Manitoba Chambers of Commerce FOCUS First Quarter 2009 · 4 • Manitoba FOCUS First Quarter 2009...

FOCUSEntrepreneurial Spirit • Community Values

Manitoba Chambersof Commerce

PM

#407875

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First Quarter 2009

Plus: More Of Manitoba’s Cül Companies

Ivan Balenovic, President and CEO,

Bothwell Cheese

“Who Moved My Bothwell Cheese?”Classic Manitoba Company Meets Classic Business Book

Classic Manitoba Company Meets Classic Business Book

First Quarter 2009 Manitoba FOCUS • 3

Publisher Robert Thompson

EditorDan Kenning

Sales Manager Sharon Komoski

Sales Executives Nolan Ackman, Hayden Dookheran

Production Team Leader Adrienne N. Wilson

Senior Graphic Design Specialist James T. Mitchell

President Kevin Brown

Senior Vice-President Robert Thompson

Branch Manager Nancie Privé

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means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the association.

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Manitoba Focus is published quarterly by MediaEdge Publishing for the

Manitoba Chambers of Commerce. The views and opinions expressed in this

magazine are not necessarily those of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, or

MediaEdge Publishing.

Please Return Undeliverable Copies To: Manitoba Chambers of Commerce

227 Portage Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3B 2A6 Phone: (204) 948-0100

Fax: (204) 948-0110

THE MCC’s VISION:

• Policy development that brings together businesses of all sizes, from all sectors, and communities across Manitoba.

• Non-partisan public debates of integrity, that criticize government where necessary, praise government where warranted, and disdain personal attacks and exaggeration.

• A Business community that demonstrates high ethical standards in all it does.

• Businesses dedicated to the vitality of their communities, the prosperity of their employees and the sustainability of the environment.

• A province that understands the nature and value of entrepreneurship and promotes the competitive enterprise system.

• A provincial government with sound, long-term economic strategies that are focused without ignoring opportunity, flexibility and diversity.

• Government policies and spending that are efficient and effective, delivering the programs that Manitobans need and helping the disadvantaged.

• A Manitoba that promotes the progress of all its citizens toward individual freedom, dignity and prosperity, and opposes any form of negative discrimination or needless control.

THE MANITOBA CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: OFFICERS 2008-2009

ChairmanKen Wilk

Vice-ChairmanDennis Brownlee

Vice-ChairmanWayne McWhirter

TreasurerFrank Sottana

Legal Counsel Tracey Epp

Corporate Secretary Jim Forestell

Immediate Past Chairman Jeff Zabudsky

THE MANITOBA CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: REGIONAL VICE-CHAIRMEN 2008-2009Mid-West RegionBlue Moffat

Parkland RegionRon Clement

Western RegionStuart Olmstead

Interlake RegionLorne Floyd

Pembina Valley RegionJudith Sawatzky

Central RegionChris Dyer

Eastern RegionTed Kelly

Capital RegionJack Wilson

NorMan Region Terry Brown

THE MANITOBA CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: CHAMBER REPRESENTATIVES 2008-2009Assiniboia Chamber of CommerceGerry Glatz

Brandon Chamber of CommerceRon Cumming

Chambre de Commerce de Saint BonifaceStephane Dorge

Winnipeg Chamber of CommerceJeffrey Hartry

Dauphin & District Chamber of CommerceBrian ChitaFlin Flon & District Chamber of CommerceDoug O’BrienMorden & District Chamber of Commerce Ross ArissPortage & District Chamber of CommerceLucy KinnearSelkirk & District Chamber of CommerceDavid BaylukWinkler & District Chamber of CommerceBrenda StoreyThompson Chamber of CommerceLouise HodderTHE MANITOBA CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: DIRECTORS AT LARGE 2008-2009John MacAulay Lee Jebb David Chan Yvette Milner Leonard Loboda Wadood Ibrahim Sean Barnes Carol Paradine

THE MANITOBA CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PAST CHAIRMAN 2008-2009Jean McClellan Brian Kelly David Newman Julie Turenne-Maynard Joe Barnsley

THE MANITOBA CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: EX OFFICIO 2008-2009Social JusticeDavid Northcott

Aboriginal ChamberSandra Jackson

EducationDigvar Jayas

Young AssociatesSilvia de Sousa

CorporatePierre Cronier MaryAnn MihychukAgriculture Gary Stott

Contents 4 Manitoba Matters

News and Notes Relating to our Province and its Business Community

6 The MCC: Making a Difference

8 Meeting With the Prime Minister

9 Our Man in ChinaMCC President Graham Starmer Reports on his Trip to the People’s Republic

10 Ahead of the Curve“Who Moved My Bothwell Cheese?” Classic Manitoba Company Meets Classic Business Book

16 Community Leaders Carberry Rolls Out the Welcome Mat

17 Manitoba’s Cül Companies The Power of Passion: K9 Storm, Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods and Oils and Baby Sherpa

22 Postcards From the Business Edge

22 Advertisers Index

Cover Photo: Steve Salnikowski, Chronic Creative

4 • Manitoba FOCUS First Quarter 2009

News and notes relating to our province and its business community Manitoba Matters

Protegra Wins National Award

Protegra was named to the top of the list of 50 Best Small and Medium Employers in

Canada. This is the first year that Protegra has participated in this survey. The study, now in its fifth year, is published in the Globe and Mail.

“Being chosen as the best small and medium employer is a great honour that we all share as part of an exceptional organization,” said Wadood Ibrahim, Protegra’s CEO. “We continue to receive these distinctions because of our people, our codified culture and our ability to deliver results to our clients.”

