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August 13, 2008
Chamber News
The Chamber may be taking a summer siesta from board
meetings but we’re always open to invitations. Keep
looking out for regular issues of E-News, which will
continue to bring our members up to speed with current
and emerging business issues in West Hants. The Business
Events calendar, report on memberships and other regular
sections will resume in September. We wish you a
prosperous and productive summer as you soak up some
warmth and good ‘ol down home summertime fun with your
family and friends.
Special congratulations to the organizing committee for
this year’s Sam Slick Festival, for pulling together
when times got tough, and for working so hard to
entertain us all. Keep up the great work!
West Hants
and Area News
Anniversary Wishes
Happy Birthday to the Canadian Dollar Store on Wentworth
Road which celebrates their 4th anniversary on August
13th. Store Manager Rachael Pitt says that with some
competition closing around her location recently, she’s
noticed a distinct rise in business already. “It is
unfortunate way for it to happen, though,” she said.
“With all the closures, we hope we can make it to five!”
Big wheels keep on turning
Transforming a century-old industrial centre into a
chic, modern shopping experience in Windsor is certainly
proving not to be a run of the mill experience. As
speculation in the business community grows regarding
Mill Island’s opening, the company’s co-owners Kevin
Keefe and Terry Hines might take a little comfort in the
golden rule of PR buzz: better people talk about you
than not at all. “I appreciate everyone’s concern,” said
Hines.” I hear the rumours too, and I can confirm they
are not true.” Those would be the rumours about a
pending closure following two liens totalling nearly
$650,000 being issued on the Mill Island property last
month. Hines assured E-News, and the West Hants business
community, that there are no locks on the doors and
development is still very much underway, just behind
closed doors for now. “We did recently reduce work for
the small team of masons, but only for the time being,”
said Hines, indicating most of their work repointing the
bricks on the 125- year old textiles building is
complete. “We’ll bring them back when the rest of it is
ready to be finished.” When asked about the current hold
up, Hines explains the situation sounding as if he’s
been through the mill himself. “We are experiencing
delays, but I think we finally may be on the other side
of them,” he says optimistically. It started, said
Hines, with not being pleased with the results of the
engineering firm Mill Island Ltd. had originally hired.
“It has taken us awhile to make sure we handled their
replacement properly,” said Hines. “Now, some things are
best left to lawyers to sort out.” Derrick Kimball of
Kimball Brogan in Wolfville is listed as the recognized
agent for the company. Neill and Gunter, formerly a
mid-size NB firm with offices in Fredericton and
Burnside, was originally hired to provide mechanical
engineering for the heating and air conditioning
systems. The firm was then bought out by Edmonton-based
Confederation Bridge engineering firm Stantec in August
2007, which Hines said didn’t help. “So we’re not even
dealing with the same people there,” he said. “But
fortunately, we still have the confidence of many of our
original line up of tenants, we’re able to interview for
other engineering firms, and we are planning to open the
brewery in the near future.” Stantec, with over 9,000
employees in over 120 offices throughout North America,
is represented by law firm Stewart McKelvey. The second
lien was imposed by Titan Construction Services, who is
represented by Crowe Dillon Robinson. Both firms are
based in Halifax Regional Municipality.
[Source: Avondale Media]
Turbine showcase on track
Turbine has scheduled their 8th annual showcase of fall
fashion and jewellery designs for 7:00 pm, Saturday
October 25th at the Via Rail Station in Halifax. CTV's
Liz Rigney will host this evening of “fabulous” which
includes a live performance by the lounge group, Tom
Collins, tasty treats by “It’s All Greek to Me”, cash
bar, silent auction of regional fine art and of course
the unveiling of 300+ new pieces from Turbine's Fall
Collection. The net proceeds from this annual event are
donated to various women's and children's charities via
The Turbine Fund. This year Alice Housing, a Halifax
area organization supporting women who are transitioning
out of abusive situations, was chosen.
When asked about holding the event in Halifax this year,
owner Lisa Drader-Murphy told E-News she likes to switch
things up in an attempt to accommodate the requests of
their clientele, a large percentage of which are in HRM.
