent of the original bitumen in place.

THAI uses only negligible amounts of natural gas and produces minimal amounts of waste water. The Whitesands project in Northern Alberta will be the first play to test the THAI process sometime in the second quarter of 2006.

CRUD TO THE RESCUE The bottom of a barrel of crude is made up of a heavy goop-like substance that chemists refer to as asphaltenes.

They are complicated and expensive to process and don’t have many commercial applications. Asphaltenes can be burned directly or can be converted into a synthetic gas. As this technology is perfected, it holds major promise as a way for heavy oil producers to become energy selfsufficient, and eventually wean themselves off their dependency on natural gas.

YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET If you think that accessing five percent of the oilsands has made the Alberta economy hot, just wait until technology opens up the other 95 percent.

As P.T Barnum once said under the big top, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” ✔ Ron Hiebert, a director at ScotiaMcLeod, teaches investment classes at Grant MacEwan College. The author of Wealth Building can be heard weekdays at 7:34 am, on CFCW radio (790 AM). Contact him at 780.497.3215 or rhiebert@edmontonians.com

Angels fill funding gap ization and commercialization. And without Angel funding, these companies would never get to the stage of development where they could attract follow-on venture capital rounds.

That is perhaps one of the driving forces behind the formation of the Ministry of Research and Innovation in Ontario, which has been placed directly under the Premier’s portfolio. The goal of this newly minted ministry is to encourage and facilitate commercialization in the province. Lots of money—at both the federal and provincial levels—has been spent on research, development and innovation in universities.

I have often argued that what we don’t need right now is any more innovation in Canada. Our universities—and Alberta is no exception—have become warehouses for technologies and sciences because there is scant effort being placed on translating them into real businesses.

What we really need to focus on is turning innovation into profitable business, which is the prime purpose of Angel groups.

This perhaps begs the question as to how effective Angel groups are in terms of making investments. Again, according to the Centre for Venture Research, the percentage of investment opportunities brought to the attention of investors that result in an investment was 21.8 percent in the first half of 2005. That means that about one-in-five companies that presented to Angel groups received funding.

That matches some of the statistics that I have received from various Angel groups. Anecdotally, the Toronto Angel Group, of which I am a member, actually does a bit better than those averages, with 25 percent of presenting companies being funded. About 75 percent of start-ups that make it to the stage at TAG go to due diligence. At the same time, the recently launched Toronto Life Science Angels group has taken 100 percent of its presenting companies into the due diligence process.

In North America, life sciences commanded the

greatest attention, with 20 percent of the total Angel investments in the first half of last year devoted to this sector. Biotech came in second at 17.5 percent, followed by software (17 percent) and IT services (13 percent).

The rest of the investments were spread almost equally across other high-tech sectors.

Perhaps the most notable trend that I have observed within the Ontario environment is that Angels and seed venture capital firms are beginning to overlap in their funding criteria. Where Angels used to invest at the concept or Alpha stage of the development of a company, they are beginning to gravitate more toward companies that have or are close to getting customers.

While this drives up valuation—Angels get a smaller percentage of the company at a higher price—Angels seem to want to see more traction. In short, they are beginning to apply some of the same rules as VCs in their investment decisions. In fact, during the last year or so, Angels and VCs have begun to invest together in the same funding round. This was virtually unheard of three or four years ago.

Angel investing is still in its infancy in Canada. More groups need to be formed. More Angel education— defining best practices, for example—needs to be done.

But with the positive start already made, I can confidently predict that within the next five years Angel groups will become a major force in commercializing innovation in this country. ✔ Dan Mothersill is chairman and CEO of the Ciris Group of Companies. The Ciris Group is an integrated fullservice communications agency—a one-stop shop whose clients range from emerging enterprises to Fortune 500 corporations. E-mail dmothersill@edmontonians.com 11

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BizINTEL with Cheryl Croucher, Bruce Hogle, Greg Michetti and David Norwood

Science & Tech

Science&Tech I love my work. Everyday I meet remarkable people doing remarkable things. Take Brad Gerrand, the CEO of Envirobuild Canada Corporation.

He’s in the business of demolition and salvage, but with an environmental twist.

He’s keeping a lot of stuff out of landfill.

Just look around at all the buildings

Brad Gerrand that are being torn down to make way for new ones. The University of Alberta is a perfect illustration. Soon the brick building that houses my office will be knocked down to make way for the new Ambulatory Research Centre. Surely someone could make use of the beautiful red brick or windows or solid wood doors?

