 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. June 5, 2013 If you haven’t seen the Mayor around town that’s because he left town – spending a couple of days in Germany on city business. That should bring howls from those that think the politicians do nothing but spend public money and provide little in return. They do that in Toronto.
 Mayor rick Goldring delivered an address on water to an organization that develops strategies on how to better manage water around the world. Burlington with its abundance of water will provide a significantly different perspective. Mayor Rick Goldring and Kyle Benham, Executive Director of the Burlington Economic Development Corporation, have been hopping across Germany and dropping into Berlin, Munich and Frankfort.
The Mayor was invited to give an address to the German Water Partnership (GWP); a central coordination and contact office of the German water sector serving foreign partners and clients.
 Kyle Benham, Executive Director of the Economic Development Corporation joined the Mayor on a three day trip to Germany to develop interest in Burlington as a Canadian base for German companies in the water business. Burlington realized that it has a cluster of some 60 organizations that are involved in the water business and that the Canada Centre for Inland Waters was a leading research institute on water. The thinking was that there might be some synergies that could result in some much needed economic development.
While we in Ontario seldom think about water as a commodity or a problem other parts of the world are not nearly as fortunate. Water is a very serious problem in large parts of Africa and the Middle East. Wars are fought over water.
The GWP is involved in water projects in Palestine, Jordan and Beirut, Lebanon. They put together the umbrella organisation that is now the Arab Countries Water Utilities Association.
The GWP is seen as the leading organizational group focused on water. They wanted a Canadian perspective and Mayor Goldrring was invited to speak and while there visit with organizations that might look on Burlington as a place to grow their North American operations.
This can be pretty heady stuff – something different for the Mayor who often finds himself bogged down in small local problems.
Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd., a major multi-national in the prescription drug field with a focus on products for the veterinary market has an operation on the South Service Road. While in Germany the Mayor will be meeting with some of the head office people.
 Centre for Inland Waters, a federal facility that may have the potential to spearhead some economic development. Burlington is home to Canada Centre for Inland Waters where the National Laboratory for Environmental Testing, , a fully accredited environmental analysis capability for a wide range of organic and inorganic chemicals, including a specialization in low level metals and the analysis of organic contaminants.
In addition to laboratory research, work carried out at the National Laboratory for Environmental Testing involves engineering and technical operations, such as the planning and management of field sampling programs.
This is all pretty technical stuff but a vital part of the water business and something Burlington just might manage to build into something that could become an industrial and commercial focus for the city and perhaps put some of the “economic development” land we have for sale to use.
The decision to make the trip to Germany came out of the realization that Burlington has a number of companies that are in the water business. About 60 actually. Economic development types call that a cluster – and clusters are very good for economic growth.
Burlington’s economic development corporation is in the middle of a re-development of its own – moving away from putting on events, retaining the companies that are doing business in Burlington and looking for newer opportunities for the city.
The change in focus bumped into a stunning surprise when the city realized that the income from Industrial, Commercial and Institutional (ICI) tax sources was going to be a negative number for 2013 – less than it was for 2012. That was not a good sign for a city that has reached the build out point in terms of large new housing developments. There is the Eagles Heights development in the north east and the Tremaine Road/Dundas development on the drawing boards and after that it is all infill.
Burlington does have a lot of land that is defined as “employment lands” but very little of that is shovel ready which in the minds of the economic development people means they can begin to build in a short period of time. Some of the developers are not all that keen on seeing land used for ICI type construction when, in their minds, they can build houses which provide a significantly larger financial return.
These conflicting interests put Burlington in an awkward financial spot – we have the land for new business; the developers don’t want ICI type construction; the city faces a situation where the money needed to run the city for an aging population isn’t what it used to be; that population will need more in the way of services and the city faces a massive expense to repair the infrastructure. The cost of getting our roads up to snuff is reported to be $18 – annually.
 Pasquale (Pat) Paletta will be inducted as 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year Thursday evening at the Burlington Convention Centre Given that kind of a scenario a Mayor might be forgiven for wanting to go to Germany and staying there. Our Mayor is hoping that his trip to Germany will interest companies over there into coming here – and using some of that “economic development” land we have for sale.
International Harvester is in the process of getting ready to move out of the Harvester Road and Guelph Line property. Emshie Developments either has it on the market or is looking for an opportunity to get a new client into what is really industrial space on the corner of two of the busier streets in the city. There is perhaps a better use for that land.
It will be interesting to hear what the Mayor has to say when he returns. He will land in Toronto on Thursday and head directly to the Economic Development Corporation dinner to celebrate Pat Paletta, founder of the company that is the largest holder of economic development land in the city.
Pasquale (Pat) Paletta will be inducted as 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year. Mr. Paletta is the founder of what is known today as Paletta International Corporation. He started the company in 1964 with a 10,000 sq.ft meat packing plant, today the facility is over 200,000 sq.ft. They export to over 17 countries worldwide, in addition have developed 1000s of residential units, constructed over 500,000 sq.ft of buildings, developed 100s of acres of property for retail and employment, farm thousands of acres, and expanded in to film, media and entertainment. Burlington has always been home for the Paletta Corporation.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON June 5, 2013. There is at least some movement on the space rental situation at the Regus operation on Brant Street where tenants were advised the operation was going to be shut down at the end of August.
Grant Greenberg, a spokesperson for Regus advised that the tenants were given 90 days’ notice and that Regus was actively looking at two possible locations for a new operation in Burlington. Greenberg said they were looking at two buildings where they hope to be able to rent a full floor.
Many suspect that information – and wonder where these buildings are with a whole floor of space available for rental. There is some space that will come on-line in a couple of years – but no one we talked to could name a building with that much space suitable to the kind of operation Regus runs.
James Burchill, the éminence grise that hosts the Business in Burlington Meet Up at The Ivy on South Service Road once a month will be setting aside some time on Wednesday evening to allow Jackie Isada, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff and Ian Cameron who is with the Economic Development office in Burlington to update the community on what has taken place so far.
Regus advises that they will have a representative on hand. Barry Weinghell will apparently be able to speak for Regus. The Meet Up at The Ivy starts at 5 pm runs till 7pm.