“We will certainly bring it back to Windsor in the
future as we were grateful for the support of the
members of this community,” she said. “ We hope that
those from our community who began to support our event
and charities when it took place in Windsor will
continue to do so and join us in Halifax at the Via Rail
Station this year.” In holding the Showcase event in
Halifax for the 5 years prior to hosting it here,
Turbine was given the opportunity to promote Windsor as
a destination for Haligonians, “and we will do so again
at this year’s event,” added Lisa. Tickets are $40 each
and corporate tables seating eight are available for
$320. Call the Turbine Studio at 902-798-3966 to
purchase your tickets, for information, and incentives
for tables and sponsorships. Must be 19 years of age or
older to attend.
www.turbine.ca
Minas Basin defends non-disclosure
Allnovascotia.com reported last week that Hantsport-based
Minas Basin Holdings is going to court to prevent a
minority shareholder from looking at financial
statements of its subsidiaries. The company insists that
disclosure of the statements will damage the competitive
position of the company and its more than 30
subsidiaries. These subsidiaries include Minas Basin
Pulp & Paper, Scotia Investments, Avon Valley
Greenhouses, Maritime Paper Products, Scotia Recycling,
Crown Fibre Tube and Annapolis Group. While one section
of the Companies Act requires a company to keep copies
of its subsidiaries’ financial statements at its
registered office for shareholders to view free of
charge during normal business hours, another section of
the act allows companies to go to court within 15 days
of a request to demonstrate the disclosure would be
detrimental. The minority shareholder named in the
affidavit is Paul Bryant, a former Canadian Tire
associate. Bryant has not yet filed a defence. [Source:
Allnovascotia.com]
West Hants Tender Announcement
Public Works invites tenders for the repair of a
sinkhole including reinstatement of road and municipal
services on Cole Drive Extension, Windsor to be
completed during fall 2008. Tender Forms are available
at the Municipal Complex, #76 Morison Drive,
Windsor-West Hants Industrial Park, Windsor; Nova Scotia
during normal office hours, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.,
Monday to Friday. Tender Forms are also available by
email in PDF format, send requests to
pwadmin@westhants.ca
Contract # 081027. Sealed tenders must be received no
later than 2:00 p.m. Thursday, August 28, 2008. Late
tenders will be returned unopened.
East Hants Request for Qualifications
The East Hants Municipality is seeking statements of
interest and qualifications from general contractors for
the opportunity to construct its new municipal building
to be located in Lantz. The Municipality is seeking only
to generate a short-list of contractors for the present
time. Details of the project are pending release later
this month or September by the project’s architect, SP
Dumaresq Architect Limited. Interested firms may obtain
the RFQ from the East Hants Municipality by contacting
Connie Nolan, (902) 758-1800. To read the original
request ad, please visit
website. The
deadline for submissions is August 19th at 2:00 pm which
will be recorded in a log book and publicly opened that
afternoon. Sealed submissions should be sent to
Municipality of East Hants, 2361 Highway #2, Milford, NS
B0N 1Y0 for the attention of Krista Dewey, Director of
Administration.
School Board Tender
The Annapolis Valley Regional School Board is inviting
bids on the interior and some exterior renovations to
West Hants Middle School on Highway #14 in Brooklyn. The
tender closes August 26, 2008. For packages, please
contact Trish Rafuse, Procurement Buyer,
(902) 538-4753.
Who else is hiring?
Windsor
and area
Kentville and area
Regional and
National Headlines
Produce local produce
Concerned Kings County citizens took their promotion of
food security and supporting local farmers and produce
to the major grocery retailers last week led by
Councillor. Wayne Atwater. About a dozen concerned
citizens rallied at Sobeys in New Minas, last Thursday
to persuade the chain to carry more local produce.
Greenwich resident Audrey Haig-Stewart said the catalyst
for the rally was the fact that Sobeys has a special on
Ontario corn when there isn’t an ear of locally-grown
Nova Scotian or Valley corn to be found on the shelves.
She said the price on the Ontario corn is reduced to the
point that our local producers are finding it difficult
to compete in the peak of the season. “It’s an unfair
advantage,” she said. “We have to support our local
producers as consumers.” Atwater, who served on the
provincial Select Nova Scotia committee, has been
publicly calling on the major grocery retailers to carry
more local produce for years. He said all the concerned
citizens are asking for is to have the major retailers
supply some shelf space for local produce to give
consumers a choice and so local producers at least have
an opportunity to access the market. “Now you buy
Ontario corn or nothing,” Atwater said. He suggests
having the major retailers clearly mark Ontario corn as
a product of Ontario and carry Nova Scotian corn,
clearly marked as Nova Scotia corn. “People would
probably pay a little more for local,” Atwater said,
pointing out the difference in the carbon footprint
between transporting produce all the way from Ontario
compared to farms 20 minutes down the road. “Give our
farmers the opportunity,” he said.
