Sharing Our Succcess Stories from Across Cape Breton
Elevate magazine was launched with the objective of broadening and enhancing perceptions of Cape Breton’s business community and social-economic characteristics. The magazine aims to provide insight into the diverse people, enterprises, ideas, and happenings that illustrate the progressive, changing nature of our communities across Cape Breton and Mulgrave. The type and degree of economic diversification that’s occurring within our region and the change in attitudes are giving rise to new confidence in the future. Each new edition of the magazine provides examples of how the narrative is changing in respect of Cape Breton, its potential, and our transition to a more modern service and knowledge-based economy.
In keeping with its objective, the 2016 editions of Elevate magazine highlighted business successes and shared stories to illustrate the entrepreneurial and innovative nature of the many people helping to shape a new economy. Feature stories ranged from growing global recognition of Cape Breton as a place to visit and vacation to cutting edge ventures in the ICT-digital sector. Readers were given insight into the growing impact of the creative economy with features on the Celtic Colours International Festival, the Gaelic College, and select artisans whose products are commanding export market share from North America and beyond.
Cape Breton’s history is entwined with the sea, therefore, it’s not surprising that it plays a significant role in the growth of our collective economic future. Like so many of today’s industries, the extraction, processing and marketing of seafood is being reshaped by digital forces. In part, that’s why, in 2016, Elevate’s readership took such interest in a story on Louisbourg Seafoods’ Sea ++ initiative. It was an excellent illustration of how innovation is driving new approaches to enhancing the value of Cape Breton’s vitally important seafood industry.
Every now and then otherwise ordinary steps taken in marketing and promotion produce a bounty of unintended social and economic consequences. That’s why Elevate opted, in 2016, to take readers inside the story of the Cape Breton’s Trump Bump and environmental remediation at the former Sydney Tar Ponds. Both impacted Cape Breton in ways that could not have been imagined and demonstrate the considerable potential of novel creative thinking and the industry expertise that exists within our region.
Enhanced community perception is giving rise to growing optimism, sense of purpose, and confidence in our future. Throughout the Island there are signs of change, growing recognition of the value and benefit of entrepreneurship, and increasing success harnessing and applying the power of digital technologies in new products and in key economic sectors and industries, both traditional and new.
The Cape Breton narrative is changing and Elevate is just one of several products working to move the needle in this regard. Enhanced community perception is giving rise to growing optimism, sense of purpose, and confidence in our future. Throughout the Island there are signs of change, growing recognition of the value and benefit of entrepreneurship, and increasing success harnessing and applying the power of digital technologies in new products and in key economic sectors and industries, both traditional and new. Cape Breton has momentum and its building. There are many stories waiting to be told and in 2017, Elevate magazine will share them with you. In the process, I hope, community self-awareness will continue to grow and with it the vigor and ingenuity with which Cape Breton responds to the exciting opportunities ahead.
Cape Breton Island Building & Construction Trades Council strengthens the economy, builds skills, and gives back to the community
By Erin Elaine Casey
The Cape Breton Island Building & Construction Trades Council might be the biggest local organization you’ve never heard of.
But many Cape Breton residents have felt the positive effects of their efforts. Just last fall, carpenters responded to the Thanksgiving Day flood by holding a barbeque to raise money for Brookland School, which sustained devastating damage. The union doubled the money raised at the event and bought school supplies for the displaced students.
And the Trade Council’s contribution to the economy is even more profound. With roughly 3,500 to 4,200 individual members at any given time, the Trades Council is involved in almost every major construction project in Cape Breton, from new builds to improvements in schools, hospitals, recreation facilities, and transportation and energy infrastructure. The Trades Council plays a major role in building the economy, helps ensure the health and safety of its members, and gives back to the community through charitable donations and volunteering.
Jack Wall has been President of the Trades Council for four years. He’s also the business manager and financial secretary for the Sheet Metal Workers’ and Roofers International Association Local 56.
“The Council was organized just about 50 years ago this upcoming spring of 2017,” he explains. “It was designed to help the construction industries, along with the Nova Scotia Construction Labour Relations Association (CLRA), have peace on the job, so you wouldn’t have two or three different unions going out on strike. The Cape Breton Council is the only multi-trades union in the region — we have 15 unions under one umbrella. We all negotiate together.”
Wall notes that Trades Council members are involved in 90 to 95 per cent of all commercial and industrial work in Cape Breton. This includes the Emera Newfoundland & Labrador Maritime Link project at Woodbine, an electrical transmission system integrating the Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador systems; the Donkin coal mine reopening; and the newly complete Membertou Sport and Wellness Centre.
