saskbusiness magazine april/may 2013

April/May 2013

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Apples, Androids and the business of apps

Ty Bader and Jordan Schidlowsky, founders of Noodlecake Studios

Opportunities for Growth

Power Couples

Saskatchewan NOW

How app developersin the province areturning a profit

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Front cover and contents photos by Stuart Kasdorf Photographics April/May 2013 Saskatchewan Business Magazine 3

SAFETY SURVEY 2013 5The Centre for Management Development at the University of Reginais offering a free safety report for up to 150 Saskatchewan business forthe second consecutive year.

POWER COUPLES 6We salute those who have found special chemistry, not only in their personal lives, but also within the corporate world.

THE BUSINESS OF APPS: PRODUCTIVE FARMING 17Recently being honoured with the NSBA award for Young Promising Entrepreneur, Farm at Hand’s farm management app is keeping farmersmore organized.

THE BUSINESS OF APPS: DEVELOPING A NICHE MARKET APP 19Jason Park of Shiverware describes what it takes to get an app to marketand how to develop a niche product for handheld devices.

SASKATCHEWAN NOW! 21Ministry of the Economy’s quarterly publication.

CONTINUED INVESTMENT 30Investments being made today will still be felt a century from now.With the resource sector thriving, money needs to be allocated towardsbenefitting Saskatchewan as a province.

EMBRACE THE DRAGON 36Canada has always had a good relationship with China, but what isSaskatchewan’s relationship like and how will it be in the future?

FEATURES COLUMNSTHE FRONT DESK 4With Spring not yet sprung we look at someapps that will help fend off those winter woes.

DRIVE: FORD FUSION 38The redesigned Fusion is a great-looking car, but there’s still room for improvement.

LAW 41A unanimous shareholder agreement can create clarity and prevent marital breakdowndevastation.

CALIBRATION 43Breaking down the basic construct of change theory.

PHILANTHROPY 44A direct line to doing good involves three core competencies.

FINANCIAL PLANNING 45e emerging middle class is an oen-overlooked demographic.

BACK PAGE 46e Occupy movement mirrored the way lifewas in Saskatchewan, but we have progressedbeyond that.

COVER STORY

Saskatchewan Business Magazine Volume 34 Issue 4 April/May 2013

CONTENTS

THE BUSINESS OF APPS:NOODLECAKE STUDIOS 8This young Saskatoon-based app development companyis enjoying the success of their most recent release, Super Stickman Golf 2, but they are noticing a trend in the industry towards company-based apps and theywant to be the company to lead the charge.

4 Saskatchewan Business Magazine April/May 2013

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Spring – is there an app for that?As I contemplated what to write in this issue, I noticed some activity outside. Wehave all complained about it this past month and have pulled out the lawn mowersand golf clubs with great anticipation. Well, hold up for a bit. How long is a bit youask? The weather people have been telling us for weeks that it is coming. Many levels of government are hoping that it does not arrive too quickly and I for one havejust about given up.

Amazing what a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago the golf courses wereopen, greenhouses were going full out and lawn care companies were anxious to starttheir season. Farming activity was well underway with talk of an early harvest. Fastforward one year – a bit of a difference. We are closing in on seven months of winter. Ah, the golf clubs must collect dust for a bit longer. The air seeders cannot beretrieved from under five feet of snow just yet. But don’t despair.

When we planned this issue, we did not consider the weather. But it seems timely.If you are an avid golfer we have a short-term solution for you. For those who are anxious to start spring field work, we have something for you as well. Both requirean iPhone or Android.

Noodlecake Studios has an app for the avid golfer or someone who is impatientlywaiting to get on the course and does not have the time to hop on a plane to warmerclimates for a quick round or two. Super Stickman Golf 2 will help you get ready forthe season. And yes, it was developed right here in Saskatoon. They have taken theapp world by storm, rising to number two on the worldwide charts for applicationdownloads in the Apple Store.

With an iPhone, iPod touch or an iPad, you’re in business. Farm At Hand is a farmmanagement app to help with information flow from spring seeding to harvest. Goneare the days of remembering – or not – or carrying that little book in your pocket andtransferring the information to the spreadsheets on your computer. A daunting taskand one that many left for a rainy or snowy day. Now you can carry it with you andenter the information immediately. How cool is that? Technology on the go is a greatthing.

While you check out the options, think about the upside to the slow spring. Weall remember the spring of 2011 and there is not a soul that would like a repeat. We learned from it and have programs in place for 2013. With this very slow thaw,every day we do not see temperatures rise significantly, diminishes the threat of flooding. Daytime highs of plus 10 and overnight lows of minus 5 makes for the perfect world for us to get through the season. Regardless, we are pretty resilient intimes of crisis and spring flooding could turn into a crisis. We all need to be patient.I am impatient but would patiently wait for green grass if the guarantee is we getthrough the spring of 2013 without a crisis.

The Front DeskTwila Reddekopp

Publisher

Twila Reddekopp, [email protected]

PUBLISHER/EDITORTwila Reddekopp

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Paul Martin

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Nathan HurshDiana MacKayPaul Martin

Ashleigh MatternDavid E. White

COLUMNISTS

Daryn G. FormJan King

Paul MartinDavid E. WhiteW. Brett Wilson

PHOTOGRAPHY

Stuart Kasdorf Photographics

PRODUCTION

Nathan HurshTrevor Sellar

PRINT LIAISON

Lyle Boulton

REGIONAL SALES

Matt Josdal

NATIONAL SALES

Twila Reddekopp

OFFICE MANAGER

Sandra Billinsky

HEAD OFFICE

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Photo by Greg Huszar April/May 2013 Saskatchewan Business Magazine 5

For the second consecutive year, the Centre for ManagementDevelopment (CMD) at the University of Regina is offering upto 150 Saskatchewan businesses a free safety report. The reportprovides participating organizations with a score representingtheir employees’ perception of management’s commitment tosafety. Participation in this large-scale study also allows organizations a unique opportunity to benchmark their safetyperformance against peers in the province.

“Research shows that management’s commitment to safetyor an organization’s safety culture is a leading indicator ofworkplace injuries. The report provides organizations withhard numbers to better manage and improve their safety per-formance,” says Dr. Sean Tucker, Assistant Professor at theUniversity of Regina and lead researcher of the study.

A similar study conducted last year by the CMD surveyed5,000 employees and managers from 64 Saskatchewan-basedorganizations. “We received positive feedback from participat-ing organizations. CEOs, executives, and small business own-ers appreciated the level of detail provided and the opportunityto benchmark their safety performance,” states Tucker.

Recipients of the safety reports agree. Kevin Mooney(Saskatchewan Liquor & Gaming Authority) notes several ben-efits: “The safety survey gets employees involved in the safetyprocess, provides a baseline for measuring future improvement,is inexpensive to administer, and is less intrusive when com-pared to traditional safety audits.”

Another participant, Julian Hogeterp, Vice President ofHuman Resources & Organizational Effectiveness, K-Line Groupof Companies, notes that, “The survey provides specific companyresults, with a broad industry cross section of data, along with aprovincial benchmark for organizations. The survey helps iden-tify key strengths and opportunities for organizations to take con-tinued action and leadership in improving their individual safetycultures and the safety culture across this province.”

Parker Snyder, Plant Manager at Meadow Lake OSB, adds,“The survey was useful for identifying cultural drivers andunderstanding the values and beliefs of our employees aroundsafety before developing a strategy that would lead to the con-tinuous safety improvement we want to achieve.”

“A safety culture survey provides an organization with asnapshot of safety program integration; it’s one thing to have adocumented safety program and it’s another to actually seesafety in action. At the end of the day, a safety culture surveyhelps measure whether or not an organization is walking thetalk,” states Mooney.

“The success of the survey has prompted this second phasein which we want to double the number of participating busi-nesses,” states Tucker. Participating organizations will receive acustomized safety report, industry comparison report, and, ifrequested, information on employee turnover and employeeengagement.

The information gathered contributes to new research thatinvestigates the degree that top management’s commitment tosafety trickles down in an organization to influence supervisorand employee safety behaviours. A summary of the researchfindings will also be provided to each company.

For the 2013 survey, executives and front-line employees areasked to complete a short, confidential online questionnaireabout safety within their organization. Tucker stresses that allsurvey responses are kept strictly confidential. “We encouragebusinesses of all sizes to consider participating in this impor-tant research,” says Tucker. WorkSafe Saskatchewan is fundingthe first 150 safety reports for the project. Additional compa-nies may participate and receive reports for a small charge.

Businesses interested in participating or requiring informa-tion should contact Courtney Kozakewycz, Project ResearchAssistant, by email, at [email protected], or by phone, at(306) 527-7456. The study will be open between May 2013 andOctober 2013. n

K-Line Maintenance & Construction Ltd. General Foreman Dustin Amy andSenior Vice-President – Operations and Engineering Jim Kellett are reviewingthe daily job safety plan and risk assessment, an essential element in the K-Line Safety Management System.

SAFETYSURVEY

2013


WA L LY A N D CO L L E E N M A H Well-known in Saskatoon and provincial business circles, this couple is at home inthe home business, he as founder of North Ridge Development Corporation andshe as broker for North Ridge Realty. She is also a director of the SaskatchewanHousing Corporation. Having built his enterprise from a startup to a dominantplayer in residential land development and new construction across Saskatchewan,his business insights are constantly in demand by local business groups.

VA N A N D C L A R E I S M A NFew in the province have had the ringside seat enjoyed by this pair of career civilservants who have been up close to history-making on the fly, having served ina variety of executive positions in executive government and provincial agen-cies. Formerly head of the Public Service Commission, she is currently DeputyMinister of Finance while he left the role of Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairsto become a vice-president at Crown Investments Corporation.

M A R I LY N B R AU N P O L LO N A N D S T UA R T P O L LO NFor these policy wonks, an exciting evening is a glass of wine and C-SPAN or areplay of legislative debates. During office hours, she indulges her policy habit asthe Vice-President, Prairie Region & Agri-business for the Canadian Federationof Independent Business (CFIB) while he is a partner who oversees theEnterprise unit of KPMG’s Regina office and is a regular on the political circuit in the province.

B R Y N N B O B AC K L A N E A N D M A R K L A N ENewly-minted as a certified corporate director, she leads the charge to build anew pediatric hospital in Saskatchewan as CEO of the Children’s HospitalFoundation. He has recently assumed the title of chief executive of Affinity Credit Union, the province’s second-largest cooperative financial institution with branches from Milestone to Canwood and Pelly with headquarters inSaskatoon. n

POWERCouplesB Y P A U L M A R T I N

S a s ka t c h e wa n B u s i n e s s M a g a z i n e s a l u t e s t h o s e

w h o h a v e f o u n d a s p e c i a l c h e m i s t r y, n o t o n l y i n t h e i r

p e r s o n a l l i v e s , b u t a l s o w i t h i n t h e co r p o ra t e w o r l d.

Wally and Colleen Mah

Clare and Van Isman

Marilyn Braun-Pollon and Stuart Pollon

Mark Lane and Brynn Boback-Lane

noodlecakestudiosThe business of apps in Saskatchewan is booming and Noodlecake Studios is leading the charge in the commercial marketplace. Despite their silly name, these guys are doing world-class work in the realm of apps.

by Nathan Hursh

T H E B U S I N E S S O F A P P S

Photo by Stuart Kasdorf Photographics

Photo by Stuart Kasdorf Photographics April/May 2013 Saskatchewan Business Magazine 11

APPS, ANDROID AND APPLE: WHENDID THIS ALL GET SO COMPLICATED?Mobile applications, or apps, are the programsyou download to your smartphone or tablet toperform various functions. There are produc-tivity-based apps, entertainment apps, musicalapps, time-killer apps and almost anything elseyou can think of. Your tablets and phones comepreloaded with a variety of apps and you candownload more through the App Store (Apple),Google Play (formerly the Android Market),Amazon App Store or Blackberry App World.Currently, there are millions of apps available.

