Congratulations Urbandale

In the April issue of Impact! the GOHBA Newspaper we will be running a feature on Urbandale highlighting their ENERQUALITY R-2000 Builder of the year award.

You can see this ad in our Febrary issue.

Congratulations again Matt and the team at Urbandale!

Off to the Ontario Wood Truss Fabricators Association AGM

I am just packing up a few last things and heading up to Mississauga to attend the OWTFA AGM starting tomorrow morning at 8:30 am. I was introduced to the association through our sponsorship of Wood WORKS! and their annual awards gala.

From their I started communication with Mike Phillips their Executive Director who has been submitting guest editorial columns to our Ontario Construction Report.

The AGM gives me a great opportunity to meet with Mike, get a sense of what the OWFTA is about and network. I hope this is the start of a great relationship and extended coverage on its members.

If interested in attending the event being held at the Stage West Hotel here is some contact information:

Mike Phillips

5 Glenaden Ave. E., Toronto ON M8Y 2L2

Tel: 416-235-0194

Fax: 416-239-4524

mail: mphillips@owtfa.com

Health and Safety Canada Conference and Trade Show April 20-21 Metro Toronto Convention Centre

Imagine - Innovate - Inspire

Three dimensions that will drive health and safety in the future. Don’t miss out on three days of unparalleled learning and the year’s best opportunity to network with more than 6,000 health and safety professionals.

This will be our second year attending the IAPA Health and Safety Trade Show at the Toronto Metro Convention Centre. The show allows us to connect with an ever growing side of the construction industry, the Health and Safety of the workers.

This year we will be looking at innovative products new training courses and advancements in the construction industry. Stop by our both to get a free copy of one of our regional papers.

Welcome to the board of the Barrie Construction Association

Back row left to right: Chase (GTA Construction Report) Steve Cromwell (Defence Construction Canada) Rob Stiemer (C.C. Tatham & Associates Ltd) Andy Sutton (CRS Contractors Rental Supply) Colleen Ewart (Hardship Acres Landscaping)
Kevin Dick (Deanvar Custom Cabinetry & Millwork Inc) Jason Whibley (CBM Aggregates) Bruce Bolduc (Construction Workplace Safety Training)

Front Row left to right Tom Thomason (VP) (Lafarge Construction) Anita Stacey (Pres) (Cowden Woods Design Builders Ltd) Scott Ward (Past Pres) (Mor Control Inc) (Katherine VanLeeuwen (2nd VP)Division 15 Plumbing Inc) Absent: Brenda Lucas (Treasurer) (Comfort Inn)

Last Thursday I had the privledge of being selected to the board of directors for the Barrie Construction Association. The posting is for two years and will allow me the ability to network and help shape the future of the association.

Our first meeting is on February 10th and I look forward to the new commitees and opportunities for personal and professional growth.

After the first meeting I will update you on what my next responsibilities will be.

Some positive feedback...

Hi Chase and Matt,

I just received the copies of the GTA Construction Report with the article insert on Jacques Whitford; it looks fantastic! Thanks for all your hard work in putting this together Matt, great work. And thanks for sending so many copies. I’ve sent a handful to various offices and interested individuals, including Sheila since I wasn’t sure if she received a copy.

Best regards,
Kathryn

Kathryn Appleton
Media and External Communications Specialist
Jacques Whitford, now Stantec

A Thank you from the NHBA

One of the things I like best about my job is not only being a member of a local construction association it is also being an active member.

Associations allow for great informal meetings with lots of potential clients as well as industry leaders who can share their experiences with you. If you are looking to spend some marketing dollars this year check out what local associations are available to you in your area.

Most likely you will find a Home Builders Association and Construction Association to join. The best benefit you will get in your day to day business dealings is a great ice breaker when yo come across members of the association in your normal dealings. A few times this year I came across resistance when discussing a feature article on a project or company which completely disappeared when it was established I was a member of the same association. Membership truly has its privileges. Other times people called me to do business simply based on my membership, what else can you ask for?

The one mistake that some people make is they join an association and do not get involved. It is like running an ad in a newspaper with your phone number and not answering the phone when people call. You need to get out to the meetings, go to the dinners and if possible volunteer for a committee. Sometimes you will do your best business dealings in a non business setting.

Ontario Construction Report Jan 2009 Issue

Publishers View Point Jan 2009

Welcome to 2009, a New Year with new events for the Construction News and Report Group to attend starting with the Ontario Forum in Toronto and the Barrie Construction Association (BCA) Annual General Meeting and Dinner.

