On June 23rd, the Guelph Awards of Excellence will be highlighting 12 stories of business excellence in our community. Excerpts of these stories are given below. Videos are being prepared to present the businesses that have been nominated, and will be posted on the Chamber website. Winners in each category will be announced after supper on the evening of the event. To purchase your tickets for this event, visit our website or call or office at 519-822-8081. Other awards will be presented in other categories, listed on our website.
1) Community Builders
The Delta Guelph Hotel and Conference Centre: In 2010, through Delta Helps – Corporate Social Responsibility Events Delta Guelph raised $50,172 and volunteered 255 employee hours to local charitable partners. In 2010 Delta Guelph Hotel and Conference Centre made gift donations of our services to the value of $22,000 throughout our local community.
Here are some of the ways that Skyline gives back and gets involved in their own backyard and beyond, by encouraging and challenging our employees to help us be a true example of active social responsibility and a solid community pillar.
- Habitat for Humanity - Land Donation $150,000
- Guelph Food Drives 7,000 pounds raised
- The Children’s Foundation of Guelph & Wellington – Holiday Adopt-A-Family Program 72 children in 20 families
- The Skyline Sports Equipment Fund - The Children’s Foundation
- Presenting Sponsor & Community Partner - Guelph Storm Initiative $7,500 raised
- Skyline’s Annual Charity Golf Classic $40,000 raised
- Skyline’s New Staff Volunteer Policy 1 hour per employee = 500 hours of service
- Resident Appreciation Events at each of 99 properties
Speroway locally shipped $120,000 of food to the Guelph Food Bank and Salvation Army using 866 volunteers. Beyond Guelph, Speroway has worked with the Hamilton Tiger Cats to supply food boxes to 3,500 families in the past three years. Nationally Speroway has supported First Nations with $1.8m in food and over 100 bunk beds. Internationally Speroway has shipped 750,000 meals to Haiti following their earthquake, and helped 8,500 people in four countries last year with medical and dental assistance. All of this from their warehouse on Southgate Road.
2) Customer Service
Eramosa Engineering was the recipient of the 1st Annual Premier Award for Client Satisfaction presented by PSMJ Resources, Inc. the leading management consulting firm for the architecture/engineering/construction industries. Eramosa was one of six engineering firms in North America honoured with this award for providing their clients with exemplary service, benchmarked by top quality communications, outstanding performance and cost effective solutions. We’re proud to be the only Canadian Engineering firm to be selected for this honour. Our client’s told us that Eramosa Engineering Inc. exceeded their expectations in all areas.
KMA Contracting Inc. bid the 401 Screen Structure and Town of Halton Hills Monument as a lump sum tender to TransCanada Energy Ltd. This project won KMA Contracting the prestigious OGCA 2010 Ontario Builder Award (Ontario General Contractors Association). The award’s strict criteria included client and trade satisfaction, innovation, quality of workmanship, complicity of project and health and safety.
Smitten Apparel, selling new and consignment clothing and accessories, is owned and operated by Holly Mastrogiacomo. Holly’s intent, when opening for business in June of 2009, was to differentiate Smitten from other consignment stores by offering a mix of new and high end consignment items in a bright, family-friendly setting. The emphasis on service and convenience also extends to consignors, and the growth from zero to more than nine-hundred consignors in less than two years is ample evidence that Smitten is doing something right. Smitten provides clothing to a number of local community closets, as well as providing business-appropriate outfits to the Second Chance Employment program. Local charities can open their own consignment accounts at Smitten, with donors providing the clothing and the proceeds going to the charity. Smitten is committed to service – to customers, to consignors, and to the community.
3) Environmental Stewardship
J. David McAuley Architect Inc. will continue to distinguish itself as a firm that provides
high value service and sustainable leadership qualities. The reduction of our carbon footprint through our office practices are part of our daily work, but have also overflowed into our daily lives at home, play and our lives in general. Below are some examples from the offices of J. David McAuley
Architect Inc.:
Some implemented office practices:
• Indoor and outdoor shoes – reducing wear and tear, maintenance and
cleaning
• Double sided copying and reusing paper by copying on the reverse side
for internal documents or making note pads
• Reuse architectural drawings as file folders
• Lights / fans / server on timers to shut off when not in use
• Shutdown of equipment daily
• Composting of kitchen waste and recycling of ink cartridges
Equipment / Office and property features
• Hybrid vehicle – Prius shared with all staff
• Super insulated (R40 walls, R60 roof), long life steel roof, radiant heat,
operable windows, natural finishes
• Natural lighting, task lighting, compact fluorescent lighting, using motion
sensors
• Localized heating and A/C, low flow toilets
• Indoor plants, native species, minimal lawn, permeable surfaces designed
with Feng Shui principles
• Rain water harvesting
• No Wi-Fi - minimizing health risks from electromagnetic fields
• No fax - documents are scanned and emailed, flat screen monitors use
less energy
• Reverse Osmosis system limiting contaminants in the water and use of
water bottles
People
• Teleconferencing and emailing reduce the amount of travel
• Live locally, like minded employees, consultants and contractors
• Transportation – car pool, bus, biking and walking to work
• Fragrance free, non-smoking office
3/3 J. David McAuley Architect Inc.
