Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 15, 1998, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press business july 1998 Steve email b3 Biz Battle starts to heat up in the City by Murray Mcneil business reporter the Battle of the Biz is heat ing up in a second local business improvement zone is facing dissension from within after a group of James businesses recently formed a coalition to fight for either the disbanding of the Airport area or for legislative changes that would allow them to opt out of the the disgruntled businesses claim the Biz concept Doest work for their largely Industrial based and that they be forced to pay a yearly Levy to fund Biz initiatives such As Street its kind of like putting perfume on a said Rod operations manager for freight liner a Logan Avenue truck Snyder said the businesses in the area where freight liner is for exam include an Auto wrecker and a Metal these buildings Are not Beautiful and never will he Keewatin air executive vice president Judy and other Mem Bers of the coalition against the Airport also object to being forced by provincial legislation to be a member of their local Biz and to pay an annual Levy based on a percentage of their City property the Levy Ken free press Earl Knox and other crop dusters Are in High demand to help keep crops free of diseases and diseases and fungi foil Farmers As humid weather persists Tombstone could write deadly epitaph for Manitoba wheat crops by Keith Mcarthur staff reporter Manitoba humid summer has made conditions right for a slew of killer diseases and fungi that threaten the provinces Spray plane pilots have been work ing overtime protecting canola Fields against sclerotic a Stem late the disease behind the Irish potato famine during the 19th Cen has been detected in some Pota to plants around Winkler and Portage la and a variety of Leaf spot diseases and the fun barium head blight fungus Are taking on the provinces wheat its going to be theres no doubt about said Kevin Vic president of the Western Canadian wheat growers it has the potential to be the worst Archibald is most worried about fun barium head blight also known by the ominous name Tombstone a fungus that has extended its reach through the province each year for the past few Farmers Are particularly scared of Tombstone because the Only fungi cide for use against the disease has Only limited Many wheat Farmers Are doing the math to decide whether its Worth it to Spray their crops when wheat prices Are so Archibald there sort of resigned to the fact that its theres Noth ing they can do about it at this wheat Midge because there has been relatively Little conditions Are also right for wheat a Small Fly that attacks Archibald Ken manager of the Kil Larney office for Shu Gro farm ser estimates his workers have sprayed three to four times More acres of canola than usual this he said fungicide companies across the Prairies Are swamped with it was a really Tough year to find he we enjoy it but you kind of feel sorry for the farm ers because its going to Cost them a few Dave a crop specialist with agriculture said its too Early to Tell How much Impact the fungi and diseases will have on the provinces we have a real mix out we have some very Good looking and we have some crops that Are suffering from too much he theres a whole disease Complex that could potentially come to play Campbell said growers need relatively moderate he said a reduction in humidity Levels wont get rid of the various threats to but it will help Lessen their Farmers say that if they can minimize the effects of the various fungi and it could be an average to above average crops Are very i would it say there but there Good considering the humid weather weve said Jonothon president of the Manitoba canola growers Reuter t Ondon seven British insure i Ance company workers on a Moti course got a roasting after attempting a trick perfected by Indian the workers were rushed to Hospital with Burns when the coals they were persuaded to walk Over turned out to be red hot instead of merely the Sun tabloid reported two were transferred to a special unit and May need skin the exercise was part of an intensive training course on teamwork and Moti it was supposed to show them they could overcome one insider told the the company said it was investigating the which happened Dur ing a course run by an outside can Range from As Little As to As High As the Airport area dissenters also claim they have widespread support for their citing the results of a recent Survey of Canadian federation of inde pendent business members in the of the 71 firms that Over 70 per cent said they no longer want to be a member of the Airport area Biz and 90 per cent said firms should have the right to opt out of such Organiza said Dan the cribs director of provincial affairs in Kelly outlined Survey results at a meeting of Assiniboine Community committee he also asked the committee whether it would Back a bid to have the Biz dissolved if the dissenting group could get the support of at least on third of the business in the continued please see Lead loonie will Hurt us economist Standard of living will she warns pm unconcerned As Dollar sinks to new Low by James Mccarten Canadian press Toronto the withering Dol Lar is threatening Canadas Stan Dard of choking off investment and pushing skilled labour South of the a prominent Bay Street financial expert warned yes Sherry chief economist at brokerage Nesbitt Burns assailed the Bank of Canadas Dollar policy As one of benign neglect and said canadians will soon begin to feel the weight of the Leaden but even As the Dollar set yet another record Low close ending the Day Down cent at cents Coopers dire warnings appeared destined for deaf ears in its not a question of being prime minister Jean Chretien said of the dollars doldrums after a Cabinet meeting in its a reality of a Low Canadian Dollar is actually Good for certain sectors of the econ including tourism and Chretien obviously there Are fewer canadians who Are going to Maine right now and More going to new its exactly that kind of Lavisse Zaire attitude that Well known in banking