Have you used an Apple computer? AMicrosoft computer? Are there certain thingsthat you like about each and do you have a pref-erence for one or the other? Well, Apple andMicrosoft are two different operating systems(OS), and operating systems are also extremelyrelevant to smartphones. The iPhone and iPadrun an Apple operating system while Samsung(and many other phones and tablets) run anAndroid operating system, which is a productof Google. There are other operating systems,like Blackberry’s, which are also a little differ-ent, but essentially what changes between eachOS is the user interface. You would be hard-pressed to say which one is better because whatit boils down to is price, promotion and userpreference.

Since the introduction of smartphones, themobile app market has become a highly prof-itable endeavour, especially early on in the boom

when there were only a limited number of appsavailable for download. Over the last four to sixyears, the number of apps has swelled to mil-lions, available over all smartphone operatingsystems. Apple alone announced a total of 40billion downloads between their iPhone, iPadand iPod Touch with over half of those occur-ring in 2012. The Android Market may haveentered the app game a little later, but theirdownload numbers are equally impressive andwith a profit-sharing structure of 70 per cent tothe developer and 30 per cent to the applicationstore, it’s easy to see why people are trying theirhand at creating the next Angry Birds, which,for the record, has received over 1.7 billiondownloads (regular and special edition games)across all operating systems and platforms.

WHAT’S A NOODLECAKE?“I never had a passion for games and had no realmotive to make games,” explains JordanSchidlowsky of Noodlecake Studios. “Ty and Iwere working for Beagle Productions when theiPad came out and Ty got really into iPad gam-ing. We looked at the potential for the deviceand the App Store and I decided that I wanted tomake a game because of the money, while Tywanted to make a game because… he wanted tomake a game.”

Coming up with a company name provedmore difficult then they had anticipated, butthey started mashing words together, checkingfor website domain name availability and finally

March 14, 2013 In their 2nd Avenue Lofts office in Saskatoon, at the official launch of Super Stickman Golf 2, Noodlecake Studios has set up a projector displaying the app store charts, which refreshes every 10 minutes to track the standings of their newest game release. Between collectiveanticipation and cheering, the staff works out bugs in the game that have arisen in the hours since it hitthe market. Approximately 14 months after programming and development for this game began,Noodlecake can heave a collective sigh of relief as they see their game rise to number two on theworldwide charts for application downloads in the Apple Store.

Now, almost two weeks later, their game has been downloaded approximately 125,000 times from theApple Store (180,000 as of April 9) and over one million times through the Android Market. The sevenguys who comprise Noodlecake are still trying to catch their breath as they do some final touches to agame they are publishing for another developer and prepare for flights to San Francisco to attend theannual Game Developers Conference. Soon the company will be paying for a Las Vegas vacation to winddown and celebrate their accomplishment.

Photo by Stuart Kasdorf Photographics April/May 2013 Saskatchewan Business Magazine 13

settling on Noodlecake. The two young com-puter programmers started working on a fewgame prototypes when they realized that theprojects were getting too large and in-depth;most mobile games utilized simple backgroundsand graphics. They needed to simplify thingsand found inspiration in a game that wasincluded in an old Motorola cell phone. It hadvery simple graphics, but had an addiction fac-tor that Schidlowsky had experienced andwanted to duplicate for whatever they produced.This spawned the idea of creating a 2D golfgame for the iPhone.

A stylish, simple game was born and namedStick Golf, which was promptly changed toStickman Golf because of an unforeseen legalissue, but the important thing was that the twodevelopers had an app in the Apple App Store.“We built that game with only six courses, whichwasn’t a lot of content,” explains the graphicguru of Noodlecake, Ty Bader. “We put it outthere but we never really thought it would takeoff or become successful; it was all about justgetting it done and getting something in the appstore.”

Despite no formal marketing of their app,Noodlecake saw some success and made money.To celebrate that success, they offered a freedownload promotion that vaulted them to ahigh ranking on the app chart, which was greatexposure and got their name out there. Thisunpredicted exposure and success spurred theapp developers on to their next project, SuperStickman Golf, a sequel to the original game.

A FULL-TIME JOBWith their next game app, Noodlecake decidedto expand on the things that made the originalgame so appealing. More golf courses andrefined graphics were the initial selling featuresof the new app, but they also added power-upsand a multiplayer racing mode, allowing multi-ple users to use their individual devices and raceto the finish using a wi-fi network. The successand feedback of the sequel was tremendous withmedia claiming the game was the new AngryBirds and a highly-addictive experience. It becameobvious that Schidlowsky and Bader were agood team and they enjoyed making games, sothey quit their full-time jobs and incorporatedNoodlecake in 2011.

To help with the company’s direction andimprove the quality of their business,Schidlowsky and Bader hired programmers whowere fellow graduates from the University ofSaskatchewan, establishing a team to worktowards their next project, which was a gamecalled Lunar Racer.

One of the most important things to comeout of the eight months of working on LunarRacer was the integration of Android technol-ogy and the ability to learn the process of gamedevelopment for the Android operating system.“We were pretty much doing only iOS develop-ment,” explains Schidlowsky, “but we foundsome interesting Android technology anddecided to start doing some publishing. We hadgone through the Android porting process,which was incredibly tedious and difficult thefirst time, and we thought we could ease thepain for others by becoming a publisher/dis-tributor, leveraging that angle for our business.”

The other avenue that opened with thegrowth of the company was into the app con-sulting world, which they have branded NCConsulting. Creating a solution for companieswishing to capitalize on the advances in mobiletechnology is the basis of NC Consulting, but it’shard to portray a corporate-savvy companywhen clients primarily focus on the gaming sideof Noodlecake. “Because of our success withgames, people see us as only game developersand it’s hard to get corporate and enterprise totake us seriously for mobile development,”explains Ryan Holowaty, a marketing expert atNoodlecake. “That is something we are tryingto change locally and we are doing some proj-ects right now for some major companies, butwe’re interested in expanding our corporatepresence with our expertise and talent atNoodlecake and are actively growing in thatdirection.”

POUNDING THE PAVEMENTWORLDWIDEApps are international and much of the audi-ence a company cultivates is not local. Gettingone app noticed among millions is incrediblydifficult. Noodlecake credits a lot of their suc-cess in marketing their products to the firstgame they published when the industry was inits infancy and there were only 30,000 apps inthe App Store.

Currently, Noodlecake’s marketing of a newapp revolves around the press contacts they havemade over the last few years and maintainingthe relationships they have with other develop-ers. Constant contact with online and print jour-nalists and sending their products out for betatesting to their peers helps to establish a follow-ing and creates hype around the release of theapp. There aren’t very many commercial appdevelopers in the province, so Noodlecake hascreated a network with other companies inplaces like Chicago, L.A., Australia and the U.K.The Game Developers Conference has helped to

iOS versusAndroid:Why do some developerswork on only oneoperating system?

Phones and tablets come in allshapes and sizes and havevarious qualities that makethem unique. Initially, thedeveloper trend was to focusmore on creating apps forApple products with theirestablished screen sizes andresolutions, but the Androidmarket has grown rapidly andsome developers are findingthat there is more money tobe had in creating a qualityproduct for Android.

Apple has a history ofgreat quality control andregulations to determinewhether a developer’sapplication can be sold in theApp Store. These measuresensure that spyware, virusesand pornographic apps are notoffered to consumers aroundthe world. Android is opensource, which means that thesoftware can be freelymodified and distributed bydevice manufacturers, wirelesscarriers and developers. Thisallows for a lot of creativework to be done, but it isn’tmoderated and there’s apotential risk of unwantedspam in apps.

The Android market forhardware is extremely diverse.Phones and tablets using anAndroid operating systemhave a huge variety of screendimensions and resolutionsand will often have differentbuttons from one device toanother. Approximately 1,200different Android devicesexist, so testing an app oneach individual product is nota realistic option. “We have ahuge variety of devices in theoffice to test on and if we hearthere’s issues with a device wedon’t have we’ll go out and


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but that sounds likesomething your fatherwould say.

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April/May 2013 Saskatchewan Business Magazine 15

create many of these contacts. “There is so muchnoise in the industry now that you can’t getnoticed,” says Schidlowsky. “With an event likeGDC you can sit down and have a coffee or beerwith the guy who reviews games and has a net-work of his own and put in face time with thesepeople. You get noticed a lot easier, and it’s notthe same as before where you had to do hardadvertising.”

The GDC Conference is where all sevenmembers of Noodlecake will have a chance to getpeer feedback and market Super Stickman Golf2. The four-day conference in San Francisco willhost over 22,500 attendees and is the world’slargest and longest-running professionals-onlygame industry event featuring lectures, panels,tutorials and round-table discussions.

“There is still a traditional advertising net-work for marketing apps if you can afford it,”adds Bader. “People will go that route, but thereare also companies whose specialty is in-gameadvertisements and that’s a whole differentindustry in itself and there are companies thathave money to hire an agency to promote theirapps.”

Pricing of the app is also part of the market-ing. Offering an initial discount is a good way fora new app to climb the charts and get exposure,while dropping the price of old apps and usingtheir network to promote the price drop is agood way to encourage more downloads of olderproducts. With Noodlecake’s newest game, SuperStickman Golf 2, they plan on releasing multipleupdates and expansions; in-app purchases alsogenerate profit, albeit it’s not the type of app thatis focused on in-app purchases. Game appspriced at 99 cents are built to be completed in 30minutes to an hour, so part of what makes Super

Stickman Golf 2 appealing is that there are manyachievements and the multiplayer options can beplayed time and time again.

FUTURE OUTLOOK ON APPSIn 2010, some computer professionals assumedthat apps would be a short-lived craze, that therewouldn’t be a large number of useful apps andthat a few would dominate while others dwin-dled. Now, in 2013, the prediction is that themobile app industry could be worth nearly $40billion by 2015, largely because of a trend point-ing towards very targeted apps based aroundselect demographics.

As a basic example, an app could be devel-oped for a construction company to streamlineall processes and have the information net-worked to allow someone at head office to seethe on-site inventory from hundreds of kilome-ters away and coordinate a shipment of moreproduct to the site. Employees would be able topredict the shortfall of building materials andcreate a digital trail to show who authorized theshipment and when it was authorized.

“There are so many people in the provincewith ideas for various apps and that’s great,” saysShidlowsky. “There are also a lot of people inSaskatchewan who know how to develop apps,but in terms of actually getting them to marketand developing strategies of distribution therearen’t very many people with experience. I thinkthat’s one of the things that we have as a leg upover others in Saskatchewan. We have provennumbers, we know statistics and we’ve publishedapps multiple times. We have the talent to makeanything that a customer wants and do it acrossmultiple platforms. It’s an exciting time for us tobe app developers in Saskatchewan.” n

purchase it,” explains JordanSchidlowsky of NoodlecakeStudios. “It’s typically the low-end products we need to runtests on as the higher endSamsung products aren’t anissue. Google will also let youcut out certain devices thatthe application won’t run on.”

Products on the Apple linehave been easier to develop asthere were set screen sizes forthe iPad, iPhone and iPodTouch and the developer knewexactly which physical buttonswere going to appear on thedevice. With the new lines ofApple products coming out,different screen resolutionsand alternate iPad sizes aremaking the development alittle more difficult.

Smartphone promotionsalso cause some difficulties fordevelopers. Quite often, aconsumer will be looking for anew phone and an Androidphone will be available forzero dollars with a multi-yearcontract. A large number ofthese people will not upgradetheir operating system asupdates become available sodevelopers have to make anapp to run on a system thatcan sometimes be a few yearsold. Between thesepromotional phones andconsumers purchasing high-end Android phones, they nowhave a much larger marketthan Apple.

The Apple App Store ishighly saturated with appsand is very competitive whilethe Android market is stilllargely untapped. People aregetting better at updatingtheir Android phones and thequality of phones beingproduced is improving.Developers generally find it amuch easier process withbetter tools to create an appfor Apple, but they see thevalue in Android and areexpecting that market tocontinue to improve. n

Super Stickman Golf 2, Noodlecake’s most recent release.

