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B6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday March 28, 2001 Business To reach this section call 845-3824 Fax:337-5567 Up to 300 Ford workers facing indefinite layoff Slumping auto market hits Windstar plant The first of as many as 300 Ford Motor o f Canada Ltd. Windstar minivan assembly line work ers received their indefinite layoff notices last week. The soft North American auto market has forced Ford to reduce its hourly production of Windstars at the Oakville assembly plant from 75 to 65. Company spokesman John Amone said the full extent of the layoffs would not be known until the end of April and could involve 300 workers at the plant. "There's a reasonable expectation that some or all of the employees could be recalled, but I don't have any specific timing of that," said Amone. The layoffs are tied to the slumping auto market. Sales of the Windstar minivan in Canada slid 10.6% in 2000, to just under 50,000 vehicles. However, while sales of the Windstar a behind last year's pace, Amone said, "It is still the biggest selling minivan in Canada." The Oakville Assembly Plant is currently operat ing two shifts and employs 3,400 workers. The layoffs do not affect Oakville's truck plant, which continues to operate one shift and employs 1,200 workers. Late last month, ford said it would cut 250 jobs at its Windsor engine-making operations. The com pany is also planning to shave up to 4% off its U.S. workforce of 125,000. All of the Big Three automakers have taken steps to reduce output at North American assembly plants amid a market decline. Last week, General Motors Corp. said it will eliminate more than 340 jobs at its engine and com ponents plants in St. Catharines. In January, DaimlerChrysler AG announced plans to eliminate 26,000 jobs, including more than 3,000 in Canada. - With files from Torstar Wire Service PCL names executive PCL Packaging Corporation has announced that Michael Taylor will be joining the firm as Director of Product Development and Quality. The appointment is effective April 2. Taylor has a BSc. Degree in chemistry from the University of Waterloo and has several years of experience in the flexible packaging industry. He most recently held the position of Vice President of Engineering and Information Technology with an international film producer. Taylor will be developing new products for PCL's Jacksonville Fla. facility. Photo by Barrie Erskine N EW M A N A G E R : Sheree Bashak has taken over the reins of manager at the Sears store at Oakville Place. The m other of three replaces Brad Lytle who has taken on new responsibiliites at Sears' Distribution Centre in Vaughan. A 25-year veteran of Sears, Bashak was most recently manager at the Bramalea Shopping Centre store. Old World Stone wins Global Trader Award Old World Stone, owned by John Bridges o f O akville, has won a Leadership Award of Merit at the third annual Ontario Global Traders Awards for Ontario's Central Region. The cer emony was held recently in Mississauga. Bridges is known for his passion for the art and craft of stonemasonry. The Burlington-based firm fabricates dimensionally cut and carved natural stone for restoration o f historic build ings and new construction with half of its production exported to the United States. His first American project was the N e w C an ad ian T ire sto re has `next g e n e ra tio n ' fo rm a t When the brand new Canadian Tire Associate Store in Oakville officially opens its doors to the public on April 4th. customers will get to experience first hand Canadian Tire's "Next Generation" in retailing. The 108,000 sq. ft. store is stocked with a wide range of automotive, sports and leisure, hard ware, houseware and home products. For Canadian Tire Associate Dealer Mark Healy, who owns and operates the Oakville store, The Canadian Tire Corporation Limited, this project repre sents a combined capital investment of $15 million in the community and has created 105 new positions in the store. The new store is located at the comer of Dundas (Hwy #5) and Trafalgar Road and replaces the existing store at the Upper Oakville Shopping Centre. Featuring Canadian Tire's "Next Generation" retail format, the store is stocked with more than 50,000 products. It also offers customers a 13,500 sq. ft. garden centre and 17 bay Automotove Service Centre offering customers the latest in diagnostic equipment for all their automotive repair needs including everything for speedy lube, oil and filter changes. For the past several months, Mark Healy has been working hard with his team to prepare for the store's opening. Healy has been with Canadian Tire