Ontario Forum 2009 (hosted by the Ontario Home Builders Association) takes place over two days at the Westin Prince Hotel in Toronto on January 13th with the Industry Leaders' Reception & Dinner and on the 14th and offering an exciting mix of seminars designed to educate, speakers who will challenge your thinking, and tool and product displays to stimulate your sense of innovation. In its 21ST year of bringing cutting-edge information and exceptional networking opportunities to Homebuilders, Renovators, Architects, Realtors and other industry professionals, in an atmosphere of collective learning and fun.

My goal for this event is to network with members from across Ontario and develop new relationships to help me with my local Niagara Home Builders Association as I start to take on a larger role on a committee for the Renomark program. I also hope to gather more insight that I can use for the program and ideas of rolling out a publication similar to the Ottawa Renovate magazine we are launching time for Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association and their Renovation Home Show. My vision for Niagara is to dedicate a whole issue of Structures (NHBA Newspaper) to the Renomark program and renovating to help spread the word about the value of using a Renomark certified renovator and distribute to a large consumer audience across the Niagara Region.

A day after returning from Ontario Forum on January 15th I will head up to Barrie to attend my first AGM and Dinner to continue to build a strong relationship with the BCA and its members. While there I hope to connect with a few potential clients for features and get some photos for use in our community news section.

February is only a few weeks away, yet I need to start mapping out my trip to Quebec for the Canadian Home Builders Association Conference and a short trip to London to connect with the construction association there. 2009 for me will be about new relationships and how I can help promote associations and the construction industry. There are a lot of interesting people who work in our field and I hope to gain new insight and new friends.

Chase is the Director of Client Services for the Construction News and Report Group as well as the Associate Publisher for the GTA Construction Report and Structures, the Niagara Home Builders Association Newspaper. If you have any recommendations or suggestions on changes you would like to suggest for the papers please contact him toll free at 1-888-432-3555 ext 211 or email him chasemarketing@sympatico.ca

GTA Construction Report Jan 2009 Issue

Red Door Gala

Ontario Forum 2009

The Ontario building and renovation forum is the largest event of its kind in Canada for information exchange and showcasing of products and services. High quality speakers, information-packed concurrent sessions, leading-edge roundtable discussions and round-the-clock tabletop exhibits combine to make this THE event for professional development in the Ontario building industry.

The above blurb comes from the Ontario Forum 2009 web site, this is the first year we are attending the forum. With the addition of Structures the Niagara Home Builders Association (NHBA) Newspaper at the start of 2008 and our long standing Impact! Newspaper for the Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association (GOHBA) this event is a great place to connect with existing clients and showcase our products to other associations.

I am looking forward most to the table top trade show running on January 14th to see what new products and services are available to Home Building Industry that could be a good fit for features or marketing in our papers. I also will have a chance to meet up with Mike Martin from GOHBA and check out the soon to be released Ottawa Renovates magazine we are publishing. So far Mike has been offering lots of praise for the publication, a great endorsement we can use for new locations.

The magazine is a new format for us that can be quickly expanded to other regions across Canada and allows for great growth potential especially in the current economic environment. People may hesitate to purchase a new $200,000 house but they seem to be willing to spend even more renovating their current homes.

Renovations will be a big focus of our coverage in 2009, especially in Niagara where we are Renomark partners and where I sit on the Renomark Committee for the NHBA.

The Ontario Forum focus will also covering marketing, round table discussions, great speakers and networking with industry leaders across the province.

There are still some spots open for attending the event that will run January 13th and 14th at the Westin Prince Hotel in Toronto, hope to see you there.

The new employee evaluations begin tomorrow

Starting tomorrow the first of three potential new employees will begin testing in the final stage of getting hired.

Do we have an unusual process? For those who go through the process the feedback has been positive. Unlike other companies where they gage someones fit based on well they interview we look for them to demonstrate their knowledge and showcase their skills.

We start off with a simply questionnaire for them to review an article and answer three questions. At this point if we get 100 resumes only 25 respond. We weed out those who are simply going through the motions of looking for a job. After reviewing the three responses and the resumes of people who had a different view on the questions then what we had hoped to get we move forward with stage two, an online sales test. In the online sales test we look for people who can work independently, high scores for prospecting and closing. Of the 25 who answered the questionnaire 5 will be asked to complete this portion.

Of the 5 who take the online sales test we see a success rate of just over 2 fails for every 1 pass. In the last batch of tests we had 3 people pass out of 4 candidates. The final stage involves a paid working assignment.

The working assignment involves the person compiling a list of 10 potential features that if hired they could work. We evaluate based on if they features are worthy and if they will succeed. The other part involves working a live feature to generate sales. The sales portion demonstrates if they can build a relationship and produce measurable results.

When we look to hire we do not look for the ideal area to launch a paper but rather find the ideal candidate first. In our current batch of potential employees we are testing in British Columbia, news Brunswick and in Kingston, Ontario.

I will keep you posted on the results of our current testing. If you are looking for a new direction drop me a note at chase@cnrgp.com