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INSIDE:A New Strategyfor Artefacts

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THE NEWFACE OFENTREPRENEURISMKunal Gupta has createdan organization with impact

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MOVER & SHAKER

The New Face of Entrepreneurism .................... 16BY PAUL KNOWLESKunal Gupta, Founder and Chair of the Boardof Impact Entrepreneurship Group has created “Canada’s largest student-run entrepreneurship organization”

FEATURES

A New Strategy for Artefacts .... 24BY JON ROHRScott Little and Chris Blott, partners in Artefacts Architectural Antiques, have amission is to salvage, reclaim and rework.

The Consistent Partner in Tourism ................................ 30Visitor Guide stays current while celebrating three decades of publication

Making a Difference ............ 54BY BRIAN HUNSBERGERLeadership Waterloo Region has helpeddevelop over 170 community leaders overthe past seven years.

CONTENTS

SERVING BUSINESS IN WATERLOO REGION AND GUELPH | VOLUME 25, NUMBER 3

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008

On the cover: Kunal Gupta, founder and Chair of the Board ofImpact - page 16

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR:Kunal Gupta creates

impact, page 16

PLEASERECYCLE,GIVE TO AFRIEND

LEADERSHIP WATERLOO REGION:Developing dynamic

leaders, page 54

VISITOR GUIDE:A foundation of tourismfor 30 years, page 30


J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 8 | 9

This month, Exchangeis a little bit “outside

the box” – and it’s aninteresting place to be.Our cover story fea-tures a man who ismost probably theyoungest person toappear on the cover ofExchange – 22-year-old Kunal Gupta.

Gupta merits theattention – he hasalready founded acorporation, grown it,

and overseen an effective successionplan. The enterprise is Impact Entrepre-neurship Group, a student-run corpora-tion that operates conferences and entre-preneurship events across Canada.

The Impact organization makes for aninteresting story in itself, but what I findeven more intriguing are Kunal’s viewsabout everything from success to commu-nity to social responsibility. This is ayoung man you will want to meet; we’repleased to make the introduction. Myguess is, we will be following his futurecareer with considerable interest.

This edition also features an unusualand innovative business – Artefacts Archi-tectural Antiques, of St. Jacobs. This com-pany – which has traditionally salvagedarchitectural treasures and sold them –has launched a new aspect to its business.Artefacts is now manufacturing “new”items from old artifacts. Owners Scott Lit-tle and Chris Blott refer to their new ven-ture as a renaissance in their business.

And speaking of “renaissance,” ourMaking a Difference feature this monthfocuses on two “renaissance men” –Leonardo da Vinci, and Dr. Rolando DelMaestro, one of the top neurosurgeons inthe world. Dr. Del Maestro is bring his daVinci collection to Waterloo in March foran exhibition that will be both a fascinat-ing experience and an effective fundrais-er, with proceeds going to brain tumourresearch. Read all about “Living Leonar-do,” and then make sure you scheduletime to visit an unprecedented exhibition.

DEPARTMENTS

From the Editor .......................... 9PAUL KNOWLESFrom Leonardo to the Next StarEntrepreneur

Publisher’s Note ...................... 10JON ROHRFountain of Youth

Business Monitor .................... 1245 Years with the Kitchener Rangers; IT prossalary hike; 8 Voices with one song; XQuote;Ball Construction; Shad Valley, GVCABuildingExcellence Awards; Toyota Maplesoft deal;Gates funds UW program; Centre for FamilyBusiness; Morphed with the changing world;XQuarterly

Watercooler .............................. 44

COLUMNSLeadership Development ...... 34ANNE LAVENDERThe Developing Storm

The Faces of Philanthropy .... 36ROSEMARY SMITHThe $9 Billion Decision

Building Better Boards............ 37JIM BROWNExposing the Cost of Group Think

Initiatives .................................. 38DENNIS GRIMM“What Happened to the Work Ethic?”