for 9 years, most recently in Allison, Ontario. Healy actively supports community ini tiatives inlcuding the Salvation Army, Oakville Minor hockey and soccer, and uses the stores new purchase of the Toronto Maple Leaf Zamboni for charity events. "Our store team is really excited about the new kind of shopping experi ence we're able to offer our customers with the "Next Generation" store for mat," says Healy. "We're looking for ward to providing our customers with top-notch customer service, a great line up of products and a fun and unique shopping experience." Major features of the new Canadian Tire store include: The Kitchen Place is a specialty bou tique within the store that offers cus tomers a wide selection in glassware, dinnerware, bakeware, cookware, tex tiles, kitchen gadgets and utensils. The Hardware Store provides cus tomers with a broad selection of hand and power tools and accessories, plumb ing and electrical hard parts, lighting, faucets, storage and organization and decor. The Paint Gallery offers customers a wide selection of paint, colour, tools and accessories for home decorating and painting projects. Automotive. There is a dedicated auto parts pick-up counter and cash reg ister staffed by Certified Parts Specialists and the layout of the automotive depart ment facilitates a quick in-and-out buy ing experience for customers looking to get what they want, when they want it. Sporting Goods. As the country's number one retailer of sporting goods, Canadian Tire has created specialty stores for categories such as hockey, golf, camping and fishing to make it easy for customers to shop. restoration of the 210-foot spire of the Cathedral of the Im m aculate Conception in Denver, Colorado, five years ago. The spire had been struck by lightening. Damaged stone from the spire was shipped to Old World Stone, where replacem ent Indiana limestone was custom fabricated and shipped back to Denver for installa tion. This project sparked Old World Stone's success as an exporter. Through his company, Bridges trains young Canadians in the stone m ason's skills in the hope that the ancient art will be preserved. Bridges received his award from Bob Runciman, Ontario M inister of Economic Development and Trade, and Dave Wilson, president and CEO o f the Institute o f C hartered Accountants o f Ontario, an award sponsor. O ver 240 nom inations were received from small and medium sized exporters, for the 18 awards. The nominees reported that exports had a significant impact on job cre ation, saying em ploym ent jum ped 23% over the previous year, from 6,974 to 8,598 jobs, in 1999-2000. "Exports generate the equivalent of more than 50% o f O ntario Gross Domestic Product and sustain 1.6 mil lion jobs in Ontario," said Runciman. The O ntario G lobal Traders Awards, celebrating outstanding exporting achievement by small and m edium -sized enterprises, industry leaders and students, by created by the Ontario government and first awarded for 1998. The awards are given in six categories - Leadership, Innovation, Marketing Expansion (Products and Services), Partnership and Student Achievement, and are awarded in four regions Central, N orthern, Southwest, and Eastern. Regional win ners become eligible for the top award in their respective categories at the provincial ceremony to be held on May 17 in Toronto. John Bridges, centre, receives his Ontario Global Traders Award o f Merit from Bob Runciman, left, Ontario minister o f Economic Development and Trade; and Dave Wilson, president and CEO of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario. ZENON's 4th quarter revenue up slightly Fourth quarter revenue for ZE N O N E nvironm ental Inc. increased slightly to $33 million from $32.4 m illion for the same period one year ago. But year-end revenue was $84.5 million, down 14% from $98.8 mil lion in 1999. Net income for the quarter was $ 1.6 million or .07 cents per share, up from $703,000 or .03 cents per share in the same 1999 period. The O akville-based w ater purification company blam ed slow er first-h alf business for the decline. "Even though we started the year slower than expected, we are now back on track grow ing the company," said Andrew Benedek, C hairm an and CEO . "The increased sales activity and letters o f intent, valued at nearly $22 m il lion already received from our cus tomers, combined with our backlog o f $72 million w ill ensure that we resume our usual rate o f grow th." A dm inistrative and general expenses increased 10% to $29.3 million from $26.6 m illion and was due to additional investm ents made to staffing levels during the year in sales, bidding and design capabili ties to accommodate