2013 Creating Intersections for GrowthConferenceOctober 15 to 17, 2013Hilton Garden Inn Saskatoon

Prosperity requires a coordinated and cooperative effort of multiple individuals and organizations in the public,private and civil sectors. Following a year of significant transition in the provincial economic development sector,we invite Saskatchewan leaders and professionals to reconnect in October and focus on Creating Intersectionsfor Growth.

The conference supports the year-round initiatives of the Saskatchewan Economic Development Association(SEDA) and its mandate to build local and regional economic capacity.

Plenary and breakout sessions have been selected in response to dialogue with communities and organizationsacross the province. Pre-conference training and inter-sectoral panels will support knowledge sharing, fosterleadership and encourage action.

We encourage you to view the preliminary program as well as trade show and partnership opportunities atwww.intersectionsforgrowth.com

Early registration pricing in effect until July 15, 2013.

www.intersectionsforgrowth.com

Photo by Imagery Photography April/May 2013 Saskatchewan Business Magazine 17

If you have ever spoken with Kim Keller and herbusiness partner, Himanshu Singh, it will comeas no surprise to you that the duo won the NSBAYoung Promising Entrepreneur Award lastmonth for Farm at Hand. In speaking with themfor this interview, it was also clear that they areexcited about what they do and the value theyprovide for their clients.

It is interesting to note that neither Keller norSingh is working in a field directly related to theirformal education. Keller’s university educationwas in Native Studies, and she grew her farmability through practical on-farm experience.Singh, on the other hand, was enrolled in healthsciences, and grew his ability in software devel-opment by working on projects with friends.This being what it is, the pair is obviously wellsuited for what they are undertaking. Farm atHand was released on April 26, 2012, just oneyear ago, and has been gaining momentum eversince. To date, over 7,000 farmers have down-loaded and are currently using the application.

What were the seeds of entrepreneurship thatgrew to become Farm at Hand? There seem to

be a few relevant complementary, yet diverse,components. Once again, necessity is themother of invention. Keller was raised on a farmnear Gronlid, Saskatchewan. At times she wouldbe running errands in town while helping withfarm operations, but needing information thatwas back at the farm, such as serial numbers,and equipment details. This became frustratingenough to generate a solution.

Keller did not always see the farm and rurallife in Saskatchewan as strength or even as desir-able. She left the family farm 11 years ago toattend university and later began a career in theinsurance sector. However, her dreams of a better world beyond the farm and small townwere soon replaced by an appreciation for herpast. An exploration of farmathand.com turnedup some great insight via Keller’s blog post:“I’ve returned as more than just help for the harvest. I am realizing why something in my previous path just didn’t feel right. I love farming;the work, the long hours, seeing results, and know-ing I am working toward something more thanjust a paycheque every two weeks. Isn’t this what

What is Farm At Hand?Farm At Hand is a free farmmanagement app available for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. It can be found on the App Store or atwww.FarmAtHand.com.

Features include:

Field ListKeep a detailed and current list of fields.

CalendarAdd and review farm activityfor a specific date.

Commodity StorageThe Virtual Bin Yard function keeps track of commodities in storage.

EquipmentA complete equipment list,which can be updated andreviewed at any time.

UtilitiesA useful conversion tool builtright into this app designedspecifically for farming use.

Commodity ContractsEnter, track, and update allcommodity contracts.

Commodity StatusAmount in storage, contractedamount, and the amount stillavailable to market.

Commodity DeliveryEnter deliveries and link up toany contract that has beenentered.

Information is simultaneouslyupdated across all devicesusing the ‘sync’ button and can be securely accessed anytime, anywhere.

Productive FarmingT H E B U S I N E S S O F A P P S

by David E. White

Himanshu Singh and Kim Keller accepting the NSBA young Promising Entrepreneur Award as presented by Areva representative Véronique Larlham.


every career is supposed to feel like? Now,don’t get me wrong, I know farming isn’tall rainbows and sunshine, and the hardtimes will be hard, but for each of thosehard times I am willing to bet almost everyfarmer has been through twice as manygood. This is what sets farmers apart; their determination, perseverance and attimes, downright craziness to go anotherround.”

It would seem that this is also whatqualifies this entrepreneurial duo: deter-mination. However, more than that,Keller and Singh also seem dedicated to

seeing results and working toward some-thing significant. As the interview pro-gressed, their enthusiasm for what theydo became obvious. They are wadingthrough the hard times and living thegood with a positive attitude.

While Keller has a farming back-ground, cofounder Singh does not. Singhis a software developer and until recentlyhad never been on a farm. After graduat-ing university, Singh began QuintApps, afull-service web and mobile softwaredevelopment company. Singh’s non-farmbackground appears to provide as much

strength to the development of Farm atHand as Keller’s farm orientation. Singhbrings a fresh perspective to problemsolving by asking questions from outsidethe farm paradigm. Singh’s passion forproductivity is readily apparent. Duringthe interview he was positively chargedwith energy for discovering how thingscan be accomplished more efficiently andeffectively. “We hope to become the go-to place for farmers to obtain the maintool that they use regularly to managetheir farms,” explains Singh.

Some may wonder about the relevanceof apps to farmers; they carry forward oldstereotypes. Here Singh and Keller havedone their homework. “We took a look atan Ipsos Reid study commissioned by theOntario government,” explains Singh. “Itnotes that 69 per cent of farmers with cellphones have smartphones. We contrastedthis with a separate study revealing thatonly 45 per cent of the general populationhas smartphones.”

When I suggested that this was a chal-lenge to the “old farmer” stereotype,Keller was quick to affirm: “Farmingincorporates so many advanced tech-nologies including seed, fertilizer andequipment. Information management isone area that has been lagging, and wefeel that this is a great opportunity for us.”

Farm at Hand is free for users as rev-enue is generated through advertising,licensing, and collaborative initiativeswith other companies. “We hold strongconviction that farmers should not haveto pay to use this app,” states Keller.“Neither will we ever sell their informa-tion to a third party. We want the farmersto continue to be involved in the devel-opment of Farm at Hand, so that they cantell us how to make it work better forthem.”

So, will Farm at Hand be a stand-aloneproduct? This is doubtful, as Keller andSingh have a wall of sticky notes withideas for further development. With theirvision of being the go-to for farm man-agement software, they are open to andeven targeting ongoing development, aswell as entertaining collaboration withother technologies and applications.

Given the tenacity of Keller and Singh,along with their competence, values-based conviction and entrepreneurialdrive, it is a safe bet that we have not yetseen all they will have to offer! n

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Developing an app that is targeted at a specialized,specific audience is a much different process thandeveloping a game or time-killer app. You can’t relyon downloads to drive the app to a position of visi-bility on the app store, and since it’s tuned to a spe-cific niche of people and meant to be used as a tool,the price is not usually 99 cents.

Around 2007, Brett Park was drawn into the worldof iPhones and iPods. With a history of developingapplications for his personal computer he saw thepotential of the app industry and wanted to take partin the new computing medium. “They looked likereally fun, nifty devices,” explains Park. “And the abil-ity to actually have a mobile computer in your handthat wasn’t a big bulky laptop was a big deal. I wantedto develop programs for them and around 2008 Istarted to play around building my own little demogames and 3D environments. A year or so went byand I wanted to make something to sell in the AppStore as it was becoming popular and, as it turnedout, I fell into it.”

At the time, Park was a graduate student at theUniversity of Regina. One of his professors was hav-ing issues with a musical instrument that he wasresearching at the same time that Park was lookingfor an app to develop for the iPad. “I have a love ofmusic, but I hate spending the time to practice. That’sone of the reasons I made Musix. Some of the prop-erties and isomorphic layouts in the app make it eas-ier to play music and that’s what motivated me.”

The isomorphic layouts in Musix are a series ofhexagons that represent notes that form a digital key-board. All the surrounding hexagons are harmoni-cally related. This creates a pattern for learning a scaleor a chord that can then be transferred to any key.This is beneficial in helping musicians map out chordprogressions or create melodies and assisting a noviceor aspiring musician to learn.

Musix is a tool meant to aid musicians and wasn’tmeant to be a cash grab for Park, but it was initiallypriced with the intention of sustaining Park’s appdevelopment business, which he named Shiverware.“Our original app, Musix, was five dollars when itcame out, which was rather expensive on the store atthe time,” Park says. “The market on the store ishighly undervalued; the majority of app developersdon’t make very much money. It’s not put somethingon the store and get rich; it’s not even close to that.”

T H E B U S I N E S S O F A P P S

Developing a NicheMarket Appby Nathan Hursh


Marketing this type of app is focused onfinding bloggers whose focus is iPadmusic, making and allowing them toreview the product ahead of time, then try-ing to get the reviews to all come out atonce. Part of Park’s strategy is to not neg-lect the smallest of bloggers with thereleases of his new products, helping himto establish strong contacts in the industry.

Since releasing the initial Musix app,Shiverware has developed a verbalmetronome for the iPhone calledSpeakbeat and a new version of their firstapp called Musix Pro. All of this produc-tion has occurred while Park has beenattending the U of R in collaborationwith one of his professors and a fellowcomputer scientist working in Regina.

Another of Park’s ventures is the for-mal establishment of a Saskatchewan appdeveloper community whose only focusis to showcase and advertise the qualityproducts coming out of our provincewith his website SKiOS.ca. “I thoughtthat it was really tough for businesses inSaskatchewan to find people to developapps for them,” explains Park. “I was inthis iOS and mobile world for two yearsand I knew almost none of the compa-nies in Saskatchewan that made apps andI knew virtually no apps that were madehere. And if I’m here in the communityand I don’t know what exists then how issomeone else going to be able to findout? We want people in Saskatchewan tobe able to find the people who can helpdeliver those services for them.Connecting people is one purpose of thewebsite. We wanted to just promote appsand their creators and to wave the flagand show some pride for the stuff thatpeople in Saskatchewan do.”

SKiOS serves as a hub of informationfor people wanting to develop, market orpublish apps, have an app developed forthem and to educate people about theindustry. “I taught one of the first mobiledevelopment classes at the U of R and thenumber of people wanting to take thatcourse was so overwhelming we had toswitch classrooms,” says Park.” There werestudents and people from the communitywho signed up just because they wereinterested in the Apple operating system(iOS) and were looking for resources andpeople to help them, and SKiOS is just theplace to distribute information and feedtheir desires for information.” n

www.classiccanadiantours.com

www.lloydminstereconomy.ca

www.economy.gov.sk.ca Saskatchewan’s quarterly newsletter on people and business engaged in economic growth Volume 18 � Spring 2013

“I always knew I was going to move dirtfor a living,” says 25-year-old Tyler Boyd,owner of one of the busiest and most competitive excavating companies inSaskatchewan, “just not at this scale.”

When Boyd started Boyd Excavating inNovember 2006 in his hometown ofMoosomin, he started with just one excavator and one truck. “I was prettyeager,” he says. “Tere wasn’t much Iwouldn’t tackle. Most of my work was for

farmers and local construction projects,and I did a little work in the oil patch, butI got my big break in January 2009 whenI won the contract to prepare the site forthe Canalta Hotel in Moosomin. By theend of that project, I had 25 employees.”

Today, just over a hundred people workfor Boyd Excavating. “It’s wild, when Ithink of it. We’ve got guys in Assiniboiacrushing for the Ministry of Highways,guys all over Regina doing everything from

digging basements, hauling gravel, demolition, to directional drilling forinstalling cable, and sewer and water projects. I also have a crew up in Kamsacktunnelling a big culvert under a highwayand guys in Moosomin decommissioninga couple of gas stations. I think it’s safe tosay that we’re the most diversiQed excavatingcompany in Saskatchewan.”

Boyd is quick to credit his hard-workingemployees for both the quantity and

Tyler Boyd, owner of Boyd Excavating, at a local Saskatchewan job site.Photo by Calvin Fehr

Boyd Excavating Digs Saskatchewan

...continued on page 5

By Elaine Carlson

S

2 Saskatchewan NOW! � Spring 2013

Providing the Missing Link in the Design Process

Tamara Bowman and the team in the design studio at Metric Design Centre, downtown Saskatoon. Shown (left to right): Cara DeLong, associatedesigner; Christina Garner, kitchen and associate designer; Tamara Bowman, owner and lead designer; Kim Krueckl, associate designer; LisaGodwin, associate designer. Photo by Darrell Noakes

By Darrell Noakes

Saskatchewan NOW! � Spring 2013 3

Tamara Bowman was raised among entrepreneurs. Her parents worked in commercial construction, sparking in heran interest in interior design. After gainingan education in design in Victoria,Bowman returned to her Saskatoon roots,building a home decorating and designbusiness from home.