Medicure Launches New Clinical Program

Medicure Inc. (TSX:MPH), a cardiovascular-focused biopharmaceutical company, has

announced initiation of a clinical program to investigate the efficacy and safety of AvastremTM (pyridoxal 5’- phosphate) for the management of tardive dyskinesia. The Company will provide details of the planned tardive dyskinesia study in humans in the coming weeks.

Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a socially stigmatizing and potentially irreversible long-term disorder caused by treatment with antipsychotic medications that are generally prescribed for conditions such as schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.

Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, Manitoba Division,

Announces 2009 Awards

• Export Award: Can Oat Milling (winner), Westeel (finalist) and Westfield Industries (finalist)

• Hall of Fame Inductees: Art DeFehr, Palliser Furniture and Russ Edwards, Westman Group

• Emerging Award: Genuwine Cellars and Acrylon Plastics

• Pioneer Award: Peter Pakosh and Roy Robinson, Versatile founders (both deceased) and John Koslowsky, Puratone founder (deceased)

Winners Of 2008 Excellence In Sustainability Awards Announced

• Amanda Tetrault — Individual Award;

• Enviro Safe Cleaning — Business Award;

• Centre for Sustainable Transportation — Institution or Organization Award;

• Youth Community Partnership — Community Group Award;

• Vincent Massey Sustainable Development Committee - Youth Award;

• Granny’s Poultry — Action on Climate Change, Air Quality and Energy Efficiency Award;

• Keystone Agricultural Producers and Delta Waterfowl — Sustainability in Water Stewardship and Natural Area Protection Award;

• Town of Leaf Rapids — Sustainability in Pollution Prevention and Product Stewardship Award;

• Village of Dunnottar — Education for Sustainability Award;

• Scott Nicol — Research and Innovation for Sustainability Award; and

• Winnipeg Humane Society in association with Number TEN Architectural Group — Outstanding Achievement in Sustainability Category.

Meet our leadersThe faces of CN. People from communities across North America who move goods producedlocally, goods produced by their own neighbours. People who go the extra mile every day,building safer places to work and live, and helping take good care of our environment.

Public inquiries: 1-888-888-5909CN Sales Centre: 1-888-MOVIN-CNTo report an emergency: 1-800-465-9239

www.cn.ca

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THE MCC: MAKING A DIFFERENCE

MCC Releases Interim Report for 2008-2009 Resolutions

The MCC has posted interim reports regarding each of its 21 Resolutions on its website, www.mbchamber.mb.ca.

Each report reproduces the Resolution, lists the MCC’s lobbying efforts, describes other events that have happened in relation to Resolution, and provides a current status report. In addition, the MCC is once again providing a Resolution Report Card (see below).

More Cül Company Pod-casts Are Now Available

New editions of the “Manitoba’s Cül Compa-nies” radio show are now available by

podcast.

Go to www.mbchamber.mb.ca and access some great insights from these entrepreneurs:

• Rory Bochinski, President, Shocknife®

• Robb Denomme, CEO, Genuwine Cellars

To suggest a Cül Company or to send in a question for a Cül Company email [email protected].

MCC Announces Theme for Upcoming AGM

The MCC’s 2009 AGM will be held at the Lakeview Resort in Gimli, April 24-26, 2009.

The theme for the 2009 AGM is the Manitoba economy.

Stay tuned for announcements or contact Greg Findlay at (204) 948-0105 or [email protected].

2008-2009 INTERIM RESOLUTION SCORECARD ‘SCORE’

Set Election Dates success

Public Policy Issues Related To Manitoba Hydro needs more work

Northern Agriculture a qualified success

Post-Secondary Student Housing success

Manitoba — Canada’s Gateway To Global Trade success

Making Prime Real Estate Available For Resale In Rural Towns For Increased Economic Development

needs more work

A Proactive Approach To Fishing Licence needs more work

Lifting The Ban On The Expansion Of Hog Production Failure

Payroll Tax needs more work

Manitoba’s Dependency On Equalization Payments needs more work

Provincial Government Spending Resolution needs more work

Promotion Of Airships a qualified success

Enhancing Air Service In Manitoba a qualified success

Linking Manitoba Together Efficiently For Continued Growth

success

A Wireless Portal Plan For Manitoba’s Rural Municipalities

a qualified success

Rory Bochinski, Shocknife®

Robb Denomme, Genuwine Cellars


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• 42,000+ post-secondary students within commuting distance

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• Established anchors such as the University of North Dakota, the Energy & Environmental Research Center, the Center for Innovation

Grand Forks successfully grows businesses. Let’s talk. Contact Klaus Thiessen today to learn more about expanding your business to Grand Forks, North Dakota.

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2008-2009 INTERIM RESOLUTION SCORECARD ‘SCORE’

Set Election Dates success

Public Policy Issues Related To Manitoba Hydro needs more work

Northern Agriculture a qualified success

Post-Secondary Student Housing success

Manitoba — Canada’s Gateway To Global Trade success

Making Prime Real Estate Available For Resale In Rural Towns For Increased Economic Development

needs more work

A Proactive Approach To Fishing Licence needs more work

Lifting The Ban On The Expansion Of Hog Production Failure

Payroll Tax needs more work

Manitoba’s Dependency On Equalization Payments needs more work

Provincial Government Spending Resolution needs more work

Promotion Of Airships a qualified success

Enhancing Air Service In Manitoba a qualified success

Linking Manitoba Together Efficiently For Continued Growth

success

A Wireless Portal Plan For Manitoba’s Rural Municipalities

a qualified success


On December 19, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper sought the views of a number of Manitoba CEOs and one association — the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce. Here is MCC President Graham Starmer’s report on the meeting.

I was honoured to join a number of other CEOs in a meeting with the Prime Minister that lasted approximately two hours. The

topic at hand was the current downturn in the economy and, to his credit, the Prime Minister heard us out on how the federal government should manage the situation.

