Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 05, 2014, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B4 JOIN THE PROS. go. CPAmb. ca CPAs are in demand in every business sector. Learn why at an upcoming information session. ELEVATE YOUR PROSPECTS BUSINESS EDITOR: SHANE MINKIN 204- 697- 7308 business@ freepress. mb. ca I MARKET DETAILS B5 I winnipegfreepress. com WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2014 B 4 EDMONTON - Prairie farm groups frustrated with an ongoing railway grain backlog want federal Transport Minister Lisa Raitt to intervene to help get their crops to market. The groups said they wrote to Raitt last month seeking a meeting with her in Ottawa for the last week in February, but she has not responded. Lynn Jacobson, president of the Alberta Federation of Agriculture, said farmers want to know why Ottawa can't get railways to ship more of the bumper crop to port for export to customers around the world. " The transport minister has to get involved in this," he said Tuesday. " This is a crisis situation and something has to be done. It affects not only the agriculture community but the whole economy in Western Canada." The federal government is aware grain farmers have been watching the quality and value of their crops decline over the last few months in fields or in storage because of the transportation bottleneck. Agricultural groups say they warned Ottawa about the potential of the backlog months ago and haven't been shy about lobbying for change. Doug Chorney, president of Manitoba's Keystone Agricultural Producers, recently wrote an opinion article that has been published in some Prairie newspapers that calls on Ottawa to take action sooner rather than later to fix the bottleneck. The article lays the blame on " abysmal service" by Canada's two major railways. It says the monopoly Canadian Pacific Railway ( TSX: CP) and Canadian National Railway ( TSX: CNR) have in the marketplace allows them to provide inadequate service without fear of consequences. " We need short- term intervention by Transport Minister Lisa Raitt and the federal government, because farmers need to get their crops to market as soon as possible before more sales are lost," wrote Chorney, who farms near East Selkirk. " This is not a once- in- a lifetime situation. Instead, it will be the norm in a few years. Will we wait until then to fix our rail system or will we begin to do it now?" Norm Hall, president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, said his group wants to tell Raitt face to face the Fair Rail Freight Service Act passed by the Conservative government last year isn't working and should be amended. Transport Canada says the law provides incentives for grain companies and railways to voluntarily negotiate shipping service agreements. Hall said to his knowledge no grainshipping companies have signed contracts with the railways. " Put some responsibility on the railroads," Hall said. " If there is inaction by the railroads, there needs to be penalties." Officials with Transport Canada were not immediately available for comment. In November, the department said the fall harvest was a record for Western Canada and was putting significant pressure on the region's grain handling and transportation. On Monday, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced Ottawa plans to keep closer tabs on rail companies by requiring them to report monthly on their performance instead of every three months. The federal government is also spending $ 1.5 million for a fiveyear transportation study. - The Canadian Press Farmers seek federal action to move crops to market By John Cotter S AN FRANCISCO - Microsoft's search for an heir to CEO Steve Ballmer, a process that dragged for months and touched off the biggest parlour game in tech of Name That CEO, has finally come to an end with an insider selection. The software behemoth tapped Satya Nadella as CEO, elevated John Thomson to chairman and shifted Bill Gates into a role as technology adviser. Who is incoming Microsoft chief Nadella? Microsoft's veteran executive - he's been with the software giant for more than two decades - had been running its enterprise and cloud businesses. The native of Hyderabad, India's tech centre dubbed Cyberabad, is said to be an affable team builder with consensus inside Microsoft for the top spot. " His vision for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of expanded product innovation and growth," Gates said in prepared remarks. In contrast to Ballmer, known as a rowdy basketball fan and pickup game player with aggressive elbows, Nadella is a bookish and soft- spoken type, with hobbies of cricket and poetry. Nadella speaks of the " humbling" and " incredible honour" to take the lead at Microsoft along with a passion to continue to educate himself through classes and books. " I've been fortunate to work closely with both Bill and Steve in my different roles at Microsoft, and as I step in as CEO, I've asked Bill to devote additional time to the company, focused on technology and products," said Nadella in an email memo to employees on his first day as chief. Nadella, 46, drove the server and tools business growth until 2013 and led as one- time Bing boss. Analysts say his engineering strength bodes well inside Microsoft. " He's well- respected and thought of as a strong leader - I don't know if he's thought of as a visionary," said reDesign analyst Rocky Agrawal, a former Microsoft employee. Dan Ives, tech industry analyst at FBR Capital Markets, said shareholders who preferred fresh blood will be disappointed. " The main issue around Microsoft is its need for innovation and a set of fresh, new strategies to drive the next leg of growth," said Ives. Still, Nadella has gained a lot of clout inside the Redmond, Wash.