Manufacturing Methods ........ 40DOUG CATERIt’s Gut-Check Time in Manufacturing

Tax Matters .............................. 42NOREEN MARCHANDGovernment Proposes Tax Reductions

FROMLEONARDO TOTHE NEXT STARENTREPRENEUR

PAUL KNOWLES is editor ofExchange Magazine. He is anauthor and public speaker.email: [email protected]

by PAUL KNOWLES

FROM THE EDITOR

ARTEFACTS: Initiatinga recycling renaissance- page 24

DBM SYSTEMS:Duncan McLeod knowshow to morph, page 15

SHAD VALLEY:UW team captures topaward, page 13



FOUNTAIN OF YOUTHPassionate pursuits in a brave new world

JON ROHR is publisher ofExchange Magazine forBusiness. email: [email protected]

by JON ROHR For any reader who may think this 40-something ispining for a youthful disposition – yes, always. Daily bat-tles keep me young and alert, youthful energy is mysecret weapon... but I go to bed earlier than in the past.

Entrepreneurs are pioneers, and when they act,everything becomes new. Once things get too compla-cent – that’s when we get old. Entrepreneurs haveenough daily business challenges, activities and per-sonal inspiration to keep the fire burning strong.

One 22-year-old, Kunal Gupta, you can read about inthis issue. Another 5000 are quietly and confidentlymaking their mark, and trying out what every youngperson should strive for – independence.

We hear a lot about the skilled worker shortage;surely, this is a function of two things among entrepre-neurial young people. First, a natural aversion to theflattening of corporate life – the young quickly learn thatonce hired there is no opportunity for growth. Second,they ask, “Why work for someone else, when you’re anatural innovator, a proven contributor? Why empowersomeone else’s model when you can power your own?”

Today’s youth have savvy business minds. Theycommunicate in a way that is so above the 50-some-things that what becomes new to the 50-plus is on itsway out with the 20-plus. However, in many instances,the reverse can be noticed; for many 20-plus, thosewho have grown up with cellular, text and searchengines are only now discovering the pleasures thatcome with curling up with a printed book or magazine.It’s a brave new world – and Exchange is going to be apart of it. X

The young have never been old and so do not knowthe true value of youth – if people could wait to be

young, they might make better use of the time.” - MistralIs youth a matter of perspective? Or is it a matter of

age? To understand the importance of youth to ourbusiness, to our family, to our communities, we have tosacrifice some carved-in-stone perceptions of reality.

Youth have boundless energy, a “nothing to lose andeverything to win” attitude. Over the last four weeksI’ve had two opportunities to experience the unbridledenthusiasm of youthful entrepreneurs. The first waswith Shad Valley and the RBC Entrepreneurs Cup; thesecond, at an Impact event in Toronto. Both were excit-ing, full of energy, confidence and more confidence. Ifan older person exuded as much confidence as thepeople sitting at our dinner table, I would call themarrogant; this group, I would describe as full of passion,direction, business plans and strategies.

History has shown us that the youth, if directed andmotivated, can change the world. They can overwhelmand overpower, they can introduce new technologiesthat destroy old technologies. A young business personwith great ideas is an investor’s gold mine.

Not only do they provide a wealth of reflective inspi-ration, but they have optimisim, they see a future withclarity. Despite their apprentice status, most can out-play, outperform, and outlast any aging industry giantwho refuses to acknowledge the value of new ideas.

A well empowered young person could make yourdreams a reality, depending on how embracing, or per-haps how open, you and your company are.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE


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EIGHT VOICES WITH ONE SONG

BUSINESS MONITOR

IT pros expectsalary hike

For 45 years, the Kitchener Rangershave been the favourite sports team

of this wider Kitchener-Waterloo com-munity. The team that first skated ontothe ice at theAud in 1963 has won nu-merous pennants and league champi-onships, as well as two Memorial Cups– the ultimate trophy in CanadianHockey League Major Junior A action.In May, Kitchener will have two rea-

sons to celebrate Memorial Cup action(see Exchange, July/Aug. 2007). Thecity will host this national champi-onship tournament; and the KitchenerRangers will be one of the four com-peting hockey teams, looking for theirthird national title.The Rangers have a host club bye into

the tournament, but the team also hasits eye on winning the OHL champi-onship. At time of writing, the Rangerslead the league, and coach Peter De-Boer has put together a strong con-tender for league and nationalhonours.To celebrate the team’s 45-year his-

tory, the Rangers’ challenge for the Me-morial Cup, and the tremendous loyaltyarea fans have shown the team overfour and a half decades, a new, highly

illustratedhistory ofthe Kitch-ener Rangershas just beenpublished.E n t i t l e d

