Here and there

 

 

Boosting entrepreneurial talent is critical for our country’s future. Successful CEOs and business leaders from across Canada will be taking an intensive program at the Richard Ivey School of Business in London, Ontario.

Emil Anderson Construction has announced that President and CEO, Mike Jacobs has been selected as a participant in Quantum Shift, a unique leadership development program founded by Ivey and KPMG Enterprise and sponsored by TD Commercial Banking and the Globe and Mail.

Small and medium sized businesses represent more than 97% of independent businesses in Canada and account for nearly half of the country’s GDP.

Helping these firms grow and improve their productivity is essential to building a more competitive Canada. The Richard Ivey School of Business, KPMG Enterprise, TD Commercial Banking and the Globe and Mail realize this and for the eighth year they’re inviting a select group of entrepreneurs to participate in Quantum Shift, a rigorous week-long program to give them the tools to push their businesses forward as Canada’s economy continues to recover.

Employing more than 6 million Canadians, private businesses are a significant source of wealth and economic growth in Canada. One of their main challenges is growing from small, start-up firms into medium sized firms.

Quantum Shift helps Canadian business owners accelerate their companies. It’s for entrepreneurs who are past the start-up stage and who are ready to innovate. The program focuses on the following components of leading:

• how to lead an enterprise through exponential growth
• how to attract and retain the best employees
• how to uncover obstacles that may be limiting growth
• how to value a venture and use strategies for moving from business plan to financial proposition
• how to build a strong network of entrepreneurial peers to share best-practices

Over 300 successful entrepreneurs have attended Quantum Shift to date...

“When you’re a young company in a high growth phase, often the structures aren’t keeping up. This was an opportunity to step back and start identifying where the cracks are and how to set up your business to sustain growth,” said Heaps.

Emil Anderson Construction is involved in Road Building, Earthworks and Heavy Civil Projects throughout the province of B.C.; Road Maintenance in the Fraser Valley; and residential development in the Okanagan Valley. Recent Highlight projects include the Whistler Bobsleigh and Luge Sliding Centre, the Whistler Ski Jump and the WR Bennett Bridge/Campbell Road Interchange in Kelowna.

Mike has been a member of the Executive Roundtable for nine years.

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Launching during the Okanagan Spring Wine Festival, (April 29th to May 8th throughout the Okanagan), the group of Wineries along Summerland’s Bottleneck Drive Wine Route announce a promotion that will be certain to attract eager wine lovers.

Each month of the Wine Season – through October 2011 - a draw will be made from among entrants for a case of assorted products from Bottleneck Drive Wineries, delivered to the winner’s door anywhere in British Columbia.

To enter, contestants simply pick up a Bottleneck Drive “rack card” at the Summerland or Penticton Visitor Information Centres or any of the 12 wineries, and have the card stamped while visiting at least 5 wineries along the route. The stamped card can be entered in the draw box at any Bottleneck Drive winery. It’s that simple!

Since its inception in 2008, Bottleneck Drive has become a very popular Okanagan Wine Route, attracting thousands of visitors annually to a wide selection of award-winning wineries in settings of spectacular beauty along the back roads of Summerland. They look forward to welcoming you there!

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The Target Corp. of Minneapolis has gone to Supreme Court in Ottawa as of yesterday hoping to win the right to use its name in Canada. This is after they formulated their deal with HBC to purchase up to 200 stores from Zellers Canada.

The U.S. retailer is asking the court to impose a preliminary injunction against Toronto retailer Isaac Benitah and his company Fairweather Ltd.

Benitah purchased the name from the closing of the Dylex Company a number of years ago. He has one of his Target Apparel stores in Nanaimo.

This is a very important decision to the Target Stores for their operations in Canada beginning in 2013.

Target has 1752 stores in the U.S. and the new president of the Canadian division said that Canada was a very difficult and challenging area to find high-quality locations in significant economies of scale. It has taken Lowe’s four years to open 24 stores here.

The remodel of the stores they take from Zellers are going to take about $10 million each to make the changeover from Zellers to Target. The company is busy trying to determine which sites are appropriate. There are four stores in the Okanagan.

Target has not said how many formats they will operate in Canada. It the U.S. there is a SuperTarget which carries a full grocery assortment. Canada, according to those in the know, will be a site by site decision .