circles As a fervent proponent of using Short term interest rate increases to protect the is Bat i liken this to the Stock Price of a she when the ceo tells you that its a Good thing that Stock prices have fallen to a record you better believe those prices Are going to fall Cooper called on Ottawa to lower taxes and narrow the Short term inter est rate Gap with the United states in order to attract investment and Bol Ster the since the asian crisis began in Earnest last wary investors have been steering Clear of Canadian markets and flooding the fixed income Market with Cooper lower tax rates and better Bond yields in the United states Are prov ing irresistible even to Canadian who Are buying stocks and Bonds at a record Pace if will see them spend More than billion can in foreign equity and fixed income markets in we sit in a very opportune Cooper we have a very Strong our budget is in and we have the Opportunity to be a Safe Dollar 11998 up Haven country for the worlds capital and were blowing the Low Dollar will see canadians pay More for imports everything from software to fresh fruits and vegetables since they comprise 38 per cent of the National Gross Domestic As Cooper said Many of Cana Das Best and brightest students Are migrating to the United states in search of lower tax rates on dollars that Are Worth More than at this is not a floating Dollar this is a sinking she my clients overseas refer to it As the Canadian and were the Bank of wary of the Impact of a rate hike on economic has clearly stated it has no intention of tightening monetary policy solely for the purpose of protecting the for the most the financial Community has even Cooper admitted yesterday it May be too late for a rate Given a statistics Canada report last week that said the Economy lost jobs in but it was Clear from other economic Corners yesterday that the dollars slide is making a lot of people there is a Strong danger in the continued depreciation in the Canadian said Josh chief economist at the Canadian Imperial Bank of there Are some sectors in the Canadian Economy that Are namely tourism and the resource Sec but on the other the total Standard of living for canadians is going a business must see itself As part of a team one of the biggest myths about business is that companies act this is not to be a business must see itself As part of a team that includes sup pliers and other groups such As their Bank and failure to realize this simple fact can result in a business working at Cross purposes to one or More key this fact is especially True for Small businesses because they do not have Access to the resources or have the Power in the distribution Channel available to big in their very nature limits the Type of efficiencies they can in recognition of the importance of Many businesses Send their employees and managers on courses designed to build this critical these courses Range from on Day sessions on the theory of teamwork to we Klong sessions where participants Are put through military style for the Asper centres Biz amp in managing for 2000 Robert Warren we decided to team up with the Canadian forces to develop the teamwork skills of our we will put them through a series of exercises requiring them to work together to achieve such goals As getting All team members Over an its one thing to provide this train ing its another to put it to practical use in a business Sev eral local organizations have been quite successful in integrating team work into their everyday one of the oldest types of team work Between suppliers and retailers is seen in every flyer and inshore this is the concept of cooperative advertising where a National company such As coca cola pays a portion of a retailers advertising costs to have their products local business improvement zones such As the downtown Biz and James Village use a similar idea to boost the image of local business by collecting a Small fee from each business in the they can develop signage and advertising materials unique to that this allows them to develop a common image for the area to draw customers by pooling their the businesses can reach a larger group at a lower other especially larger prefer to build teamwork by involving their suppliers in the design process of new both Sci and new Holland do some of this with local suppliers such As they give the supplier a description of the its requirements and the Cost they based on this the sup plier designs and supplies the prod this requires tremendous Trust on the part of both organizations As they must expose More of their operations and costs to the each other than they have in the rising development costs and the need to put More Money into the economies in which they do business Means even such companies As Boe ing must take this for beings latest the is assembled from parts made by outside suppliers located in aus Italy and businesses often claimed they were being treated unfairly by the Banks because the Banks didst understand their this was especially True for Small businesses where there was a Large turnover in account Banks such As the Royal and c1bc responded to this complaint by redesigning their systems so account representatives Learned More about the businesses they dealt with and stayed in their jobs Small businesses have discovered other ways to work together and help complementary or unrelated Busi one such method is Cross promotion Between for Roger woos Marigold on Osborne uses place Mats featuring Small advertisements for other businesses in the two local businesses providing a textbook approach to teamwork Are jerrys Concrete works and Concrete these companies have developed teamwork within their organizations and in cooperation Between them to a level most others can Only dream both businesses effectively use their workforce by breaking them into teams specializing in such specific tasks As prepping the site or building the they also work together by Cross promoting each others area of together they provide con Sumers with seamless service through the use of Robert Warren is director of the Asper Centre for entrepreneurship at the University of he can be reached at ;