“Quest for theCup,” the new,full-colour bookhas a chapterdevoted to eachyear of the team’shistory. Eachchapter includesthe narrative of thatseason, team stats,highlights, teamphotos, and feature photos of individ-ual players. There is also an introduc-tory chapter on the Memorial Cup andthe 2008 Kitchener edition of theCanadian championship.“Quest for the Cup’ includes hundreds

of photographs, and plenty of informa-tion to delight every hockey fan. Thereare photos and highlights about theRangers who have gone on to play inthe NHL, and special features aboutthe five Rangers who are now members

of the Hockey Hall of Fame – Bill Bar-ber, Larry Robinson, Paul Coffey, andthe 2007 inductees, Kitchener nativeScott Stevens and Al MacInnis.The book is a cooperative venture in-

volving the Kitchener Rangers, the JonR Group and writer Paul Knowles, edi-tor of Exchange.“Quest for the Cup” is on sale through

the Out Post, the Kitchener Ranger’ssouvenir store at the Aud, and throughwww.questforthecup.ca.

The Waterloo Re-gional Tourism

initiative formalizesa strategic directionfor tourism, withthree cities, fourtownships and theRegion all partici-pating in new fund-ing formulae. Thecities of Cambridge,Kitchener, and Wa-terloo, the Town-ships of Wilmot,North Dumfries,Wellesley, andWoolwich and theRegion of Waterloohave combined forthe first time in history to market the Region of Waterloo.“Eight voices with one song,” proclaimed Susan Cudahy,General Manager of the newWaterloo Regional Tourism Mar-keting Corporation, as she addressed a crowd of tourismstakeholders.The event, held November 28 at theWaterloo Regional Chil-

dren's Museum,was a reunion of sorts for the many tourismleaders in the area. The message was made clear in a re-sounding presentation: the new organization will improveyour bottom line; raise awareness of the Waterloo Region;never lose the unique personalities of each municipality; andmarket our message to the world.The reaction from stakeholders could only be described as

a renewed energy combined with a urgent sense of focus.For the past decade, Waterloo Region tourism efforts havebeen fodder for armchair cynics.The failure to work together

as a geographical destination was at the forefront of thepredicament.Locally,municipally-funded destination organizations often

have seemed to miss the fact that the visiting family, coupleor individual really don’t care about political boundaries.They don't care if the manager of the tourism facility needsto looks good to his or her boss, or if the politicians see valuein their stay. Visitors care about enjoying their stay, gettingthe information they request, and getting it now.Most regional observers would agree that, historically, prob-

lems have trumped cooperation. Dual membership fees, andeven addresses of convenience in competing membershiplists created a level of confusion, frustration and distrust forvisitors and tourism operators. Misdirection by staff, limitinginformation resources, stacking the cards against the com-peting tourism operators and independent service providers,all have plagued the local tourism industry – and it didn’t doour visitors any good.This was coupled with the failure to establish a critical

mass needed to leverage marketing and promotion dollarsthat would promote the area as a destination with plentyto offer.Speaking to the crowd was Bill Allen, President of the

Tourism Industry Association of Ontario. Allen highlightedthe challenges facing Ontario as a destination. He stressedthat the marketing strategy of the past, selling Ontario asa discount destination, is no longer viable. “When the dollarhit par with the US it was a psychological level, in the datawe saw tourism number coming into Canada from the USslide dramatically.” Allen argued that our domestic marketis the most important market, and that there are “oppor-tunities in other countries like Europe,” which is a little fur-ther afield than what we're use to. He also insists that weare not abandoning the US market, which is still a vitalmarket for tourism.