After 12 years, she found that the work,client base and range of services had grownto the point that it was time to expand intocommercial retail space. So, in July, 2011,Metric Design Centre opened its doors ina deftly renovated period building formerlyoccupied by a pharmacy in the heart of arejuvenated downtown Saskatoon.

“I noticed there was a need, a link missingin the design process,” Bowman says. “Tomake selections for a client’s home, wewould have to go to the Rooring store andthe counter-top place and the kitchen supplier. Tere was just so much travelthroughout the city, I found it was a reallydiScult process for clients. You’re draggingall of these heavy samples around, and itwas just more complicated than it neededto be, plus they were paying me to go to allthese places with them. So I decided toopen a showroom, which is more of aresource centre.”

As a resource centre, Metric Designgathers all the exceptional productsBowman has sourced through relationshipsforged over the years with local andnational suppliers, and brings themtogether to showcase in a single location.

“As well, I did a lot of travelling, allthrough Canada and the United States andMexico to Qnd the best that was availablein design that wasn’t available in Saskatoonat that point,” Bowman says. “I collectedgreat brands and more green-leading products, diPerent products that weren’tavailable, and brought those here.”

“Having everything in one location simpliQes the process for people, andremoves some of the time and stressinvolved in building or renovating. Tat’sthe point of the store. We try to make the

process more enjoyable for our clients.”“Plus, it’s a beautiful and inspiring

environment,” she adds.Tat environment includes a showroom

highlighting kitchen, bath, Rooring, wallcoverings, furniture and lighting designsnot normally found in Saskatoon. MetricDesign is the exclusive Saskatchewan show-room of Canadian-made NeP Kitchens,recognized by renowned designers andarchitects the world over for its premiumcabinetry.

Te Metric Design space includes anoSce studio employing Qve designersbesides Bowman, operations managerLincoln Turtle, and showroom sales managerKaren Palibroda.

“Te intention of the showroom was tomake design more accessible for people,and to get them excited by all that thisgreat industry has to oPer,” Bowman says.“I feel like our role as designers, although itinterests people, is also quite intimidatingat the same time. People are a bit nervousabout committing to working with some-body when they don’t quite understand theprocess or they don’t know their style.”

“People can come here and they canactually ‘feel’ our casual, uplifting, no-pressure environment,” she says. “Tey likethat personal touch. Tey can ask ques-tions and book something if they’re interested in the services. Otherwise, we

have all these products available if peoplewant to just come and shop and browse ontheir own, too.”

“It really just depends on where peopleare at and what they are comfortable with.People can come in and look for uniqueand interesting products for their ownspace. If they want to select their own furniture, pick out some wallpaper or somereally cool tile, we have all these items available.”

“Or if they want to go that step further,they can enlist the services of a designer togo with them through this process. We doeverything from colour consultations, toRoor plans, product selections, all the wayup to full scale renovations.”

It’s a business approach and customerservice philosophy that seems to be pay-ing off. In May, 2012, Metric DesignCentre won the Saskatoon Awards forBusiness Excellence (SABEX) award forNew Business Venture. Since then, thebusiness has only continued to grow andprosper.

“It was so exciting,” Bowman says of theSABEX experience. “I was just blown awayby the whole process. To be so highly recognized in the business community inSaskatoon is a pretty amazing thing, aswe’re a land of entrepreneurs, and to beincluded in this success story is pretty fantastic.”

“Having everything in one location simplifies theprocess for people, and removes some of the timeand stress involved in building or renovating. That’sthe point of the store. We try to make the processmore enjoyable for our clients.”

S


Janice Taylor, founder of the Just BeFriends online interactive tool directed atchildren and families, happily describesherself as a product of the community thathelped raise her.

“I was a latch-key kid raised by a singlemom in north Regina who was so busyworking three jobs to keep us from beingovercome by poverty, that I hardly saw her.Yet I was completely supported by teachersand parents in the community of Uplands.Tey fed me, made skating costumes, andmade sure that I behaved and stayed inline. Tat community raised me,” Taylorsays, her voice breaking with gratitude.

Taylor feels a great sense of obligation tofoster the kind of supportive, caring environments for children and families thatshe received. “My Qrst idea was to launcha website where women could meet otherwomen online for support and friendship.I believe healthy friendships play a big rolein building self-esteem and identity, and if

we as women could beneQt, then thiswould be something we could pass on toour kids, too.”

Taylor was oP and running with Just BeFriends, taking her idea to the WomenEntrepreneurs of Saskatchewan Qrst.“Tey were so wonderful,” Taylor says.“Tey took a chance on me when my ideawas still a concept and really helped methrough the paces. I signed up for a business planning course with them andthey gave me my Qrst small business loanto do my branding and to launch the Qrstwebsite for Just Be Friends.”

Tat was in early 2011. Six weeks later,Taylor wrote Oprah to share her idea. “Itwas a Monday; by Tursday I had a callfrom them, and two weeks later, I was onthe way to Chicago for Oprah’s premiershow of her Qnal season. All of a sudden, Iwas thrust into the world! At the sametime, Oprah picked 150 people who bestexempliQed her life on air and took us on

a trip to Australia.”Taylor describes the rest of that year as

“one big learning curve.” Springboard WestInnovations, a program that helps compa-nies move innovative ideas into commer-cial reality, entered the picture. “It’s aserious mentorship program,” says Taylor.“By the time I Qnished in late 2011, Icould speak intelligently about businessconcepts, develop a business plan andmove forward.”

Ten early in 2012, Taylor was selectedas one of 12 women chosen by theCanadian Consulate of Canada for a three-month mentorship program in SiliconValley. Te TechWomen Canada Programthrust Taylor into a high-paced learningenvironment with some of the best mindsfrom top tech companies such as Twitter,Google, Facebook and Linked-In.

Tat’s when Just Be Friends began itsevolution from a social network for womento one that focused primarily on children

It’s All About Making ConnectionsBy Elaine Carlson

Janice Taylor, founder of Just Be Friends, with her kids Shiah (l) and Peyton (r) at a local Saskatoon playground.Photo by Cal Fehr

...continued on page 8


quality of Boyd Excavating’s work. “I’ve gotjust an awesome group of people – both inthe Qeld and in the oSce. Tey are ourbiggest asset.”

Boyd has also expanded his operationsto better position himself for all the workin the province. In April 2010, he movedhis operational head to Pilot Butte to betterposition himself to bid for work in andaround Regina. He continues to maintaina satellite oSce and shop in Moosomin,and another in Assiniboia through anacquisition of an existing excavating business. “And anyoneelse we buy out, we willset up a shop in thatlocation, too,” Boydadds. “We deQnitelyhave lots of opportuni-ties around the entireprovince. We’ve workedfrom Leader to MeadowLake to Prince Albertand Nipawin all the wayto Estevan and Mankota.”

Boyd describes himselfas “pretty aggressive,though that might be anunderstatement,” hechuckles. “I really lovewhat I do. By Sunday afternoon, I’m justvibrating because I can’t wait to get back towork!”

But he shared a couple of additionalsecrets to the company’s rapid growth. “I’venever been scared of competition. I don’tcare how big they are, even if we’re competingagainst contractors from B.C. to Quebec -and there’s lots of competition out there. Ijust put my nose to the grindstone, sharpenmy pencil, and carry on. Te reason we getso many referrals and win so many contracts is because of the work our peopledo. We aim for zero callback, even thoughanyone in the business knows it’s not easilyattainable. Tat’s where it comes down toputting the right guys in with the rightequipment, and you can’t do that unless

you know your staP and their capabilitiesand keep your turnover down. Nor do wehave any problem running a job 24-hoursa day, as long as there are no bylaws prohibiting it.”

Safety is also a priority with Boyd. “Wetake safety very seriously. We’re CORE andIS-Net certiQed and follow standards thatcan’t be compromised. If safety isn’t alifestyle choice, then you’re in the wrongbusiness.”

Boyd Excavating’s high job site standardsare supported by work units dedicated to

particular aspects of business, from projectmanagement to estimating. “Everyone hastheir own division for which they’reaccountable,” says Boyd, “and everyonerespects the chain of command, includingme.” Boyd’s brother Tim is the company’soperations manager for Regina, his “brilliant”mom Lorraine is the company’s chiefQnancial oScer, and his dad, Ervin, is thecompany chameleon, “He does whateverneeds doing in any capacity and is thehardest working guy I know,” says Tyler.His sister Tenielle also works for the company in administration from herLethbridge home. “Obviously, I learned alot of things from my mom and dad andgot my work ethic from them. Dad had areally good sanitation business that I ran

once when I was only 15 while they wereout-of-province for a funeral, plus I hadmy own business raising meat goats for amarket in New Jersey. I’ve been putting in17-hour days since I was 15, right until myown kids came along,” he laughs.

When it comes to equipment, Boydprides himself on using the best equipmentavailable, but he also believes in doing businesslocally. “I like dealing with companieswhere I can get hold of the owner day ornight because they live in Regina. And Idon’t like my money leaving the province,”

he says. “Tat’s why I’mso pleased to have wonthe tunnelling contract;most of these havepretty much gone out ofthe province, but nowthere’s more money thatwill stay inSaskatchewan.” Boydwon’t say how muchmoney the businessspends in the province,but in Moosomin alone,he contributes $4.5 mil-lion to the local economyannually.

Future plans?“Province-wide growth,” he says. “We’vegot some wonderful clients from Alberta,and we have been asked to expand outsideto Calgary, Edmonton, B.C. and NorthDakota, but I can’t justify leaving ourprovince. It doesn’t make sense to work outof province when there’s so much to dohere. And now I think that people knowwe’re here to stay. When Boyd Excavatingwon the 2012 ABEX Award for YoungEntrepreneur of the Year that pretty muchsealed the deal that we’re not going away.”

Boyd Excavating was also a Qnalist in theregional Paragon Young EntrepreneurAward in both 2010 and 2012, and was aBusiness Development Bank of CanadaYoung Entrepreneur Award Finalist in2010.

Boyd Excavating ...continued from page 1

“Everyone has their own divisionfor which they’re accountable andeveryone respects the chain ofcommand, including me.”

S


Barely nine months after Te James Hotelin Saskatoon quietly opened its doors toguests, Saskatchewan’s Qrst and only contemporary, luxury boutique hotel wasboldly turning heads.

By May, 2012, Financial Post Magazinehad already remarked on the hotel’s uniquelobby bar, describing how its custom furniture and onyx Qreplace conveyed adown-to-earth attitude blending contem-porary touches and comfort. A monthlater, the Globe and Mail’s “SavvyTraveller” column writer was gushingenthusiastically over the polished walnutRoors, Italian marble bathrooms, locallycrafted furniture, and original paintingsand photographs produced by Saskatchewanartists.

Te hotel was turning heads closer tohome, too. At last year’s Saskatoon Awardsfor Business Excellence (SABEX), TeJames Hotel won the award for Best NewProduct or Service.

Te hotel continues to attract attention.Earlier this year, Te James picked up twoTripadvisor.ca Travellers’ Choice 2013Awards. Te hotel rated seventh amongCanada’s top 25 hotels, and 19th amongtop 25 hotels for service.

“Tis hotel, in Saskatchewan, is a vastlydiPerent product,” says General ManagerCorinne Lund, explaining why Te Jamesis receiving so much attention and why somany compare it to experiences in largercentres such as Vancouver, Toronto andNew York.

“Te growth in Saskatchewan is puttingnot only our province, but the city ofSaskatoon on the map,” she says. “Tishotel has been drawing attention becauseit’s unique for what Saskatoon has beenknown for. Tere are much bigger expec-tations about accommodations. Because it’sthe Qrst of its kind in Saskatoon, it’s drawnsome attention.”