Prior to the meeting, the MCC canvassed its membership for their input. As is often the case with the federal government we did not have a lot of advance notice. Even so, with a limited two-hour timeframe we still received close to 40 detailed and thoughtful responses. The views were quickly collated and grouped into discussion notes.

The Prime Minister and the Minister of the Treasury Board, Vic Toews, began the meeting with an outline of the state of the Canadian economy and detailed the differences compared to the United States economy. The PM reiterated his commit-ment to receive input from the persons gathered and take the information under consideration in tabling the upcoming federal budget.

The PM indicated that he was travelling from Winnipeg after the meeting to announce the support to the automobile sector. The need to provide loans to safeguard the jobs in that sector was extremely important. There was a discussion concerning these actions and there was consensus from the group that strict guidelines and restrictions were required.

The PM also advised that discussions from across Canada told him loud and clear that there was a need to speed up,

Meeting with thePrime Minister

increase and distribute the dollars being provided for infrastructure projects. A number of us suggested there should be more funds going to community projects at the municipal level and investments in post-secondary education.

The group also pointed out that there had been some concern about restrictions on credit and the increase costs to business in this area. This increase in costs and credit restrictions would translate into a slowing down of any recovery. If the government decides to provide loan support for industries, this would have to be done on an individual selective basis with similar restrictions to the automobile sector.

General conversations ensued relating to issues of farming and the US COOL legislation and the impact on pork and beef sectors, investments in retraining, the inland port in Manitoba, the Asia Pacific Gateway, support for bio-tech investments, and affordable housing.

The Prime Minister impressed with his knowledge of the issues and seemed genu-inely committed to this type of dialogue. Time will tell on how this consultation plays out when the federal budget is brought forward.

Thanks to all our members who sent in their views. As a grassroots organization, we remain dedicated to hearing your voice so as to make sure it is heard by government.

MCC REPORT


The formation of an inland port in Manitoba has been on the agenda of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce

for many years.

In 2001, we met with government, the major railways and other stakeholders to form a multimodel facility close to the airport.

In 2006, the government set up its Manitoba’s International Gateway Strategy and the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce participated in the Manitoba Inter-national Gateway Council to help manage the strategy.

Responding to a call to take Manitoba’s inland port to the next level, in June 2008 the Premier brought together representa-tives of the business community, including the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, under the chairmanship of the Premier’s Economic Council. New legislation, the

naming of the port and prioritization of future infrastructure projects moved quickly during the summer of 2008.

It was clear during this process that the team needed to examine other locations that had experience with inland ports. Ports were examined in the United States and arrangements were made to visit the emer-ging port of Chongqing in China. In addi-tion, the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce was eager to outreach to the Chamber of Commerce in our sister province Henan in China.

The mission, which occurred from October 31 to November 6, 2008, was co-ordinated with a business mission arranged by the Council of the Federation and organized by the Canada China Business Council [CCBC]. Four provincial Premiers joined the trip and there were over 30 persons from Manitoba. In total, close to 200 business leaders from

the four provinces participated in visits to Beijing, Chongqing and Shanghai.

Of particular note, the Canadian Embassy organized meetings with large businesses so our delegation could present on Mani-toba’s CentrePort. The meetings drew an impressive array of large freight forwarding companies, distributors and producers — and they were certainly interested in this new port in Manitoba.

China is actively engaged in regional diversification and the structuring of close to 20 inland ports and transporta-tion hubs. One of these regions is Henan Province, a diverse economy with many industries (hydro, aerospace, etc.) similar to Manitoba.

They are in the process of massive expansions and are attracting investment from Australia, the UK and Germany. The fact that we are their sister province is taken seriously and they wish for more intensive collaboration.

Henan has over 100 million people and covers 64,000 square miles.

The Manitoba Chambers of Commerce met with China’s equivalent of the Chamber of Commerce and signed a memo of under-standing with the CEO to assist businesses and visits to our respective countries.

In addition, the MCC, which helps manage with Red River College an entrepreneurial Internet business game for high schools in Manitoba, opened up the competition to teams in Henan schools. The Chamber in Henan Province committed to setting up the game within their education system.

The mission to China was a great success as a number of our businesses signed agree-ments and built important relationships.

Henan has tentatively agreed to visit Manitoba in 2009/2010.

Our Man In ChInaMCC PRESIDENT GRAHAM STARMER REPORTS ON HIS TRIP TO THE PEOPLE’S REPuBLIC

MCC REPORT


I t seemed like a good idea — looking at one of the best-selling business books of all time, Who Moved My Cheese?,

through the real-world experiences of a very successful Manitoba business that just happens to deal in cheese!

Then again, Who Moved My Cheese? is a parable of how two mice and two miniature humans respond when their only source of food, a big hunk of cheese, runs out. Tales of mice may be big with the kids, but surely that’s not every CEO’s cup of tea?

To make matters worse, by any standards the book is pretty lightweight, tipping the scales at all of 94 pages — and that’s with large font and plenty of cheesy (literally and figuratively) illustrations.

“WhO MOved My BOthWell

CLASSIC

MANITOBA COMPANY

MEETS CLASSIC

BuSINESS BOOK

AHEAD of the CURVE

“We get fat when we get complacent and we think that when times are good they will always be good, and that’s a

pitfall of human nature.”

Ivan Balenovic, President and CEO, Bothwell Cheese


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V i s i o n i s n e v e r

p e r i p h e r a l

F o c u s o n t h e F u t u r e !

Would a busy exec really want to size up his company against this little ditty?

As fate would have it, not only has Ivan Balenovic, President and CEO of Bothwell Cheese, read the book, he liked it — so much that he lent it out.