“We’re also in talks right now with Bear Head LNG to come up with an agreement for that project. That could employ a significant number of tradespeople — anywhere from 800 to 1,600 is quite possible,” says Wall.
Membership in the Trades Council includes tradespeople and apprentices from every skilled trade: sheet metal fabricators, roofers, bricklayers, carpenters, electrical workers, insulators, ironworkers, millwrights, labourers, operating engineers, painters, plumbers, steamfitters, pipefitters, boilermakers, elevator constructors, teamsters, and more.
The Trades Council maintains two collective agreements: one commercial and one industrial. Every three or four years, the unions get together and work with the CLRA, which represents all unionized contractors in Nova Scotia, to start the bargaining. “Our member unions come up with issues important to them, submit them, and we go through them all. Whatever articles everyone agrees on are brought forth,” says Wall. In addition to the main body of the agreements, each union has its own appendix to reflect different skills, safety training, and concerns.
“It works very well,” says Wall, “because contractors only have to negotiate one time — not 15 times. Everybody wins.”
Clayton Bartlett is Special Projects Manager for Roclan, a division of Dora Construction, a contractor specializing in larger projects like the North Sydney Marine Terminal and the new Sydney fire station. “We have an advantage because we deal with every union at once,” he says. “I think it benefits everyone here.”
“I’ve invested a lot of years in the construction industry and the building trades are a big part of my history,” Clayton continues. “I have never had an issue with the building trades that couldn’t be solved in a cordial and respectful manner. It would be safe to say that I would consider many of them as friends.”
Jack Wall is extremely proud of the working relationships between the Trades Council unions and the contractors they deal with. “If a contractor calls me and they need something, I try to help,” he says. “That happens all the time with our contractors. That’s the kind of relationship we have with them. And tomorrow they might call me and need three people who need certain qualifications — and I’ll get those people trained and get them on the job site by Monday.”
The Trades Council also supports advanced skills training and upgrading for its membership, and supports individual unions in ensuring that tradespeople get the training they need to be employable. Union locals are involved with Apprenticeship Nova Scotia, supporting apprentices either as graduates from community college or if they enter directly into the workforce. It usually takes three or four years to complete the education and 6,000 to 8,000 apprenticeship hours needed to earn your Red Seal certification. “All the locals go above and beyond to look after their members for trades training,” says Wall. Many have their own training centres and work with the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) and the province of Nova Scotia.
And don’t forget safety. “We spend a lot of money for safety training. A lot!” says Wall. “Hundreds of thousands of dollars if you were to add it all together every year. We individually bring the member in and figure out what they need. Contractors are responsible for this, but we try to help the contractor out and make the member more employable. We don’t want to send a member out to a job without the proper training. Some of the contractors help pay for this, and for some of the unions it’s over and above what the contractor offers.”
The Trades Council doesn’t just work for its members. They also support many community groups and projects. They’ve been a major sponsor for the Cape Breton Tradesmen hockey team for over 12 years, in partnership with the Cape Breton unionized contractors. They were also the original backers for Cape Breton’s dragon boat team, the Cape Breastoners. “They needed a boat, so many years ago we gave them money to help buy a boat and uniforms. That was very fulfilling for us, because they’re still going strong. The contractors have come on board with this as well. We’ve been sponsoring the dragon boat festival together for the last eight to ten years,” says Wall.
In the last two years, Wall and local radio personality Tashia Lee have raised more than $10,000 for the Salvation Army red kettle campaign by visiting all the local building trades unions for donations.
“Every building trades union in Cape Breton is constantly sponsoring local events, and especially for kids we jump on board,” says Jack. The union locals also make substantial donations to projects like the Northside Community Forum, Inverness Hospital, and Cape Breton Regional Hospital Foundation.
The benefits of keeping local people working are easy to see. Not only do Cape Breton tradespeople enjoy the privilege of earning a living here at home, but the money they earn stays here in Cape Breton, supporting families and circulating in the local economy. “For every hour they work,” says Wall, “they’re donating money back into the neighbourhood and the community. Sometimes, it’s two- or threefold. The Trades Council is a really nice example of how labour and business can work together.”
Nova Scotia Works expands services throughout the region
By David Pretty
Back in November of 2015, the Nova Scotia government began working with local service providers to bring sweeping changes to the province’s $23-million employment services system. Eleven months later, Nova Scotia Works was launched to provide better accessibility and innovative resources for job seekers, youth, and business owners alike.