Well, that’s what Brad does. He audits buildings marked for demolition, assigns a dollar value, and brokers exchanges with people who are interested in recycling the material in other building projects.

On the University of Alberta campus over the last year or so, Envirobuild has brokered the deconstruction and salvage of seven buildings right down to concrete at no cost to the U of A. There’s the 15,000 square-foot wooden agricultural research building at the South Farm that was picked up by an

Media Minute with Bruce Hogle An interesting sidebar to the worst federal election campaign ever conducted by any government in the history of Canada was the monitoring by McGill University and Maclean’s of the election coverage by seven of Canada’s largest and most influential dailies—Calgary Herald, Globe & Mail, La Presse, Le Devoir, Toronto Star, Vancouver Sun and National Post.

After examining every political story printed over two months, McGill Prof.

Stuart Soroka was pleasantly surprised to find the papers relatively neutral with positive and negative stories driven by the quality of the campaign.

The Canadian print and electronic media are accustomed to such close daily scrutiny from the public regarding graphic television coverage, editorials, opinion page articles, political satire or cartoons where no one is immune.

Unfortunately, that’s not true in too many non-western nations where governments control the media, and where well over 130 12

Media Minute

BizIT 101

Civic Buzz

environmental engineer with the City of Edmonton. Two 1500 square-foot greenhouses will go to a landscaper in Calgary. Another large one is going to a greenhouse operator north of Edmonton.

And a local contractor picked up three metal buildings removed to make way for the new Nanotechnology Centre.

And when the Jubilee Auditoria in Edmonton and Calgary were renovated, Envirobuild found new homes for about 5000 seats. “We had over one hundred end users. Some went to churches. The home theatre crowd was fantastic. And we even sent one set to Greece.”

Much of Envirobuild’s business is off shore. Says Brad, “People are lined up for hospital material in South America and Africa. I challenge hospitals in North America to send their stuff out to people who can use it to make better healthcare.”

Brad’s efforts are not limited to finding new life for materials strictly from Edmonton. Right now he has 17 wooden arches from a hockey rink that’s coming down in Daysland. They’re $2 a square foot, by the way. In Rocky Mountain House, Enviro-build recently facilitated the salvage of a local school.

“The audit cost about $5,000 but we sold more than $40,000 worth of stuff from the site.”

But the bulk of the brokering is national and international. And thanks to the wonders of the virtual world, the only place Envirobuild has to keep an inventory is on its website.

“For example, we’ve got a designer in San Francisco who also has an office in China. We broker surplus materials like hardwood flooring and kitchen and bathroom millwork direct from suppliers and manufacturers, and these materials are used in the building of residential apartments and condos.”

The Envirobuild process starts with an audit, photo gallery and a cross reference with a spreadsheet. “We give the owner managers a free evaluation of the net

worth of the building materials and then do the audit,” says Brad. “Photos of the individual items for salvage are set up on the website with the specifications for end user identification. Deconstruction is then scheduled into existing time frames for demolition.”

An interesting development for Envirobuild has been the adoption of the LEED program in Canada. LEED stands for Leadership in Environment and Energy Design. Architects wishing to pick up LEED points for designing projects with environmental sustainability in mind can incorporate salvaged material like used brick and hardwood flooring.

Envirobuild is also a great resource for the home renovator. Brad says a general rule of thumb for cost is about 10 cents on the dollar. A $10,000 greenhouse went for $1,000. And how about hard-wood flooring for 75 cents per square foot?

Check envirobuildcanada.com or phone Brad Gerrand at 780-702-7117.

journalists are in prison for daring to criticize their governments. For example, Afghanistan jailed the publisher of a woman’s magazine, Ali Mohageg Nasab, for advocating full equal rights for women with men.

Canada is not immune from such insidious thinking when you consider Toronto’s suburban Etobicoke mosque’s warning on its Internet message service. It said that someone wishing a Merry Christmas is like congratulating a murderer.

While Christian Canadians were understandably as outraged as Muslins over the political cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad, there were no threats or violence, or attempts to defile that mosque—and rightly so.

There was also no surprise in Canada, or the western world, with Middle East politically motivated kidnappings, bombings, flag burnings, hotel searches, fires, threats and violence because of editorial cartoons of the Prophet published in various European newspapers.