Greenberg said Burlington is a strong market for Regus and they would like to remain in the community. He did admit that there might have been some miscommunication from the Regus operations manager. For a short period of time no one was able to get through to a woman named Charlotte who was understood to be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Regus office on Brant Street.
Marie Copeland (Hryczynski), a mortgage broker, has been part of the discussion around what tenants can do, said in a communication that she was informed from one of the more established tenants at Regus, an accountant, that there may have been some financial mismanagement and as a result the landlord is not renewing the lease. “I don’t know but there may be other issues surfacing from this”.
The property, owned by Upper Canada, has experienced some difficulties recently when the movie theatre decided to go out of business. The building also recently underwent a major re-construction of the front entrance area.
The Regional Police have a small office in the building. There has been a solid, well established base of tenants in the building which many people find very convenient with a city parking lot at the rear of the building that is well-lit and maintained.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON. ON. June 4, 2013. Boy there is really something wrong with parts of the corporate world.
Regus, the office services operation on Brant Street decides to give up the Burlington operation and advises their tenants that the doors will close at the end of August.
 James Burchill has succeeded in pulling together more than 1000 entrepreneurs and smaller business operators who meet monthly. The Mayor’s Chief of Staff will be talking to his group about what appears to be an office space problem for this sector. These things happen.
Most of the tenants are small operations requiring a couple of hundred square feet – but with enough of them you have a viable business.
Regus has operation around the world so you think they would know how to shut down an operation with a minimum of damage to both their clients and their corporate image.
Afraid not. The Mayor’s office begins making calls trying to help. Their phone calls to Regus don’t get returned but they did answer some email. (Isn’t it amazing how scummy companies hide behind their email addresses?)
Both the Economic Development office and the Mayor’s office ask if they can get a list of the tenants and let them know what they are trying to do.
Regus fails to co-operate. OK – so there might be a privacy issue – but Regus, as a sound corporate operation could have offered to forward a message from the Mayor’s office.
 Nice furniture – lousy service. Nope – they don’t do business that way. Remember that if you find yourself looking for an office somewhere.
The Mayor’s Chief of Staff will be attending the Business in Burlington Meet up Wednesday evening (5 to 7 at The Ivy on south Service Road) to give a quick update on what they are trying to do.
Small space opportunities are at a bit of a premium in Burlington – especially in the Downtown core, which is where a lot of the smaller entrepreneurial types like to be. Opportunity here for someone.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. June 1, 2013. It started when Stuart Crawford told colleagues on the Business in Burlington web site that he was going to have to vacate the office space he had because Regus was shutting down their operation in August. That was a bummer and Crawford wasn’t the only person in this situation.
 ert James Burchill, the guy that runs the Business in Burlington (BiB) MeetUp group, has maintained that the best way we have of communicating really effectively is to use the social media that is available to us.
Here is how this has worked this time.
Crawford puts up his note. We at Our Burlington put in a call to Ian Cameron at the Economic Development Corporation who gets in touch with Crawford.
Others from the BiB site plug into the conversation.
Here is how part of it went:
Hi Everyone…The Regus office at 460 Brant Street is shutting down leaving many businesses without a business home at the end of August. We are looking for a new home for our IT marketing business. We need a small office for our 2 team members to work advises Crawford
Barb Keck, who runs a graphics operation in Burlington passes along a recommendation (Try https://www.ceoburlington.com/) for Crawford to follow-up.
Jose L. Ponce adds that the closest Regus will be Glen Abbey (Oakville). “Yesterday, I did receive an email with an interesting idea on co-working space for entrepreneurs / small business. I know it is not an immediate solution but I think it’s something that can be developed over time since I am sure there is demand for shared/flexible open spaces.”
Jason Calacanis comes back with: I started a co-working space in LA and passes along some detail.
“It was a co-working space in Los Angeles. Being an entrepreneur is sometimes lonely work, and having a bunch of founders around you makes it a lot easier. We’re calling it LAUNCH co-work, and it’s a 10,000+ square-foot, 30-foot ceiling space in Culver City with room for a dozen start-ups.
“We’re looking for awesome collaborators to learn, share and generally change the world with. I might angel invest in some of the start-ups, have them on “This Week in Startups” or just talk shop in the kitchen.
Rent starts at $50 a desk/month (unfunded) and tops out at $350 (funded). We’re not making a profit, we’re making a community!”
 The Regus operation on the top floor of 460 Brant is shutting down in August. The space recently had a major face lift done to the front of the building. The movie theatre on the ground floor went out of business recently – they didn’t want to invest in an upgrade to their projection equipment. Interesting idea but the tenants at Regus need to nail down new space now
Marie Copeland (Hryczynski) comes on-line and adds that she too is at Regus in Burlington and “only needs very small space, even shared space as we are fully paperless and don’t even have a filing cabinet – most of our clients want to deal by phone and only occasional client wants to come to the office.”
She adds that she has a commercial realtor looking — how about we survey some people at Regus to see if we can get several businesses together and create a shared office. Contact her if you’re interested: 905-308-8063
None of this could have taken place without the BiB site. That crowd meets on Wednesday June 5th – at Ivy’s on the South Service Road; might be an opportunity for some ideas to get some traction.
 The people that run the smaller, usually techie type operations but a number of service providers as well, meet monthly in the city. Business in Burlington now has a number of its members having to look for new space with the announced closure of the Regus operation on Brant Street. What was a little on the disappointing side was that Regus didn’t appear to be doing much for their clients other than trying to get them to perhaps move to their Oakville location and the Economic Development people didn’t appear to be moving quickly to resolve the problem. For the people with small office space needs – having to find a new home in a couple of months is disruptive and it will be expensive. Moving your computers and all your communications gear is not cheap.
Burlington’s Mayor Goldring wants to meet with the tenants and see what the city can do to help. He leaves for a short trip to Germany next week, where he will be meeting with people in the water business. More on that later. His Chief of Staff will be making calls and pulling people together.
The Mayor will be traveling with the Executive Director of the Economic Development Corporation – perhaps they can have a chat about how one services the smaller operations.