The first question is a natural, ‘how to explain the popularity of the book?’ After all, we are talking phenomenal popularity: sales of over 10 million copies, topping the best seller lists of USA Today, Business Week, New York Times, Publisher Weekly and the Wall Street Journal.

Plus, it’s popular with some pretty heavy hitters. The dust jacket lists 62 organiza-tions that have hailed it, from AT&T to IBM and Xerox.

And the devotion of those heavy hitters runs pretty deep. The president of the New York Stock Exchange read the book and recommended it to his entire staff. South-west Airlines purchased 27,000 copies for all of its employees and sent a copy to every person’s home. Mercedes-Benz ordered more than 7,000 copies and uses the book in its training program.

Balenovic believes the book hits a chord because it addresses “change,” one of the most fundamental and difficult issues for a business. In fact, he says the economic crisis currently facing so many confirms the wisdom of the book. “The question that needs to be asked when we make changes in response to an event is, should some of the changes have been made earlier, and the answer is, absolutely. But we get fat when we get complacent and we think that when times are good they will always be good, and that’s a pitfall of human nature.”

Change poses a double whammy because even if you are able to resist complacency so as to be alive to the need for change, you still may resist out of fear.

That’s certainly how the issue played out with some of the book’s characters. While the book’s mice immediately noticed their cache of cheese was diminishing, took steps to find more and were the better for it; the two miniature humans delayed, at first complacent and then fearful, making

the situation worse as they became weaker and weaker as the food diminished. Indeed, while one human eventually summoned up the courage to venture forth the other stayed behind, blindly clinging to the past.

Change Happens: They Keep Moving the Cheese Balenovic heartily endorses this first and most basic of the book’s lessons. In fact,

his first dealings with Bothwell gave him a “leg up” on the issue of change that he will never forget.

In 2002, Balenovic led a group of investors who purchased Bothwell Cheese and priva-tized it. The process gave Balenovic a perspective that, on the one hand, enabled him to appreciate the company’s history as a farmers’ co-op that began in 1936,

AHEAD of the CURVE


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thrived and earned a quite a good reputation for high-quality cheeses. “Think about it, a company that has survived for 73 years has obviously gone through many crises — the Second World War, all the financial and market downturns that have occurred since 1936, pressures from competi-tion and going from a free market to supply managed milk controlled by the Canadian Dairy Commission,” he says. “So clearly there were a lot of good decisions made over those years.”

On the other hand, as an outsider he was able to see the company was ripe for change. “We had the advantage of coming in with fresh eyes and no baggage. We weren’t in a comfortable complacent position because everything was brand new and everything was a change right from day one.” And change it did, from rebranding to a new marketing strategy to significantly automating and modern-izing the plant.

One thing the new management team didn’t want to change was the staff, because it knew they were first-rate. That gave Balenovic a third perspective, a close-at-hand reminder of how intimidating change can be for those who don’t have fresh eyes. “Some of those initial changes were fearful for the staff. I think that they were in a position where they didn’t understand what was wrong with the way they were doing things. Fortunately once the changes proved themselves we all became really excited about more changes.”

Anticipate Change: Get Ready for the Cheese to Move The second key lesson of the book involves a fine balance, analysis is important, being realistic is important, even fear can be important, but they cannot create paralysis.

Bothwell Cheese certainly did its homework before it made its moves.

A useful resource came from a place you would least expect. “We spent a lot of time looking at the competition, finding out what they were doing, how they were doing it, finding out what improvements they made and how we could learn from the things they did right and not make the same mistakes,” explains Balenovic.

The learning process spanned several years of travelling throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota and further south and a little bit into Canada, although Canadian competitors tended to not want to share information as much as their American counterparts. Adds Balenovic, “It’s learning as much as you can as quickly as you can, figuring out what you need and then hunting for the equipment.”

The company also engaged focus groups and undertook research with marketing companies. “We had some sense of our customer base, but we wanted more detail,” says Balenovic. “Our first step to growth was to determine the

AHEAD of the CURVE


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nature of our current customer base, then seek out like-minded customers.”

Bothwell also wanted to reduce its depend-ency on the commodity business, where it sold to companies that repacked the cheese and re-sold it under a different brand, and to them that meant one thing — expanding its line of branded specialty cheeses.

And expand it did. In 2002, less than 7 per cent of Bothwell’s sales were in specialty cheeses, now they are about 20 per cent. A lot of that has come from adding varieties such as dill, garlic chive, horseradish, red hot chili pepper, gouda, edam, Madagascar green peppercorn, black summer truffle, red wine aged cheddar and several wood-smoked cheeses.

Bear in mind, this was not simply change for change’s sake. It was part of a well thought out plan to broaden Bothwell’s

market and expand its value. “All of our products are of high quality but it is diffi-cult to take a typical cheddar product and get that message across for a plant of our size,” explains Balenovic. “So developing higher-value unique cheeses has this pull-up effect where people will try the product, appreciate the value and quality and then associate the rest of our products with that high-end product.”

Secondly, those unique high-end varieties get Bothwell in some equally high-end delis and restaurants, in Manitoba and across the country.

Finally, there are the retailers, who are increasingly demanding new varieties to cater to consumers that are growing more discriminating and adventurous.

Anticipating all of these changes, Bothwell did something that turned out to be very

shrewd indeed. They hired Jason Wortzman as Director of Sales and Marketing. Actually, that’s also Chef Wortzman, as he is an inter-nationally trained chef with over 15 years of experience running a range of kitchens from small bistros to five-star hotels worldwide.

Wortzman’s background proved invaluable as he led the way in developing many of Bothwell’s exotic specialty cheeses. What’s more, because of his reputation as a chef he was able to take some of those unique varieties to fellow professionals to evaluate them. “It is really the best focus group you can possibly have,” beams Balenovic.