I appreciate the caricatures may have offended those of the Muslim faith. Yet newspapers, sympathetic to the

governments in the area, regularly publish offensive anti-Semitic and anti-western material. Not to mention condoning the kidnapping, beheading, and murder of innocent women and children by suicide bombers whose families receive a princely sum.

Muslim Canadian Congress director Tarek Farah puts this entire matter into excellent perspective with his view that the violent Middle East protests have shown that the cartoonist was right and, with their violence, demonstrators are blaspheming their own faith.

I vividly recall growing up in Ontario and the religious intolerance existing there, and elsewhere in Canada, between Protestants and Catholics. But we Canadians learned and matured. It’s no surprise then, despite the fact we’re only 138 years old, last month’s BBC poll of 40,000 people in 33 countries shows Canada, Japan and Europe are the top three playing a positive role in this crazy world. Iran is dead last.

The cartoons, recently published in Canada by Le Devoir, Western Standard and Jewish Weekly News, but

David Alton came knocking on my office door the other day and through the glass window I could see the big grin on his face. When I opened the door, he blurted out with great excitement, “We made the cut!”

David Alton

He was referring, of course, to the VenturePrize Business Plan Competition sponsored by TEC Edmonton. David was one of 105 people who participated in the business planning seminars offered last fall at the beginning of the VenturePrize competition. And he was one of 35 who continued through the mentoring process and submitted an actual business plan to the judges.

David is the business development manager for ACDC, Alberta Cancer Diagnostics Consortium. This is the group commercializing the lab-on-a chip handheld diagnostics device developed by researchers Dr. Linda Pilarsky, Dr. Chris Backhouse and Dr. Karan Kaler. I wrote about this fabulous new technology in October’s column.

What David has been doing over the last year or so is working on how to get this new technology successfully into the marketplace.

“Entering the VenturePrize competition forced us to focus and refine our whole approach to moving from research into the best business model for launching the device,” says David.

And it wasn’t an easy task. “It was a real challenge to distill everything into a concise business plan with a possibility of actually producing revenue rather than just talking about some interesting technology.”

As part of the VenturePrize process, submitted business plans were critiqued by a panel of experienced entrepreneurs and financial advisors. The top six semi-finalists then presented in late February to another panel of venture capitalists. They pick the top three business plans from this group who will make their final presentations on March 22nd at the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation luncheon at the Shaw Conference Centre.

Having submitted ACDC’s plan under the name Alberta Microfluidics Corporation, David says “Making it into the semifinals is a confirmation that we’re on the right track and have potential as a business. Having six evaluators look at the plan on paper and getting their feedback provides us with very valuable independent outside opinions on what we’re doing.”

The other five semifinalists in the VenturePrize Fast Growth category were Collaborative Learning Network, Forge Dynamics, Leading Edge Technology Inc., New Parking Inc, and Paramagus Developments Inc. Finalists in the entrepreneurial KickStart category will be announced at the March 6th reception at the Alberta Research Council. available to all Canadians on the Internet, have now seen a Pakistani cleric and his followers offer $1 million for the death of the Danish cartoonist.

Knowing most Canadians of all religious beliefs don’t have the same stone-age mentality as some religious anarchists elsewhere, I trust similar bounties won’t be put on the heads of the University of Toronto student newspaper Strand staff, for publishing a cartoon depicting the prophets Jesus and Muhammad kissing each other.

The Calgary Herald editorial said it as well as anyone: “The lesson to be learned from this affair is not that the press should self-censor in fear of noisy reprisals. That’s exactly what the extremists who are burning flags and throwing bombs want. The lesson learned here should be that no amount of intimidation will muzzle a free press.”

Amen. ✔ Bruce Hogle is the former news director at CFRN TV and recently retired head of the Alberta Press Council.

EDMONTONIANS MARCH 2006

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Response to the January forum on the next global pandemic was so overwhelming, Alby Pei from the Telus World of Science says her group plans to hold another one on March 21st. I’ll be moderating a panel of medical experts on emergency preparedness from Capital Health and the University of Alberta.

Once again the Northern Alberta Chapter of the Safari Club International is sponsoring its Sensory Safari. This is a great touchy-feely event where you can actually place your hands on the fur and skin of animals from around the world.

The Sensory Safari is hosted as a humanitarian event by the organization and is promoted particularly to children with disabilities that limit their interaction with the world. Having been to the Sensory Safari in past years, I’ve seen the delight come over the faces of blind children as they stroke the fur of wild animals from North America and other parts of the world.