Lund says that winning the SABEXaward, in particular, was a welcome aSrmation: “Tere’s so much emotion andhard work that goes into opening a newhotel. Everything that the team put intothis, the months and the weeks before weopened — it became such a labour of love.You’re excited and exhausted, and then youlaunch into the world, and you wait.SABEX was all part of that.”

“We were still getting our ‘legs’ and attimes you wonder if you are so close to theproject that you may miss a few details.When you get that stamp from your community that says, ‘Yes – you are doingit right’ you can breathe a little bit and realize you’re on the right track.”

Te “right track” that Te James’ creator,President and Chief Executive OScer PaulLeier, envisioned was an independentbrand providing a level of luxury and comfort entirely unlike anything previouslyexperienced in Saskatoon. Te hotel had tohave an upscale appeal, yet reRect the natural environment of Saskatchewan, theprairies and the South Saskatchewan River.Materials are all natural — wood, lime-stone, marble — and capture the familiarcolours of the land, sky and water.Copious, wide open natural light illuminatesthe interior spaces.

“He wanted to use the very best of materials to put in the building, but theone thing that was so important was keepingit comfortable,” Lund says. “Mr. Leier hada very distinct vision of ensuring it wasincredibly high quality, yet it had to beinviting, comfortable, intimate and calm.”

Names of suites, and even the hotelitself, pay homage to a family heritage. PaulLeier continues the legacy of his grandfather,James Peter Leier, who emigrated fromOdessa, Russia, in the early 1900s. Te second generation of Leiers built theSheraton Cavalier Saskatoon Hotel and an

adjoining apartment high-rise in the1960s, on the land purchased by the elderLeier in the 1930s. (Te family also owns

Saskatoon’s New Luxury Boutique Hotel QuietlyWinning Awards – and GuestsBy Darrell Noakes

Tere are much bigger expec-t

the Sheraton Cavalier Calgary Hotel.) Te James Hotel emerged from extensive

renovations that completely gutted, trans-formed and rejuvenated the apartmentbuilding, opening in October, 2011. TeJames is operated as a unique and separatebrand all to its own.

“Te Sheraton Cavalier was built andrenovated three times, but this stayed as theoriginal apartment tower,” Lund says.

“When Paul Leier, who is James’ grandson,decided to take on the project of renovatingthis tower, he thought Saskatoon was in aneconomic environment now where theycould look at something a bit diPerent forthe city and the province.”

Calgary-based Shugarman Architecture+ Design, under lead designer MichaelShugarman, undertook all the public andprivate space design, furniture design, art

selection, graphic consultation and muraldesign. Te completed building includeslounge and reception areas, oSces, break-fast room, Qtness centre, and 59 rooms andsuites.

“In a boutique hotel you’re able to makethings much more intimate for the guests,”says Lund. “It’s more personalized. You’renot just one number in a crowd. You’re areal person — our guest.”

Corinne Lund, General Manager, The James Hotel, in the hotel’s penthouse suite – a luxurious suite with a commanding view of the South Saskatchewan River. Photo by Darrell Noakes



Produced by: Saskatchewan Business Magazine2213B Hanselman Court, Saskatoon, SK S7L 6A8Tel: (306) 244-5668 Fax: (306) 244-5679

For more information, contact:EditorMinistry of the EconomyTel: (306) 787-4765Fax: (306) 787-8447www.economy.gov.sk.ca

For subscription information,call: (306) 787-4765Distributed as an insert ofSaskatchewan Business and mailed to over 6,000Saskatchewan businesses.

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Just Be Friends ...continued from page 4

and family. “I already knew that about halfof the women who were using the networkthought it should include children, but Ihad resisted this all along, thinking that ifwomen felt good about themselves, thiswould have a positive impact on children.So I started to think of how I could makeJust Be Friends be as helpful, connectiveand positive as possible for children andfamilies. We’ve developed a site that doesthat, and parents can be assured that theirkids’ data will never be sold, and that theywill never see advertising on the site.”

Taylor had the best possible help developing her site; almost on cue after herSilicon Valley stint, she was invited toKelowna and asked to participate inAccelerate Okanogan, an initiative designedto increase the number of technology companies that start and grow in theOkanagan. With an impressive list of tech-savvy people whose resumes include careerswith Disney, Club Penguin, Pixar, andDreamworks, Taylor built a team to get towork on the website before its Marchlaunch in Saskatchewan. She now spends a

week in Kelowna, and a week back inRegina, juggling work and family assmoothly as possible.

Taylor also received a grant from theNational Research Council’s IndustrialResearch Assistance Program for a feasibilitystudy and to more fully develop protocolsaround the product. User safety and security, friendship matching, and access tocommunity information are key elementsof that research.

In a nutshell, Just Be Friends has evolvedinto a social education platform thataPords families the opportunity to buildconnections and friendships within theirown communities, alerts them aboutthings to do in their communities andmakes it possible for families to select andseek out other families to communicatewith based on mutual interests and needs.Most importantly, it provides an onlinesocial education setting where childrenlearn how to build positive friendshipswith other children in a safe and positiveenvironment, free from bullying andcyber-bullying.

“Tis aspect is a priority with me,” saysTaylor, “but I have my own approach tothis. I think too much focus is placed onanti-bullying, on what kids are not to do.But what happens after pink shirt day?We’ve paid so much attention on what theyshouldn’t be doing, that we haven’t toldthem what friendship should look like.Te tools on Just Be Friends provide thatnecessary social education.”

Taylor also plans to launch A MillionActs of Friendship, a school-based initiativeaimed at celebrating acts of friendship byrewarding these with badges. It is intendedto balance anti-bullying messages with pro-friendship messages.

“I’m so proud to be from this province.Tere’s no place like this – with ournotions of sharing and connection andcommunity. Te rest of the world needs tolearn from us, because we have somethingworth sharing. Everyone comes fromsomewhere; why not Saskatchewan?”

To learn more about Just Be Friends, visitwww.jbfkids.com.

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INVESTMENT LEVELS IN SASKATCHEWAN are hitting all-time highs, and Minister Tim McMillan thinks the effects of these investments will still be felt acentury from now.

“The true benefits of these numbers are going to be 100 years long,” saidMcMillan, the minister responsible for energy and resources, Tourism Saskatchewan,trade, and SaskEnergy. “Those benefits range from employment to royalties to com-munity involvement – it’s far broader than putting pipes and a shaft in the ground.”

A report from the Ministry of the Economy released in February says 2013 capi-tal investments are expected to reach $20.5 billion. If the numbers hit their mark, itwill be the sixth consecutive year that new capital spending has exceeded $14 bil-lion. The vast majority of the spending is happening in the private sector, at 83.2 percent last year, and about the same amount expected for 2013.

McMillan bases his rosy outlook on developments in the mining industry. The Mosaic mine at Esterhazy celebrated its 50th anniversary last fall, and he says it’s producing substantially more ore today than the year it opened. Mosaic is alsocurrently building two more mines in the province, and all of their mines have 100-year lifespans.

“When they make these sorts of investments, they’re big numbers and meant tolast for a long time,” said McMillan. “These numbers are fantastic in the short term,but it’s in the long term where investments truly pay off.”

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McMillan compared Saskatchewan’s investment numbersto Quebec on a per capita basis, and found over $20,000 percitizen is being invested in Saskatchewan, compared to lessthan $9,000 in Quebec. Even nationally, the amount investedis only $11,000 per person.

Grant Kook, president and CEO of Golden OpportunitiesFund, is confident this growth is sustainable for at least the nextdecade, and says that with the right public and private over-sight and engagement, McMillan’s forecast is not out of line.

“That 100-year prediction is in our sights. It’s just up to usto not get away from that and stumble,” he said.

BLACK GOLDKook agrees with McMillan that some of the most importantdevelopments are in the resource sector.

“Saskatchewan oil and gas formations are getting more andmore recognized as being very prolific, and we have inSaskatchewan five of the 10 best gas formations in all of NorthAmerica,” he said. “More people understand that and want tobe part of it. At the same time, fewer people are participatingthrough the publicly-traded markets.”

The public markets have been “a little bit volatile,” Kooksays, so the province is seeing more private investment capi-tal as the choice for financing.

Golden Opportunities Fund is a provincial labour-sponsoredinvestment fund that invests in small- and medium-sizedcompanies. In 2012, the fund invested $42 million, a jumpfrom $9.3 million in 2008.

One of the challenges to keeping the momentum going isthat a resource-based economy is at the mercy of environ-mental factors and changing world markets. McMillan pointsout that the broad spectrum of resources in Saskatchewan will protect the province to a certain extent, but he says westill “have the responsibility that we don’t shoot ourselves inthe foot.”

“We had the resources in the past, but we didn’t alwayshave the public policy to say ‘this is good for our province,’” he said.

Saskatchewan is beginning to be on par with the resourcesector powerhouse of Alberta. According to a Statistics CanadaEconomic Insights article, “In 2012, Saskatchewan and Albertatogether accounted for 40.1 per cent of non-residential busi-ness sector investment in Canada, matching the combinedshare of Ontario and Quebec.”

Historically, more oil and gas investments have gone toAlberta, but that trend is shifting.

“Once we’ve attracted those tier one management teams tocome to Saskatchewan, we continue to attract that capital,”said Kook. “Once it’s here, the spinoff and trickle down is notonly hitting oil and gas, but also what the rest of Saskatchewanhas to offer. That’s why you’re seeing a more pronouncedawareness.”

And he notes that as new technologies to unlock oil andgas formations are developed the province will have evenmore opportunities for investment.

“The entrepreneurial spirit in our province is great,” saidMcMillan. “For too long, you heard Alberta’s success wasbased on money from New York bankers and Saskatchewan


In 2011, Saskatchewan saw $19.6 billion in new capital spending by private and public organizations.Of that, 86.2 per cent or $16.9 billion was in the private sector, and 13.8 per cent or $2.7 billion was inthe public sector.

In 2012, capital investments increased by 6.5 per cent,to $20.9 billon, compared to 2011. Of that, 83.2 percent or $17.4 billion was in the private sector, while16.8 per cent or $3.5 billion was in the public sector.

In 2012, Saskatchewan and Alberta togetheraccounted for 40.1 per cent of non-residentialbusiness sector investment in Canada, matching thecombined share of Ontario and Quebec.

For 2013, capital investments are expected to reach$20.5 billion. Of that, 83 per cent or $17 billion isexpected to be in the private sector, and 17 per centor $3.5 billion is expected to be in the public sector.

The 2013 projected capital expenditure would be thesixth consecutive year where new capital spendingexceeded the $14 billion mark, if actual investmentsmeet expectations.

The only downturn expected in 2013 is in investmentsin non-residential construction and machinery andequipment, a decline of 2.7 per cent, attributed to a$525 million decline in manufacturing.

(From the Ministry of the Economy’s Saskatchewan Monthly EconomicIndicators Report February 2013; Statistics Canada’s Private and PublicInvestment in Canada, Intentions 2013; and Statistics Canada’s Changes inthe Composition of Aggregate Investment.)

BY THE NUMBERS


workers, and now we have those oppor-tunities in our province, and can attractworkers from across Canada.”

CHANGING THE STORYOil and gas aren’t the only resource com-modities that will be playing a big role inthe coming years. With the release of the2013 budget, the Saskatchewan govern-ment changed industry royalties for ura-nium, which McMillan says will result inmore uranium developments.

Under the previous system, the gov-ernment estimated a cost for capital projects, which was sometimes 50 percent below actual costs. Companies werehesitant to start new developmentsknowing the cost could unfairly penalizethem. Now developers will be able todeduct the actual cost of their expenses.

“In northern Saskatchewan, the ura-nium industry is a fantastic employer,”said McMillan. “Over half the employeesare First Nations. The more opportuni-ties to bring new mines into production,the more opportunities for people to livein northern Saskatchewan... It’s good forall of us, and will be attracting peoplefrom across the country.”

The budget also saw more money goto highways, schools and other infra-structure, which creates more jobs inconstruction, another place where Kooksees a growing trend. As Saskatchewangrows in population, there’s more pressure for the construction industry to build new homes, with the added pressure of the number of new capitalprojects on the scene.

