Business in Winnipeg

[Riverman]

Facts are facts no matter who wrote the article.

[Tacheguy]

Originally Posted by rypinion

Not sure how much merit I'd place on an article written by one of the people who ran Gord Steeves' campaign.

Like most polemics this article contains grains of truth along with misleading elements. No doubt Manitoba has too much red tape and a nanny state mentality. At the same time the small business stats largely reflect differences in industrial structure. The three most industrialized provinces are Manitoba Ontario and Quebec. Other provinces would kill to have large transportation equipment, ag implements, generic drug manufacturing firms, regardless of their impact on the numbers selected for this diatribe.
On the venture capital side, talk to people in Alberta about how hard it is to get early stage financing for anything outside of the oil and gas sector. Also true to a lesser extent in Saskatchewan.
I am no apologist for the NDP. I just don't like seeing cherry picked stats that purport to tell a comprehensive story.

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by Tacheguy

I am no apologist for the NDP.

That made rum come out of my nose.

[Tacheguy]

Originally Posted by Riverman

That made rum come out of my nose.

Sorry. Single malt?

[Tacheguy]

Originally Posted by Tacheguy

Sorry. Single malt?

Oops. You said rum!

[biguc]

I wish any part of my body excreted rum.

[1ajs]

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
GWL's investor assets reach $1.1 trillion

By: Geoff Kirbyson
Posted: 3:00 AM | Comments: 0

GREAT-West Lifeco's performance in 2014 fits the company to a T -- as in trillion.
The Winnipeg-based financial services behemoth saw its assets under administration ring in the new year at $1.1 trillion, up 40 per cent from a year ago. The increase includes $207 billion in AUA related to its acquisition of the J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services record-keeping business last year.
Crashing through such a mythical financial barrier did not go unnoticed by Paul Mahon, Great-West's president and CEO.
"When you think about it, we were less than half-a-trillion dollars (in AUA) three years ago," he said.
"We've been running hard. We're going to catch our breath after a solid year but we will take a few minutes to look back at the great contributions that our employees and advisers have made. More than 20,000 of our people around the world delivered that result."
The growth has come from an uplift in stock markets, increases in organic growth and acquisitions, he said.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/bus...291807131.html

[Riverman]

No kidding, everything is going ballistic lately. Trans Canada doubled their divedend the other day.

[Cyro]

Good news for StandardAero and the Industry..

STANDARDAERO is adding a strategic new business line to its already extensive operation for gas turbine engine maintenance repair and overhaul around Richardson International Airport.

The company, owned by Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Ltd., is making a multimillion-dollar investment in Winnipeg, effectively creating a new business called StandardAero Component Services (SACS) Canada.

Con't..http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/bus...ce=d-more-news

[bomberjet]

Good for them. However, Standard Aero is a piece of shit apparently. From multiple sources in my life.

[Cyro]

I wasn't aware of it? Is it problems for employees or something else?

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Good for them. However, Standard Aero is a piece of shit apparently. From multiple sources in my life.

103 years in business, they must be doing something right. Many employees are long term employees. also have won numerous times, "best places to work".

now in saying all that some of this "new equipment" is being purchased from their insurance claim monry from the large fire in Sep 2014. some of this type of activity is work they were always doing.

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

103 years in business, they must be doing something right. Many employees are long term employees. also have won numerous times, "best places to work".

The "best place to work" lists are highly subjective. Personally I do not place a lot of stock in them.

[bomberjet]

I have never worked for them, so what I'm hearing is anecdotal.

But I've heard they are quite disorganized, staff are just pieces of meat that can be thrown around the country at will, waste the governments money just because on a lot of their maintenance contracts, and just general dissatisfaction with how management operates the company. Among other usual workplace BS.

Can likely get comments like this out of any large company. But I don't think people would be quitting decent paying positions because they are completely lying to me. People I trust in my life. So I'll stick with my opinion. Everyone's entitled to one. I'm sure there are wide ranging opinions of the company I work for, both here in Winnipeg and elsewhere.

[Authentic_City]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

I have never worked for them, so what I'm hearing is anecdotal.

But I've heard they are quite disorganized, staff are just pieces of meat that can be thrown around the country at will, waste the governments money just because on a lot of their maintenance contracts, and just general dissatisfaction with how management operates the company. Among other usual workplace BS.

In recent years there has been some changes and shifts in the ownership and the structure of management. If I'm remembering correctly, Dubai Aerospace bought Standard and moved most key management positions to the US. My neighbour has been with the company for years and seems to be pretty happy there. He does a lot more international travel than ever, likely because of the ownership structure. I heard rumors they might be sold again.

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

So I'll stick with my opinion.

Not far off.

I worked for them right after college. Got laid off after 19.5 weeks, two days short of eligibility for EI. Reason was the program I was hired for didn't materialize. Best thing that ever happened to me although it sure didn't seem like it at the time!

The young people I know that work there now (engineers) absolutely hate it.

[Cyro]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

I have never worked for them, so what I'm hearing is anecdotal.

But I've heard they are quite disorganized, staff are just pieces of meat that can be thrown around the country at will, waste the governments money just because on a lot of their maintenance contracts, and just general dissatisfaction with how management operates the company. Among other usual workplace BS.

Can likely get comments like this out of any large company. But I don't think people would be quitting decent paying positions because they are completely lying to me. People I trust in my life. So I'll stick with my opinion. Everyone's entitled to one. I'm sure there are wide ranging opinions of the company I work for, both here in Winnipeg and elsewhere.

Employee dissatisfaction in thier work environment, wages and a disconnect with management were always at the top of the list when I was dealing with situations that came down to bargaining and negotiation of collective agreements ages ago.

Unfortunate situation. Sounds somewhat similar to the problems I experienced when I was involved with Canada Post several years back when they began restructuring.

Although, some posters here have had experiences that date back to even earlier times.

[blueandgoldguy]

Heard that Shaw is in the process of either contracting or completely shutting down their call centres in Edmonton and Calgary and moving those jobs here. Apparently there will be an expansion of some sort at the existing Shaw call centre on Scurfield and they will also utilize some space at the old Convergys building by Kenaston

[Biff]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

Heard that Shaw is in the process of either contracting or completely shutting down their call centres in Edmonton and Calgary and moving those jobs here. Apparently there will be an expansion of some sort at the existing Shaw call centre on Scurfield and they will also utilize some space at the old Convergys building by Kenaston

I commented on this in the Retail thread I believe. Closing Vancouver too. Good for Winnipeg to get the jobs, but the reason not so much. The reason is because it it not cost effective to have these types of (low paying) jobs in those cities as the cost of living is too high and Shaw has been finding it hard to get employees.

[blueandgoldguy]

Originally Posted by Biff

I commented on this in the Retail thread I believe. Closing Vancouver too. Good for Winnipeg to get the jobs, but the reason not so much. The reason is because it it not cost effective to have these types of (low paying) jobs in those cities as the cost of living is too high and Shaw has been finding it hard to get employees.

My friend told me several of the employees at the Shaw call centres in Alberta were simply biding their time to get work on the oil rigs. Of course, I have no idea if this is true or not.

As for low-paying jobs, it depends what you mean by that. Low-paying for Alberta and Vancouver...possibly. Low-paying for here, not so much. I here many of the Shaw employees make $50,000. For employees on outbound calls contacting existing Shaw customers, the base wage is not that great, but the incentives are great and from what I understand rather easily achieved.

So it's good news for Winnipeg - adding several hundred and maybe over one thousand jobs where many of the employees will be earning a real living wage. Better than the hoopla created over a new Wal-Mart or an IKEA opening where the vast majority will earn a little more than minimum wage.