Bothwell’s extensive research and detailed planning begs the question, ‘when do you know it’s safe to move from research and strategizing on to execution?’

“There’s a difference between being conservative and being afraid, and I think

AHEAD of the CURVE


it’s all about doing your homework” says Balenovic. “Do your research to the point where you are fairly certain there won’t be any major surprises; then you are always able to tweak the progress because any surprises that do arise will be small.”

Interestingly enough, that leads us to the next lesson in the book.

Monitor Change: Smell the Cheese Often so You Know When it is Getting OldEven with all its research and planning, Both-well Cheese is always monitoring its facility, employees, customers and industry to see what changes are brewing.

Bothwell stays on top of trends by attending most of the major food shows in Canada and some of the shows in the States and in Europe. “We are constantly looking for any new product that comes into the market,” explains Balenovic. “We may not copy that specific product but we may look at it and come up with something innovative of our own.”

Monitoring trends can also lead the company to new ways of delivering the same product. For example, Bothwell Cheese determined there was a growing market for shredded cheese so it put in the necessary equipment.

Enjoy Change!: Savour the Adventure and Enjoy the Taste of New Cheese At its core, Who Moved My Cheese? seeks to change attitudes about change, to get people to buy into the idea that change is as fun, exciting and uplifting as it is necessary.

Count Balenovic as a big believer. “We are dreamers; we constantly talk about where we can go and what it is going to take to get there. It makes every day exciting and I can’t wait to come to work.”

This may be the key insight, the book doesn’t just take the approach that loving change is simply a state of mind, its recom-mendations actually take the pain out of change. For example, it tries to get people to respond to small changes before they get bigger. That makes change easier to deal with and reduces the fear factor à la “don’t sweat the small stuff.”

Listening to Balenovic confirms the power of this approach.

“When you are in a constant state of change, as we have been since 2002, it’s much easier to tweak that change than it is to start making change from a complacent position. That’s been one of the biggest advantage we have had over the last six years.”

“If you monitor problems and catch themwhen they are small, they don’t get a chance to become big. We don’t hide our head in the sand; we are prepared to deal with any issue that we are faced with. Regardless of what the consequences are, we deal with it directly.”

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Be Ready to Change Quickly and Enjoy it Again and Again: They Keep Moving the Cheese The book ends where it began, with the reminder that change is perpetual. No need to guess Balenovic’s attitude about that.

Your Cheesy Change is No Gouda Okay, that’s not in the book, but it’s worth mentioning that for all its wisdom, the book misses some of the complex dilemmas created by change.

For one thing, change can be expensive, especially when you are staying on top of trends and trying to be cutting edge. As a small company, Bothwell Cheese is able to stay within budget by buying used equip-ment (usually from companies that didn’t handle change so well).

Secondly, while Bothwell Cheese owes a lot of its success to change, another key ingredient is what it has kept the same. Its

commitment to keeping its people has already been noted. Further, it has never wavered in its commitment to using fresh, pure milk (never modified) and has stayed true to its fundamental cheese-making techniques.

As well, the company has a long-term plan that rarely changes. Ironically, big-picture consistency makes responding to day-to-day changes easier. “We always keep in mind our long-term objectives and weigh every decision we make against those objectives,” explains Balenovic. “Sometimes it is easy to overcompensate but framing an issue in the context of your long-term plans keeps it in perspective.”

It is a direct result of the changes under-taken since 2002 and the commitment to keeping focused on their long-term objective that made it possible to more than double the annual revenue from less than $10 million to just shy of $21 million.

Finally, change involves a rather nasty paradox insofar as while change is neces-sary to help spur and maintain growth, growth can end up limiting the capacity for change. It is a dilemma Bothwell Cheese is starting to have to grapple with.

“One advantage we have as a small company is that we can make change quickly, if a customer wants us to try something new, the decision can be made that afternoon,” says Balenovic. “Despite all of the advan-tages associated with automation, there are some drawbacks such as diminished flex-ibility. Instead of being able to make as little as 300 kg of a specialty cheese, our smallest runs are now 2,300 kg.”

All in all, Balenovic strongly recommends Who Moved My Cheese? Although, he adds with a smile, it is a quick read that goes best with a glass of wine and some Bothwell Cheese.

AHEAD of the CURVE


L ike many towns in Western Canada, Carberry owes its origin to the Canadian Pacific Railway. As for the

details — well, there’s a story you don’t hear every day.*

In 1882, the CPR established a station at De Winton, a small townsite about one-and-a half miles east of the present site of Carberry. Several of the railway’s officials quietly purchased much of De Winton’s townsite property, hoping for great profit as the town grew.

Such speculation was strictly against company rules, however, and on discov-ering the violation, the Railway Company, using 100 specially hired men, physically moved the new station to the present site of the town of Carberry in just one night!

Carberry was named after Carberry Tower in Musselburgh, Scotland (belonging to Lord Elphinstone, a director of the CPR) by James J. Hill, another CPR director and later President of the Great Northern Railway.

From these humble and circuitous begin-nings the town has flourished, recently celebrating its 125th anniversary.

If there is one constant in the town’s history it is a dedication to creating a welcoming environment — for new oppor-tunities, residents and visitors. In fact, its new logo boasts the slogan, “Your road to Family. Friends. Home.”

Betty Buurma, President of the Carberry and District Chamber of Commerce, says the local chamber works hard to help support that attitude. “We proceed on the idea that first impressions mean a lot, so we are always trying to enhance community pride and roll out the welcome mat.”

Carberry Rolls Out the Welcome Mat

The chamber’s efforts in that regard include a Street Fair, a Christmas parade and an AGM that provides a wide range of awards. The 2008 recipients included: Volunteer Organization; Super Troopers, Volunteer of the Year; Fokko Buurma and Bob Adriaansen, Sports Volunteer; Brent McMillan, Citizen of the Year; John McNeily and Alex Christison, Lifetime Achievement; Barry Anderson.

