Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 13, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B3 $ 1 50 STARTING FROM Offer valid until September 28, 2012. Additional charges for extras. Valid at participating restaurants. Prepared fresh. � 2012 Doctor's Associates Inc. SUBWAY � is a registered trademark of Doctor's Associates Inc. Printed in Canada. Canadian version CHOOSE ONE OF OUR HUNGER- FIGHTING SNACKS! BUSINESS EDITOR: STEVE PONA 697- 7264 business@ freepress. mb. ca I MARKET DETAILS B4,5 I winnipegfreepress. com WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2012 B 3 ONE of video producer Steve Langston's new missions in life is to help other entrepreneurs avoid making the mistake he made. After graduating from high school, the 28- year- old Winnipegger spent six years establishing a career as a chartered accountant because it never occurred to him he could start his own business and do what he really wanted to do - make corporate videos. It was only after working for a year as a CA that he realized he couldn't do that for the rest of his working life. So, he quit and launched a homebased business - Dirty T Shirt Productions, which produces videos to help business clients tell their stories on the Internet, either through their own website or social media. Two years later, Langston has two employees and 20 clients that include the Manitoba government, Tourism Winnipeg, Tourism Manitoba and Robertson College. His only regret is he waited six years to pursue his entrepreneurial dream. That's one of the reasons why Langston volunteered to serve on the Manitoba steering committee of Startup Canada, a new entrepreneurled movement launched last month to build stronger entrepreneurial communities and to foster a more entrepreneurial culture in Canada. The founders of the Ottawa- based group are in Manitoba this week to raise awareness about the organization, to formerly launch the local steering committee, and to identify challenges and barriers facing Manitoba entrepreneurs. It's doing the latter by holding oneon- one meetings with local entrepreneurs and two town hall sessions - one Tuesday in Winnipeg and the other today in Brandon. The 65 participants at the Winnipeg session included entrepreneurs and representatives of organizations such as Innovate Manitoba and the Canada/ Manitoba Business Service Centre. Their task was to divide into groups, identify challenges or barriers local entrepreneurs face, and develop an action plan to address them. Startup Canada co- founder Victoria Lennox said SC officials will take that information, plus recommendations from 29 other town halls across the country, and develop a national action plan. SC will also develop an entrepreneurship strategy that will be presented to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in November. Lennox said once the group has a national strategy, it will hold followup discussions with its provincial steering committees and they'll decide what actions the steering committees will take in their province. Langston, who was one of the participants at Tuesday's town hall, said he'd like to see a greater awareness of entrepreneurship as a viable career option. " No one graduates from high school saying, ' I want to be an entrepreneur.' But it's an awesome lifestyle and you have a chance to change the world. And you can do it on your own terms." On Monday, Economic Development Winnipeg Inc. launched a new suite of capital planning tools. Developed with the help of the National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program, the tools include a " financing road map" that describes financing options available to local firms, including traditional debt, self- financing and angel investors. It also includes a business and capital planning primer and guide to investment, and a business and capital planning workbook. The tools will be available this fall on the website of Innovate Manitoba Inc., a non- profit group that helps link researchers, inventors and entrepreneurs with the resources they need to succeed. murray. mcneill@ freepress. mb. ca OTTAWA - Canada's recovery is getting a vote of confidence from economists at the Royal Bank, who in a new report judge the economy sufficiently resilient to withstand turbulence from abroad. The RBC's new quarterly forecast anticipates the national economy will rebound to 3.1 per cent growth this quarter, which ends in June, and record a 2.6 per cent gain in gross domestic product overall for both 2012 and 2013. It also predicts Manitoba will rack up the third- strongest growth this year, at 3.1 per cent - down slightly from the 3.4 per cent growth it was forecasting earlier this year - and the fifth- best growth in 2013, at three per cent. Both would be a big improvement over 2011' s 1.3 per cent growth, it added. Although RBC is still bullish about