Supported by the Royal Museum of Alberta, the Sensory Safari utilizes donated and borrowed animal mounts, skins, skulls and horns to help people come to better know wildlife.

The Sensory Safari will be held at the Edmonton Boat & Sportsmen’s Show from March 16th to 19th at the Agricom in Northlands Park. For more information, contact Eric Moland by email at emoland@monesinsurance.com ✔ Cheryl Croucher is an Edmonton broadcast journalist and host of Innovation Alberta.

You can hear the program on CKUA Radio Tuesdays at 8pm or download it when you visit www.innovationalberta.com. E-mail ccroucher@edmontonians.com

BizIT 101 VIRUSES: THINGS OF THE PAST? What happens if you release a virus but nobody comes? Worse yet, what if the virus didn’t work very well?

to disable and remove Internet security software. This worm, or “malware” contains code that will overwrite most files on a computer on the third day of each month, replacing them with error messages. Computers become infected if a user opens a PIF (Program Information File) attachment contained in an e-mail. Next, everyone in your Outlook contact list receives the same worm… courtesy of you, of course.

Here’s the strange part: The e-mail uses pornography to entice recipients to open it. Most people are pretty nervous about opening this type of e-mail and, accordingly, don’t do so. This might explain why the virus wasn’t widespread and points to the calibre of the virus writer. Any good virus writer worth his or her salt wouldn’t use something as Mickey Mouse as porn.

There’s more. Actually, that should read “less” because there even appears to be a bug in the virus!

Symantec announced that, while investigating the workings of the payload, researchers determined a flaw in the virus that prevents the worm from doing damage to newer computers.

When Blackmal.E is searching through drives to find files to overwrite, the worm will skip the first drive and then try to overwrite files on the next drive. This means if a computer has a floppy drive (A:), it will skip this and move onto the next drive, which will generally be the user’s hard drive (C:). However if the computer does not have a floppy drive, which is common on newer machines, the first drive will be the hard drive (C:) and the worm will skip this drive and try to overwrite files to the next drive (D:). In many cases this will be a CD/DVD ROM, which the worm will not be able to access and the process will abort.

“While data is safe today, users infected with the virus should still get a removal tool to clean and repair their systems,” said Vincent Weafer, senior director at Symantec.

Bottom line: Good, destructive viruses are very rare nowadays.

Accordingly, anti-virus software is now so low cost, it has reached commodity status. For example, Microsoft will have some variation of anti-virus software included in Vista when it ships in the fall.

Browser hijacking, phishing and spy ware are much more of a problem and should be the major focus of security efforts. After all, any good spy ware writer operates from a business plan because there are generally dollars involved as a result of his efforts.

Meanwhile, viruses are written by the same kind of guys who kick the headlights out on all the cars parked on a neighborhood street. They’re not real bright… all you have to do is look at the Keystone Kops-like effort displayed by the writers of the Kama Sutra worm. ✔ Gregory B. Michetti of the Alberta-based systems integration firm Michetti Information Solutions, Inc. can be reached via www.michetti.com or e-mail IT101@edmontonians.com.

Last month, most of us saw announcements on a possible new virus threat— the Kama Sutra worm.

Actually called the W32. BlackMal.E@mm mass-mailing worm, it was designed to affect Microsoft Office and PDF documents on February 3rd.

Problem is, nobody really got hit. Now that I think about it, nearly two years have passed since a virus was unleashed that actually did some damage. Are the good old AnnaKournikova-I-Love-You virus days over?

Symantec Security Response had rated the Blackmal.E as a Category 2 threat on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most severe. Blackmal.E attempts

Civic Buzz For 76 years, Lord’s Shoes has been operating successfully in Edmonton. By the time you read this, Lord’s will have opened its newest store on Granville Street in Vancouver.

Jacqueline Noland, a charming exEdmontonian who hasn’t lost her affection for her home town, operates the West Coast location. She sat down with me recently to talk about Lord’s Shoes.

Lord’s first opened its doors in downtown Edmonton in February 1930, selling both men’s and women’s shoes.

Founder Cecile Lord, who was raised

in a shoe manufacturing town in England, had emigrated to Canada when he was 18. His familiarity with the fine detail and craftsmanship ultimately ensured Lord’s would only sell high quality footwear.” Cecile quickly became known across Canada for his eye for fashion: Suppliers often looked to him for guidance and ideas.

