Canada-US Partnership a “Clean” Sweep for 2006 Business Achievement Award

Virox and JohnsonDiversey recognized for cross-border collaboration

OAKVILLE — The Canadian American Business Council, the voice of the Canadian American business community, has selected Virox Technologies Inc., of Oakville, Ont., and JohnsonDiversey Inc., of Sturtevant, Wisconsin to be awarded the prestigious Business Achievement Award for their collaboration in developing and distributing, a safe and environmentally friendly hydrogen peroxide-based disinfectant.

In 2001, Virox Technologies and JohnsonDiversey formed a partnership in the ongoing fight against infectious disease and together have proven that a disinfectant need not be toxic to be effective. Past award winners have included Research in Motion (RIM), Intel Corporation, Syncrude, and Caterpillar.

Each year, the Council identifies innovative and successful alliances between Canadian and American businesses to recognize the benefits that these partnerships bring to both countries — in jobs, innovation, and revenue creation. Judges look for sustained profitability, job creation, financial strength, environmental responsibility, and exceptional innovation.

“The judges for this year’s Business Achievement Award were not only impressed by the working partnership between the two companies but also by the positive impact their solution has for reducing the threat of infectious disease,” said Randolph Dove, Board Chairman, Canadian American Business Council. “The CABC recognizes their incredible work and applauds their cross-border alliance on a global scale.”

“Many disinfectants are currently under scrutiny due to increasing concern with human and environmental safety,” said Dr. Syed A. Sattar, director of the Centre for Research on Environmental Microbiology, University of Ottawa. “Too many disinfectants have a narrow spectrum of germicidal activity, because most products are only tested against easy-to-kill bacteria and not against more resistant viruses. The Virox/JohnsonDiversey partnership is meeting the need for safer, more effective germicides.”

Virox Technologies and JohnsonDiversey were formally presented with their award at the 12th Annual Awards luncheon which took place during the North American Competitiveness Forum on Nov. 8 at the Royal York.

Brickworks leads with ISO 9001:2000

BURLINGTON, ON – Brickworks Communications Inc. has announced that it has successfully achieved ISO 9001:2000 certification.

“We believe ISO registration puts us in the forefront of our industry. It is a major achievement for a service company of our size. We have demonstrated our ability to meet business and quality management standards that are recognized and respected throughout the world,” said Managing Director John Pitts.

“The certification process was intensive and intricate. We had to undergo and pass a comprehensive audit that required the full involvement of everyone on our staff.  It forced us to further refine and structure our procedures to ensure that we met very rigorous standards,” Pitts said.

The ISO 9001:2000 certification process recognizes companies that have undergone and passed an intensive third party examination of globally recognized quality management system requirements.

Halton moves forward on EFW

HALTON REGION — Halton Region moved forward with its plans to create an Energy From Waste (EFW) facility when it issued a Request For Proposal (RFP) to five consulting firms, as chosen through an Expression of Interest process. The successful firm will work with staff on developing a business case to present to Regional Council in the spring of 2007.

The business case will include the preliminary air quality, environmental, health, transportation and financial assessments needed to initiate public consultation and make an informed decision on the options for Halton’s EFW facility.

“It is critical that Halton move forward on our Energy From Waste plans. When the borders close in 2010, we must be prepared to accept Halton’s industrial, commercial and institutional waste. By choice, this sector currently sends its waste to the U.S. The volumes account for 150,000 tonnes of waste each year, which will represent a doubling of waste going to Halton’s landfill,” said Halton Regional Chairman Joyce Savoline.

Investigating an Energy From Waste facility is one component of the Halton Solid Waste Management Strategy, which also outlines how Halton can divert up to 60 percent of its residential waste out of the landfill. Halton residents currently divert almost 43 percent of their waste away from the landfill.

“While it’s critical that Halton divert as much waste as possible from our landfill, achieving a 60 percent diversion rate alone will not address the waste issues in Halton,” said Savoline. “Even with a 60 percent diversion rate, our landfill will exhaust its capacity by 2030. The investigation of creating new, clean, state-of-the-art technologies takes time, so we have to start working on a solution to manage Halton’s waste now before it’s too late. The additional bonus is the generation of energy which is increasingly becoming critical given the crisis we face in our Province, which of course affects Halton.”

The primary objective of the EFW facility would be to dispose of Halton only waste that could not be reduced, reused or recycled.

CMMA hires new Gov’t Relations consulting firm

OAKVILLE — The Canadian Marine Manufacturers Association (CMMA) has hired Global Public Affairs to assist the association and the industry with its Government Relations (GR) focus.

The CMMA Board of Directors is committed to enhancing CMMA’s GR role and the hiring of Global Public Affairs is a significant step forward in that work.

“CMMA’s affiliation with Global will aid the entire recreational marine industry,” noted CMMA Board chairperson, Rick Layzell. “Global’s strength and general understanding of marine issues, coupled with their expertise in managing policy and government relations will deliver unprecedented representation for all aspects of our industry. With the strong desire at our Board level for a more focused government strategy, we are excited about the benefits of this new relationship.”

Global Public Affairs, who represent all political parties, deliver integrated public affairs strategies across federal, provincial and municipal jurisdictions. They serve clients across Canada and internationally, combining extensive experience in public policy and government relations and an unmatched depth of expertise and understanding in critical industry sectors.

Junior Achievement program expansion
one step closer to reality

HALTON HILLS — The delivery of Junior Achievement programs in Halton Hills took a step closer to meeting its program expansion goal due to a generous grant from the Halton Healthy Community Fund. For the first funding year, JA will receive $15,000 plus $10,000 is approved in principle for 2007, which will help increase program delivery to more schools and students in the Halton Hills community.

Junior Achievement programs are available to students in Halton Hills thanks to a unique partnership between the Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce and Junior Achievement of London and District.

Junior Achievement has been operating in Canada for over 50 years. The various programs are designed to encourage students to stay in school, increase their awareness of the business world, give hands-on experience in running their own company and improve leadership and entrepreneurial skills.

In Halton Hills, JA in-school programs are offered to students in grades 5, 7, 8 and 10. JA’s signature after-school program — “Junior Achievement Company Program,” is available to high-school students. These students, under the guidance of volunteers from the business community, start-up and run their own business throughout the school year, which offers them a tremendous experience not available in the regular school curriculum.

One of our student achievers from the 2005-06 JA Company Program describes the program this way. “JA has truly been an adventure for me! No other extracurricular I have participated in has allowed me to learn so much about my future career. There is far more that goes into running a good business than I ever thought.”

Last year, 16 programs were delivered to 470 students in the community. The 2006-07 goal is to make 29 programs available to over 850 students in Halton Hills. Although the Halton Healthy Community Fund donation is greatly appreciated and will go a long way to help achieve the program expansion goals, it is not a source of sustainable funding. Ultimately, Junior Achievement relies on the generosity of the local business community to support the financial and volunteer requirements associated with running these value-added programs.