The small operations are the base metal of every economy. They provide services or vital parts that the bigger guys need. It is at this small, two, three five member shops that make the big wheels turn around. The Mayor would do well to connect with these people and find a way to keep them in town.
Quite why Economic development has not taken the lead on this is – disappointing.
Let’s see what comes out of this.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. May 31, 2013 The Regus Serviced Office in Burlington on Brant street is s shutting down requiring a number of small companies to find new space – which is apparently at a premium in the city.
Scott Crawford of Ulistic, a an IT support company announced on the Burlington in Business web site that the “Regus office at 460 Brant Street is shutting down leaving many businesses without a business home at the end of August. We are looking for a new home for our IT marketing business. We need a small office for our 2 team members to work.”
“We may have to take space in Oakville – even though I live in Burlington”, said Crawford
Crawford can be reached at 416.840.9106 ext 101 if you have any leads of a new home for hid business.
Ian Cameron, with the Burlington Economic Development Corporation has been in touch with Regus management and started the process of finding new space for their tenants.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. May 31, 2013 – The city’s community services committee approved a staff recommendation to name the new recreation centre in the Alton community the Haber Recreation Centre.
Through a contract agreement, Burlington law firm Haber and Associates would give the city more than $1.3 million over 20 years for the naming rights. The name would become official following the signing of an agreement between the city and Haber if approved at the June 10 council meeting.
 Haber and Associates have been aggressive advertisers using the space on city buses for public exposure. Haber and Associates focus on wrongful death and personal injury law and advertise themselves as a full service law firm with nine lawyers as part of the 30 member firm. They have done business in Burlington for more than 40 years.
The new recreation centre is part of the city’s largest community construction project made possible through a unique, three-way partnership between the City of Burlington, Halton District School Board and Burlington Public Library. With construction on the project 85 per cent complete, the facility is on time to open in September 2013.
The staff report recommends the sponsorship money go into a newly-created reserve fund, which contributes to capital repair and renewals of the recreation facility.
The high school part of the complex that is to include the recreation centre and a library is to be named after Frank Hayden, founder of the Special Olympics.
The complex will become a little like the McMaster School of Business on the South Service Road where the DeGroote` s have their name on one part of the building and Ron Joyce has his name on another part.
Our buildings are beginning to look like those uniforms racing car drivers wear.
But the money is good – let`s just hope the signage is dignified and done with some taste.
The city brought in a consulting firm to guide them and determine what the market would bear in terms of setting a price and determining what wold be acceptable to the community.
The consultants did point out that Burlington missed out on a larger opportunity for sponsorship by not having some kind of policy co-ordination between the three organizations that are part of the complex.
The level of co-operation on the overseeing of the construction of the project has not been the smoothest. The Board of Education took the lead on this one and – let`s just say things the city wanted to do didn’t get done – Board of Education said no.
Prior to these small recent incidents the project has gone particularly well. The project is on target for a September opening, which is going to make a huge difference to the Alton community.
Facility gymnasium space has been offered to the user groups with approximately 90% of weekday evenings (up to 11:00 pm) and weekends booked for Fall 2013 – Spring 2014. Of that time, 68% is allocated to youth and 32% to adult play. Primary sports targets of basket ball, volleyball, badminton and disabled sports have been met with rentals. Tournament play consists of 900 hrs booked to date including large events with the focus on disabled sports, volleyball, basketball and kickboxing.
Community rooms will be booked for on – going programs Monday to Friday with current interest from a variety of service providers (i.e.Montessori program, yoga, fitness and educational services).
Weekend use will primarily connect to tournament use. Further marketing initiatives are planned to target rentals for the community rooms to maximize utilization.
With the support and direction of the consultant hired, staff developed a sponsorship strategy which included:
An estimated annual value the city may obtain for the naming rights of each component of the facility:
Name of the recreation centre
Name of the gyms (4 in total)
Name of the Multi-purpose room
Name of the Sports room
Name of the Sports Square
No stones left unturned by this approach.
Sixty to seventy thousand a year for the facility, Haber and Associates will get this if Council approves it on the 10th of June. Haber has agreed to $68,000 a year for the next twenty years.
$15,000 – “20,000 to name a gymnasium – there are four of those.
Getting your name on the multipurpose room will cost you $12,000 to $15,000 a year and the Sports Square will cost you between $15,000 and $17,000.
 What the city doesn’t want is buildings plastered with corporate decals and looking like the uniforms racing car drivers wear. Staff within Parks and Recreation feels that broadening the Naming Rights project is important to help the City find new revenue sources to support future capital repair and
renewal requirements. The City has a large number of assets from facilities to parks to roads etc. that have the potential to generate additional revenue, through the sale of
naming rights. However to ensure a successful naming sponsorship outcome, time and resources will be required.
If Council is interested in pursuing the sale of naming rights across the City, the assignment of this project, to a corporate department, through the direction of the General Manager of Community and Corporate Services, would be essential. The lead corporate department would determine the need for internal and external resources.
At a different city council meeting there was discussion on the number of personal injury legal claims the city is facing; several are in the more than a million range with at least one having to do with an injury that is reported to have taken place on a bus.
Municipalities are well insured and are seen as solid financial targets for those seeking damages.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. April 22, 2013. Five very smart people gathered in the Community WHAT at the Burlington Performing Art Centre last week to talk about the city’s Community Energy Plan. They met in a Workshop setting – and while energy is vital – it isn’t the most exciting thing to sit in a dark room and look at power point presentations for a couple of hours.
That time proved to be very well, actually exceptionally well spent.
 Here is where the energy we use comes from.  Here is how that energy is used. We learned how the city has mapped the way energy in the city is used. We learned how critical energy use is to attracting new business to the city. We learned how stakeholders in the city look at the way energy is used. We learned what and how Burlington Hydro can be a leader in the creation of a more energy-efficient city.
 These graphs show electricity use in the province and the way we use electricity in Burlington.  Compare our use of natural gas with electricity> How do we heat our homes? How do we heat our office buildings? Remember when Hydro had programs for us on how to convert to electricity? They would pay you to tear out those radiators and put in electric baseboard heaters and more insulation in the attic. Turned out that wasn’t such a good idea and now Burlington has more than 4500 homes heated electrically and we are looking for ways to convert those homes to something more economical. Who knew?