economic prospects for this year, fresh data from the Conference Board suggests headwinds from abroad are already impacting the corporate sector. The board's May index on industry profitability found 13 of 49 industries reporting a decline in profitability and several that had been posting strong increases at the beginning of the year showing a slowdown. " The weaker profitability outlook is linked to the ongoing European debt crisis," the think- tank said, also citing slowing growth in emerging markets and depressed prices in the commodities that Canada sells to the world. The RBC economists acknowledged the external difficulties and have incorporated a slower 3.5 per cent global growth profile for this year. But they are buoyed by Canada's strong fundamentals and believe policy- makers will prevent a European meltdown. " We're relatively bullish," said Craig Wright, RBC's chief economist. " On balance, conditions for growth are positive, supported by a continuation of a low- interest- rate environment and a Canadian financial sector that is healthy and ready to provide credit." Wright said recent bad news has dampened confidence but has not changed the overall outlook. " It's more of the same: We get dragged to the edge of the cliff and then get dragged back." - The Canadian Press By Murray McNeill A SURGE in defections to other provinces, coupled with a yearning for home ownership, has provided a little relief for beleaguered Manitoba renters. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.' s spring survey shows Manitoba's overall apartment vacancy rate edged up to 1.2 per cent in April from 0.7 per cent in April of last year and 1.0 per cent in October. And it was a similar story with the overall vacancy rate for the Winnipeg Census Metropolitan Area, which crept up to 1.2 per cent from 0.7 per cent a year earlier and 1.1 per cent in October. " The increased outflow of Manitobans to other provinces and tenants making the move to home ownership contributed to the increase in vacancies," said Dianne Himbeault, CMHC's senior market analyst for Manitoba. But despite the modest improvement, Himbeault said Manitoba renters are still grappling with the lowest provincial apartment vacancy rate in the country. The province's chief statistician confirmed Tuesday Manitoba saw a jump in net out- migration to other provinces last year - 4,356 people versus 2,510 in 2010. Wilf Falk said the increase reversed a trend that saw net outflows decline in four of the five years prior to 2011. The lone exception was 2008, when there was a slight increase. Falk said last year's net loss still paled in comparison to the losses posted in 2005 and 2006 of 8,602 and 7,277 respectively. Like every other province and territory, he said Manitoba lost residents last year to booming Alberta - 1,866 in total. Another 1,484 moved to B. C., and 622 to Ontario. But on the bright side, he said Manitoba has also been welcoming thousands of new immigrants each year. He said Statistics Canada will be releasing the population gains for the first quarter of this year on June 21. The CMHC report said Portage la Prairie had the lowest overall vacancy rate among the four other urban centres surveyed, at 0.5 per cent. That was followed by Brandon at 0.7 per cent, Thompson at 1.1 per cent and Steinbach at 4.6 per cent. Steinbach's rate was up nearly four percentage points from a year earlier due to 40 new units being added in 2011. The agency also said the average increase in monthly rental rates over the past year was also well above the provincial rent- control guideline, which is one per cent for 2012. Many units are exempt from the guideline, including ones that have been substantially renovated. murray. mcneill@ freepress. mb. ca Renters get a foot in the door Provincial vacancy rate rises slightly By Murray McNeill Home suite home Overall apartment vacancy rates for Manitoba urban centres with populations of 10,000 or more: City April 2011 April 2012 centre vacancy rate vacancy rate Winnipeg CMA* 0.7 % 1.2% Brandon 1.3% 0.7 % Portage la Prairie 2.5 % 0.5% Steinbach 0.8% 4.6% Thompson 0.5% 1.1% Manitoba 0.7% 1.2% Average monthly rental rates in April 2012: City One Two Three centre bedroom bedroom bedroom Winnipeg CMA $ 697 $ 901 $ 1,114 Brandon $ 566 $ 734 $ 921 Portage $ 519 $ 659 $ 659 Steinbach $ 551 $ 710 N/ A* Thompson $ 699 $ 771 $ 742 Manitoba $ 690 $ 876 $ 1,078 * Census Metropolitan Area * Not available - source: CMHC Economy able to withstand blows: RBC By Julian Beltrame Following entrepreneurial dreams Video producer helps others realize goals PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Steve Langston left his job as an accountant after a year to start Dirty T Shirt Productions. He says his mistake was that he waited so long to pursue his dream. B_ 03_ Jun- 13- 12_ FP_ 01. indd B3 6/ 12/ 12 9: 54: 56 PM ;