Certainly all the award recipients are worthy of note, but Super Troopers perfectly embodies Carberry’s welcoming attitude. Super Troopers began with three high-school girls wanting to give spouses of military personal some time free from caring for their kids. “It can be pretty chal-lenging and lonely when you run a house-hold while your spouse is away on active duty,” explains Buurma, “so Super Troopers was a really wonderful idea that helps those families feel welcome.”

The chamber also engages in a number of partnerships with the economic development office and the municipal office. In fact, those three entities worked together in developing the 125th celebrations, new signage and the town’s website.

More recently, Buurma met with the economic development officer in an effort to develop a strategy that builds on the commun-ity’s proximity to Spruce-woods Provincial Park.

The chamber also works hard to make sure visitors know what Carberry offers. It spear-headed maps and business directories when the town hosted curling and hockey events.

The Carberry and District Chamber also teamed up with the Carman Chamber for the ‘First Impressions’ program offered through Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initia-tives. Through this initiative two communities visit each other without prior notice and then provide information on what works — and what doesn’t — for visitors. “We learned a lot through that process” says Buurma. “When you know your community so well, you can take for granted some things that newcomers aren’t able to figure out.” She is looking forward to implementing some of the recommendations throughout 2009.

*This history, as well as a great deal more information about Carberry, is available at http://www.townofcarberry.ca.

Community Leaders


PASSION“When I looked down, I saw that the

flames from the Molotov Cock-tail were engulfing Tracer. She

was fine. The K9 Storm had protected her.”

“…the suspect turned and fired at least seven rounds from a .45 auto at a distance of less than 10 feet, but the dog kept fighting. We would subsequently learn that at least two rounds hit the vest. The dog, Blitz, was not injured and continued the fight, putting the suspect down…”

“The male suspect acquired a pitchfork and brought it down on Chikko. Fortunately, Chikko was wearing his K9 Storm Patrol-Swat Vest.”

Imagine what it must feel like to get a steady stream of notes like these and you begin to understand something crucial about Manitoba’s Cül Companies.

K9 Storm produces the only patented truly custom-fit tactical body armour for canines used by police and military forces.

Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods and Oils is a vertically integrated hemp food manufac-turer, offering the freshest and highest quality staple hemp food products in the world.

Baby Sherpa is a leading-edge designer of gear-carrying solutions designed to simplify and help organize active families. One reviewer called them “the James Bond of backpacks” for their technical and ergo-nomic design (a typical Baby Sherpa back-pack includes key retrievers, a spot for a cell phone, loops for kids’ toys or water bottles, modular mirror bottle pockets, a built-in cooler, a sternum strap, flaps to hang keys or soothers, a detachable waist belt and a

bungee cord that can hold things like jackets and blankets).

Very different businesses indeed, but they are defined by a common origin – a deep and abiding personal passion that leads to the development of a unique product, a cool product.

Baby Sherpa CEO Heather Campbell-Dewar vividly recalls the spark that led to the creation of her company. In this case, mother-hood was the mother of invention. She lived a busy lifestyle that included a wide range of outdoor activities, but when her daughter was born she couldn’t find a quality diaper backpack that met her needs. “There were sports backpacks for every activity except the extreme sport of parenthood,” jokes Campbell-Dewar.

the POWer OF Manitoba’s Cül Companies

K9 Storm produces the only patented, custom-fit tactical body armour for police and military canines


Mike Fata’s path to Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods and Oils began with a profound personal commitment. Weighing 300 hundred pounds, at the age of 18-and-a-half, he committed to changing his lifestyle and getting more conscious about his health. “I tried almost every fad diet you can think of,” says Fata. “At that time the ‘no-fat diet’ was very popular. I lost over 100 pounds but was still very unhealthy because I was eating barely any nutrients.”

Fata developed a real passion for the issue of healthy living, learning more and more, digging deeper and deeper. He learned about omega-6 and omega-3, and found out hemp was one of the richest sources of those essential fats. Seeing a huge potential for hemp food products, he joined fellow devotees Martin Moravcik and Alex Chwaiewsky to form Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods and Oils. Fata is the President.

Jim Slater co-founded K9 Storm with his wife Glori. The company owes its existence to a particularly harrowing moment in Jim’s life. As a canine handler in the police force, he was part of an effort to quell a prison riot. It was a bloody, chaotic, dangerous situation that drove home a paradox: while human officers are decked out in body armour and tactical gear the officer that is often the first to be in harm’s way, the police dog, is totally unprotected.

“That made no sense at all,” says Jim Slater. “A police dog is valued at anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000 because it is trained with specific skills that will serve, protect and save lives, to say nothing of the emotional connec-tion you develop with the dog.”

He started searching and found the canine vests offered by the big body armour companies were either so bulky or obstructive they posed their own dangers to the dog. Fed up, Slater took one of his old vests and tailored it to his own police service dog.

“Fellow officers saw the vest and kept asking Jim if he could make them one,” says Glori Slater. “It got to the point where we realized there was an opportunity to make a living doing something we loved while also addressing a very important need.”

Overcoming Initial ChallengesThe passion behind these products also fuels a resiliency that can really come in handy. Indeed, in the early days, two of these companies used that resiliency to overcome a fair amount of ridicule.

K9 Storm faced two kinds of hurdles when it tried to broaden the demand for its K9 Storm Vests. Some canine handlers just weren’t open to the idea of dog armour, while many of those who had been willing to consider it were now jaded because of the bad products on the market. “We were often told the notion of armour was ridiculous, it was too hot, too restrictive, and too heavy” recalls Jim Slater. “We hung in there because we knew the product worked and just kept trying to target progressive canine handlers.”