Maintenance
• Maximize use of hand pushed lawn mower
• No leaf blower, yard is hand-raked and pesticide free
• Most snow hand shoveled, sand and kitty litter used on snow and ice
instead of salt
• Environmentally friendly cleaning products, natural products and reusable
items
Marketing / Education / Purchasing
• Website promoting healthy and sustainable practices and organizations
• Promoting sustainable building practices on job sign
• Continuing education through lunch and learns, staff meetings, webinars,
communication board, courses and seminars, videos, along with
educating others
• Purchasing locally, and searching out like minded consultants, contractors
and suppliers
• Engaging in an energy audit
• David McAuley, spearheaded the first Healthy Buildings Conference
• Sharing knowledge through a variety of presentations, conferences and
lectures
• Sponsoring, donating to and supporting environmental groups and
organizations
The University of Guelph is succeeding in reducing its ecological footprint, despite
a growing campus population and the construction of several new facilities.
In 2009/10, the University:
• cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 1,363 tonnes (equivalent) per year through
initiatives that reduce demand for electricity and natural gas (a 1.9% reduction from
2008/09 GHG emission levels);
• implemented water conservation measures that save approximately 37,000 cubic
metres (m3) of water per year, (a 4.6% reduction from 2008/09);
• diverted 60% of campus waste from landfill through unique community partnerships
and student and staff efforts.
Since 2006/07, the University’s total GHG emissions have been reduced by 4,564 tonnes per
year (a total of 6%) and water use has been reduced by 295,443 m3 per year (a total of
27%).
U of G students have been key drivers of the changes on campus, voting in 2006 to
contribute $10 per student per semester to an energy conservation fund. In 2008, graduate
students agreed to a similar program. All totaled, and unprecedented in Canada, Guelph
students have committed more than $400,000 per year to energy projects for 12 years with
the University matching those funds.
The TDL Group Corp. Guelph Distribution Centre has reduced the distribution center’s (DC) power and water consumption, as well as fleet fuel initiatives, are primarily the result of the efforts made by two individuals, Guelph Maintenance Manager Ken Bohill and National Manager of Commercial Fleet & Compliance Mark Mostacci.
In alignment with the Tim Hortons Corporate Responsibility strategy, the Guelph DC has a goal to contribute to reducing energy and water consumption by 5% measured from the baseline year of 2008, for all corporate buildings and new restaurants constructed by the end of 2011. The TDL national distribution fleet, of which Guelph has the largest contingent of trucks, has the goal of increasing overall fuel efficiency by 5% by the end of 2011, also from the baseline measurement in 2008.
At the DC, Ken Bohill and his maintenance team started with a simple approach. It was noticed that once the automated belt conveyor system was started it would run continuously. With a few changes to the computer system, the conveyors now shut off when there is no product on them. This saved an estimated $3000.00/year and sparked the idea of energy savings in other areas.
The refrigeration cooling system, which is the largest water consumer at the DC, was the next target. New software control systems introduced to more accurately monitor chemical application led to an annual reduction of 3,000 m3 of water used and a reduced sewer discharge by 2500 m3. Chemical use was reduced by 30% and salt discharge was reduced by 21,000 kg annually.
The installation of “Big Ass Fans” in the warehouse was done primarily for employee comfort, but by installing the 24’ fans, an estimated 10% reduction of natural gas consumption during the heating season was realized. The fans moved the heat from overhead furnaces more efficiently, thus reducing the need to turn them up for employee comfort.
The first endeavor into lighting was the addition of occupancy controls for the warehouse pick areas. More than 150 sensors were used to turn the lights off when there are no employee’s in the area. This project reduced electric power consumption by 100,000 Kw and saved more than $7000.00/year.
This was followed by a re-lamping of the warehouse lights to a more efficient and greener fixture. A total of 225 lights will be replaced inside and outside the facility to reduce the Hydro consumption by 850,000 Kw per year.
Installation of Variable Speed Drives on the large motors in the refrigeration cooling system helped to reduce energy consumption by 150,000 Kw/year. The use of occupancy controls for the office and employee areas will reduce lighting loads during periods of absence and reduce electric consumption by 43,000 Kw per year.
Currently, the Guelph DC is in the process of adding SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) equipment to the two standby generators to reduce the NOx and particulate emissions and allow the Guelph DC to support the OPA with demand response to reduce the load on the grid during periods of high demand.