At the time, he also enjoyed success as Cecile Lord and his Orchestra. In fact, says Jacqueline, her grandfather’s band was the first broadcast to air nationwide on New Year’s Eve, in the 1930s. Within the decade, however, Cecile came to focus solely on his business. U.S. soldiers based in Edmonton during World War II knew of Lord’s Shoes as “the spot” to pick up fashion-forward selections for loved ones at home. Cecile’s untimely death in 1955 left his widow Lucia to support two young daughters. She faced an industry that was largely unwilling, initially at least, to work with her because she was a woman.

Lucia persevered, and Lord’s Shoes continued to thrive, selling women’s footwear only.

Jacqueline’s mother, Carole Lord Noland, worked alongside her mother after completing her business degree at the University of Alberta in 1970.

From 1972 to 1976, Carole also ran Econo Shoes on 97th Street—the first discount stores in Canada.

Facing ruin when Lord’s Shoes all but burned down in the fire that engulfed the King Edward Hotel in 1978, Lucia was not only able to keep the business running, but to expand to three in Edmonton.

Jacqueline points out that a major part of Lord’s success is its long-term staff; many employees were (and continue to be) with the company for more than two decades; in fact, one recently retired after 40 years.

Lucia Lord passed away in August 2000, just before her 90th birthday.

Remarkably, until she was 87, her presence was a staple in the Manulife store on Saturdays, working the cash register. Lucia is remembered as a woman of high fashion… a business women... and

TV show appears on the 50” plasma screen, a different show is playing on the kitchen TV. After you’ve watched a movie in your surround-sound home theatre, the bath in your ensuite fills at exactly the temperature you wanted. As you move from room to room, lights turn on and off, and doors lock.

All of this, and more, is not only possible but do-able, and the cuttingedge technology is available here from Advanced Integration Incorporated (visit www.liveintegrated.com).

Founded in 1998 by President Daryl Yakielashek as a production company mainly to do Edmonton Oilers games, the company branched into other fields in 2000—including residential and commercial installations—to become Advanced Integration a year ago. Daryl combines a wealth of experience in audio-visual design and installation with a solid knowledge of and keen interest in architecture, design and construction.

“As far as integration is concerned,” he says, “we like to speak about lifestyle, and how [our work] impacts lifestyle, instead of talking about toys and bells and whistles. For most homeowners, it can be complicated and something they may not want to know about. What they want to know is that when they walk into their house, the lights turn on, the music plays, and all of those things happen without them knowing—or caring—how. And that’s where our focus and strength is: Integrating everything and making it happen in a seamless way so that it has a positive impact on their lifestyle and how they enjoy their home.”

Technician Shane Painter provides the attention to detail that is required for integrated installations. “We install any form of system from high-end audio to home theatre, to lighting to Ethernet networks and so on.”

Of course, this is not necessarily cheap but retrofits are possible and not significantly more expensive. Some Edmonton condominium developers are now looking into the advantages of offering these integrated systems as an option. Shawn Green came on board

Shane, Dale and Shawn

beams Jacqueline, mostly as a lady.

For a variety of reasons, both the West Edmonton Mall and downtown stores closed in the 1990s, Lord’s Southgate continues under Carole’s guidance.

Carole and Jacqueline aren’t the only family members with business acumen: brother Kelly Noland, along with his partner, retails high-end men’s and women’s clothing and accessories at Identity Clothing on 23rd Avenue and 142nd Street. Naturally, there’s a Lord’s shoe boutique in the women’s section.

You’ve seen it on TV… you’ve seen it in the movies: As you drive up to your home, the driveway lights come on, the garage door opens, lights appear in different windows in the house. Inside, the heat adjusts to your preferred level, the floors are heated, the curtains close, and your favourite

last August. “We have a number of major clients in Vancouver and some in Edmonton, and really want to have more here in Edmonton, where we live.”

The feature that amazed me was the TV behind the mirror in the vanity. When it’s turned off, as you clean your teeth or brush your hair, it’s invisible. But a touch of a button or switch or a timer, and suddenly the screen appears, clear as any other TV, right behind the mirror.

“We’re here to simplify your life,” adds Shawn. “Once you’ve been in a home or had the chance to experience that kind of living, you won’t want to go back.”