- based software giant for his part in Microsoft's move to the cloud. " He's recognized for the transition to the cloud," said IDC analyst Al Hilwa. " He's been spearheading this transition to the cloud, which is one of the things that's going right for the company. They have been going toe- to- toe with Amazon on features and price - he gets a lot of respect for that." Nadella should get the respect and intellectual buy- in from longtime employees on Day 1, said Wes Miller, an analyst at independent research firm Directions on Microsoft. " The time frame required for an external hire to come online and really be effective is incredibly lengthy," Miller said. " Microsoft needs leadership that can hit the ground running, rather than hiring someone who has to make brute- force guesses to appease the critics outside of Microsoft." But can he redirect Microsoft to a good position in mobile to gain favour among consumers? " He gets credit for being transformative in his thinking. He has injected much- needed agility into the company," Hilwa said. - USA Today Let's get busy Here are some of the most pressing items on Satya Nadella's to- do list as he reshapes Microsoft: . Integrate Nokia's mobile device business: Microsoft's $ 7.3- billion acquisition will add roughly 30,000 employees to Microsoft's existing 100,000 workers - barring some likely layoffs. Nokia, the largest maker of phones that run Microsoft's Windows Phone software, was also believed to be working on a phone that uses Google's Android operating system prior to the acquisition. It's unclear whether Microsoft will cancel the effort in time for the industry conference where Nokia was expected to show off the phone, Mobile World Congress, which starts Feb. 24. . Fix Windows and unite the company's various operating systems: Windows 8 and the Windows 8.1 upgrade have not revived the PC market as expected. That's mainly because keyboard- and mouse- users have found it difficult to navigate the touch- first " modern" interface, which uses large tiles. Analysts expect Microsoft to merge its Windows Phone and Windows RT operating system for lightweight tablets into one system to appease software developers and consumers, while restoring some familiar navigation tools to the computer- based version of Windows. Look for announcements at the Mobile World Congress or Microsoft's own developers' conference, Build, which starts April 2. . Set a hardware strategy: Although outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer reorganized Microsoft under a " devices and services" strategy in July, those words weren't repeated by Nadella in statements and comments he made as new CEO. Microsoft's Surface tablets have been losing money despite increased sales; the newly released Xbox One is expected to be unprofitable until game sales begin to make up for costly hardware; and Nokia's phone shipments plunged in the latest quarter. Turning these units into contributors to the company's profits - or getting rid of them - will be one of the many decisions Nadella faces. . Pick a management team: Microsoft passed over many internal candidates in favour of Nadella, including former Skype head Tony Bates and chief operating officer Kevin Turner. How Nadella works with them will give an indication of the company's work with the board, including Bill Gates. Nadella asked Microsoft's founder to increase his involvement in the company's products and technology, meaning Gates will relinquish the chairmanship to John Thompson. How Nadella balances his own vision with Gates' could be a challenge. - The Associated Press New CEO for Microsoft Bill Gates gets new role as adviser for technology By Scott Martin IT'S hard to imagine Obby Khan as the poster child for anything. Yet, as incredulous as it might seem, the former Winnipeg Blue Bomber was trotted out at an event hosted by the Canadian Youth Business Foundation Tuesday morning. The 33- year- old former offensive lineman and proprietor of Shawarma Khan restaurant has just received a second round of funding from the CYBF to open up another eatery. A yet- to- be named juice bar is currently under construction in Osborne Village. Khan said without the kick- start from CYBF, which provides business resources, financing and mentoring for entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 39, it would have been much more difficult and taken longer for him to open up his Exchange District eatery. " It's a lot easier when somebody like CYBF is opening doors for you," he said. Joelle Foster, CYBF director for Manitoba, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, wants to encourage soon- to- be graduates to consider entrepreneurship as a career and to base their operations out of Manitoba. Since hanging up the CYBF shingle three years ago, Foster has funded 94 entrepreneurs, including 11 restaurants, with a success rate of 95 per cent. Would- be business owners can get $ 15,000 without any collateral, $ 30,000 through a combination of CYBF and the Business Development Bank of Canada and another $ 30,000 through a business startup program at the Royal Bank. " I can get somebody $ 75,000 no problem," she said. Scott MacAulay, entrepreneurship practicum course leader at Red River College, said textbook entrepreneurialism doesn't work. But if you show would- be business owners the right things to do, you can " activate" them. For years, he would work with young people in building a sophisticated business plan, but when it came time to go and get the financing, which was sometimes into six figures, they'd balk. Now he uses the " small cliffs theory," which espouses taking many smaller steps to get something off the ground. " Make one sale, get your business registered or go sell your product at a card table at a farmers market," he said. " If you do something too big or too sophisticated, it's overload. You need to have lots of little steps." In a little more than a year, Khan will have created 25 jobs, including 10 at the new juice bar. He has no intention of slowing down, either. " The Khan empire is growing. There's something else in the works, but I can't mention it yet. Hopefully, CYBF gives me another $ 75,000 and we'll open another venture in a year," he said. geoff. kirbyson@ freepress. mb. ca MICROSOFT / MCT Longtime company executive Satya Nadella has been chosen to replace former CEO Steve Ballmer. Khan taps fund for new enterprise By Geoff Kirbyson Psychology works for: P ANIC D ISORDER Manitoba Psychological Society Visit us at www. mps. ca JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Obby Khan ( right) with his partner, Johnny Kien, at the site of his new juice bar. B_ 04_ Feb- 05- 14_ FP_ 01. indd B4 2/ 4/ 14 7: 27: 16 PM ;