future growth. A com pany release said industri al sector sales activity has increased throughout the year and is growing rapidly. Coaching & mentoring critical in 21st century economy By ly M ary-L o u ise Langlois SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER /ol n o n L Trust important to relationship says Royal Bank vp T ri D r \\ |/ n A nderson, who has been in the banking industry and with the Royal Bank for more than 20 years, shared her experiences o f being m entored in the early stages of her career and the m entoring she does now. H er prim a ry focus at the Royal Bank is talent m anagem ent and human capital m an agem ent in order to attract, develop and retain talented employees. Her talk made it clear that she recognizes the im portance of personal develop m ent eith er through coaching or m entoring. A nderson drew a clear distinction betw een coaching and m entoring, pointing out that they are different form s o f learning and growth. A nderson's defines coaching as "the learning you do to becom e better at your job. It helps you understand how you are perform ing, where your strengths are and as well as where the gaps are that you need to fill." "It is critically im portant for a coach to be honest and observe and deal w ith facts on a perform ance basis. Not everybody w ho's a good coach is a good m entor and not "You have to trust your m entor implicitly. They are someone to talk to in confidence." A nderson acknow ledged, "Leaders d o n 't m aterialize out o f nowhere -- they must be identified and they m ust be developed. M entoring plays a very important role in this developm ent. We (the Royal B ank) have alw ays placed great im portance in our organization on the early identification o f poten tial leaders and how to help them develop their relationship skills and navigate their way in our very com plex organization." W hen Anderson began her career in the late `70's there were few senior women in positions o f influence in A lberta, w here her career started with the bank. She indicated that it isn't necessary to have a m entor of the same gender to have a successful m entoring relationship. Her mentors were all men, some o f whom she rem ains good friends with today. She stressed the im portance of friendship in m entoring and the necessity o f the m entor to point out Coaching and m entoring -- two increasingly im portant w ords that have found their way into the lan guage of the business com m unity in recent years. Two notions that when im plem ented effectiv ely can help people succeed on the path to estab lishing solid careers. Pamela Anderson, Vice President Human Resources o f the Royal Bank F inancial Group, ad dressing the recent M a yo r's Business Breakfast, spoke on the importance o f coaching and m entoring partnerships. "Partnerships are a pow erful and effective way to get things done, w hether it's w orking in a com m unity or supporting the w ell-being o f the com m unity in w hich you w ork," stressed the breakfast gathering's key note speaker. "A nother kind o f part nership we value greatly at the Royal Bank is coaching and m entoring. These are partnerships that are prac ticed and I 've personally experienced and espoused the im portance o f coaching and m entoring inside the organization and com m unity." Royal Bank's Pamela Anderson: honesty and trust critical to per sonal growth everybody w ho's a good m entor is a good coach. Coaching means you have to be really specific about what the perform ance gap is." A good mentor, on the other hand offers career advice and is a trusted personal guide. The word trust is very im portant, stressed A nderson, characteristics, such as fighting the w rong battles, or im patience, that can be considered "derailers" in one's career. A mentor, says A nderson, should to be dealing with things that are tough to fix and not the day- to day issues that one should be dis cussing with their boss. The friendship aspect o f m entor ing is valuable, according to A nderson, because the corporate environm ent can be lonely. "M entoring is one o f the best ways to develop leaders because who knows better than leaders them selves what it takes to be in a jo b and do it well. It has to be a priority for your company. If it's not im portant for the leadership o f an organization it does n 't m atter what type of mentorship program you d evelop," A nderson suggests. The O akville E conom ic D evelopm ent Alliance organized the first M ayor,s Business Breakfast of 2001. Royal Bank Financial Group was the prim ary sponsor supported by AM 740, Instantaneous Link and The O akville Beaver. The next breakfast will be held May 17.