This new re-implementation provides many new resources including additional front line staff, more focused career counselling for young people, helping businesses overcome staffing challenges, increasing accessibility for job seekers with specialized challenges and promotes long-term professional development.
And while the program’s overall budget remains the same, this new alignment cuts infrastructure and administrative costs by twenty-six percent. As a result, more front line staff have been retained and additional savings are going towards improving client services, helping business owners and creating school outreach programs.
According to Jane Orrell, Executive Director of service provider EmployAbility Partnership, this new direction was a logical move.
“The Nova Scotia Department of Labour and Advanced Education looked at what was working and saw the value in expanding these services throughout the region.”
To ensure that all areas of the region have access to these new services, some organizational changes were required.
“We had eight agreement holders in Cape Breton and we now have three,” Orrell points out. “This includes Marilyn Ruelland with the Cape Breton Y.M.C.A. who has offices in Sydney, New Waterford, and Glace Bay as well as Charlie MacLellan with North Side Employment and Resource Centre, which has sites in North Sydney, Baddeck and Ingonish. We’re working very closely together to roll out all aspects of the delivery of the program’s new framework.”
MacLellan is quick to note that established services will continue uninterrupted but with enhanced options for clients.
“In the past we’d refer clients with disabilities to the EmployAbility Project because they had additional resources and funding to assist those clients,” he says. “But now with this new model we have additional staff to serve all clients as well as the funding for adaptive technology, disability supports, educational assessments, and additional tools to assist clients with their job search.”
And with 62% of job seekers in Cape Breton going to the Y.M.C.A. centres for help, this new structure is a blessing for Marilyn Ruelland.
“The new framework has increased our front line staff, enabling us to better serve the high number
of clients visiting our sites,” she says.
Orrell points out that the majority of employees brought on board would have been displaced from organizations that are no longer provincial agreement holders.
“We’re excited to bring that expertise back and have those individuals continue to offer the same great service that they were providing under a different provider.”
She goes on to say that additional training will ensure that staff will be better equipped than ever to address the specialized needs of clients; an improvement that’s vital to Marilyn Ruelland.
“Certified Career Counsellors now possess credentials to work with multi-barriered clients,
enabling us to best serve those that are most in need of our assistance,” she observes.
Another key focus is the concept of universal design, which strives to provide facilities and resources that are equally intuitive for everyone. Although Orrell admits that assessing the universal design in close to thirty locations across the province is a huge effort, the end result will be rewarding.
“We want it so that a visually impaired or blind person can go to any resource centre in the province and do their job search the same way that everybody else does.”
In addition to retaining the features that clients have come to rely on, Orrell reveals new innovations in the form of “Employer Engagement Specialists”. These highly-specialized staff are tasked to proactively help local business owners research government programs and resources, an endeavor that Orrell says can be “cumbersome and time consuming”. It’s a strategy that’s already paying dividends.
“An Employer Engagement Specialist recently approached a local businessman who was unaware of the many programs, supports and incentives offered to Nova Scotia businesses,” Orrell relates. “After determining his business needs we assisted him with recruitment, wage subsidy incentives, and employee training opportunities. By utilizing our services, he now has more staff and new locations.”
MacLellan agrees that this is a “great addition to our menu of services.”
“The ability to liaise with employers on a full-time basis has already borne dividends in the five months since the Employer Engagement Specialists position was created,” he says. “Closer ties to businesses is a win-win situation for both the employers and job seekers.”
Orrell is equally enthused about several brand new initiatives, including transition programs for people with criminal records, “virtual services” which allow clients to remotely participate in seminars at other sites as well as a host of innovative youth services.
“We’ll be going into the schools and providing individuals with accurate labour market information so they’re not exiting the school system without a plan,” she says.
This, Orrell believes, will “have an impact on the number of youth that are leaving our province.”
All of these features add up to a decidedly-positive direction for Nova Scotia Works.
“It’s probably one of the best frameworks that I’ve seen with respect to employment service delivery,” Orrell enthuses. “We’re really excited about it.”
For Charlie MacLellan, it’s all about the program’s newfound flexibility to help clients find employment.
“We no longer have to worry if something is in our mandate or jurisdiction. We now have the funding and staff to access clients, businesses, employers, and schools. It’s more of a holistic approach to the art of matching employers with employees, helping people find good jobs and businesses find reliable and skilled employees.”
It’s this standard of exceptional service that’s most important to Marilyn Ruelland.
“The new framework sees employment services being offered in an inclusive and consistent
manner across the province. As a long-standing, inclusive resource centre, it’s refreshing to see that all centres are now positioned as mainstream, multi-functional organizations servicing all Nova Scotians.”