XQuote“This report [Danger Ahead: The

Coming Collapse of Canada's Mu-nicipal Infrastructure, a study bythe Federation of Canadian Mu-nicipalities] is a wake-up call toCanadians and their governments– the foundations of our cities andcommunities are near collapseand it will take $123 billion to fixthem. Continued delay or halfmeasures are not an option.”

- KITCHENER MAYOR CARL ZEHR.

New book tel ls the Kitchener Rangers stor y

Information technology professionalsin Canada can expect starting

salaries to increase an average of3.7% in 2008, according to theRobert Half Technology 2008 SalaryGuide. Larger increases in base com-pensation are expected in high-de-mand segments such as projectmanagement, applications and webdevelopment, network management,and technical support.The annual salary survey is based on

an in-depth analysis of thousands of jobplacementsmanaged by the company'sNorthAmerican offices.According to theSalary Guide,applications developmentmanagers, will see the greatest startingsalary gains of any job classification in2008, with base compensation ex-pected to rise 7.6%t, to between$87,000 and $110,750 annually.Messaging administrators should see

starting salaries increase 6.1%, bring-ing them to the range of $51,000 to$65,750 annually. Other key findingsinclude:•Project managers/senior consultants

can expect base compensation inthe range of $77,250 to $113,750,a gain of 6.7% over 2007.

•Base compensation for network ar-chitects are projected to increase5.8% next year, to a range of$75,000 to $101,750.

•Software developers will see averagestarting salaries rise 5.6%, to therange of $55,000 to $85,250 peryear.

•Compensation for tier 1 help deskprofessionals will increase 4.6%,with starting salaries of $32,000 to$41,750 annually, on average.

•Starting salaries for business sys-tems analysts will rise 4.5% on av-erage, to the range of $64,000 to$87,500 annually.

Industries forecasting particularlystrong demand for IT professionals in2008 include oil and gas, healthcareand professional services. However,hiring activity varies significantly by ge-ographic region.



Honouring the best in the construction industry

BUSINESS MONITOR

Anevergreen tree was an appropriate symbol for the “topping celebration” led byBall Construction at the new University ofWaterloo School of Pharmacy buildingnow under construction in downtown Kitchener. Cameron Ball told Exchange that itis traditional to celebrate the “topping” – when the building reaches its upper limit.The entire project will be completed by September, 2008. Sixty guests attendedthe work site and 80 on-site workers celebrated the topping.

The Grand Valley Construction Association will be honouring the best work byits members on April 25, 2008, at the GVCA Building Excellence Awards Gala.Twenty-six awards will be presented that evening, for commercial, industrial, in-stitutional, and restoration/conversion construction projects, as well as environ-mental honours.The Building Excellence Awards are presented every two years; the 2008 eventwill be held at Bingemans.Martha George is President of the Grand Valley Construction Association, whichcurrently includes 589 members. She says the membership is growing, and thatmore and more companies in theconstruction industry are turning tothe GVCA for support and educa-tion.She is excited about the GVCABuilding Excellence Awards, be-cause the event highlights the ac-complishments of the constructionindustry – and because, with itstheme “The Treasures of the GVCA”,the event also promises to be agreat party.George says that the award systemhas been “retooled” from its originalformat. Now, instead of giving out in-dividual trades awards, the honoursfor a winning construction project goto “the whole project team.” Shesays this has been a popular move– “people really identify with that.”She notes that many of the 2006winners – the most recent year theawards were presented – requested an additional plaque which was given to theclient. Building Excellence Awards are proudly displayed in winning buildingsacross the province.Awards are given in all the categories noted above, subdivided into a numberof project dollar value categories. The GVCA is calling for nominations for theawards, and is also seeking individual award sponsors. Sponsors receive recog-nition in a number of ways.The awards are not only a boost for the individual winners, says George.“My rea-son for holding this event is to bring to mind the expertise within our constructionindustry.” She notes the high level of knowledge, training and experience withinthe business. “There is a lot of expertise required in terms of building a project,”she says.The GVCA Building Excellence Awards are “an opportunity to showcasethe activities of our industry.”George smiles at the old-fashioned stereotype of the construction business –“somebody with a pickup truck” – and counters that by pointing to the “solid in-frastructure” constructors need to carry out the complicated and significant proj-ects they are involved in.“You really do have to have a knowledge base,” she says.The GVCA President admits that the idea of a “Grand Valley” organization is lessreadily identified than an association based in Toronto, for example. But she saysthe GVCA is becoming recognized throughout the industry. She notes that GVCAmembers are not limited to the valley of the Grand River – “our members are mo-