Hemp carried a connotation that Manitoba Harvest had to work hard to overcome. “At the time, when you mentioned hemp half the people snickered and some wouldn’t even stop at our trade show booth,” recalls Fata. “There were definitely moments where the

negativity started to get to us, but we hung on to our belief that hemp would help people lead healthier lives.” Even though the initial numbers of interested people were small, the company focused on the positive responses.

Constantly visiting trade shows, markets and wherever the health conscious may congre-gate, Manitoba Harvest was able to grow a market, step by step, customer by customer, to the point where they were able to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars on a bold effort targeting the Eastern United States.

Unfortunately, the official date of the launch turned out to be 10 days before 9-11.

To make matters worse, on October 9, 2001 the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency embarked on an extensive campaign suggesting hemp foods could not be legally sold in the United States.

“Our whole launch to the U.S. basically fell apart,” winces Fata. “I went into survival mode.”

Knowing the company didn’t have the money to send him to the Eastern U.S., he loaded up the car full of product and started driving around the Midwest. It wasn’t the biggest market, but he could get to it. For the next 11 months, he was on the road about half of the time.

“We knew we were on the right path and that it would all come together if we just kept going,” says Fata explaining his grit during those dark days. “That’s the entrepreneurial lesson, the difference between those who succeed and those who don’t often comes down to that 11th hour and the willingness to hang in there or do that little extra thing that needs to be done instead of saying, ‘what’s the point?’ It’s

Manitoba’s Cül Companies

Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods and Oils founders (l-r) Martin Moravcik, Alex Chwaiewsky and Mike Fata


holding your head up high and being optimistic all the way through the process.”

Interestingly, a passionate faith in their product doesn’t prevent Cül Companies from doing their homework and seeking out feedback.

“I had this great idea and I thought, ‘if I am going to do this, I’d better do it right,’ explains Campbell-Dewar. She took a 10-week program with Myers Norris Penny for self-employment that included the development of a formal business plan. “It also gave me someone with expertise looking at it and finding any holes. That served me well in the long run.”

The Baby Sherpa CEO also held focus groups. She says they don’t involve a lot of money, but if you want valuable insights make sure you target your demographic and avoid using friends. “Friends or relatives really want to be encouraging and positive so they don’t give the hard truth you sometimes need to hear,” explains Campbell-Dewar.

Campbell-Dewar even tested out the company’s name because a communica-tion expert told her moms wouldn’t know a

Sherpa from a Sherman tank. “Nine out of the 10 moms in our focus group knew what a Sherpa was,” Campbell-Dewar says with a smile. “I went with my gut, but the focus group vindicated me. Listen to your customers, not the experts.”

Baby Sherpa continues to get great feed-back through its online presence. It’s on E-bags, Amazon and different online sales, about 40 in all, and those customers are all too happy to say, ‘what about this, what about that?’

Message boards also encourage people to speak up. “The back end of your website can tell you a lot in terms of where your referrals are coming from,” adds Campbell-Dewar. “For example, if we see someone come to us from a message board we will track it back and see what their comments were. We’ve found blogs with pictures of people wearing a Baby Sherpa backpack at the Great Wall of China.”

The feedback Fata received during his mid-western swing was crucial to the fate of Manitoba Harvest. “I made lot of friends in the marketplace and throughout a lot of

different cities and had a wonderful time learning about our market,” he says. “I can’t stress enough that if it wasn’t for that input our company wouldn’t be the success it is today because the U.S. is such a different market compared to Canada.”

He has never forgotten the lesson and the company has maintained that level of dialogue throughout the years, getting to know the store owners, finding out what worked for them, what products sold well, what packaging was working, and the pricing structure and support the stores wanted.

And there lies another common theme with Manitoba’s Cül Companies, the initial passion does not fade, it continues to guide decisions in a seemingly relentless drive for perfection.

When K9 Storm started to generate momentum, the big body armour companies came a-knocking, offering a lot of money for the design. The Slaters’ response was a polite but emphatic ‘no.’

Most analysts would applaud this decision because in a knowledge economy patented designs are the true revenue generators, but


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that wasn’t the key consideration. Explains Jim Slater, “We refused because we were afraid the design, and therefore the safety of the dogs and their units, would be comprom-ised if they were mass-produced.”

It is not the only time a passion for the product guided K9 Storm’s decisions. Early in the company’s history, the Slaters outsourced to a manufacturer when orders reached a scale beyond their ability to handle, but they brought production back in house as soon as they could afford to set up their own facility.

The decision paid off because it gave K9 Storm the capacity to ensure on-time delivery, a big deal for a clientele that grew to include the military and elite special operations teams. That’s not exactly the type of customer who can wait if an order is late (some missions are so sudden and urgent, K9 Storm is given just a week to assemble the order). But that wasn’t the key to why the company brought everything in house. “Every stitch counts,” explains Jim Slater. “And we wanted to make sure every inch of our vests is up to the stan-dard we would want for our dog.”

It’s a dedication that can even surprise customers. Glori Slater vividly remembers a call with a canine handler in Ohio. It was clear to her the handler didn’t understand the sizing process so she told him Jim would fly down and help him. “I will never forget it,” Glori beams. “He said, ‘You are going to come to this little town for one dog?’ and I said, ‘Absolutely, because it is totally important to us that every dog in the field has a K9 Storm Vest that fits.’”

It turned out to be yet another decision where passionate dedication to principle over the bottom line ended up serving both. The handler was so impressed he is now a huge advocate and Ohio is one the biggest users of K9 Storm Vests in the U.S.

When Jim Slater recently told the Ohio story to a business class he could tell from the contorted expressions that half the class thought he was insane, but the other Cül Company CEOs would understand.

