Business in Winnipeg

[vid]

Not really Winnipeg news, but it has to do with Agricore, so..

Brunt of Viterra layoffs are here
By Tom Hamilton, Thunder Bay
Friday, October 5, 2007

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/stories.php?id=68573

Recently, a senior Viterra executive made a statement that “the Thunder Bay grain operations of Viterra are no different than any other of Viterra‘s operations.” (“Viterra contemplates layoffs,” Regina Leader-Post, Sept. 26).
The following points illustrate the differences that are currently affecting Thunder Bay employees and their families.
• Layoffs of over 50 per cent of the AgricoreUnited workforce began in August and continue to this day.
• Viterra has already informed the employees, in a meeting in mid-August, that the AU “S” house is to be closed by Dec. 31.
• Viterra has projected tonnage for the AU “A” house at 380,000 tonnes, with no work in the spring of 2008 except for the loading of vessels, which requires a minimum number (from eight to 12) of employees to perform. The above tonnage is in comparison to the 1.3-1.5 million tones that the facility would normally handle. This is a decrease in volume of from 72 to 75 per cent.
• Thunder Bay is the prime operation affected by the reduced tonnage. There has been no negative effect in Vancouver or in country operations.
• The tonnage referred to above will only go to the AU “A” terminal as long as the SWP (Saskatchewan Wheat Pool) “A” terminal continues to handle grain volumes of around 1.7 million tonnes. If projections go below that, the grain destined for the AU terminal will be redirected to the SWP terminal, resulting in even lower numbers and employment levels there.
• The type of grain is also a factor. The AU “A” house is capable of handling and processing both Canadian Wheat Board grain and non-board grain. Normally, we concentrated on wheat and durum, with the peas, oil seeds, etc., going to the AU “S” house, which is a smaller terminal employing much fewer people. “A” house will no longer process board grain. It will handle only non-boards, with a consequent drop in employment levels.
There is no other Viterra operation that has been affected or will be affected in the way that the former AgricoreUnited terminals have been affected in Thunder Bay. Viterra still struggles to admit this, as is apparent in the comment referred to above. We are in a unique situation here in Thunder Bay and, specifically, at the AU terminals. This unique and exceptional situation requires exceptional measures and Viterra does not admit that necessity.

Tom Hamilton
President - USW Lodge 650
(Grainhandlers)

Agricore already has three vacant elevators, and SWP has two. So Viterra will have 6 vacant elevators on the waterfront. Agricore was taking care of the old UGG terminal but I bet they'll just let it fall apart now, if they're closing S, which is beside it.

[Greco Roman]

Another small, but important missed opportunity for Manitoba to advertise itself on a Global scale.

Manitoba comes off looking Mickey Mouse
O Canada! at EPCOT fails to even mention province

Wed Oct 10 2007



WALT DISNEY WORLD, FLORIDA: There is no Manitoba at the Happiest Place on Earth.
The Disney folks gathered scores of international journalists at EPCOT last week to view the new version of O Canada!, a 14-minute film shown at the theme park's Canadian pavilion.

Canadian Idol winner Eva Avila sang for the crowd. Young people dressed as farmers, lumberjacks, hockey players and Anne of Green Gables waved and smiled. Speeches were made, a band played and paper maple leaves were shot into the air.

It was classic Disney --- well-organized, fun and flashy.

The new 360-degree panoramic movie replaces a 1982 version that was outdated and heavy on stereotypes. Much of the original film was reshot, although some images were reused. The idea was to give Disney's millions of visitors a snapshot of our country, its people and its natural beauty.

Too bad we're not part of the story.
The fault is not Disney's. This province lacks both the money and the technology to play with the big boys.

The content of the movie was decided jointly by the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) and Walt Disney staff. Tourism boards from Ontario, Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Vancouver, Alberta and the Calgary Stampede were all involved.

The boards had to come up with approximately $500,000 each to cover the cost of fresh filming by Disney in their region. Additional high-definition footage was provided by tourism boards in other provinces.

There was no input from Manitoba and the province is not mentioned in the film.

There's footage of Niagara Falls, the Bay of Fundy, Vancouver Island's Butchart Gardens, the Rideau Canal and sailing in Nova Scotia. Vancouver gets credit as Canada's film capital. Even Moose Jaw and Medicine Hat get mentions. The Calgary Stampede gets footage. Toronto, Quebec City and Montreal are all included.

Nothing on Manitoba --- no Royal Winnipeg Ballet, The Forks, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Folklorama or Corydon Avenue. No mention of our countless rural and northern attractions.

How does something like this happen?