bile, working in Toronto, into the North,and a few are major players in theUnited States.”And those members show “a lot ofpride” in their work, and in the BuildingExcellence Awards that honour thatwork.Deadline for entries for the 2008 GVCABuilding Excellence Awards is February15 at 4 p.m. For more information, seewww.gvca.org or email [email protected].

“Topping” the School of Pharmacy

SHAD VALLEY ENTREPRENEURS

Frances Edmonds, Director of EnvironmentalPrograms for HP Canada was a keynotespeaker at RBC/Shad Cup 2007.

The RBC/Shad Entrepreneurship Cup was held at Bingemans. This eventshowcases the innovative spirit, youthful exuberance and leadership skills ofShad alumni. At Shad Valley programs, young people from across Canada andbeyond develop leadership and learning skills in an environment that fostersentrepreneurship, science and innovation. The RBC/Shad Entrepreneurship Cupis an annual competition in which students develop and unveil new products.

The University of Waterloo Team won for Best Prototype with Krystyna Miedzybrodzka (back rowleft), Director, Bio Industries, NSERC who sponsored the award

Univesity of Waterloo members won best Pro-totype Award with “Evoco System”

Trent Univesity team members tied for best over-all award with “Solesco Lighting System”

Martha George, GVCA President

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BUSINESS MONITOR

Toyota, Maplesoft ink deal

Two companies that impact on Waterloo Region have announced a multi-yearpartnership to produce new tools for knowledge-rich physical modeling.Water-loo’s Maplesoft, provider of high-performance software tools for engineering, sci-ence, and mathematics will work with Toyota Motor Corporation, the world’slargest automobile company, and a major Cambridge employer. The partnershipwill produce advanced physical modeling tools to help Toyota move to a newproduct development process called the Model-Based Development (MBD). Keyfeatures of the new process include Control System Design and Physical (Plant)Modeling based on a symbolic approach.An announcement from Maplesoft says, “Toyota has been one of the earliestamong industrial companies to embrace Model-Based Design, the concept ofcreating a computer-based model of a system to analyze, test, improve, and op-timize the design before actually building the physical system. In the initial stages,this was used in the design, simulation, and implementation of control systemsusing tools from companies such as The MathWorks.Toyota is now expanding itsscope with the development of the new Model-Based Development process.”The goal of MBD is to improve time-to-market, quality, and reliability,while reducingcost. Physical modeling requires a symbolic approach to computations in order toaccurately and efficiently represent real-world physical systems.Toyota has recog-nized Maple as an important part of this framework,providing the ideal mathemat-ical environment for physics-based modeling.Maple is an advanced software toolfrom Maplesoft that relies on a powerful computation engine to derive and solvecomplex sets of equations, simplify large sets of equations,develop advancedmath-ematical models, and create user-friendly technical applications.“Mathematical environments such as Maple have many advantages,” said JimCooper, President and CEO of Maplesoft.“By describing the complex, acausal re-lationships of a physical model in a clear and efficient way, Maple enables sim-plification and optimization, taming the complexity of large models and reducingdevelopment and testing time. Furthermore, the Maple document environmentmakes solutions more readable and understandable, rendering knowledge cap-ture and re-use simple and effective. We are delighted to partner with Toyota inthis innovative venture.”The companies say that tools developed by Maplesoft will provide the fundamentalmathematical framework for physical modeling within the Model-Based Develop-ment throughout Toyota. All areas of engineering development such as engines,transmissions, suspensions, braking systems, climate control systems, and in-ve-hicle electronics stand to gain from the use of the new set of modeling tools.