Another trend Kook is seeing is inrelation to the aging population in theprovince. He says eventually, one in fourSaskatchewan residents will be over theage of 65.

“There’s a very clear opportunity interms of providing long-term health careservice to Saskatchewan residents,” hesaid.

McMillan says a big part of bringingmore investment to Saskatchewan is get-ting the message out that the province isa stable environment for private business.

“We’ve seen a rapid growth in invest-ment in Saskatchewan over the last eightyears, roughly,” he said. “We are well overdouble where we were 10 years ago ininvestment dollars, and it reflects a cou-ple things: a great investment climate...

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David E White provides five principles that every organization can use to develop the attributes and

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and we’re in a position in a world that wants more energy andmore food, and we have the benefit of being very rich in boththose types of commodities.”

Randy Beattie, president and CEO of PFM Capital, says the increase in investments has been steady over several years,and has been in large part due to the province’s growth in avariety of sectors, as well as an increase in export activity.

“These exports are in traditional and non-traditional mar-kets,” he said. “Whether that’s wheat or potash, Saskatchewanhas the resources that the world needs, and that has a directimpact on the level of investment required in the province.”

Countries like China and Brazil are growing at a high rate,forcing them to import products to keep up with that pace,Beattie said. And while the same sort of growth isn’t seen inthe U.S., they’re still a strong trade partner.

PFM Capital is an employee-owned investment manage-ment firm that also focuses on financing small- to medium-sized businesses. “What we’ve done is help Saskatchewancompanies take advantage of the growth in the province andparticipate in that more than they could have if we hadn’t beenaround,” said Beattie.

INNOVATIVE STORYTELLINGKook says generating interest in Saskatchewan markets is allabout telling the right story. The world has become aware ofthe oil and gas industry in the province through increasedcommunication, and the same could happen for the innova-tion-based economy, which is already seeing growth.

“We talk about commodities a lot in Saskatchewan, but wehave the makings of a very good innovation cluster.”

He points to Innovation Place near the University ofSaskatchewan, and groups on campus such as the CanadianLight Source, and the Vaccine and Infectious DiseaseOrganization International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac).

One company gaining international attention isPhenomenome Discoveries, which discovered and patented ablood test for colorectal cancer, and is selling it across Canadaand in the U.S., with an eye on other international markets.

“There’s now a colorectal blood test available in NorthAmerica, founded and developed by a company in Saskatoon,”said Kook. “If that becomes more universally known, it grabsattention to what’s going on in Saskatchewan.”

He also mentions Solido Design Automation, whichdesigns analog chips that are used in tablets, gaming devices,and mobile phones around the world.

“As we get those stories out... it really begins to diversifyour economy,” he said, adding that such diversification couldhelp us weather any downturn in other commodity sectors.

Maintaining the current level of investment is an impor-tant part of the equation for the Saskatchewan economy.Beattie says he would be concerned if the economy growthrate outpaces that of industry’s ability to implement on a sustainable basis.

“The pace of growth is always something you have to bemindful of,” said Beattie. “Any time you grow too fast, stufffalls around the edges. A steady pace is good.”

He also points to the importance of having continued orincreased capital to meet the demands for small, medium, andlarge companies in the province because “not one singleinvestor can meet all needs.”

“The opportunity is there to grow, we just have to makesure we bring the capital to the table, and I think the more capital the better,” said Beattie.

Kook notes that while Canada overall will continue to bemodest in terms of economic growth in 2013, Saskatchewanitself is projected to continue to lead the economic growth,and he doesn’t see that changing. With low interest rates, stabilization in the U.S. economy, and continued exports toemerging economies, he’s optimistic about the province’s economic future.

“There are so many parts to keeping the economy going,from government policy to infrastructure to private invest-ment to small- and medium-sized growth in the economy,”said Kook. “It’s an ecosystem, and you need all pieces to beworking or it creates a bottleneck. That’s our trick: to makesure it’s sustainable.” n

Minister Tim McMillanMinister Tim McMillan Grant Kook Randy Beattie


FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTThe potential of China’s foreign direct investment inSaskatchewan could be one of the most significant elements ofthe relationship. Overall, FDI to Canada in 2011 amounted to$47 billion, with Saskatchewan receiving $823 million. But inrecent years, Saskatchewan is slipping in competitiveness ascompared with the rest of Canada in terms of FDI attraction.This is a direction the province should seek to reverse, espe-cially in light of opportunities for resource development. InJune 2012, the Conference Board produced a report that con-sidered the strategic drivers of Canada’s interest in China’s FDI.Fear the Dragon? Chinese Foreign Direct Investment in Canadaconcluded with recommendations on how Canadian foreigninvestment policy might facilitate greater investment flowsfrom China. Those considerations included:• clear economy interest and national security tests that are

competitive with other jurisdictions;

• negotiating to a middle ground that allows state-owned cap-ital investments while observing conditions that safeguardsecurity interests;

• continuing to engage Chinese companies so as to build“models” of Chinese investment that balance interests.

TRADE AND MARKET ACCESSJust like FDI, the value of Saskatchewan’s trade with China isno small deal either. In the past 10 years, exports to China haveincreased by 466 per cent, from $423 million in 2003 to $2.395billion in 2012. The Conference Board’s Global CommerceCentre published a briefing in December 2012 that acknowl-edges Canada has emerged from the era of having one single,giant trading partner next door, to an era of having two – andthat just like our trade relationship with the United States, wehave precious few policy levers to influence the course of trad-ing patterns. We need to manage them carefully. Walking the

EMBRACETHE DRAGONThe Conference Board of Canada has long explored the nature of the relationship betweenCanada and China. Recently, that relationship is being played out in Saskatchewan – Canada’s own “middle kingdom” and the unlikely debutante of the dance with China’s dragon.But what should be Saskatchewan’s stance? by Diana MacKay


Silk Road: Understanding Canada’s Trade Patterns states thattrade negotiations with China should be among our top for-eign trade priorities. Policies should focus on helping busi-nesses adapt to new competitive environments and developingstrategies to promote key areas of strength, rather than on poli-cies geared toward protection.

Immigration appears to be one factor that is having a markedinfluence on trade. A new report from the Conference Board,The Influence of Immigrants on Trade Diversification inSaskatchewan, found that the value of goods Saskatchewanimports and exports is proportional to the number of immi-grants residing in Saskatchewan from a particular country. As agreater number of Chinese immigrants settle in Saskatchewan,the province can reduce trade barriers by strategically puttingthe language abilities, knowledge and contacts of these new-comers to work. Paying attention to the tougher issues of mar-ket access is crucial, but the influence of immigrants can boostSaskatchewan’s competitiveness in international markets.

HUMAN CAPITAL FORMATIONWe must not forget that China plays a major role in Canada’sstock of the people who now, and in the future, will develop theskills, competencies, and knowledge that fuel our economic

engine and enable societal well-being. China is currently thesecond-largest source country of skilled immigrants to Canada.Further, Canada welcomes more international students fromChina than any other country – 21,814 in 2011. According tothe University of Saskatchewan, the number of graduate stu-dents from China has increased 22 percent since last year.Students, whether they stay in Canada or return home, repre-sent investments in human capital formation that have impor-tant impacts in both the short and long term.

Effective management of the circulation of people betweenour countries will build important bridges that support cre-ativity and innovation, cross-cultural competencies, sharedsecurity interests, among other factors that will, in turn, leadto integrated investments, increased market access, and mutu-ally rewarding trade relationships.

EMBRACING THE DRAGONSaskatchewan may not have been groomed for this dance withthe dragon. Nevertheless, a charming and nimble partnerSaskatchewan can be. And should the romance flourish, adeeper relationship is well advised. But take the age-old jokeabout a porcupine and substitute the dragon. How should onemake love with a dragon? Very, very carefully. n

Co-chairs• Karen Chad, Vice-President, Research,

University of Saskatchewan• Darcy Bear, Chief, Whitecap Dakota

First Nation

Keynote Speakers• Peter Bakker, President, World Business

Council for Sustainable Development• Paul J. Hill, Chairman, President

and Chief Executive Officer, The Hill Companies

• Wallace Fox, Chief, Onion Lake Cree Nation

Forum Themes for 2013• Managing the Relationship With China• Investing in Cities and Communities

Sessions include:• The economic forecast for Saskatchewan• Saskatchewan’s social outlook• Financing Saskatchewan’s growth• Saskatchewan’s China strategy• Saskatchewan’s leadership role for Canada• Doing business with China• Competitiveness and market access in

Saskatchewan’s resource sectors

Saskatchewan Forum 2013May 14–15, 2013 • Hotel Bessborough, Saskatoon

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

Register today. Space is limited! This event brings a broad range of key stakeholders together and facilitates a holistic view of the province.

For details on the Forum or to register, visit: www.conferenceboard.ca/conf

Or contact: Tracie Jones [email protected] 613-526-3090 ext. 286

www.conferenceboard.ca/conf

DRIVE›››››››››››››››››››››››››››››››


I first encountered the new Fusion design at Ford’s Power of Choice event showcasing the Focus’ and the Escape’s newdesigns. They had a Fusion prototype tucked away in a tent toshow off the new body style and I was absolutely floored withwhat they had done. I was always ready to be a fan of the previ-ous design, but felt like it had a little further to go in the realmof exterior design for me to become a full-blown fan. But whenI stood in front of the Aston Martin-inspired Ford I became thecheering section. Unfortunately, the exterior of a car doesn’trepresent the car as a whole. The small details in a vehicle tend to

be the deal-breaker and the 2013Fusion became a checklist of points forand against with the latter being theheavier category, but let’s start with thepositives. There are four basic models of the

Fusion available, which can be tailoredto specific needs and tastes. I was ableto drive the high-end Titanium modelthat comes with all the bells and whis-tles and the highest initial price pointat $33,999. The interior styling isextremely well done and has very mod-ern lines while achieving a high level ofcomfort. The back seating area isextremely spacious and even after mov-ing the front seats as far back as theywould go (which would accommodatea seven-foot man) there was still spacefor a child. The 10-way power driver’s seat would be ideal doingany long-distance driving and the two-way passenger seat wasjust as comfortable. Speaking of long-distance driving, the Fusion gets incredible

fuel economy for a vehicle of this size with 9.5L/100km in thecity and 6.3L/100km on the highway and there’s the option ofa hybrid engine. The Titanium also has a 6-speed automatic2.0L turbocharged EcoBoost engine, which gives it a consider-able amount of kick and it sounds really good when you putthe pedal to the metal. I really like the front end of the new Fusion with the stylish

front grille and the slanted headlights. If I were to buy any

model of the Fusion I would ask if I could get the 19” dark stain-less-painted H-spoke rims that come with the Titanium modelbecause they look amazing with the body design of the car.Now, as I mentioned, there are some things that bother me

about the Fusion. As a driver, you would know that a lot ofthings you do are highly intuitive, like adjusting temperature orchanging from defrost to fan. These operations are done with-out even looking away from the road, but in the Fusion, thecontrols located below the MyFord touch screen are on a flat

panel that requires the merest brush ofa finger to change. It was extremelyinconvenient to adjust the climate con-trol or even turn up the stereo volumeand there were multiple times where Ibrushed the source button and had tofigure out what I had done wrong.Vehicle compartments always tend

to get used. Under the SYNC system inthe Fusion, there is a compartment thatis virtually useless as the sides are openand most things would roll or slide out into the foot space of the driver or passenger. In order to get anything outof the door compartments you almosthave to undo your seatbelt to reach towhat seems like the backseat of the car.These may not seem like major flaws,but if it became a daily occurrence it would be frustrating and inconven-ient when a car is supposed to be the

ultimate convenience. Visibility is a tough thing to manage in a larger car and

the Fusion has a few blind spots, but overall, lines of sight arenot hindered. It was surprising that this car did not comeequipped with the Blind Spot Information System that shouldbe standard in a car this size.The asking price on the Fusion I test drove was $37,699. This

makes its competitors the high-end Honda Accord, HyundaiSonata and Toyota Camry (to name a few). Ford has been doinga lot of things right lately, but the little things in the Fusion wereenough for me to not be thrilled with this car… and I really didwant to like it.