Well, there are a couple of explanations, neither of which reflect well on Travel Manitoba. First, they couldn't afford to participate. Second, they don't have up-to-date, industry-standard film of our province. "We sat the players at the table and asked them, 'Do you have the money to pay for these expensive shots?'" explains Gisele Danis, the CTC's executive director of global brand integration. "We also needed high-definition images, B-roll. We can't take ordinary film. That's where the world is going today. Manitoba, unfortunately, doesn't have high-definition."

Danis hastened to point out that Disney kept in a shot of a wheat field being plowed to represent the Prairie provinces. That's a pretty small bone to be tossed.

"Part of me, my heart goes out to the little guy who didn't get the cut," says Danis, explaining the CTC and the major tourism agencies contributed $1.2 million to the project but Disney decided on the final script.

Linda Whitfield, Travel Manitoba's vice-president of advertising and marketing, says it's true Manitoba doesn't have high-definition images, adding there is no money to add it in the current budget.

"Frankly, we haven't felt the need," Whitfield says. "In light of the trend of people using the Internet for travel information we've looked at upgrading our website."

As well, the $500,000 required to come to the Disney table was simply too rich for the province's blood. The organization has only $1.2 million in its $8.2-million budget for advertising and communications.

Whitfield says Manitoba's exclusion is not the fault of the CTC.

"The CTC's mandate is not to promote any province or city," she says. "They promote all of Canada."

They do it well. The Disney movie, narrated by Martin Short, is witty, exciting and makes Canada look like a place you'd want to visit. The fact that Manitoba isn't in it makes us look, well, Mickey Mouse.

lindor.reynolds@freepress.mb.ca

[Only The Lonely..]

Originally Posted by Greco Roman

As well, the $500,000 required to come to the Disney table was simply too rich for the province's blood. The organization has only $1.2 million in its $8.2-million budget for advertising and communications.

Whitfield says Manitoba's exclusion is not the fault of the CTC.

Fuck, you mean the province / Tourism Manitoba really couldn't afford $500,000 amortized over 25 years?!? Assuming this video runs until 2032, that's $20,000 a year for exposure to millions of U.S. and international tourists who have never heard of a place called Manitoba. Talk about an opportunity lost!

How many millions has the provinced wasted preaching to the converted (i.e. those already living in MB) with the Spirited Energy campaign?

NDP, friggin lousy amateurs..

[J-MAN]

wow,

NDP = newbs driving parliment

[J-MAN]

or just big fags

[Greco Roman]

Originally Posted by J-MAN

or just big fags

Dude, you really need to be careful what you say around here.

[vid]

Originally Posted by J-MAN

or just big fags

A big fag, indeed.

[Only The Lonely..]

Russian Ship Arrives in Churchill

By PAUL TURENNE, SUN MEDIA | Oct 17, 2007


Churchill has welcomed its first-ever shipment from Russia, marking the first manifestation of the Arctic Bridge trade route that the northern Manitoba port has been working on for some time.

The Russian container ship Kapitan Sviridov has arrived from the northwestern Russian port of Murmansk, located on the Kola Peninsula near Finland, carrying a shipment of fertilizer for North American farmers.

The ship will now load 20,000 tonnes of wheat from the Canadian Wheat Board and bring it to Italy.

"This season has been an excellent demonstration of the possibilities for this northern port," said Mike Ogborn, managing director of OmniTRAX, which owns the port facility in Churchill.

[vid]

Why is Canada subsidizing our American competition?
By Dan Burgoyne, Thunder Bay | Friday, October 19, 2007 | The Chronicle-Journal | Letter to the Editor

I have noted with interest the feedback from Thunder Bay residents concerning the joint pledge of $40 million between the Manitoba and federal governments to repair the 1,300 km of railway that runs from The Pas to Churchill, Man. (letters, Oct. 17, 18)
This is the route used primarily by the Canadian Wheat Board to deliver produce and commodities for shipment through the Port of Churchill.
This promise of $40 million with another $3 million being allotted to increase storage at the grain handling facility in Churchill will certainly not bode well for the Port of Thunder Bay.
However, when I read the story (Chronicle-Journal Oct. 5) outlining the government‘s intentions to improve rail transportation and storage facilities at the Port of Churchill, it dawned on me how the article skirted around a very important piece of information.
The rail line, which is earmarked for $40 million that services Churchill, was purchased from the CNR in 1997 by a newly formed company, Hudson Bay Railway.
This railway is owned and operated by OmniTrax, Inc., one of North America‘s leading transportation services company with its headquarters in Denver, Colorado.
At the same time in 1997, OmniTrax also took over the operation and marketing of the Port of Churchill from the federal government‘s Department of Transport with the intent of running it privately.
Aren‘t the Canadian taxpayers generous when it comes to subsidizing American interests in Canada at the expense of their own well being?