AUS$12.5 million donation from theBill & Melinda Gates Foundation is

funding a major expansion of Canada’slargest mathematics and computer sci-ence outreach program, operated bythe University of Waterloo.The Centre for Education in Mathe-matics and Computing (CEMC) had itsbeginnings in the 1960s, originated byUW mathematics professors RalphStanton and Ken Fryer. At that time,four secondary school teachers, work-ing with Stanton and Fryer, created thefirst multiple choice Junior Mathemat-ics Contest for students in grades 9,10, and 11. The two professors andother colleagues from UW visited manyOntario high schools, with the sole pur-pose of exciting students about math-ematics and computer science.The Centre for Education in Mathe-matics and Computing was formallyestablished at UW in 1995 to providea home for contests, teacher work-shops, Internet resources and interac-tive enrichment programs such asMath Circles. It has grown to becomeCanada's largest such outreach pro-

gram for youth and educators and itcontinues to expand and offer a widevariety of relevant enrichment opportu-nities and programs. Today, the pro-gram reaches close to half a millionyoung people from grades 4 to 12 –and the Gates Foundation donationwill allow that to expand significantly.Bill Gates states: “The University ofWaterloo has established a record ofacademic excellence, fostering intellec-tual growth in the fields of math andcomputer science. We are proud tosupport the university's efforts to pre-pare the next generation of students fora world of innovation.”The gift comes at a time of growingconcern about the decline in interest ofyoung people in the fields of mathe-matics and computer science acrossNorth America. The most recent Statis-tics Canada figures show that the num-ber of students enrolled inundergraduate programs in mathemat-ics, computer science and informationsciences dropped by 8.7% between the2000-01 and 2004-05 academicyears. The significant decline occurred

while total undergraduate enrolmentsoared by 21.6% over the same period.UW President David Johnston calledthe Gates Foundation donation “a vi-sionary gift.” He added,“It will allow our

Centre for Education in Mathematicsand Computing to expand its world-class outreach program to reach hun-dreds of thousands more youth andeducators around the world.”Thomas F. Coleman is dean of the fac-ulty of mathematics. He said the giftwill allow the centre to significantly en-hance outreach efforts, including itscontests, workshops and Internet re-sources aimed at secondary and ele-mentary school students and teachers.With the shift to an increasingly knowl-edge-based society, Coleman saysthere will be a huge need for peopleskilled in mathematics and computerscience. “This gift will make an enor-mous difference in helping us to advo-cate to a much larger youth audiencethroughout Canada, the United Statesand elsewhere in the world about theimportance of considering an educa-tion in those areas.”The University of Waterloo's faculty ofmathematics is the world's largest cen-tre for education in mathematical, sta-tistical and computer sciences. It isone of only four such faculties in theworld, with more than 5,300 students,185 full-time faculty members, and180 courses in mathematical, statisti-cal and computer sciences.

Gates Foundation funds UW outreach program

CENTRE FOR FAMILY BUSINESS

The featured family business at theCentre for Family Business OctoberBreakfast Seminar was the Lindersfamily (above) of GEOREF SystemsLtd., with Executive Director DaveSchnarr. GEOREF provides leadingedge products and services for land-related data and Geographic Informa-tion Systems. Guest Speaker was JimReger, (left), co-founder of the New-port Institute. Reger has worked withthe CFFB since 2005 developing theRoundtable training and offering con-tinued support to CFFB members.

Thomas F. Coleman, Dean of Mathematics

Melinda and Bill Gates

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BUSINESS MONITOR

•Ontario’s export growth is expected todecline again in 2008 following ayear of growth, according to a provin-cial export outlook by Export Devel-opment Canada. Ontario’s exportsare expected to increase 2.4% in2007, driven, in large part, by decentgains in the metals and chemicalssectors, before declining by 0.7% in2008 as US and global demand slowand as commodity prices weaken.