FORD FUSION

Specifications:

2.0L Ti-VCT GTDI I-4 Ecoboost Engine240 horsepower @ 5,500

270 lb-ft torque @ 3,000 RPM

6-speed SelectShift automatic transmission with paddle shifters

All-wheel drive optional

Length: 4,871mmWidth: 1,852mmHeight: 1,478mm

Wheel Base: 2,850mm

Nathan Hursh

SaskBusiness Staff Writer

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40 Saskatchewan Business Magazine April/May 2013 business profile

By definition a chief executive or business owner has nopeer within his or her own organization. They are, after all,at the top of the pyramid in their respective businesses. This was eloquently defined by the colourful wartime U.S.President Harry Truman who, when he stated “the buckstops here,” was really declaring that the burden of makingthe ultimate or final decision lies with the leader alone. A lonely place indeed.

Thousands of business leaders have found their own answer to the question of leadership’s loneliness with apeer-based round table in centres across Canada. Here inSaskatchewan five groups – totalling nearly 60 CEOs andsenior executives – come together on a monthly basisthrough TEC’s (The Executive Committee)’s guidance. Supported by a seasoned local business figure who serves as the group’s chair, these business leaders find solace in the wisdom of the group.

Part of a global organization, TEC Canada and its counter-parts in other nations boast a total membership of nearly16,000 senior business leaders who share ideas, best practisesand their own experience to support the others at the table.

“The most interesting thing is communicating with peoplewho are trying to grow, thinking about real issues,” saysSaskatoon business founder and owner Barry Ghiglione, along-time TEC member who believes so strongly in itsprocess that others on his team have been or currently aremembers.

Over the years his family’s multi-faceted Handy Group of Companies has benefited deeply from the collective wisdom of Barry’s TEC group. Drawing on the experienceof fellow CEOs in Saskatoon, Ghiglione has found answersto troubling questions such as the direction the local marketplace is headed.

When Saskatoon and Saskatchewan’s rapid economic expansion brought new competition to town, he looked tohis TEC colleagues for advice; those who had already been through the topsy-turvy world of Big Box stores entering the marketplace to challenge longstanding locally-owned players.

“I just like being around people who want to learn,” says Ghiglione, a soft-spoken, thoughtful business ownerwidely recognized in Saskatoon for his contribution to the province’s commercial community. “And to listen tohow people make decisions. You get that at a real level in this group.”

People like Barry Ghiglione, thought leaders in their circlesof influence, are drawn to TEC because it delivers a world-class learning environment to their door. Sure, he could attend

To learn more from successful and experienced business professionals please visit the TECCanada website. The site features an extensive database of business-relevant articles, blogpostings, interviews, success stories and listings of current TEC events held across Canada.

W W W. T E C - C A N A DA . C O M I N F O @ T E C - C A N A DA . C O M

conferences in the Big Smoke –and often does, generally lookingto the World Economic Congressin NYC as another source of information to be used in decisionmaking – but TEC delivers internationally-recognized speakers and workshops to Barryand his fellow TEC members inSaskatoon each month.

Yet, while expert presenters deliver useful insights into newtrends or best practises, it is thelocal experts – his fellow TECmembers – that bring Barry backto the meetings month after month.

After all, they know what ishappening here, in his home town and local market. They, like him, get up each day to facethe challenges presented by theeconomy in Saskatchewan. It isnot hypothetical for them.

Each TEC group – whether comprised of CEOs (owner-operators and professional managers) or the next generationof Saskatchewan business leaders – has its own unique per-sonality. Limited to 15 or 16 executives, the group does notallow competitors or significant vendor-client relationshipsto assure a high level of trust and confidentiality; the key ingredients for information exchange at a deeper level.

Ghiglione calls it “rubbing shoulders with people of integrity,” individual business owners or managers who knowall too well the loneliness of the chief executive’s chair. Forhim, coming together with a group of like-minded individualsfacing similar challenges provides not only a level of comfortbut a potent shot of confidence that key decisions have beenvetted by independent third parties with no vested interest inthe process other than wanting to see him succeed.

And he will do the same for them when the time arises.For Ghiglione and his colleagues, TEC membership

provides a double-edged benefit. First, he and the othermembers have the equivalent of their own personal board of directors whose wisdom can be drawn upon to test a new idea or find a solution to a vexing problem. Second is the removal of the loneliness of leadership with each having a chair, their local group and, by extension, a globalcommunity of members with common experiences and awillingness to provide unvarnished guidance and advice.

IT USED TO BE LONELY AT THE TOP

“The most inter-esting thing is

communicatingwith people

who are trying to grow, thinkingabout real issues.”

– Barry Ghiglione

http://www.tec-canada.com


When you sit down to discuss a unanimous shareholder agree-ment (USA) with a certain corporate lawyer at our office, youare likely to hear “Just think about it. Do you really want to bein business with your business partner’s husband/wife?” Youwill probably answer no and your partners would likely answerthe same. One of the USA’s most important purposes is to protect businesses against potentially devastating future events.A shareholder’s marital breakdown is such an occurrence.

Marital breakdown provisions can protect a business as agoing concern by preventing former spouses from tying upassets and operations. Typical provisions specify that a share-holder’s divorce is an act of default under the USA, triggeringmechanisms for valuation and forced transfer of the shares orbusiness interest. The transition should be seamless.

Problems arise if you look at thisoption and think, “I don’t want the endof my marriage to be the end of my par-ticipation in the business,” or, “That busi-ness exists because of my blood, sweatand tears; I don’t want my spouse receiv-ing a penny.” Either response may requireyou to consider additional protection. Ifyou ask that corporate lawyer aboutadditional options, she will tell you aboutinterspousal contracts, which govern inthe event of marital breakdown, and yourability to include directions in your willto govern after death.

Is an interspousal contract really nec-essary if there is a USA? It can seem like overkill. The answermay very well be yes, however, and revising that will might bea good idea too.

One problem with relying solely on a USA is the question ofwhether “default in the event of marital breakdown” clauses areenforceable against the defaulting partner’s former spouse.Absent a pre-existing interspousal contract respecting businessinterests or shares, both become marital property. They aretherefore subject to the Family Property Act’s property divisionregimes once the parties reach common-law status or marry.This usually comes down to a calculation and division of value.However, if a former spouse were to challenge the forced trans-fer of a business interest in a USA on the grounds he/she is nota party to the USA, a court might take issue with its enforce-ability against the former spouse. Depending on the facts, a

judge could have room to decide the former spouse has theright to maintain an active interest in the business. The endresult could be the former spouse becoming a shareholder. Thisis theoretical at the moment and not settled law. If nothing else,though, it creates uncertainty and the potential to tie up assetsand/or operations pending determination.

Second, the purpose of the USA is to protect the business.While it can create an obligation to transfer share ownership, itdoes not address additional issues personal to the individualshareholder, such as whether the value of the interest is share-able under the family property regime and, if so, how it is to bedivided. An interspousal contract can specifically exclude thebusiness interest, including the increase in value over the courseof the marriage (which is ordinarily shareable). In addition, just

as the USA dictates timeframes and valu-ation mechanisms between shareholders,an interspousal contract can prescribetimeframes and the method of valuationbetween divorcing spouses. Much frus-tration can be eliminated when spousesagree in advance on reasonable methodsof valuation and division because after aseparation, shareability of the business,business valuation and the quality ofappraisals become common stickingpoints on the road to resolution.

Is there a downside to using inter-spousal contracts? Yes, especially forthose who are uncomfortable with the

concept of “prenups” altogether. Few people go into a romanticrelationship expecting it to end. They don’t want to look aheadto a future where the connection has broken down. There arealso those who feel just raising the issue of an interspousal agree-ment will have an impact on the relationship itself, perhapsimplying an absence of trust. Those can be real concerns.

The point is to be aware of the pros and cons. Be mindful ofinterspousal contracts, how they can help protect businessinterests and the risks if they are not used. There are additionalbenefits not discussed here but chief among them is the elimi-nation of uncertainty and the ability to plan in advance for thehigh conflict atmosphere of relationship breakdown.

Is one contract enough?Interspousal contracts can plug gaps in unanimous shareholder agreements

LawJan King

Lawyer, WMCZ Lawyers

Jan is a lawyer with WMCZ Lawyers in Saskatoon. Questions and comments on this article can be sent to her at [email protected]

Is an interspousal contract

really necessary if there is

a unanimous shareholder

agreement? The answer

may very well be yes.

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In the Jan/Feb Calibration column I wrote about how DianeCraig, CEO Ford Canada, advocated for the importance of a safeenvironment, stating that she “cannot fix a secret,” and thereforepeople must feel safe in admitting their mistakes. This month Iam going to write in a more technical format in an effort to revealthe theory and psychology behind Craig’s statements.

The basic construct of change theory (Kurt Lewin 1947, lastupdate 2011) can be distilled to three main stages: unfreeze,movement and refreeze. Lewin held the perspective that oppos-ing forces supported the stability of human behaviour: drivingand restraining. Restraining forces were eventually identifiedas the most important to uncover in creating change, as theyalso became resisting forces.

The unfreeze stage of Lewin’s change theory involves threekey components: disconfirmation (loss of hope in status quo),induction of survival anxiety (acceptance of the disconfirma-tion as valid) and creation of psychological safety (wherein peo-ple do not feel at risk). Without psychological safety, peoplebecome defensive and resist change.

Once an individual or organization (change target) has passedthrough the unfreeze stage, realizing their need for change, theymust proceed into the movement stage. This is also a difficultstage, as people must wrestle with thoughts, processes, feelings,values, beliefs, and attitudes in learning something new. Thisstage is also known as cognitive redefinition, or as some current researchers call it, reframing. Reframing involves newunderstanding of language and interpretation, the expansion ofknowledge and the introduction of new (or calibration of exist-ing) measures.

Refreezing is the stage that surrenders the change target backto the stability of opposing forces of driving and restraining. Arefreeze of the change target, in the newly-changed state, isimportant for sustainability of the change. Having stated thatthe change target must refreeze, it is important to note that forany person or organization to function optimally, they must becapable of ongoing adaptation. This implies that the changeprocess cycles as often as needed to adapt.

Learning anxiety seems to be one of the most problematicareas that Lewin’s theory of change incurs. Edgar Schein sug-gests that this learning anxiety is a “…painful unlearning,”(Schein 1996) which threatens the identity of the change targetthrough loss of felt competence. This is somewhat akin to a per-sonal disintegration.

Schein further suggests that this stage can and must beaccomplished “without loss of ego identity [through] difficultrelearning as one cognitively [attempts] to restructure one’sthoughts, perceptions, feelings, and attitudes.” (Schein 1996)

Having said this, I note that Schein also states that, “…allforms of learning and change start with some form of dissatis-faction or frustration generated by data that disconfirm ourexpectations or hopes.” (Schein 1996)

There is no change without disconfirmation. Painful or oth-erwise, it must be incurred. To unfreeze, with any hope ofachieving real change, we must experience what Schein callssurvival anxiety. We must connect disconfirming informationthat we receive to something we care about. This then becomesthe impetus for change. However, while connecting disconfir-mation to something we care about may create an appetite forchange, it can also serve to heighten anxiety!

A significant component necessary to successfully navigatewithin Lewin’s change theory is psychological safety. This is thestate wherein the change target does not feel at risk and is therebyenabled to accommodate new learning. Given that Lewinbelieved strongly that “involvement and commitment are inex-tricably linked,” (Schein 1996) the bond of trust between thechange agent and the change target is of critical importance.

Leadership engagement and modeling appear to be criticalthroughout the three stages, for “…when organizational changewas driven by the highest levels of the organization, necessaryconditions such as…trusting environment, were created…”(Bezzubetz 2009)

Leadership must provide the vision for the benefit thatchange will bring. “The essential leadership task [is]…to figureout how to engage [change target] in a way that makes thedesired outcome important enough to each member to want toparticipate actively in an effort to make it happen.” (Levasseur2009)

Several of the articles researched here alluded to the inter-play of personal values; therefore, a values-based leadershipperspective could be very impactful in achieving change.Values-based leadership practitioners and researchers advocatethat entropy (interchangeable with the impacts of a lack of psy-chological safety and vision) is reduced as people are engagedwith respect to their values.

Okay, so that was the technical speak. The point of writingthis is to quantify the leadership position that Diane Craig isspeaking to in her simple language of, “I cannot fix a secret.”

Ford Motor Company’s expected behaviours of “own work-ing together” and “emotional resilience” stand as brilliance inproviding the psychological safety necessary for adaptation andchange.

Change theory and practiceA technical view on navigating change

CalibrationDavid E. White

Consultant, Synergy Solutions Group

David E. White is a consultant with Synergy Solutions Group. Questions and comments can be directed to him at [email protected].


Most people associate doing good solely with charitable initia-tives. But I would argue that we shouldn’t be so quick to separatethe good that is generated by a successful business with the goodthat is generated by effective philanthropy. In my mind, the twoare undeniably linked. This win-win scenario allows strong busi-nesses to grow even stronger, and give back exponentially more.

One of my life goals is to encourage a redefinition of whatchanging the world really means. In my career, I have participatedin financing some three to four hundred startups. A few havefailed brilliantly – while others have succeeded equally well. Thosestartups – and the thousands like them around the country – aremaking a tremendous impact on the lives of the people who workfor them – and the communities in which they operate.

So when I talk to students or academics or any other audience about opportunities for doing good, I tell them thereare three topics or lessons anyone can study to maximize his orher impact on and in the world. To me, a direct line to doinggood involves three core competencies. Iencourage everyone to study them –and keep studying them throughouttheir lives.

First, no matter the calling, I believeevery single student needs to understandmarketing. Whether you’re a dentist, ateacher or an employee in a miningcompany, you need to market yourselfand your ideas. Being able to make yourcase – whether to an internal fundingcommittee or the market at large – isessential. Maybe you can build the nextgreat invention, but if you can’t sell it, you don’t have a busi-ness. Students who leave school without understanding mar-keting have a gap in learning – and we need to close that gap atevery level – from our K to 12 school system, to our tradeschools, institutes and universities.

The second is the study of entrepreneurship. Students at everystage are finding ways to connect their knowledge and passionwith what the world needs. Academics normally link entrepre-neurial studies with business schools, but the entrepreneurialprocess is relevant everywhere. The mandate for the WilsonCentre for Entrepreneurial Excellence at the University ofSaskatchewan is to inspire innovation and entrepreneurialthinking in all colleges at the U of S. Nursing and fine arts andengineering students – as well as those from every other col-lege – are encouraged to find ways to connect their learningwith entrepreneurial opportunities. With a little inspiration, an

art historian could become one of the next great gallery own-ers. I’m proud to say the WCEE has become a significant inno-vation incubator – connecting students and business leaderswith investment opportunities focused on Western Canada.These new ventures are part of the economic engine of ourregion, and each one is, in its own way, contributing good backto the larger community. One of the more recent initiatives ofthe Centre – together with CBC – is Boom Box, a programwhere young aboriginal entrepreneurs get to pitch their ideasand be mentored by other entrepreneurs.

Finally, I also believe everyone should study philanthropy.Thefirst thing we need students to understand is that investing incommunity is not an expense, but an investment. Schools anduniversities can be part of the process of changing that percep-tion. By making philanthropy part of a core curriculum, we’reable to expand the conversation to every student.

I strongly believe the celebration and study of these subjectscan be done in an age-appropriate wayat every step along the way in grades 3, 6,9 and 12 – and should be core curricu-lum in every educational institution. Thefirst group of students to graduate withthese three subjects – entrepreneurship,philanthropy, and marketing – will be adramatically different calibre of student.Until everyone speaks the same vernac-ular we’re not going to change the qual-ity of student we produce. Until it’stagged core curriculum, it’s just anotherinteresting elective class.

These core subjects feed students as leaders. And if we’regoing to drive innovation and productivity, it’s as important tofill the bus with leaders as it is to have leaders driving the bus.As University of Calgary President Elizabeth Cannon elo-quently stated during our discussion on the subject, “We needto develop our students as whole people – being able to workacross disciplines and across sectors – that’s how we are goingto make great citizens.”

I couldn’t agree more. I can even see combining these threesubjects into a single mandatory class called “Changing theWorld.” After all, when you’re doing good – whether throughmarketing, entrepreneurship, or philanthropy – you are, in fact,changing the world.

Redefining goodA lifelong exercise in learning

PhilanthropyW. Brett Wilson

Entrepreneur/Philanthropist

There are three topics

or lessons anyone can study

to maximize his or her impact

on and in the world.

W. Brett Wilson, a native of Saskatchewan, is Chairman of Canoe Financial and Prairie MerchantCorporation. His new book, Redefining Success, is available through Penguin Books. Connect: @WBrettWilson.


It’s not news that economic power is growing in Asia. But itmight surprise you to learn that some of the world’s most suc-cessful companies are scrambling to compete for the buyingpower of consumers with an annual per capita income ofbetween US $1,000 and $4,000.

Why? Because these are people who are in the process ofmaking the transition from a state of hav-ing no disposable income – when, forexample, a can of condensed milk is con-sidered luxurious enough to offer as a gift– to gradually being able to afford a com-fortable life. They are moving towards alifestyle – typically referred to as middleclass – characterized by stable housing,health care, educational opportunities, theability to afford entertainment and familyvacations, etc. During this transition, theyare creating a rapidly growing demand formany products and services: householdgoods (i.e., refrigerators), health careproducts and services, transportation,packaged food and drinks, mobile phonesand online services.

This group of people are part of aglobal emerging middle class (GEM) andthe numbers are huge, as is their combined buying power. By 2025, for the first time in history, more people will bemiddle class than poor and they will account for $30 trillion– nearly half – of global spending (source: McKinsey GlobalInstitute). In 2009, 1.8 billion people comprised the global mid-dle class (525 million were in Asia), and numbers are projectedto rise to 3.2 billion by 2020 and 4.9 billion by 2030 (source:OECD). This growth will largely be in the developing world; by2030, Asia will represent 66 per cent of the global middle classpopulation and 59 per cent of middle class consumption.

On a humanitarian level, this is great news. As an investor,you should also pay attention. Many investors find themselvesand the local media asking if North America and Europe cansustain its growth. These statistics tell us that we do not have toworry about sustained western world growth. We need onlylook to the emergence of the middle class in China and India tosee the future of consumer growth. The rising demand for awide range of products and services in the developing world ishappening at the same time as investors are worried aboutfuture growth – at home.

Historically, the middle class has supported democratic gov-erning structures, capitalism and trade between countries. Ona personal level, their values emphasize education, hard workand thrift. As consumers, they have been an engine of eco-nomic growth as they demand an ever higher quality of life andmore opportunities for themselves and their children.

To achieve a successful investment experience, an investorneed only to recognize that capitalism works. Investors can winby accepting that capitalism provides a positive expected returnon capital. As a provider of capital, you can expect to have apositive outcome.

It is not a simple matter to predict which corporations arelikely to meet the challenges involved in marketing their prod-ucts and services to the global middle class, or which countrieswill be able to sustain the growth of this class. Therefore, in anincreasingly complex and counter-intuitive global financialmarket, access to data-driven research and a scientific approachto investing are crucial to investment success.

Financial PlanningRETHINK THE WAy yOu INVEST

Daryn Form is a Senior Financial Advisor with Assante Capital Management Ltd. providing wealthmanagement services to principals of family-owned and privately held companies. The informa-tion mentioned in this article is for general information only. Please contact him to discuss yourparticular circumstances prior to acting on the information above. Assante Capital ManagementLtd. is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund and is registered with the InvestmentIndustry Regulatory Organization of Canada.

Daryn G. Form

Senior Financial Advisor, Assante Capital Management Ltd.

Emerging middle classesWhy you need to pay attention to global emerging markets


The headlines generated by the Occupy Movement last year(yeah, where are they today?) were sensational, full of the vit-riol journalism school teaches – afflict the comfortable, rakemuck and so on – but like most vitriol had little staying power.Where are those indignant one-per-cent protesters today?

The answer is that their day has passed. It was one of thoseflash-in-the-pan things that sounds good in a five-secondsound bit but really hasn’t a foundation. Nonetheless, the issuestill pops up now and again. A case in point is StatsCan’s forayinto assessing the one per cent factor in Canada which cameout late last year.

The reason for the delayed arrival is simple: it takes time tosort through the data. And while the federal agency may wellhave started its inquiry last year when Occupy Everyplace wasin its heyday, it didn’t get the information together until muchlater.

The figures contained in the report may not be particularlyinsightful, but they are interesting. Onthe income scale, Saskatchewan’s top oneper cent bring in more than $175,000annually. In other words, 7,670 people –one per cent of the 767,000 tax filers inthe province – achieved this incomethreshold. That puts us roughly in themiddle of the pack nationally. In fact, ifyou look at Saskatchewan as part of thenational one per cent, 2,000 fewerSaskatchewan residents would qualify.

Interestingly, that one per cent (7,670)was responsible for paying nearly 17 per cent of the income taxes– both federal and provincial – generated in this province. To putit another way, one per cent paid 17 per cent, leaving the remain-ing 99 per cent to pony up 83 per cent of the public treasury’stake. However, this may actually be understated.

There is no way to track sales tax payers but it is reasonableto assume that higher income earners would spend more sincethey have more money in their pockets and would likelyaccount for a higher percentage of PST and GST on everythingfrom new cars to manicures.

The moral of the story is that if you want a full public treas-ury, you need high income earners because they dispropor-tionately contribute.

AttitudeThe point here is not Haves versus Have Nots or We againstThem, it is the way the story was and continues to be portrayed.Implicit in the coverage of the Occupy Movement is that there

is something wrong with being successful or with achievement.And no place has a more in-depth understanding of the deep-seated problems with an anti-success bias than Saskatchewan.

Sure, it is nice – easy in fact – to moan that the guy next doorhas it better, that they do better. But never is it taken intoaccount that the neighbour might actually have done some-thing to achieve success. Perhaps they went to school longer.Maybe they studied harder, stayed home to cram while class-mates did the pizza and beer thing.

Perhaps they are simply better. Like athletes – some are better than others. Could it be a natural gift, good genes or simply a willingness to practice harder?

Nowhere does that show up in the Occupy literature. Theysimply assume all should be equal in terms of wealth withoutregard for ability, merit, effort, research or intelligence.

This is where Saskatchewan and Occupy go separate ways.For decades we subscribed to the Occupy theory: that the

strong should be made weaker, thatthose among us who were successfulwere somehow the problem becausethey had a bigger piece of the pie which,by extension, means my piece is smaller.

So rather than think about making abigger pie, we vilified those among uswho were perceived to get more thantheir fair share.

And how did that work for us?For 25 years, yes a quarter of a cen-

tury, Saskatchewan exported its best andbrightest to Alberta where – strangely – the pie was growing.Ironically, once we got our heads around the fact that successand those among us who were achievers were to be encouraged,not vilified, Saskatchewan reversed course and entered agrowth era.

Occupy was last year’s event in North America and it mayhave been a one-day wonder for most of the continent but itwas a way of life in Saskatchewan. Thankfully we have learnedfrom that bad experience, have rethought our views on achieve-ment and today have embraced everything Occupy isn’t. Andno one paid a higher price for that lesson than this province.

Consider the cost of yielding to the temptation to blamesomeone else for your lot in life as tuition for a class we won’ttake again.

Celebrating the one per centOnce again Saskatchewan is a step ahead

The Back PagePaul Martin

Associate Editor

If you want a full public

treasury, you need high

income earners because they

disproportionately contribute.

Paul Martin is heard daily on News Talk 650 and News Talk 980 as well as on the radio stations ofthe Golden West Broadcasting network in Saskatchewan.

www.theworkingbank.ca

www.sasktel.com

saskbusiness magazine april/may 2013

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