[Greco Roman]

From The Sun today:

Manitoba wages grow slowest west of Que.

By SHANNON VANRAES, SUN MEDIA





We're making progress, but it's so slow it's hard to tell.
That's according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Manitoba, which released the work portion of its Manitoba Check-Up 2007 yesterday.
The study -- which looked at Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan -- indicates Manitoba has the lowest real wages of the five provinces, although wages in Manitoba did increase by .05% in 2006.
"I think certainly part of the reason we've been losing people to other provinces is because of the wage level here," said Gary Hannaford, CEO of the institute.
The real wage rate in Manitoba is $19.91, compared with $23.15 in Alberta. The Canadian average is $21.60.



Manitoba also showed the least job growth and lowest educational attainment rates among the five provinces examined in the study.
Hannaford believes the number of Manitobans leaving for other regions is also lowering the number of educated individuals in the province.
Heading to Alberta
Although 48,000 people received degrees in Manitoba between 2000 and 2005, that same period saw nearly 17,000 people leave the province, with 72% heading to Alberta.
The report also noted a shortage of skilled workers in Manitoba.
"What we're really trying to do is get some discussion and debate going," said Hannaford, adding copies of the report have been sent to the provincial NDP government, the Opposition Tories and many business organizations.
He said the best way to ensure growth and keep people in Manitoba is to ensure a strong economy.

[1ajs]

not sure if any are closing in peg city but still
HSBC Financial closing 30 Canadian branches

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 | 12:32 PM ET

CBC News


HSBC Financial Corp. Ltd. is shutting down 30 of its 140 small branches in Canada as it tightens credit and discontinues some of its lending business.
The closures on Oct. 31 will affect about 300 employees, some of whom will be moved to other jobs in the company.
Company spokesman Michael Edmonds said HSBC Financial is discontinuing its non-prime, broker-based mortgage services in Canada and is tightening its credit policies as part of a "repositioning."
The consumer finance firm, once known as HFC and Household Finance Corp., was acquired in 2003 by HSBC Group, one of the world's largest financial services companies.
Its business has included personal lines of credit, term loans and mortgages, including home equity loans. A subsidiary, HSBC Retail Services Ltd., also provides retail credit through a private-label credit card program.
The company said it has more than one million customers in Canada.

[vid]

HSBC just opened a new branch here. They put it at the intersection of two highways, nice and far away from people, so that they couldn't get to it.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by vid

HSBC just opened a new branch here. They put it at the intersection of two highways, nice and far away from people, so that they couldn't get to it.

Couldn't they use one of the two highways to get to it?

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by Andy6

Couldn't they use one of the two highways to get to it?

ya as a gost after you were plowed into by a semi

[wags_in_the_peg]

Russians take over at Versatile - New owner plans to double production at tractor plant

THE past, present and future of the last tractor factory in Canada were present on the shop floor at the Buhler Versatile plant in Fort Garry on Tuesday, marking the 50,000th four-wheel-drive tractor coming off the line.
Current owner John Buhler used the occasion to effectively pass the torch to the future owner, the Russian company Combine Factor Rostselmash Ltd., with Paul Soubry, the former long-time head of the Versatile tractor company, on hand.

The $145-million purchase of Buhler Industries by Rostselmash, the Russian harvester manufacturer, is set to close on Monday evening.

Officials from both sides say the deal is all but complete, with the money sitting in a Winnipeg lawyer's trust account and more than enough shares already locked into the deal.

Rostselmash has agreed to pay $7.25 a share for 80 per cent of the Buhler shares. The remaining float will continue to be traded on the TSX.

Buhler shares closed Tuesday at $6.85.

With the 240 plant and head office workers enjoying cake and coffee on the factory floor on Tuesday afternoon, most expressed optimism about the future of the company that has been making tractors in Winnipeg since 1966.

"We plan to continue operating the plant the same way, only with twice the volume," said Dimitry Lubimov, the 33- year-old Russian who will become president of Buhler Industries when the deal closes.

Buhler acquired Versatile in 2000 in a challenging deal that came about after previous owner New Holland merged with Case, another global agricultural equipment manufacturer.

Although the North American market for large tractors has struggled throughout much of this decade, the increase in commodity prices has provided a bit of a boost.

Buhler Versatile makes about 1,500 tractors a year (about 1,000 four-wheel drive and 500 two-wheel drive models).

