SASKATOONEXPRESS - September 21-27, 2015 - Page 1
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1702 8th St. & Louise | 3330 8th St. E. | 705 22nd St. W. | 1204 Central Ave. | 802 Circle Dr. E. | 519 Nelson Road. Volume 12, Issue 38, Week of September 21, 2015
Saskatoonʼs REAL Community Newspaper
Leadership personified Dallas Howe believes in Saskatchewan
D
Dallas Howe says the best leaders take care of others (Photo by Sandy Hutchinson)
allas Howe has an roots and my mother’s persisunbelievable faith in tence in making sure I had the Saskatchewan people, right education. But it goes product and services. beyond that,” he said. “It is imPerhaps his best personal portant to deliver on promises, signature of belief came when keep your word, help out your he launched BDM IT, a leading neighbours and live with the provider of health-care software fundamental values, attitudes to North American hospitals. and cultures. I hope that we in He sold it to General Electric Saskatchewan never lose that.” Healthcare in 2002 and then, in He’s a supporter of inno2012, reacquired the company. vation and that’s why he and With the move, he re-established Jim Hutch, another Saskatoon People the Saskatoon head office, which entrepreneur, will be hosts when is operated by virtually all Sasthe Ernest C. Manning Innovakatchewan employees. tion Awards come to Prairieland Howe was also one of the founders of Park on Oct. 2 at 6 p.m. The awards are Advanced Data Systems, where he develnamed in honour of Manning, a longtime oped business software for more than 30 politician who was premier of Alberta from years and encouraged aboriginal informa1943 until 1968. tion solutions in Canada. Howe was born in Regina. His grandfaBlessed with agricultural and mathther of Irish ancestry moved from Ontario ematics backgrounds, he has filled many to the Prairies in 1882 and the farm, just leadership roles. He was a longtime director west of Regina, has been retained by the of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan. family for nearly 135 years. He was a director when the Saskatchewan Howe and his wife, Sandra, have been Wheat Pool was re-established as Viterra married for 48 years and are parents of two and subsequently sold to Glencore in 2012. children: Tricia, who lives in Vancouver, He is a former chair of the board of govand Chandler, who lives in Saskatoon and ernors at the University of Saskatchewan, who, among other things, also runs the a member of the board of the C.D. Howe farm. Institute and, more recently, chair of the Howe was fascinated by mathematics. Global Institute for Food Security. He advanced in education, earning an hon“I owe much to my family’s agricultural ours Bachelor’s degree and then a Master’s
NED POWERS
degree in mathematics at the University of Saskatchewan. He later attended the University of Toronto for graduate studies in computer science. “In the late 1960s, computers were coming into their own, but no one had figured out how to automate and computerize the complex operation of hospitals. Our company, working in Saskatoon, pioneered and built some of the first clinical software systems for hospitals in Canada and the United States. By working alongside great visionary leaders, we created systems in Saskatoon that were rated the best in North America. It didn’t hurt to have clients like UCLA, Johns Hopkins and Sloan Kettering. “Over the 30 years, we built great systems and a successful company. When I sold to General Electric, it took me five years to get over it emotionally. Then, when GE decided the system wasn’t a strategic fit for them, I wanted it back.” The success story with Advanced Data Systems was similar. “I think back to Saskatchewan business leaders like Terry Summach, Joe Leier, Rnold Smith, Bruce Loraas, Ray Ahenakew and Leonard Fysh, and how all of them, as innovators, too, wanted information systems which would impact their businesses in the future. “We believed we could deliver the systems that would reduce the need to
do things manually or rely on big service bureaus. In one unique venture with Fysh, a pharmacist in Moose Jaw, we used his pharmacy as one of the first automated prescription inventory billing systems. It didn’t take long until we had many pharmacies in Saskatchewan, Canada and United States buying from us.” Howe has a long-standing association with the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan. He was invited in 1982 to go on the board, then a Crown corporation, when then-premier Grant Devine was seeking to privatize the industry in the face of the Crown’s heavy financial losses. It took until 1989 to make the move. He served as an independent board member of the privatized company from 1991, including a term as chair of the board from May 2003 until May 2015. Howe credits the turnaround in the company to Chuck Childers, who became CEO in 1987. “Chuck started to make money for the corporation because he was a great salesperson and a marketing genius. It’s one thing to have the potash in the ground, a great natural resource, but nothing happens financially until you start to sell it profitably. I have worked with five CEOs at PCS, each a great leader in his own way. Potash has changed the face of Saskatchewan. (Continues on page 4)