Sobeys communications
director Jill Thomas Myrick said Sobeys has proudly
supported local producers for more than 100 years and
they continue to do so. In Atlantic Canada alone, they
purchase about $400 million in locally produced food
annually, more than any other retailer. She said they’re
continually seeking opportunities to support local
producers and they welcome the opportunity to work with
them. “If we have a choice, we will always buy local
first, as long as our key requirements are met,” she
said, pointing out that the procurement requirements are
in place so they can continue to satisfy the
expectations of customers. These requirements include
food safety and quality, consistent and reliable supply
and competitive prices. Regarding the corn, she said
local producers in the Valley were contacted to
participate in the feature but were unable to meet the
supply required to meet demand. They like to give
advance notice of their promotions to local producers to
encourage participation. She said it’s important to note
that they will be featuring Valley corn in their stores
as enough supply becomes available. A visit to Sobeys in
Windsor this week reaped the corn from Ontario, but
hothouse tomatoes, turnip and broccoli from the
Annapolis Valley were available. These products were not
available at the Superstore on Cole Drive. On a related
note, Sobeys is also launching a province-wide campaign
with Irving in the next week to earn rebates on gas.
[Source: Kentville Advertiser, E-News]
Industry Minister gets the message
Canada's Industry Minister said he expressed "serious
concerns" in a meeting with Bell Mobility and TELUS
executives over their plans to charge consumers for
incoming text messages, but said he will not interfere
with the companies' day-to-day business decisions. "I
would encourage consumers dissatisfied with existing
plans to seek alternatives," said Jim Prentice in a
statement on Friday. He said he is concerned consumers
could be charged for unsolicited or unwanted spam text
messages, but was assured that customers charged for
spam could contact their service provider to have the
charges removed from their bills. Bell will charge
customers whose cellphone plans do not include text
messaging 15 cents for each incoming text message
starting Friday. TELUS will start charging its customers
on Aug. 24. Earlier in the day, TELUS Corp. posted a 5.5
per cent increase in second quarter profits. [Source: NS
Business Journal]
Tourism market lies in Europe
Nova Scotia should focus its tourism marketing efforts
on Europe, says president of the Nova Scotia Bed and
Breakfast Association. Rising gas prices are a bargain
by European standards, he says. 86 per cent of visitors
in Nova Scotia come from the rest of Canada, while 10
per cent come from the U.S. Other overseas visitors
account for the remaining one per cent. According to the
Tourism Department spokesperson, the province spends
$400,000 a year marketing Nova Scotia in Europe,
compared with the $1.2 million it spends annually to
market in the northeast United States. Nova Scotia
participates in the Atlantic Canada Tourism Partnership
which spends $600,000 a year marketing the region in
Europe. [Source: NS Business Journal]
Province ponders 4 day week
Energy Minister Richard Hurlburt announced his
department was considering a four-day work week for
government employees in order to conserve energy. “We
have very aggressive targets here in the province for
greenhouse gas emissions," said Mr. Hurlburt outside a
provincial cabinet meeting on Thursday. "We’re looking
at all options. . . . We’re going to do an analysis on
this and see if the benefits outweigh the costs." The
province has committed to reducing current greenhouse
gas emissions by 26 per cent by 2020. Closing government
offices for an extra day each week would cut back on
heating and air-conditioning use, as well as the number
of cars on the road, Mr. Hurlburt said. He would not go
into specifics about which employees or offices would be
affected or how much energy might be saved. Members from
Opposition parties state that while the idea is better
than none, many departments are not housed in buildings
owned by the province, but are privately-owned with
private-sector tenants still needing lights, heating
and/or air-conditioning. Liberal energy critic Michel
Samson was quoted as saying that the Energy Department
needs to focus on making changes that are easily
implemented, such as increasing the efficiency and scope
of public transportation to decrease commuter traffic.
[Source: The Chronicle Herald].
Chuckles:
The Ten Commandments of Employment in the NS Government:
1. If it rings, put it on hold.
2. If it clunks, call the repairman.
3. If it whistles, ignore it.
4. If it's a friend, stop work and chat.
5. If it's the boss, look busy.
6. If it talks, take notes.
7. If it's handwritten, type it.
8. if it's typed, copy it.
9. If it's copied, file it.
10. If it's Friday, forget it!
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