Rostselmash has made it clear it intends to lever Buhler's dealer network in North America to try to introduce its combines and forage equipment into this market and use its own extensive network in Russia and Eastern Europe to sell Buhler tractors and other equipment into the European market.

In the takeover bid circular it is stated that Rostselmash's goal within the first year is to sell 500 Canadian built Buhler tractors in the Russian market, and then double this number within the next two years.

"If we can sell 400 tractors over there with about three people, their team should be able to sell 1,000," said John Buhler, who will effectively retire after 37 years of growing the business that will continue to bear his name. He said he will likely continue to hold some shares in the company, but suggested it wouldn't be right if he were to stick around after the deal closes.

"I'll still be on the sidelines," he said. "But the new owners know what they are doing. They made $45 million in profit last year, more than I ever made. I wouldn't have sold to them if I was not totally comfortable."

[wags_in_the_peg]

Buhler lends purchaser $50 million

NEAR the end of July the Russian company Rostselmash, a former Soviet-era combine manufacturer that survived privatization to control a substantial share of the Russian agricultural equipment market, made a formal offer to buy 80 per cent of Buhler Industries.

But the Russian company only had $95 million in cash available. Its first attempt to structure a deal with Buhler was to buy 51 per cent at $7.50 a share, with cash up front, and then acquire another 29 per cent at $7.25 a share over five years in four scheduled take-ups.

The market did not look favourably at the unusual configuration of the deal which one analyst referred to as "bizarre."

But John Buhler, founder, chairman and CEO of Buhler Industries, was convinced that Rostselmash was for real. Since Buhler and his family controlled 78 per cent of the shares of the company, he took it upon himself to help the Russian company find the cash needed to restructure the deal. It came down to Buhler lending the Russian company $50 million himself.

The president of Buhler Industries, Ossama AbouZeid, has a long history of doing business in Russia and he helped Rostselmash find proper security for the $50- million, five-year loan from Buhler (not wanting the loan to be secured by the Canadian assets the Russian company was buying).

Rostselmash eventually acquired a letter of credit for the $50 million from a large Russian bank which was "confirmed" by the Bank of Montreal.

[Greco Roman]

Another sun article:

Downtown Winnipeg a 'no-go zone,' says Empire Cabaret shooting victim
No security measures visible when he entered the club, man says
Last Updated: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 | 9:12 AM CT
CBC News
A Winnipeg man who was one of four people shot at the Empire Cabaret on the weekend is raising issues about security at the Exchange District club — and in Winnipeg's downtown in general.

In a matter of minutes, Scott Smith, 35, went from the dance floor to the emergency room early Sunday morning.

He had arrived at the club with a half-dozen friends celebrating a birthday just 20 minutes before the shooting began at about 2 a.m. at the upscale Main Street club.

"I just saw a flash, and a bang and then another bang, and my girlfriend was saying to get down and I couldn't get down, I thought someone was standing on my foot. The poor girl beside me, I think I shoved her pretty good because I thought she was on my foot," he said.

"I looked down and there was blood shooting out the side of my foot … and the blood was pouring out the bottom of my foot like a fountain."

A bullet tore through the side of Smith's foot and exited out the bottom. Bullet fragments remain in his shattered foot, and he underwent surgery Tuesday night to deal with an infection.

Continue Article

Smith was on a stretcher and on his way to the hospital within minutes of the shooting.

'Didn't see any security'
On Monday, a spokesperson for the Empire Cabaret told news media that the bar regularly pats down club-goers and checks their identification. The club has a "fully-functioning, state-of-the-art" metal detector in place, the club said.

But Smith said he didn't see any evidence of those security measures when his group arrived at the club Saturday night.

"I didn't see any security. I was not frisked. There was no metal detectors. I didn't see any bouncers or security until I'm actually on the stretcher going out," he said.

"There was no security at the front door. The only person that I saw at that time, when we had walked in, was a girl taking money for cover charge, and that was it."

Clubs should improve their security to prevent the same thing happening to others, he said.

"There has to be, I think, better measures taken in the bars so guns cannot get in there," he said. "If the guns aren't there, the worst thing you'll have to worry about is a black eye."

Officials with the Empire Cabaret say the club plans to increase security this weekend, including turning on their security cameras, which were not operating at the time of Sunday's shooting.

'Downtown area is a no-go zone'
Smith recently moved back to Winnipeg after living for 10 years in Massachusetts. The city has changed in the years he's been gone, he said, but in some ways it's been slow to adapt to the changes.