Locations where you can access Nova Scotia Works resources:
Northside Economic Development Assistance Corporation (NEDAC)
North Sydney
105 King Street
902-794-7213
jobshop@nedac.ca
Ingonish
36243 Cabot Trail
PO Box 233
902-285-2696
Derrick.hawley@nsaliantzinc.ca
EmployAbility Association of Cape Breton
Sydney
500 George Street, Suite 250
902-539-0404
Jmacdonald.employability@gmail.com
Port Hawkesbury
811 Reeves Street, Unit 6
902-625-0001
Chéticamp
15122 Cabot Trail
902-224-2117
maucoin.employability@gmail.com
Inverness
15792 Central Avenue
902-258-3513
lmacdonald.employability@gmail.com
st. Peter’s
10036 Grenville Street
902-625-0001
pproctor.employability@gmail.com
Petit De Grat
3433 Route 206
902-625-0001
pproctor.employability@gmail.com
YMCA Employment Resource Centre
Sydney
399 Charlotte Street
902-564-9151
rescourcecentre@cbymca.com
Glace Bay
106 Reeves Street
902-849-5500
resourcecentregb@cbymca.com
New Waterford
479 Heelan Street
902-862-8856
resourcecentre@cbymca.com
NuStar Energy’s Guiding Principals
Contributed by the Cape Breton Partnership
NuStar Energy, like any business, works to increase success in their operations and continued growth to provide strong return for their investors. Every day NuStar puts their employees and their communities at the very top of their priority list. Proudly displayed as the first message on the homepage of the company’s website; “We are in the business of caring for our employees, our customers, our investors and our communities.” The multinational company is guided by its mission to further develop its number one asset, their employees. For NuStar, a vital component of that process encourages employee engagement.
NuStar Energy is one of the largest independent liquid terminal and pipeline operators in the United States. With operations here in Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, including St. Eustatius in the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and Turkey, NuStar is a name that is recognized around the world. The Point Tupper Terminal provides the storage and transshipment of crude oil and petroleum products as well as blending of crude oils, fuel oils and gasoline. NuStar’s services support the world’s largest producers of crude oil, integrated oil companies, oil traders, refiners, petrochemical companies, and ship owners.
The Point Tupper Terminal employs 70 full-time people from the local community, as well as an additional 80 contract employees. These employees and contractors have a range of expertise in areas required for an industrial workspace including, welders, pipefitters, mechanics, electricians, instrumentation technicians, millwrights, insulators, power engineers and skilled labourers. There is also a Marine Services Division of the workforce that is made up of engineers and personnel with specialized training in emergency oil spill response. Additionally, there is an important administration team that consists of office administration, IT, engineering, accounting, occupational health and safety, and business management professionals. Each of these people play an important role in the act of giving back to the community, a role that NuStar has engrained in their corporate culture. The virtue of respect for the environment, their workers, and community is a part of the daily work practice at NuStar.
As the company grows so has their commitment to the regions where they are located. “Taking a leadership role in our communities is included in NuStar’s mission statement just as ‘Making a difference in your job and your community’ is number four on our list of guiding principles,” said Chelsy MacEachern, Human Resources Advisor with NuStar Energy – Point Tupper Terminal. “Our partnership and our employees take great pride in giving back and building a brighter future for our neighbours by contributing time, talent, money and other resources to hundreds of community initiatives each year.”
Volunteers within the company are known as “NuStar Superstars” because they spend many hours of their personal and professional time serving their communities. “In 2015 alone, NuStar employees contributed nearly 90,000 volunteer hours companywide to charitable and civic causes in the communities where the company has operations,” reports Chelsy.
The company has actually been recognized with dozen of awards for its volunteerism, philanthropy, track record of growth, commitment to safety excellence and great corporate culture. NuStar is currently ranked as number 26 on FORTUNE’s ‘100 best Companies to Work for’ list.
NuStar has a companywide employee giving campaign that is promoted across all levels of the organization. Employees who work at the Point Tupper Terminal are encouraged to donate to the United Way of Cape Breton or a charity of their choice through a payroll deduction, NuStar will match all employee donations by 50 per cent.
“In the past 10 years Point Tupper employees, with NuStar’s match of employee donations, have contributed over $600,000 to the United Way of Cape Breton and charities of choice for employees to help those in need in our communities, says Chelsy. “The Terminal hosts an annual Charity Golf Classic which has donated over $425,000 for local charities in the past six years. In 2016 the tournament raised over $80,000 for the Nova Scotia chapter of the Children’s Wish Foundation.”