No kidding. ✔ David Norwood is a freelance writer/editor.

Contact dnorwood@edmontonians.com

EDMONTONIANS MARCH 2006

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13

MenuMagic with Chef John Berry

Chefs Simon and Guiseppe

lifestyles LIVELY

L Slimming Secret!

Lose Lose 4 4 to to 20 20 inches inches in in an an hour! hour!

A hot new detoxifying body wrap!

There’s a secret buzzing all over Greater Edmonton that we can’t wait to tell you about… “ I was attending a special event and had borrowed a strapless black 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,” says Nadine. But it was worth it.

“I rushed home to try on the dress and it was loose. I could wear it and actually breathe.”

“You start by recording your before measurements,” says Linda Perras of Suddenly Slimmer. “We check jaw, neck, forearm, wrist, bust, waist, abdomen, hips, upper thighs, lower thighs, calves and ankles. Then comes the treatment itself.”

1. The wrap. You are wrapped firmly with elastic bandages soaked in warm mineral solution.

2. Get your blood pumping.

Light physical activity revs up circulation.

3. Remoisten. Every 20 minutes, the mineral solution is applied. After 60 minutes, the wraps come off.

Why it works?

The wrap detoxifies the body.

The body can get overloaded with toxins because it cannot keep up with the filtration process. The more toxins in the body, the more lymphatic fluid increases to protect cells.

You force out toxins.

Once the toxins are gone, the lymphatic fluid decreases and you lose inches. It is not water loss—rather, an exchange of minerals for toxins.

istening to Dr. Carlos Pechtel de Avila talk about the hottest vacation ticket in town is like listening to a grandfather burst with pride over his grandson riding a bicycle for the first time. The president of Avila Vacanza Destinations—who also serves as Honorary Consul for Bolivia—unveiled the latest trend in touring Italy recently at the Edmonton Petroleum Club.

The idea of “A Taste of Italy” is to take serious foodies, who love to explore incredible cuisines, taste fine wines and want to get up to their armpits in flour and red sauce, to the heart of Italian cuisine—Tuscany, Umbria, Amalfi and Sorrento, Sardinia and Sicily, Piemonte and Liguria. It’s a hands-on culinary adventure in one of the most romantic countries in the world.

And just to give that special sparkle to the event, Avila imported Italian Chef Giuseppe Mazzocchi to talk about Italian cuisine, and do cooking demonstrations. He was ably assisted

by Shaw Conference Center Executive Chef and Culinary Team Canada guru and business manager Simon Smotkowicz. After each show, guests sampled the chefs’ creations, complemented by Italian wines.

history—it’s incredible.”

Chef Giuseppe beams, “Ours is a pure cuisine, passed down from generation to generation. We pay great detail to quality and won’t settle for anything less.”

Dr. Carlos Pechtel de Avila

THE SEXY, SAVORY AROMAS OF ITALY Chef Giuseppe is a man with a mission. Not only does he want to please the world with his culinary delights, but he wants to take the world to Italy and his birthplace of Nievole in Tuscany.

He was born in an olive water mill called Molino Delle Galere, where his grandfather ran and oversaw the production of extra virgin olive oil. When he was four, the country women started introducing him to the delectable, humble dishes created with their farm produce: vegetables, cheese, poultry and olive oil. That led him to culinary school in Montecatini, and on to positions in St Moritz, Geneva, San Francisco and Atlanta. He also was executive chef on a cruise line, gaining extensive knowledge in international cuisine.

In 1990, Chef Giuseppe returned home and began offering classes out of his Bed and Breakfast in Nievole. As well, he teaches S.A.I. culinary and wine programs for U.S. students in Florence.

“Italy,” he says, “has it all. Think about the food itself. It’s grown, processed and cured right here. Add in the landscape, the atmosphere, the wine, the culture, the

Ellis Brothers Photography Chef Simon agrees there’s so much to see and absorb. “Tuscany is cheese, wine, wild mushrooms, locally grown produce. It’s simply the best of the best. This sort of tour is getting very popular and is going to get very big.” He’s off to Italy to lead a culinary tour on September 26th. For more info, call Avila Vacanza Destinations at 482-3427.

He says cities like Edmonton and Vancouver are vast untapped markets for this type of culinary adventure. It doesn’t matter if you are a gourmet chef or a novice who likes to tinker in the kitchen. There’s something for everyone.

The tour packages that are being offered include stays in villas, apartments, a medieval mill, a family-run hotel, countryside farmhouse, and four-star hotels and include forays into the woods looking for truffles, a visit an olive grove with olive oil tasting, and numerous vineyard and wine tasting excursions. Culinary instruction is offered in four classes at the famous Sorrento Cooking School, as well as several restaurants, villas, hotels and a countryside kitchen.

Plus Avila Vacanza Destinations has launched cycling, walking and backpacking tours so vacationers can enjoy the culinary and wine delights of various Italian regions.

CHEF GIUSEPPE’S BRUSCHETTA 4 slices of firm, unsalted bread 1 clove of garlic 3 Tbs. of Tuscan extra virgin olive oil 1/2 lb. fresh mozzarella cheese slices 4 slices of mild country ham white pepper 1. Preheat the oven to 400º F and toast the bread until crisp.

2. Rub one side of the bread with the garlic clove.

3. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on the bread, then add slices of cheese.

4. Top with a piece of ham.

5. Pepper to taste. Drizzle a little more olive oil on top and bake 4 minutes. Serve.

Contact John at jberry@edmontonians.com

That’s a Wrap!

Call Linda Perras at Suddenly Slimmer Day Spa

780.459.3444 pedicures. manicures. facials. aroma therapy message

www.suddenlyslimmerdayspa.com 14

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Visit edmontonians.com for Absolute Tips and step-bystep photographs of the process. Contact lbodo@edmontonians.com or visit absolutebodo.com

ABSOLUTE TIPS

T

he word concrete comes from the Latin concretus, meaning ‘grown together’ or ‘compounded’.

The Romans are generally credited with being the first concrete engineers, but archaeological evidence dates Syrian heating and cooking equipment as far back as 6500 BC. Cement has been around for at least 12 million years, and is often confused with concrete. Cement is just one ingredient in concrete; combined with sand, rocks and water, it binds into a strong structure. Although the Egyptians and Greeks used concrete as building material, it was the Romans who used cement in large amounts for huge projects—the Colosseum… the Pantheon… foundations of the Forum buildings—still standing today and concrete proof of its durability.

Dusty, ancient history books taught us that Roman concrete consisted of three parts: lime, volcanic ash and rock. Sitting magnificently in the business district of Rome, the Pantheon has withstood the ravages of time in near perfect condition; humbling modern engineers with its lack of steel rods that hold modern concrete together. Chemistry alone, however, will not make good concrete. The ancients mixed their cement with as little water as possible to give a stiff “no-slump” concrete and special tamping tools were used.

Tamping closely packs the molecular structure and reduces water amounts, which is the source of voids and structural weakness.

Okay, okay, okay…enough of the history lesson, let’s throw the text books out the window and ‘Bodify’ the concrete process.

I have perfected a recipe for a slumped, untamped concrete that includes a good dose of vermiculite. The result is an uneven, pitted patina suggesting centuries of exposure to the elements—achieved in the frame of just a day. Let’s show the Romans

a thing or two.

Source an architectural piece you want to replicate, preferably a smaller object such as trim or baseboard sections, corbels or tiles; and create a mould to form your masterpieces.

• Attach unit to a wood or cardboard surface with double-sided tape for stability. Apply a thin coat of silicone spray to lubricate the piece for quick release of the mould.

• Following manufacture instructions, paint several layers of Latex Rubber on the model, occasionally adding a layer of cheesecloth between coats for additional strength and flexibility. Your mould should be between 1/4” to 1/2” thick, depending on how many pieces you plan to pour. Remove from

•

•

wood/cardboard surface and gently peal rubber from shape when completely dry. You now have a perfect negative of the piece you are replicating.

Cradle mould in a container of sand, spray with silicone, and fill with my Absolute Recipe. Using a putty knife, pack thick mixture into mould. Set for 24 hours, remove from mould and, if desired, tint concrete with diluted ink or pigments.

Install concrete accoutrements with a combination of silicone and hot glue, cure for 24 hours. Grout between tile or baseboard sections and seal with grout sealant.

•

• Vini, vidi, vici-cretus…

I came, I saw, I concreted ✔

• Although more expensive, white cement dries to a light shade allowing more tint options.

By finishing the pieces with a diluted ink/pigment mixture, the handsome characteristics of the concrete mixture show through and closely resemble natural stone. While concrete tints are available, I find that the consistent saturation of colour looks less natural and acid etching colour onto concrete is costly and offers little colour control.

• White cement is readily available at concrete specialty shops.

• To mix ingredients, place water in container first, gradually adding dry ingredients while constantly stirring.

• Purchase a paddle attachment for your drill for easy mixing. Empty coffee cans work awesome for mixing small batches.

• Using a putty knife to force your concrete mixture into the crevices of your mould avoids the need for tamping which eliminates voids. The voids impart an aged patina.

• Source Latex Rubber in the model train department at hobby shops.

• Use gauze bandage strips instead of cheesecloth.

If pouring multiple units, consider forming a cradle from concrete.

Create a five-sided wooden box, deep and wide enough to contain the mould, plus 1”all around. Wrap mould filled with the original piece in plastic wrap. Partially fill the box with concrete, (replace vermiculite with sand and use only grey cement for this mixture) and imbed mould until level with box opening. Fill edges with additional concrete and set. Remove mold, leaving plastic on concrete negative. To use, place mould in concrete cradle and pour mixture as needed.

Install hanging attachments to units while concrete is still wet, imbedding nails or bolts into back of unit.

EDMONTONIANS MARCH 2006

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THE PERSONALITY OF BUSINESS I N T H E C A P I TA L R E G I O N

ACQUISITIONS, DIVESTITURES & CORPORATE FINANCE

Welcome to our new website!

Edmontonians new website—underscoring The Personality of Business in the Capital Region—strives to be as compelling and engaging as the city it serves. Greater Edmonton is at the heart of remarkable growth: Our $4.6 billion regional economy, projected to grow by 3.7 percent in 2006, is fuelled by $86 billion in current or announced mega projects within the Edmonton service area. Edmontonians is the “must read” for sophisticated consumers... and our new website is a “must click” for visitors who want to know more about the region’s most influential and affluent people.

Since 1989, Edmontonians has established a tradition of independence and editorial quality second to none in Alberta. Columns and features take readers deep behind the headlines into the issues that concern the Capital Region. We do all this with lively writing, strong photography, and striking design.

We report on emerging industries, evolving business trends, developing communities, seasoned business leaders as well as rising stars. We showcase commercial establishments and creative individuals that reflect Edmonton’s business lifestyle. Signature editorial captures the Sizzling 20 under 30, Annual Guide to Charity Galas, Family Business, and International Business; in depth features are supported by seasoned writers who provide insights unique to this monthly magazine.

In each and every issue, we continue to cover this great city in the way it deserves… with heart, soul and sound business sense. Click on.

www.edmontonians.com

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

Business Valuations Navigating Through the Fog At some time, most business owners will inevitably require an independent valuation of their company. Often it serves as a starting point in determining a strategic direction or executing a plan for the future. It is also beneficial for: • shareholder/partner buyouts; • estimating a selling price prior to taking the business to market; • validating offers received for the sale of the business; • estate or tax planning; • divorce settlement; • confirming your assumptions about the value of your business.

A business valuation is a theoretical estimate and is expressed as a range of values. What price the business will actually bring will be determined by an arms-length, third party offer to purchase.

No two businesses are alike even though they may be direct competitors. Key value drivers such as management structures and the quality of systems will differentiate similar businesses and can bring about significantly different values.

We have found that a majority of business owners have difficulty interpreting the results of a formal valuation. In the end, the report becomes “just numbers”. What the owner really wants to know is “How much cash will I receive?” Our job is to help sort through the numbers and work with the business accountant or tax advisor to identify, explain and maximize the cash received.

At Foundation Group, we assist business owners in navigating through the fog of what their business is worth. For the past 16 years, we have been involved with the buying and selling of businesses in the marketplace. We can provide a professional and accurate “indication of value” of your business that is both comprehensive and practical. We identify the key value drivers inherent in the business and utilize this information to determine the appropriate valuation methodology. Once we have confirmed the current value of your business we can help you develop a strategy to maximize its future value.

Our independent valuation service is a valuable tool for business owners that complements our other acquisition, divestiture and corporate finance services.

If you are interested in determining what your business is actually worth or want a better understanding of the process involved in determining its worth, please e-mail skent@foundationgroup.ca or tdandrea@foundationgroup.ca or call 780.448.9099 to arrange a confidential meeting. For more information about Foundation Group, please visit our website at www.foundationgroup.ca.

EDMONTONIANS MARCH 2006

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Proof_ _____PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________