•Auto exports represent Ontario’slargest export sector, accounting for39.7% of total exports.As the DetroitThree continue to lose market shareand US auto sales drop to a 9-yearlow in 2007, passenger vehicle ex-ports fell 6.2% in 2007.

•Auto parts exports are forecast to rise1.9% in 2008, following a 1.4% tum-ble in 2007.Although heavy truck ex-ports are expected to drop by 33% in2007, the corresponding pent-up de-mand will see shipments partially re-cover in 2008 with growth of 8.2%.

•Nationally, Canadian economicgrowth is forecast to remain stable at2.3% in 2007, and 2.6% in 2008.

•Kitchener existing home sales willreach a record high of 7,000 in 2007and remain solid at 6,700 in 2008.

•Anticipated strong sellers’ marketconditions imply prices will be grow-ing faster than inflation. The averageprice of an existing home will reach$262,000 in 2008.

•Homes starts in the Kitchener CMAwill reach 2,550 this year and 2,650in 2008.

•On average, Canadians wake up at6:50 a.m.; Atlantic Canadians are theearliest risers (6:43 a.m.).

•Canadian employment continued torise in October, jumping an estimated63,000, split between full and parttime. At the same time, the unem-ployment rate fell to a 33-year low of5.8%, down 0.1% from September.

•In October, women aged 25 and overposted a record employment rate(59.4%), along with the lowest unem-ployment rate (4.3%) in over 30years.

•Workers aged 55 and over accountedfor the majority of the employmentgain in October.With these gains, theproportion of persons aged 55 andover who were employed reached itshighest level, at 32.2%. Employmentfor older workers has risen 6.9%since the start of 2007, in contrast to1.2% for those aged 25 to 54.

•In October, Ontario posted thestrongest year-over-year increase inemployment (+2.5%) since July2003.This represents 164,000 morejobs in the past 12 months, accord-ing to Statistics Canada.

• Canadian taxfilers reported makingcharitable donations totalling $8.5billion in 2006, up 8.3% from 2005,while the number of donors de-creased 1.4% to 5.8 million.

•In terms of income per capita, theCanadian economy grew significantlyfaster than the US economy between2000 and 2006. Real income percapita in the United States grew by

9.1% during this period, while inCanada real income per capita grew15.5%, nearly two-thirds faster thanthe US rate.

•The composite index rose 0.1% in Oc-tober after a downward-revised gainof 0.3% in September. Of the 10components, 6 increased, while 4 de-clined, the highest number of com-ponents to decline since October2006. The weakness was concen-trated in housing starts and new or-ders.

•27% of Canada’s family businessleaders will retire within the next fiveyears, a further 29% in the followingfive years. Only 44% of these busi-nesses have an exit strategy and only29%, a succession plan.

•Canadians made 507,000 overnighttrips to the US by plane in September,up 1.5%.This marks the first time thatovernight plane travel to the UnitedStates topped the half-million mark.

•Overall travel from the United Statesto Canada remained relatively stable(+0.1%) in September as a declinein same-day car travel nearly offset again in overnight trips. Same-day cartravel from the United States fell2.3% in September to 945,000, justabove the record low of 914,000 setin February 2007.

•The total number of overseas trav-ellers to Canada increased to386,000 in September, up 0.4%from August. Among the top 12 over-seas markets for Canada, Indiashowed the largest increase (+8.1%).