NuStar’s mission embraces their responsibility as a community pillar and has built an inclusive culture that revolves around the company’s nine guiding principles of: safety; integrity; commitment; make a difference; teamwork; respect; communication; excellence; and pride.
Chelsy was also quick to add, “[w]e are very proud of NuStar employees and their commitment to running our operations safely and efficiently, as well as being outstanding community stewards, it is the key to our success.”
Marcato Goes Global
Contributed by the Cape Breton Partnership
The key to creating a successful product or business is to first identify a problem or gap within a particular industry, and then by using resources at your disposal and adding a little creativity, you can develop an innovative solution. The most important part of any entrepreneur’s problem solving process is ensuring their solution is both accessible to potential customers and profitable. Marcato co-founders Darren Gallop and Morgan Currie have accomplished just that. They successfully established their company becoming world-class leaders within their niche market, the event management industry.
Marcato Digital Solutions essentially builds festival management software, over the years the company expanded to cater to a diverse group of clients that manage massive amounts of logistics management. Darren and Morgan’s team have developed a web-based platform with a series of custom packages that give their clients the ability to organize all of the behind the scenes elements of an event including accommodations, transportation, volunteers, security, vendors, etc. that go into a major festival, conference or event.
Darren’s original idea for Marcato was going to be a tour management platform, which was derived from his experience in 2006 managing a roster of artists and dealing with the logistical side of their travel and press. The idea grew when Morgan, who was developing a similar product in his role with Celtic Colours was pulled into the mix.
As the idea for the business started to take shape in 2007 and 2008, Morgan and Darren were able to narrow down their product by combining their respective logistical experience managing a tour and planning a festival.
“There was more appetite in the festival space that had people wanting to spend money to solve logistics problems,” said Darren Gallop, Founder and CEO of Marcato. “So we just focused on the festival space initially, and then a couple of years ago we started broadening out to other types of events not just music festivals.”
Fast forward to 2017 and Marcato now has clients in 27 different countries. Their applications are being used to manage over 200 world class organizations, including some recognizable festivals and events like Coachella, Osheaga, CMA Fest, Iceland Airwaves, X Games, Pride Toronto, the CMA Awards, and many more.
Technology is the foundation on which Marcato was born. Darren and his team capitalize on their ability to embrace change in order to follow industry trends and stay relevant.
“We have used the evolution of technology to our advantage,” says Darren. “The job descriptions of people planning events has evolved and has required them to start thinking more creatively. There are a lot more responsibilities and expectations that you didn’t have before and there are a lot more requirements to generate an overall positive experience for your attendees.”
Marcato operates as a problem solving machine, providing support to their clients who work in high stress, fast paced environments. Most times support is provided through in house mediums like phone calls, email, skype, etc. However, for some of the bigger events organizers will pay for a special service that has Marcato representatives onsite ready to help in critical moments.
Marcato has 16 people on staff, most of whom are under the age of 40, something which Darren is proud to acknowledge.
“We don’t recruit with the intention of hiring young people, we are looking for talent, but the reality is that the age bracket and what we see in applications shows an imbalance between younger and older people,” explains Darren. “The people that are willing to work really hard and long hours and that understand and follow current trends on software, social media and website design typically are young people.”
So why is it important for Marcato to provide work for young people? “Ultimately, it’s more like we really need young people. We need people in their 20s who are fresh and eager. But we also need people in their 30s and 40s who still have that drive, but also have that experience and know what they are doing. We need that diversity and I think going forward this company, and a lot of others need that balance.”
2017 is expected to be a big year for Marcato with festival season just around the corner and with the recent launch of a new upgrade to their programming called, Marcato Live. Festival season kicks off with Coachella, a massive festival that takes place over two weekends in April, from there the festival line up just keeps going straight through until late fall.
Darren also acknowledges that geographically, Marcato is ideally set up in the Atlantic Time Zone so they can serve most of their clients in a fairly normal work day. By utilizing technology and making themselves accessible, it doesn’t matter if Marcato is based here in Cape Breton, or across the ocean in London. What matters is how customers access the product and how Marcato delivers their service.
“It wasn’t as much of a choice [to start a business in Cape Breton], it was more that we were already living here. If I am thinking of doing something, I am never thinking of where I need to move to do that,” says Darren. “I think that decision to live here is because we were living here, the business was an afterthought for us. It was never we are starting this company where is the best place to do that, it’s we live in Cape Breton, let’s start a company.”