Natural gas is now the energy use of choice. There is now far more natural gas than we need – so much that we now liquefy the stuff and send it off to places that need the energy. The Americans have convinced themselves that they have so much natural gas that they will be energy sufficient soon and not need as much of that Saudi Arabian oil. That the Americans are fracturing to get much of that natural gas is another matter.
 The graph on the left sets out the housing stock we have and when it was built. On the right the graph sets out the different square footage of the housing stock we have. A large house built at a time when energy was cheap is an expensive building to heat in today’s markets. The kind of energy you use and the amount you use is determined in large measure by when your house was built and how many square feet of space you have.
Katelyn Margerm, a researcher with the Canadian Urban Institute, explained how she took data from multiple sources and mashed it all together to tell the story of how people in Burlington use energy.
 Spend some time comparing the electricity consumption map with the gas consumption map. where do you fit in this picture? Spend a few minutes looking at the data she collected. Where do you fit into the pattern of energy use? What are the options for you? Are the options you have similar to the options the city has? Are the city’s options important to you?
 Natural gas consumption is significantly different than the consumption of electricity. Given that the supply of natural gas is very high right now and will remain that way for at least ten more years one would think this is the route to go. Is it? More questions than answers at this point – but the answers Burlington comes up with are critical to how financially healthy this city is – and if it isn’t financially healthy – guess who is going to pick up the shortfall?
Nearly half of housing units in Burlington were built before 1980. More than half of units are between 1,500 and 2,500 sf
This work helps form a baseline which can be used to establish community energy targets and timelines. Industrial, commercial and institutional location mapping allows planners and economic development people to explore future development scenarios and to help identify opportunities for conservation and retrofit and think through land use policy (infill, zoning).
One of the next step is to overlay the information now in hand with demographic information and consumer attitudes using the Environics Analytic s information to design retrofit and conservation programs.
If you didn’t think energy efficiency is all that important – stay with us as we take you through a series of articles on what we learned last Thursday afternoon.
Part 1 of a series
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. April; 22, 2013. James Burchill, an absolutely shameless promoter and one of the those people in this city who KNOWS social media and has managed to make a decent living at it.
He has created a network that grew from about 50 people to the point where it is now at more than 2000 “members” and strong enough to support a mini-trade show at the Performing Arts Centre and bring his flock together once a month, always at an upscale bar for nodding and noshing.
 There is someone out there who wants to MeetUp with all these people – James Burchill founder of Business in Burlington doesn’t quite see it that way and is becoming familiar with the phrase “cease and desist”. Will that be enough to stop some interloper from eating his lunch? MeetUp is the vehicle Burchill uses and Business in Burlington is the name of the game. He also has gigs going in Oakville and Niagara. Add to that the chutzpah to get a car dealer to loan him a fire-red sports car for use for a day – or is it longer? My name wasn’t drawn so I’ve no idea how long anyone gets to use the car.
 Burchill handing out as Hypnosis session as a door prize. Has James been asleep at the switch while someone tries to steal his market. Competition is said to bring out the best in all of us. Burchill sent out a note to his followers with this “heads up. I’ve learned someone has launched a new MeetUp using our the “Business In” trademark in their name. t’s already causing confusion and thank you to everyone who’s emailed me about it.
There are 3 approved and licensed Business In ™ Networking groups and Burchill is in discussions to launch more. “Unless you hear it from me directly,” advises Burchill “ it’s not an approved group nor is it licensed, part of the “Business In” network, or operating under the same code of conduct and/or rules.
Burchill has “reached out” to the person behind the group and is endeavouring to clear up the naming confusion. Again, if you didn’t hear it from me – it’s NOT an approved Business In ™ Networking group.
Burchill has bumped into that hairy beast called “intellectual property. Can he lay total claim to the name? It costs to do that. Someone obviously sees that Burchill is on to a good thing and they want in on it. Is Burchill far enough down the track and keeping his flock warm and fuzzy enough for them to stay with him? Or will they wander over and see what the other guy has to offer.
The business schools tell us that competition brings out the best in us – gets us the lowest price and the best value for our money. Burchill doesn’t charge a fee – he just puts on an event and charges people for using his event to promote themselves and his service. His followers do however give him their time and that’s more valuable than cash at times.
How will Burchill handle this? Does he have the cahonies to ward off some interloper? This might be a useful lesson for him to involve his membership in – great brand bonding if he can get his followers to ride this wave with him.
And a lesson in what to do when someone walks into the room expecting to eat your lunch. Stay tuned.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. April 19, 2013. In the no-kidding department of research, a new study found that even though more than half (53%) of women have up to five shopping apps on their smartphones, most (76%) prefer to shop for clothes and shoes in a retail store rather than through an app.
While hardly a surprise, the same study also contains some insights for how marketers and retailers can engage with female shoppers on location.
There are some obvious areas where mobile can’t compete with what women want in stores. For example, the study by Research Now looked at the apparel shopping behaviors and preferences of 1,000 smartphone-owning women shoppers and found what they like about in-store shopping:
92% — See and touch clothes and shoes
90% — Try on clothes for fit
72% — Explore and discover new styles.
No rocket science there.
 Research suggests woman can be drawn to a product they did not plan to buy with an app that gives them a special offer. That is slick merchandizing manipulation. What they don’t like about in-store shopping:
84% — Crowds
70% — Transportation and parking
45% — Interacting with sales people
41% – Trying to find their size
Mobile interaction can deal with at least the last two of those issues, by automating some interactions and providing real-time inventory information.
Women shoppers also are interactive while in the store, based on the ResearchNow study, which was commissioned by mobile company Swirl.
While in-store, they seek information from the following sources:
37%– Family and friends shopping with them
21% — Shopping and lifestyle apps and websites
15% — In-store sales associates
14% — Family and friends not with them
9% — Retailer’s branded mobile app or website
 Shopping is no longer just a customer browsing through the aisles – with today’s computer technology they can track you as you walk from department to department and show you what they think you might buy – and make you a “special” offer. The opportunity for retailers and mobile marketers is that women shoppers will act based on incentives. For example, while a third of them love it when reminded of in-store sales by a sales associate, a majority (58%) said they would be “thrilled” if they received a personalized offer on their smartphone while in the store.
