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Message From The Editor
Where is the competitive advantage?
An issue resolutely looking to the future. This future calls for a diverse workforce, and for taking up the challenge of workforce renewal. We also refer in this issue to the use of new digital tools in business processes. Recent economic figures are more encouraging than those of the health crisis, which is why it’s important to keep our eyes on the future and the issues that have recently surfaced. For Martin Stephenson, Signify Canada’s new CEO, these issues revolve around connectivity and sustainable innovation. Good reading!
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Interview
Martin Stephenson — A Focus on Connectivity and Sustainable Innovation
By Line Goyette
As of February 2021, Martin Stephenson is the new President and CEO of Signify Canada. Given that he took office nearly a year into the pandemic and its related restrictions, it is easy to imagine him drawing on past experience to lead Signify’s response to this current health challenge and its consequences for Canadians and Canadian business. I first asked Martin, “How has your journey led you to the position you hold now? What were the most important moments?” If I were to sum up his answer in three words, I would say automation, connectivity and sustainable innovation.
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Electro-Federation Canada
Young Talent: The Competitive Advantage
By John Jefkins
We have long known that there is increasing competition in finding young talent for our industry… especially the right talent. The tsunami of retirements with the need for new entrants into our industry is regularly voiced by industry leaders and HR professionals in EFC’s Human Resources Network. Canada is also experiencing a declining and aging population, resulting in a smaller pool of talent. As our government strengthens immigration policies, we are further reminded of the importance of diversity and inclusion. EFC members’ workforce is at approximately half the national average when it comes to gender diversity and ethnicity. Each organization has a role in building an employment base that represents the diversity that empowers our nation. EFC is actively involved in getting new talent to join our exciting industry.
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Marketing
Speed Bumps in Marketing Are Part of the Process
By Ken Cain
Everyone likes to talk about their successes, and I am no exception. The road to success, however, inevitably has some speed bumps, or what sales and management may call “failures.” Let me tell you about two of mine, but how we turned them into “learning experiences.” There was a time when electrical distribution was moving at lightspeed trying to break into the data communications industry, and by that I mean the hardware, cables, punch down blocks, plates, fibre optics and more… all that good stuff. Some of that still goes on with some of the major and niche players. We had this association, and it still exists, BICSI. They did a lot of great training and in those days, I was desperately trying to figure out how to get the electrical distributor I worked for at the time to offer education as a service to our customers. So, I did what any good marketing person would do: I looked at what others were doing, and I imitated them.
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Diversity
Jennifer Green on WXN Top 100 Award and Promoting Women in Trades
By Blake Marchand
This past December Jennifer Green was honoured with Canada’s Most Powerful Women Top 100 Award for the Skilled Trades category by WXN (Women’s Executive Network). “It is truly an honour to be recognized by WXN and to be among this group of amazing women,” said Green of earning the distinction. “Throughout my career, I’ve worked with many great mentors and team members – to them, I say thank you for always inspiring me. I am absolutely thrilled.” Green is an industrial mechanic millwright by trade and works with Skills Ontario as Director of Competitions and Young Women’s Initiatives. She is also an Apprenticeship Youth Advisor for the Ministry of Labour.
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New Technologies — White Paper
Digital Transformation of Core Business Cycles
As the world we live in continues to evolve and become more digital, the way we do business must follow suit. And while your current manual processes might be cutting it right now, it won’t be long before competition and emerging technologies render “business as usual” completely obsolete. Here are five reasons why. 1) Even if you’re not changing, your competition is. Aside from the strategic benefits of digital transformation like end-to-end visibility, cost savings, increased productivity, etc., there’s the simple fact that we’re living in the “Digital Age”, and your competition has already begun changing. They’re becoming more agile, efficient, and are taking both customer and employee experience to new levels. If you can’t keep up with competitors at a base level, your business just might become a thing of the past. Let manual processes stay in the past, not you. 2) You could be saving large amounts of time and money…
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Looking Back
CEDA’s First Woman President — 1975
History was made. For the first time a woman, Mrs. Jeannine Wood, was elected CEDA President. CEDA was now enjoying an annual revenue totalling $100,000, and with its influence in the business world evidently growing, many members felt the association needed a full time, permanent president. A discussion by the Board raised the following points: governments find it easier to relate to a permanent President rather than an elected President, there are already a number of business associations with the President a full time permanent paid employee, and an Ottawa location would allow for easier access to government offices and make it easier to obtain bilingual staff.
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Best Practices — Inside Sales
After the Pandemic: Working Remotely Supply-Partner Implications
By Frank Hurtte
Earlier, we talked about the impact of distributors and their customers working remotely and how the changes impact distributors. In the eyes of many, the story would end here. However, a distributor is a middleman, the entity positioned between those consuming and those creating products. Distributors are a critical part of what could officially be called the supply chain, a network between a company and its suppliers to produce and distribute a specific product to the final buyer. The companies providing raw materials to supply-partners are part of their supply chain. The distributor and supply-partners are steps in our customer’s supply chain. If the distributor’s supply-partner experiences delivery issues and the distributor cannot deliver, the customer’s supply chain is impacted. If the distributor mishandles an order, once again the customer’s supply chain feels the pain.
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Survey Says
Salary by Position: Industrial Lighting Fixture Manufacturing
Top of the heap: technical product managers at $110,000. Down at the bottom: industrial designers, at $49,000. See where six other positions fit.
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Economy
Business Opening and Closings Remained Steady in December
In December 2020, business openings and closures were largely unchanged from November 2020. The number of business closures decreased by 0.8% while the number of business openings decreased by 1.3%. The number of active businesses in December continued to edge up slightly, but remained 3.6% lower than in February 2020. Across provinces and territories, the change in business closures from November to December was varied. Notably, business closures decreased by 13.1% (-1,024) in Quebec and by 9.7% in Newfoundland and Labrador (-58). By contrast, business closures increased by 12.1% (+68) in New Brunswick and by 9.1% (+108) in Manitoba. Still, with the exception of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, the number of active businesses increased across the country in December.
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Changing Scene
- Unique Lighting & Control Corp joins IMARK Canada
IMARK Canada announced that Unique Lighting & Control Corp has joined the organization effective April 1, 2021. Headquartered in Richmond Hill, Ontario, the company also operates locations in Port Coquitlam, BC, Calgary, AB, St-Laurent, QC, Edmonton, AB and Dartmouth, NS. Unique Lighting & Controls is a leading provider of system designs and project management solutions for commercial, multi-residential, institutional, and industrial illuminating and control applications.
- Canadian Monthly Estimates of Business Openings and Closures, December 2020
In December 2020, business openings and closures were largely unchanged from November 2020. The number of business closures decreased by 0.8% while the number of business openings decreased by 1.3% (Chart 1). The number of active businesses in December continued to edge up slightly, but remained 3.6% lower than in February 2020…
- Rexel Appoints New CEO
Rexel announced that Patrick Berard will step down as Chief Executive Officer on September 1, 2021. He will be succeeded on that date by Guillaume Texier, who joins the company after holding several senior management positions at Saint-Gobain. Texier was selected after an extensive search managed by the Board of Directors’ Nomination Committee, supported by a leading search firm and was unanimously viewed as the standout candidate.
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Changing Scene
- ABB and Source Atlantic Announce Distribution Partnership
Source Atlantic has been named as a new distribution partner for ABB’s electrification products in the Canadian market. The new agreement will look to expand supply of ABB products and solutions and service continuity across the region. As a reliable technology partner to government, commercial and industrial sectors, Source Atlantic has become a well-known name in offering innovative electrical solutions.
- EHRC Introduces Mentor Junction Platform
Mentor Junction is a free, user-friendly platform that facilitates mentor relationships among current and prospective workers in the electricity sector. Mentorship is a proven strategy for supporting career development and the professional success of women, young workers and underrepresented workers in the electricity sector. Mentor relationships offer benefits to mentors and mentees alike; mentees grow their professional network while receiving career guidance, and mentors can ensure the next generation of leaders are well-equipped.
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Changing Scene
- Canada Names Sustainable Development Advisory Council
The Sustainable Development Advisory Council (the Council) is established under the Federal Sustainable Development Act and is responsible for reviewing and commenting on drafts of the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy, as well as providing advice on any matter of sustainable development referred to it by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
- Southwire Canada Recognized as Great Place to Work
Southwire Canada is proud to announce that it recently became a Great Place to Work® (GPTW) Certified™ organization, showcasing the company’s commitment to its employees, communities and other stakeholders. GPTW is the world’s leading research and consulting firm dedicated to helping organizations assess and develop their workplaces, cultures and employee engagement.
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Changing Scene
- ABB Appoints John Ieraci as Division Manager, Electrification Electric Mobility, Canada
ABB has appointed John Ieraci to lead the company's new Electrification Electric Mobility division in Canada. Ieraci will be functionally responsible for the overall Electric Mobility business in Canada including business development, sales, operations, and service. Prior to taking on his new role, Ieraci was National Business Development Manager for Commercial Buildings…
- Westburne Names New Ontario Lighting Sales Manager
Westburne is pleased to announce Clif Horton has joined the Ontario Division as Lighting Sales Manager. He is based in the Courtney park office. Clif brings extensive lighting product knowledge and sales and management experience to Westburne and will be working with their Lighting Specialists and the Sales team to grow the Westburne Ontario lighting business.
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Changing Scene
- E.B. Horsman & Son Honours Tim Rourke with President's Award at their AGM
E.B. Horsman & Son (EBH) is delighted to share the news that Tim Rourke, former President of Rittal, is the 2020 recipient of their EBH President’s Award! This award recognizes a person or group that goes over and above all expectations to exhibit a commitment to our core values and demonstrates exemplary leadership under all circumstances.
- Guillevin Victoria Branch Opening in July 2021
Guillevin has annouced hey will be opening their Victoria Branch in July 2021. The new location is located at 4224 Commerce Circle, Saanich, BC. V8Z 6N6.
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Changing Scene
- EBH Names IPEX Supplier Partner of the Year 2020
E.B. Horsman & Son (EBH) is delighted to share the news that IPEX Inc. received the E.B. Horsman & Son Supplier Partner of the Year award for the second year in a row. The award was announced March 3, 2021, during E.B. Horsman & Son’s Virtual Annual General Meeting and 16th Annual AD Field Marketing Summit.
- Virtual Sales Strategies Part 2: Applying the Techniques
87% of sellers report that building rapport and developing relationships with buyers virtually is challenging. Only 25% of buyers say virtual sellers are very effective at building rapport and relationship development. That means only 1 in 4 of us are a top performer!
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Careers
Time for a Change? New Job Openings
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