“Morphed with thechanging world”

XQuarterly – www. xquarterly.ca

Morphed with the changing world.Sound familiar? To most entre-

preneurs, change is the only law. Sur-vivors are here because they morph.That is the message of Duncan

McLeod, chief guru/consultant, owner,financial operator at DBM SystemsInc. in Cambridge. McLeod has beenactively “morphing” the way supplychain works in large enterprises forover 25 years.And in doing so, he hasworked within a philosophical para-digm that is rewarding and honest butcontinuously different.“Morphed with the changing world,” is

the way this experienced change agentdescribes the company he foundedwith four other partners a quarter cen-tury ago. Partners are gone, and he nowfinds himself the sole owner, at least atthe present time. The future may bringmore morphing.DBM Systems, which came together

as a consulting organization special-izing in the manufacturing supplychain, had a smooth and steady be-ginning. The times were focused oncomputers and making them work,and DBM quickly got caught up in thetechnological software stream.At theirpeak they had 70 employees; today,McLeod says, they’re “balanced” with12 to 15, but most importantly, they’reback to their “original roots”.In the beginning DBM’s approach to

consulting and the work flow models theyhad developed quickly attracted the at-tention of technological behemoths.McLeod describes DBM as the “mousewith the elephant”.McLeod says DBM got“sucked into the software world.” DBMstarted to develop a relationship with IBMwho were using DBM’s approach“to helpmarket IBM software”. McLeod, as inde-pendent as they get,didn’t appreciate de-veloping dependency –“we had to followtheir pathway.”It wasn’t always that way. McLeod

states that, early on,“they fit our busi-ness and we could keep our philoso-phy detached from theirs and wedidn’t have to compromise our beliefsystems to fit into what they wantedto do.” However, as relationships grew,“we started to compromise some ofour beliefs... in order to fit with someof their philosophies. We morphed.What bothered me is they started todictate what we should do in our busi-ness and my ego doesn’t deal withthat very well,” states McLeod. “Thatcaused probably a five year period ofconflict. We started to get morphedinto a company that flipped software– it was great revenue and we made alot of money , but at the end of the dayit really wasn’t gratifying. So we justsaid we’re not going to it any more.”That was in 2002. McLeod now says

his company is “a pure consulting

company” again. His company is as in-dependent as his is.McLeod is considered a change agent.

That means he evokes positive changein an organization – if the attitude canallow for change. He bases a lot of hisknowledge and its application on hislove of flying. He says he learns the mostfrom morphing into difficult simulationsituations. Simply “operating in a simu-lator environment is a little less forgivingand you can push things a lot harderthan you would ever really want to push

somebody.”In its fundamental structure,

DBM builds simulator models“for enterprises to build theirfuture in.” And the future haschanged. On of the biggestchanges McLeod has noticedin the last 25 years is best de-scribed as a web. In the past hewould work with a single site,but now he’s working on the in-terconnection between sites.He attributes this change to theworld becoming much moreglobal, more connected.“If I goback 25 years, bringing cast-ings out of China wasn’t evensomething you would be think-ing about.Where today, if you’re

not, people really aren’t even thinkingabout you. It’s a global economy andcompanies are shipping and selling‘stuff’ globally. In today’s model youmight put two or three nodes in a link,and simulate how they work together.”His objective is to get them working

better together. “It’s way more impor-tant, because if each node is going ina different direction, you’re never goingto be able to link them.You need themall to see that vision or the supplychange won’t work unless they under-

stand each other.”In a world of flat screens and CAD

simulations, McLeod is a touchy-feelyconsultant who works in 3 Dimen-sional models and considers them“extremely important”.“If you want to have mathematical in-

tegrity you have to use some tools thatare mathematical. There are simulationtools for supply chain simulation. Forpeople to buy in, it’s got to be some-thing that they can touch. Computermodels don’t have any warmth to them.”“One of the keys,” says McLeod, “is

that you’ve got to build this vision ofthe future, and you’ve got to put it interms that everybody can understandand believe in.” The trick, he says “ishow do you mentally put yourself inthere, because if your brain is alwaysthinking ‘I’m not really there,’ thenyou’re not getting the experience –you’re not really learning.”McLeod has prospered in a industry

where today there is nobody arounddoing what there doing. “I knew all theguys in North America, at the timewhen we started. There none of themaround any more – they just couldn’tadapt, and didn’t have the core peo-ple.” They didn’t know how to morph.

Duncan McLeod, DBM Systems Inc.


entrepreneurism - exchange magazine · 2011-11-30 · ing formulae. the citiesofcambridge,...

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