Quest For InspirationCampbell-Dewar is always watching what parents are carrying when she travels and she frequently contacts her retailers to see what is going on in the retail world, all in her ongoing quest to make Baby Sherpa the best it can be.

Of course, she also continues to look for inspiration in her own life. Case in point, some Baby Sherpa backpacks now come with a panic whistle because Campbell-Dewar noticed one on her lifejacket while she was boating. “I thought it would be a cool feature for the backpacks, whether people use it or it is simply an extra touch that helps the bag get noticed,” explains the Sherpa CEO. “And when I looked into how much it would cost it only came to about a penny per backpack.”

It’s a story that also demonstrates how being small can really help a company’s quest for perfection.

“It doesn’t take a lot of extra money to do it better small businesses can attain the best if they are smart about it,” says Campbell-Dewar.

Large companies produce on a scale that can skew that view. For example, when Campbell-Dewar initially looked into back-packs she found everyone’s biggest frustra-tion was the zippers, even though it would only cost manufacturers about 20 cents to get a better zipper. “When you have a big run of 20,000 or so, a lot of the larger companies see saving 20 cents per item can really help the bottom line, but my take on it was the market was flooded with really poor quality diaper bags and backpacks and we wanted to distinguish ourselves so for the few cents I would rather have a great product.”

Manitoba Harvest’s quest for perfection began with a dedication to the medicinal benefits of hemp and a focus on quality. Their original run of hemp oil wasn’t up to snuff, so the company went all the way to Europe to get the appropriate seed press.

Its quest for quality also led it to the Food Development Centre, “a local hidden gem” as far as Fata is concerned. “They taught us a lot about the ins and outs of high-quality food processing and showed us how to unify the field between sensory perception (taste and smell) and what a lab would say.”

As the company expanded its geographic reach, it found ‘quality’ meant being certified kosher or meeting the Good Manufacturing Process requirements. Then the organic market began to develop. Each time the product line grew to meet those standards.

Fata is particularly pleased that the company evolved to reflect the health-conscious philosophy of its products as it


Baby Sherpa CEO Heather Campbell-Dewar with daughter Camryn; the Safe-2-Go backpack


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grew. “As we went along we became more environmentally friendly, paying more for materials that are recyclable or have a lower carbon footprint.”

Now Manitoba Harvest’s facility is totally green, featuring extra insulation to mini-mize heat use, full energy-efficient lighting throughout, and energy-efficient appliances for heating and cooling. It is even buying carbon credits to make the facility carbon neutral. “Our ultimate plans are to make the whole company carbon neutral, from growing the hemp to getting it to the consumer,” says Fata. He believes the next trend is carbon labeling so consumers can see how much energy a product requires.

Another benefit of passion is it helps guide the Cül Companies as they develop increas-ingly diversified product lines.

Baby Sherpa now offers a Diaper Bag Back-pack, a Short Haul, an Urban and is working on an Alpha Sherpa. “We are committed to growing with our customers,” says Campbell-Dewar. “So we developed more of a toddler bag, then we did the Short Haul for small trips,

and now the Alpha caters to parents who were saying ‘we do a lot of tracking and we want to carry laptops and portable DVD players’.”

Baby Sherpa also recently expanded by taking over the manufacturing and distri-bution of Safe-2-Go children’s Safety Harnesses. The inventor is Winnipeg mom Nancy Vardalos Ginakes, whose famous sibling Nia (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) wants to help promote this ingenious child’s safety harness. Safe-2-Go is a cute character backpack that conceals a 38-inch tether which can hold children up to 50 lbs and can be retracted into the pack when not needed. There is even room in the backpack for a small toy or snack. Camp-bell-Dewar has seen a great response to Safe-2-Go and is currently designing new models and tweaking the backpack to make it even better.

K9 Storm has expanded its offering from one K9 Storm Vest to seven different styles and now manufactures related canine gear including harnesses, crate covers, and tactical long lines and leads.

Manitoba Harvest’s product line has grown to include a variety of hemp products: shelled seeds, seed oils, seed butter, protein powder and milk.

As for success, all three companies have received numerous awards and citations. Baby Sherpa is closing in on 20,000 units sold in five years and its products are now in 170 retail locations. Manitoba Harvest now operates a 20,000-square-foot facility, has grown from three employees to 29, sells nationally in Canada and the U.S. and is reaching into Europe and Japan. K9 Storm recently bought its own loft style warehouse, has grown to 12 employees and serves 15 countries.

Each of these companies features unique products, smart business strategies and hard work, but at the heart of their success is, well, the heart.

And that’s very cool indeed.

To learn more about these Cül Companies visit their websites at: www.babysherpa.com; www.k9storm.com and www.manitobaharvest.com.


Canadian National Railway .............................................. 5www.cn.ca

Falcon Trails Resort ...................................................... 13www.falcontrails.mb.ca

Grand Forks EDC ........................................................... 7www.grandforks.org

Grant Thornton LLP ...................................................... 11www.grantthornton.ca

Hayhurst, Elias, Dudek, Inc. .......................................... 21www.hedinc.com

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Manitoba ............................................................... 19www.ioam.mb.ca

Johnston Group Inc. ........................... Outside Back Coverwww.johnstongroup.ca

Manitoba Blue Cross ...................................................... 7www.mb.bluecross.ca

Manitoba Hydro ........................................................... 15www.hydro.mb.ca

Place Louis Riel All Suite Hotel ...................................... 13www.placelouisriel.com

South Beach Casino ...............................Inside Front Coverwww.southbeachcasino.ca

Southport Aerospace Centre Inc. .................................. 12www.southport.mb.ca

Viscount Gort Hotel ...................................................... 15www.viscount-gort.com

Workers Compensation Board ................. Inside Back Coverwww.safemanitoba.com

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