The Guelph DC has a program in which all waste plastic and cardboard, including some returned from restaurants, is bailed for recycling. A total of 600,000 pounds of plastic and cardboard are processed each year. All bottles, aluminum cans, old light bulbs and used material handling batteries are recycled, as well as about 95,000 pounds of organic waste product.
4) Business Innovation
Hammond Power Solutions understands the increasing need for innovation for both HPS products and
services. Offering customers leading-edge products and services in a competitive market is crucial to the diversification of the transformer marketplace. With markets constantly evolving, it is paramount for HPS to stay at the forefront of product innovation. With the increasing awareness of global warming, governments are encouraging users to consider energy efficient products like dry-type transformers to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions. HPS has a complete line of energy efficient transformers including Distribution Transformers, Drive Isolation Transformers, and Medium Voltage Transformers to meet many applications including the growing alternative energy markets such as wind
and solar. With over thirty engineers on staff, HPS can customize any transformer to meet various energy efficiency requirements.
Transformer product training is also a key success factor to their business strategy. HPS launched an industry first innovative online training center, HPS Academy, with more than 20 interactive learning modules to provide a better understanding of the characteristics of transformers, electrical standards and regulations, installation procedures, and how to select the best product for an application. Modules are added every month along with online quizzes to ensure that participants understand the information presented.
HPS as well developed a unique and proprietary online quotation and stock check tool called E-Quotes. It
allows distributors to do business easily and find inventory to fill their customers' needs immediately. They can even check inventory using a Blackberry or other mobile device. E-Quotes users can obtain quotes for standard or custom products by entering either an HPS part number or one from a competitor for standard products or specifications for custom products. The system offers the ability to check price, availability, and lead times for almost any common specification product.
HPS focuses on three main objectives, to be easy to do business with, to offer the greatest breadth and
depth of product in the industry and to provide reliable quality. Through constant product innovation, complete product training, and easy-to-use quotation tools, HPS is able to seize opportunities in high-growth markets and is clearly a leader in business innovation.
Treatment at MMTR Health includes an integrated approach to treat your chronic and recurring pain or dysfunction. They integrate various treatment approaches such as Myo-fascial and trigger point release, manual therapies and acupuncture. Each patient will also receive their unique treatment approach known as MyoWorx. MyoWorx is a treatment approach that focuses on the cause and effect of injuries and conditions to enhance rehabilitation outcomes for patients with chronic or recurring musculoskeletal, myofascial and neurological conditions. MyoWorx uses a patent-pending Muscle Relaxation Treatment combined with trigger point and myofascial release and Targeted Exercise & Symptom Management Strategies -all of this at rates that are comparable to a session of only massage treatment.
This approach provides clients with quality care, attention and education. MyoWorx is a multi-level system, which gives clients the tools they need to achieve success.
MyoWorx Muscle Relaxation Treatment
• Establishes normal sensitivity in fatigued or injured muscles
• Communicates with the central nervous system to induce relaxation signals to the target muscles
• Produces a "true" physiological relaxation of the muscles that is comfortable -without muscle contractions or fatigue
• Causes bio-chemical changes within the muscle cells that restores long term healthy blood flow for the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles
• Decreases pain from muscle tension or spasm
• Facilitates your ability to stretch the target muscles properly for maximum strength and endurance
The relaxation and restoration of the target muscles treats the source of the pain or symptoms. This accelerates the recovery and rebuilding process. Another unique feature of the therapy process at MMTR is the type of education provided to clients. They are taught techniques that will diminish or eliminate their pain, should it recur. This truly gives the clients control over their own function and lives.
Nestlé Waters Canada, Canada’s marketshare-leading manufacturer and distributor of healthy beverage choices, unveiled its next-generation Eco-Shape® 500 ml. bottle in January 2010 -- one of the lightest such containers in the Canadian beverage industry and the Company’s latest step in an ongoing commitment to reduce plastic consumption across its brand portfolio.
Weighing just 9.16 grams on average, this bottle contains 27 percent less plastic than its predecessor Eco-Shape bottle, which was introduced in 2007, and 60 percent less plastic than the Company’s original, pre-Eco-Shape 500 ml. PET bottle, first introduced in 2000. The Eco-Shape plastic beverage container introduced in 2007 was among the first branded 500 ml. bottles in the beverage industry to be light-weighted. The latest version of the Eco-Shape 500 ml. bottle is deployed in the Company’s marketshare-leading Pure Life and Montclair brands.
Nestlé Eco-Shape 500 ml. PET beverage containers are 100 percent recyclable and, thus, can avoid going to landfill by being recycled. When recycled, they become carpeting, automotive parts, toys and clothing, for example.
Nestlé Waters Canada communicates the recycling capability of its packaging and the importance of recycling on its product labels, on its product cases, in its advertising and on its web site.
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