The study also found that while 17% of women shoppers would not share their location, most would, based on the following incentives:
83% — $15 in-store credit
47% — $5 in-store credit
20% — $1 in store credit
There is hardly a limit as to what the retailer won’t do to get those dollars from your wallet into their cash register – maybe that should be from your credit card into their banks accounts.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON April 19, 2013. The big rigs are going to get a big look at by the Halton Regional Police Service District Response Units, along with the Commercial Motor Vehicle Unit and other law enforcement agencies on April 22 and 23, Monday and Tuesday of next week, when the conduct a concentrated truck safety blitz in Burlington.
Officers with specialized training will be part of the team conducting safety inspections, cargo securement, hours of service, weight and measure, speed limiter, environmental, and agricultural inspections.
 Tractor trailers will get very close inspections Monday and Tuesday of next week – Halton police are going to crack down The inspections will take place at both Mainway Arena and Appleby Arena parking lots, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Expect to see police cars escorting big trucks that were nabbed on the QEW and brought in for a closer inspection. Some of the truck drivers may be calling a cab to get home: In the past, some of the vehicles brought in didn’t do all that well.
The province has had to really double down on the trucking industry when wheels began to come flying off trucks and safety was seen as something that could be given a “lick and a promise”. Drivers were found to be driving their rigs for really long stretches and need pills to keep themselves awake.
The industry couldn’t be depended on to police themselves – so the local police forces along with the OPP took on the task.
We wonder why the police announce these inspections: doesn’t that alert those who don’t care all that much about following the rules and has them driving their rigs elsewhere. Monday and Tuesday are tough days for us on the QEW in Halton – use the 401 might be the advice a dispatcher gives drivers.
We’ll let you know how many they catch.
By Walter Byj
BURLINGTON, ON. April 13, 2013. Love of community and heartfelt appreciation of their fellow employees was a constant theme by winners at the Burlington Chamber of Commerce Awards Gala that was held on Thursday April 11th. From third generation Burlingtonians to more recent arrivals, the theme of Burlington being a great place to work and live was genuinely repeated throughout the evening. With over 425 people in attendance, the event was widely enjoyed by all present. The nominees and winners in each category follows: .
Service Award for companies with more than 25 employees
Finalist
Ampersand Group
Neelands Refrigeration Limited
The Idea Factor Inc.
Winner
Neelands Refrigeration Limited.
 Neelands Refrigeration: a move from 10,000 sq feet to 43,000 made them a bigger and more proactive company. Improvement enough to garner them an award The company recently moved from a 10,000 to 43,000 square foot facility in North Burlington; a reflection of the growth this privately owned 55-year-old company has experienced. Working closely with their customers, this distributor of refrigeration units helps in the design and location of a variety of refrigeration units within a store and then gets the equipment into place. Offering one stop shopping and being in the forefront of technology has been one of the main reasons for the growth said Noel Neelands as he accepted the award on behalf of the company. Neelands use LED lighting and CO2 natural refrigerant which are both environmentally friendly, and more economical.
Service Award for Companies under 25 Employees
Finalists
AIS Solutions
Pat’s Party Rentals
Seferian Design Group
Winner
Seferian Design Group
 Staff from Seferian Design admire the award that will be displayed in their lobby and get mentioned in all the sales literature. These awards do make a difference. A collective shout of elation was heard as this company was announced as the winner of this award. Seferian was established in 1992 and now has a client list of well of a 100. The company excels at landscape architecture and design and has been beautifying residential, commercial and industrial properties throughout the GTA and beyond. “Our small staff, with input from everyone and the use of 3D simulation, has been the key to our success” said Haig Seferian while accepting the award.
 By Walter Byj
BURLINGTON, ON. April 11, 2013. As with all organizations, there is a time to work and a time to celebrate. The movies have the Oscars, music has the Grammys” and sports have their all-star games and in some cases, award banquets.
Although they may be self congratulating and cliquish, there is sense and reason to pat yourself and your competitor on the back.
 Members of the commercial community gather at the Burlington Convention Centre to celebrate and recognize each other during the Chamber of Commerce Awards evening.
And so, on a cold and wintry spring evening, the Burlington Chamber of Commerce held its’ business Excellence Awards and recognized those companies that excelled in Burlington over the past year. The awards and the corresponding winners are as the following:
Mayor’s Community Service Award- Not for Profit –
Burlington Green Environmental Association
Burlington Economic Development Corporation
First Award for Business Investment
Fusenet Inc.
Burlington Economic Development Corporation
First Award for Business Expansion – Global Mobility Products Inc.
Burlington Economic Development Corporation and Export Development Corporation First Business Export Award –
Etratech
Tourism Ambassador Award –
Burlington Eagles
Service Award (25 or more employees)
Neelands Refrigeration
Service Award (fewer than 25 employees)
Seferian Design Group
Manufacturer (25 or more employees)
Apex Composites Inc.
Manufacturer (fewer than 25 employees)
MarShield Radiation Protection and Storage Products.
Retail/Wholesale (25 or more employees)
Throat Threads Apparel
Retail/Wholesale (fewer than 25 employees)
The UPS Store #89
Employer of the Year –
O.C. Tanner Recognition Company Limited
It was a long evening, the business people had a fine time – the awards were both merited and it was interesting to watch the reaction at the different corporate tables.
I will file a more detailed piece in the morning.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. April 8th, 2013 This is very short notice – we just leaned of the event on the weekend.
Environmental Defence is holding an “open line: Town Hall on Tuesday, tomorrow, April 9th between 7 and 8 pm.
 Walkers Line, between the 1st and 2nd Side road – favourite spot for police to park and catch speeders is also where Enbridge’s line 9b runs – two feet below the surface. They want to talk and listen to people who have concerns about the Enbridge Pipeline company’s proposal to reverse its Line 9 pipeline and send dangerous tar sands oil through the most densely populated areas in Ontario and Quebec. This project that could put our communities, rivers and lakes, and drinking water at risk from a tar sands oil spill. When tar sands oil spills the effects can be devastating.
 The red line indicates Line 9b, runs from Westover through to Montreal and will carry toxic Alberta tar sands oil. That pipeline runs right through Burlington at the edge of the Escarpment; a break in that pipeline, which is 38 years old, would have toxic oil flowing into the streams that become creeks in our community.
Environmental Defence invites you to join them in this telephone town hall meeting on April 9th to learn more and ask questions about what this project means for your community.
It’s free! And here is how it works:
Fill in the form (link below) and we’ll phone you on the evening of the Town Hall. It’s that simple! Like a radio call-in show, you can ask questions, share opinions or just listen to the conversation.
You can register here:
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON April 8, 2013 When Murray Hogarth was named Burlington’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010, he was inducted into the Economic Hall of Fame by himself. This year the Burlington Community Foundation named Murray and his wife Diana as the Philanthropists of the year – they will be celebrated at the Masquerade Ball in October.
Murray Hogarth is the founder and President of Pioneer Energy, Canada’s largest independent gas station chain.
 Murray Hogarth, president Pioneer Group and Burlington’s Philanthropist of the year. “Diana and Murray Hogarth, their family, and their corporation, Pioneer Energy, exemplify all this award represents including consistent and significant giving over a number of years and sectors, illustrating outstanding community leadership and volunteerism. We truly look forward to celebrating the Hogarth’s philanthropy at our Masquerade Ball.” says Colleen Mulholland, President and CEO, Burlington Community Foundation.
Established in 1999 by a group of local volunteers and philanthropists to improve the quality of life in Burlington, Burlington Community Foundation gives grants, collaborates with donors to build endowments, and connects community leadership. For Masquerade Ball tables, tickets or to become a Proud Supporter, contact Sandra Baker, sbaker@burlingtonfoundation.org, 905 639 0744 x 223.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. April 1, 2013 You will see the T-shirt first.
517 People. 25 Vendors. 344 Comments. 158 Photos. What Next?
Indeed – what next. James Burchill has managed to take an idea and use Social Media to build an audience and a network into something that approaches 2000 people. He is a shameless self-promoter. His events are described by him as “epic”. He emails like the service was going to end tomorrow but this guy managed to get more than 500 people out to an event at the Performing Arts Centre to just network. The bar prices were on the high-end and the selection was limited but the people were there and the door prizes were good and the Mayor said nice things about what he was doing. That was enough for James Burchill this time out.
 Business in Burlington is all about business cards which identify the more than 2000 people who are part of a unique collection of people who meet once a month. Burchill runs the Business in Burlington (BiB) “Meet Up”. It is what is says it is – a place for people to meet and talk business. It’s not a place to find the man or woman of your life or even for the next weekend. Certainly not a singles set up.
The way we relate, the paths we walk along to get where we want to go, the people we meet and then choose to meet are all part of the way the society we live in works. We organize ourselves into groups; it used to be Scouts and Girl Guides but those organizations didn’t keep up with the needs of families and the pedophilia within the Boy Scouts certainly didn’t help that crowd.
We join golf and country clubs, or a book study group; maybe the Chamber of Commerce or the YMCA. New organizations come into existence to meet new needs.
 They didn’t fill every square foot but there were certainly enough of them to create a buzz. The display tables on the mezzanine were very busy. Burlington has one of those unique situations where there are four Rotary Clubs – each meeting the needs of different groups of people. Many people use Rotary as a touch point and refer frequently to their fellow Rotarians. It is almost as if you have to belong to the Rotary to be real.
Sports is a big part of family life in this city. We put athletics ahead of scholarship and are relentless when it comes to funding events in the community with galas and gatherings.
In Burlington the Chamber of Commerce , which is fairly described as the mainline business organization, has committees and represents the commercial sector. BiB doesn’t do any representing nor does it seem to involve itself with the larger community.
Is this the direction Social Media is taking us in?
The ‘mini-trade show at the Performing Arts Centre was such a success for Burchill that he has already booked the date for the next such event – March 20th, 2014.
The last one went so well that Burchill is holding an event at which he will tell you how he pulled it off – he says he is prepared to tell you about what worked; what didn’t work and the mistakes along the way.
Here’s how Burchill shills for this event:
Finally, when you pull off an event this big on your own, people begin to wonder how you did it. A couple of popular questions are: How do you keep growing the networks? How do you get such high engagement and turn-out?
Would you be interested in attending a private presentation about this event and how I put it together, how I marketed it, the tools I used, the strategies I deployed and so on?
I’ll take you behind the scenes and show you the successful parts … and the screw ups (there were a couple of good ones!) It’ll be a candid experience and one I think will open your eyes to the marketing power of local networking events.
You can let me know here:
 Networking – right. It was an “epic” event for Burchill. So good that he is going to do it again next year. He promotes: shamelessly, consistently, a little outside the Burlington character but his people love him and they tend to leave satisfied and plan on returning.
Burchill has moved his monthly event from the Waterfront Hotel to Ivy on the South Service Road. Next time up is this Wednesday 5 to 7 pm. It is certainly a nice location and the parking is free. It will be “fabulous” when they are out on the patio.
Business in Burlington – if you want to know how to exploit Social Media to its fullest – listen to Burchill.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 28, 2013 There is no deal – yet, but there are some very interesting conversations taking place about what might be done with Village Square. There are also a lot of myths that need to get – de-mythed if anything is to happen with the property.
An industry observer who knows more about Village Square than most, scoffs at the suggestion everyone loves Village Square. “if they loved the place – then why weren’t they patronizing shops when there were shops there? “ Yes, there were problems with the management of the property and the rental agreements were terrible, which drove many of the restaurants out of the location. But a change of management isn’t going to make a difference.
A personal grooming service spent more than a year in the Village and finally pulled up stakes and has moved to a John Street location. “One of my clients” commented that “the place just felt dead and it certainly wasn’t inviting. Quaint to look at but it just wasn’t working and I couldn’t afford to stay there.”
 Rahoon’s has managed to stay afloat because it is a family owned operation that doesn’t have the labour costs others have. Food is fine by the way. Give it a try. Another Burlingtonian who tends to eat out frequently walked into Rahoon’s, the Persian restaurant that has a fine menu and excellent service and price that are not the norm in Burlington. “The man’s face just lit up when I walked in” said this realtor – “I think I may have been his only customer that evening.”
The Friedman family has own the property since the early 1980’s and while Jack Friedman was active there were tenants even if they came and went frequently. But when his health declined and the day-to-day operation of the property fell into the hands of his daughters, Susan and Debra – well things didn’t get better.
Debra spends at least a day week in Burlington while Susan, a lawyer who specializes in litigation, does the talking for the family – there isn’t an active plan to market and manage the space.
 Village Square: It was one of Jack Friedman’s dreams. Potential new owners have new dreams that could include office space, a downtown supermarket as well as re-location of the historic properties. The condo on the left hand side was where the bus terminal was located
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON March 28, 2013 Bob Jurk, currently a Senior Project leader in the Engineering department, remembers the day when he put the actual clock fixture into the Burlington Blue cast iron structure that has been standing outside city hall since 1999.
 John Bouwman is said to be the person who decided that Burlington needed a clock outside city hall and he knew just the kind of clock the city needed. That was the starting point for the clock that has been on location since 1999. One of the reasons we made this picture as large as we did is because of the reflection in the shop window. You can see the Google car driving by and photographing every street of every city in North America. Look closely and you can see the camera mounted atop the car.  They are going to lift the clock off its base and get it into the shop for a check up. The clock has been in place since 1999 – and has apparently never missed a beat. Keith Strong remembers too how people in the community came together to get the clock in place. John Bouwman, operator of the Clockmaker on John Street, is said to be the person who came up with the idea and Mrs. Carol Wardle of Wardle Insurance offered a generous contribution and before you knew it – the clock was a done deal. All it took was the typical Keith Strong, roll up your sleeves and get it done approach, and close to fifteen years later that clock is out for a fix up.
It’s going to take a couple of weeks to complete the job of refurbishing the device – so if you are depending on the sound of the chimes to get to work on time – leave home a little earlier.
The clock was installed in 1999 to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Burlington’s incorporation as a village. The city gave twin city Itabashi, Japan, a replica of the clock as a friendship gift in 1999 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the cities’ twinning agreement.
In 2014, Burlington and Itabashi will celebrate 25 years since the cities originally signed a twinning agreement.
Civic Square also includes a millennium fountain, built and installed to mark the year 2000; a bronze statue built to honour soldiers who gave their lives in the First World War, installed in 1986; and a drinking fountain built to commemorate a visit by the Prince of Wales and installed at the site in 1977.
A lot of history in a small space.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. March 25, 2013 The Mayor met with members of the Chamber of Commerce Friday morning to give them an update on where things were going with the city and how he was dealing with the problems that cross his desk.
The crowd this time around wasn’t as large as it has been in the past. So – what do we know now that we didn’t know before? Well Mayor Goldring has decided the focus for the rest of this term of office has to be on getting jobs and new employers into the city.
The Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) is being totally revised and will be coming back to Council with a new mandate that will focus totally on bringing new business to the city. The BEDC has had challenges it wasn’t able to meet in the past given the business model they were stuck with. City Manager Jeff Fielding saw the problem and asked that a re-make of that organization be a priority.
 The Mayor answered all their questions; there just weren’t very many of them and none seemed to touch on the serious problem with the Industrial, Commercial and Institutional sector tax revenue. Part of the problem is that the people doing the remake are basically the same people who oversaw what BEDC was doing in the past. Was city manager Fielding the only person to see that the model they had wasn’t working? In the three years our Burlington has been covering the BEDC we didn’t see any suggestions that the mandate was flawed and not sustainable come before any city council committee.
Something put a fire underneath the BEDC board. A former advisor to Mayor Goldring thought the best thing that could be done was to blow the board up and start afresh. The BEDC has a twenty member board – is that too large. Most of the big five Canadian banks don’t have boards that size.
Are the right people on that board? Are there people on that board doing more to ensure their own interests are protected rather than being focused on the long-term economic growth of the city? Is there anyone on that board asking the hard questions? We were impressed with what we saw of the work Paul Subject, president of STANMECH Technologies Inc. was doing.
 BEDC Executive Director Kyle Benham has his hands full with the development of position papers, project development and both re-building and re-orienting what BEDC can and should be doing for the city is serves at arm’s-length. Last December the BEDC board received a Transitional Plan and then created an ad hoc committee to amend BEDC’s operating model and business plan to create a land development corporation. The public hasn’t seen that Transitional Plan yet nor do we know who the members of the ad hoc committee are.
Burlington had a situation where two city council members, the Mayor and Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven, sat on the Performing Arts board that went from a half a million dollar requirement to one that ballooned to over $1 million – so keeping representation like that on our boards would not seem to be in the best interests of the taxpayers.
Having a public that is fully informed works best in a democracy; having boards and committees that are closed – even secretive at times, results in closed thinking at best and cronyism at worst. We deserve better from the people out there representing us.
The BEDC held a workshop last Friday that wasn’t public so we don’t know what they did.
One of the interesting bits of information the Mayor mentioned, almost in passing, at the Chamber breakfast, was that Burlington has more than 60 business operations in the city that work on water issues; they do things with water and there was the sense that there may be an opportunity to look at this cluster and see if there are ways to support what they do and attract other companies in the water business to the city.
Burlington isn’t known for anything specific in the commercial world; we’ve got a bit of everything. Hamilton has steel mills – well had steel mills would be a more accurate statement.
The people doing the economic thinking for this city (we really don’t know who they are) are of the view that looking for possible clusters of companies where three or four companies will draw others of the same type is a possible economic advantage. That’s got potential.
Later in the year Goldring will be traveling to Germany to meet with companies over there that have operations in Burlington and see if there are ways some of the operations can be expanded.
 Sandy Thomson, chief thinker over at Thomson Gordon Group pauses while answering a question on what he wants to see in the way of better heritage protection Wage costs – always of interest to the business community. The Mayor sketched out the problem all the municipalities have with their unionized labour forces, particularly those involved in public safety. When there are differences of opinion over a labour contract the province appoints an Interest Arbitration. The results of those arbitrations have been giving the municipal sector significant grief – the labour side seems to be winning all the time. The Mayors in the province want the “capacity to pay” to be part of what gets looked at – and they would like to see the process moved along a little faster. Goldring pointed out that some of these arbitrations take as long as three years to get resolved.
The firemen in Burlington have in the past chosen to show their muscle. At one budget discussion meetings there were close to half a dozen of them at one table and took over the discussion. On another occasion a group of fireman all sat in the public gallery at a council meeting. Those displays are part of ensuring their voice is heard. The fireman were all over the Dalton McGuinty provincial election.
The Mayor had a decent meeting with the business sector – until the very end when there were no more questions. Those that he did get were perhaps planted and certainly softball in nature. That’s part of the way things get done at Chamber events. What was awkward was leaving the Mayor standing at the podium when there were clearly no more questions. His hosts should have moved to the podium – thanked him for his time and given him the round of applause he had earned. Instead he was left standing there. Awkward indeed!
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON March 15, 2013 Are the people doing this:
 A view of the Adi development on Guelph Line just south of Upper Middle Road is a project with a very contemporary look. Thinking seriously about doing something with this?
 What would an organization like Adi Developments do with Village Square? They appear to be working towards an opportunity to purchase the site and re-develop.
It is clear now that there are talks taking place about what might be done with the Village Square. Jack Friedman’s daughters do not want o continue managing the property and truth be told the Village isn’t working anymore as a destination. It no longer draws the traffic it once did – the set up is dated and a little on the tired side.
 Great presentation – a really inviting look but this commercial enterprise didn’t last long at the Village Square. Many people tried the location – it just didn’t work. Time for new eyes and a new kind of energy and while we cannot confirm that Adi developments are the people kicking the tires they are certainly displaying the gumption and energy that results in modern, upscale projects – and they don’t appear to be greedy.
When Adi Developments took their project to city hall they eased on on the density they were entitled too and instead came up with smaller units in a very compact setting. The plans look good – the proof of course is in the pudding which will become evident once the place is built and the moving trucks are moving residents in.
Burlington has been looking at the downtown core for some time and trying to find a way to bring some life to that part of the city; to get traffic on to Brant Street and the street to the east and west of the main artery – nothing seems to have worked. Will a major redevelopment of Village Square make the difference?
At some point in the near future all this secrecy from the former Miss Transparency, who hold the ward 2 seat at city council will, perhaps, revert to the candidate she said she was when she ran for election, and tell people who is doing what.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON – Manufacturing companies in Burlington face a serious shortage of trained workes with skills that relate to tool and die making.
The Centre, an educational organization that is part of the Halton Board of Education structure offers courses in electrical training, renovation skills development and industrial millwright mechanic/machinist skills. These are “trades” that pay well and offer satisfying work where expertise is built up over time.
The Centre for Skills Development & Training’s (The Centre) gets students trained and earning for career with a future, fast.
 Students at The Centre are trained on equipment they would find in any workshop in Burlington. The Centre is currently accepting applications for the 22-week, full-time program that includes over 70% of hands-on training in over 6,000 square feet of fully equipped shop space. Last year, over 92% of graduates found work in their field. The next start date is March 25, 2013.
 Jamie Fierro-Silva on the right and Omar Taylor practice setting up measuring devices for the very exacting work done on tool making equipment at The Centre. “Today, almost 50% of Canadian companies, regardless of size of location, are facing serious labour and skills shortages. This shortage poses a threat to economic growth; however, it also represents immense opportunity for people interested in working in trades,” said Kathy Mills, Chief Administrative Officer of The Centre for Skills Development & Training. “Our Industrial Millwright Mechanic/Machinist program is comprehensive and includes personalized job search assistance to ensure students land work in industry as quickly as possible.”
Established in 1988, The Centre for Skills Development &Training has two locations in Burlington and Oakville, and one location in Milton and Clarkson. The Centre provides pre-apprenticeship skilled trades training, employment services, services for newcomers to Canada, and customized workplace training and consulting services for companies.
That’s the corporate part of this story; there is a really interesting dynamic going on in the class I watched. The twenty some odd people in the class I looked in on were guided by Al Hossack who would work one on one with students as they set up a machine or worked to solve a problem.
Hossack was steps away for any student working in a shop that had the kind of equipment these students would work with in any workshop they went to – and the vast majority of these students would be employed once they have completed their course.
Mike Harwood is the Job Developer for the trades department. In a phrase – he is the matchmaker – he knows all the students and knows the needs of the employers in his markets. His relationship with the employers is such that they tell him what they need and he looks at what The Centre has coming through the system. Sometimes a student will do a very short placement to see if the chemistry is right.
Harwood refers to his job as “employer dating”.
 Al Hossack, a certified tool and die maker takes a student at The Centre through the set up procedures on a piece of equipment. Hands on and classroom time are part of the course. What the Centre is doing is attracting people who want to learn a trade and then, while training them, are also grooming them for the first job they will go into. It’s not a slam dunk course explained Al Hossack. We aren’t like a community college where students wander in whenever they want and wearing their pyjamas if the choose.
The Centre teaches skills and focuses on good work habits; punctuality and reliability. The students who walk out the door with their certificate in their hands take the reputation of the Centre with them – and that reputation is vigorously protected. Students toe the line – end up with good jobs, not just decent jobs and are known to have come out of a good school.
 Ellen Faraday – den mother to students at The Centre Ellen Faraday, Senior Trades coordinator for The Centre is sort of the den mother of the place. She lives and breathes what they do and sees every student as her project. She knows them all by name and knows where they are probably going to get their first job. These are “her people” and she is heavily invested in their progress. Ellen will tell you as she leads you from one workshop to another that three of the women who work with Mike Holmes – of Holmes on Homes fame came out of The Centre and then she rattles off the names.
The course that will start at the end of this month is being sponsored by the Ministry of Training – they are picking up the bulk of the fees. Great deal, great opportunity for someone who would like this kind of work or who wants to change the career stream they are in.
The Centre – worth looking at.
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