"It seems the city, as much as it's changed, a lot of it has stayed the same. It's still a big city with a small-town attitude — which I love — but now we're getting that big-city influence of whether it's gangs, I'm hearing, or guns in the bar," he said.

"When I was living here, you didn't hear about guns in a bar, guns going off. The worst thing you had to worry about was seeing a fistfight and someone else jumping in. Maybe a knife here and there. But now you hear about these guns. It just seems there's too many guns. And you can't win a fight against a gun."

The shooting has changed the way he feels about Winnipeg and the city's downtown area, he said.

"In Boston, we have 'no-go zones.' You know not to go here. In New York, there's areas you don't go. I lived in [Washington,] D.C., you don't go here. It seems in Winnipeg, the downtown area is a no-go zone," he said.

A 41-year-old woman and two other men, both 32 years old, were also injured in the Empire Cabaret shooting. As of Tuesday, one other victim was still in hospital.

Police have not identified any suspects, but investigators believe the gun was fired during a fight between two groups of men in the club.

None of the victims was involved in the altercation, police said.

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Well, he needs to come to downtown Edmonton and Calgary; you get the same "bang" for your buck.

[vid]

Originally Posted by Andy6

Couldn't they use one of the two highways to get to it?

Yes, but they can't take a bus, or bike, or walk to it, because walking and biking are prohibited in that area, and buses don't go anywhere near there.

I call it the "Let's run away from the customers and hide in the bush by the road" approach to capitalism. It's quite hilarious.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by vid

Yes, but they can't take a bus, or bike, or walk to it, because walking and biking are prohibited in that area, and buses don't go anywhere near there.

I call it the "Let's run away from the customers and hide in the bush by the road" approach to capitalism. It's quite hilarious.

If it doesn't work, obviously the location will close and the problem will solve itself. I think your fear is that it will work and thereby confirm the obvious fact that most people don't really want to bike to their bank and that Thunder Bay is not destined to become some sort of Paris or Amsterdam of civilized walkability anytime soon.

[newflyer]

Booming Boeing seeks new building in city


Fri Oct 19 2007

By Martin Cash



Ted S. Warren / the associated press
The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner has helped boost production at the Winnipeg facilities.


THE new Boeing 787 Dreamliner is such a success that Boeing's Winnipeg operations are full to the rafters and looking for more space.
The aerospace company's Winnipeg composite parts plant -- the largest aerospace composite parts plant in the country -- has produced a feasibility study to lease another building in Winnipeg and is waiting for approval from head office in Chicago to proceed.

A company official said if it gets the go-ahead, the new building will be sought before the end of the year. No other details were disclosed.

The company has about 600,000 square feet of space at its Murray Industrial Park location and another leased building on Saskatchewan Avenue.

But with 1,400 people on staff, the 35-year-old plant is bursting at the seams. Company officials have said those staffing levels represent maximum capacity at the plant.

Boeing spokeswoman Terry Trupp said the new space is being sought for additional production capacity.
The need to expand is evidence the Winnipeg plant is not being adversely affected by the recently announced six-month delay in delivery of the first 787, originally scheduled to be delivered to All Nippon Air in May 2008, but now pushed back to November or December 2008.

The first flight for Boeing's first new plane this century -- which features 50 per cent of its parts built with carbon composites rather than aluminum to decrease the weight and increase fuel efficiency -- was originally scheduled for this fall, but has been pushed back to sometime before the end of March.

With 710 orders already on the books worth about $115 billion, company officials said the delay in delivering the first planes off the Everett, Wash., assembly line will not affect the aerospace giant's earnings forecast for the year.

Winnipeg is a Tier I supplier of wing-to-body fairings, the main landing gear doors and the vertical fin fairing for the 787 and a Tier II supplier of composite shear ties and forward and aft pylons to Dallas-based Vought.

Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace industry analyst at the Washington, D.C.-area Teal Group, said production schedules at the Winnipeg plant have had nothing to do with the delay in 787 production.

The 787 is being manufactured by integrating parts that have been designed and built by several major suppliers from around the world, including Boeing Canada Technology in Winnipeg. Aboulafia said a significant component of the delay has been on the software front.

"The Everett plant is short on some of the parts like fasteners and castings, but I think that stuff is dwarfed by software challenges," he said.

Vic Gerden, executive director of the Manitoba Aerospace Association, said the 787 production has been a complex undertaking. "Integrating sub-systems from all sorts of third-party suppliers is a formula that has not be used before," he said.

Earlier this week, Boeing replaced its senior executive in charge of the 787 and said it still expects to meet production runs of 109 planes by the end of 2009.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca