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Melloul-Blamey Construction Inc. Receives Building Excellence Award For World-Class Rimowa Production Facility

Melloul-Blamey Construction Inc. was recently recognized for their outstanding work on the Rimowa production facility in Cambridge by the Grand Valley Construction Association at the 2014 Building Excellence Awards.

Through the efforts of Canada's Technology Triangle Inc., Rimowa was encouraged to establish their Canadian presence in Cambridge. And after meeting with Melloul-Blamey Construction, the plans to expand their North American presence were put into motion. Melloul-Blamey Construction built an 80,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility for the world-class German luggage manufacturer, which now employs over 300 local workers.

Rimowa's presence in the Region has been heralded by the Government of Ontario in their Ontario Business Report as an opportunity, "...that helps both Rimowa and Ontario forge ahead in world markets to create good jobs at home."

 "Receiving a Building Excellence Award in recognition of our creation of the Rimowa production facility is a point of pride for Melloul-Blamey," says Melloul-Blamey Construction Inc. President and CEO Joel Melloul. "Our work for Rimowa has resulted in hundreds of jobs throughout the Region, and a large part of that is thanks to the efforts of Canada's Technology Triangle Inc."

Melloul-Blamey Construction was presented with a total of five Building Excellence Awards during the 2014 Grand Valley Construction Association awards banquet in April - more than any other general contractor in the Grand Valley area, which includes the Regional Municipality of Waterloo.

By Jeff Heimpel, VP Business Development, Melloul-Blamey Construction Inc.  

Growing Momentum and Clarity for Equity Crowdfunding in Canada

In a short time, crowdfunding has caught the imagination of many entrepreneurs and become an important new fundraising technique.  Through crowdfunding an issuer can aggregate substantial amounts of capital by seeking small contributions from many different people.  Many start ups, small businesses, charities, artists and others now look to a variety of crowdfunding platforms to raise capital.  To date however, in most jurisdictions these platforms have been limited to some sort of donation, reward, pre-purchase of products, or peer to peer lending model.

Equity crowdfunding, the sale of securities through the use of crowdfunding techniques, has had a bumpier ride to reality.  Some jurisdictions, such as Australia, have had some sort of equity crowdfunding for a number of years.   There was early momentum around equity crowdfunding in the United States when the JOBS Act came into force in 2012 but much of the early excitement has waned with the drawn out process of its implementation.  Canadian securities regulatory authorities have been actively studying equity crowdfunding models for some time as well.  To date however, with very few exceptions, equity crowdfunding has not been possible in Canada due to regulatory restrictions.  This could change very soon.

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Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) Are You Ready?

Canada's anti-spam law, unofficially called "CASL", was finalized in December 2013 with the federal government's release of the final CASL regulations. CASL is one of the toughest laws of its kind in the world, and it has the potential to impact any individual or organization who sends e-mails, texts, social media messages or any other form of electronic communication to third parties in Canada, whether they are businesses, consumers or individuals. Violations of this legislation could result in monetary penalties of up to CAD 10 million for organizations, while individuals could be liable up to CAD 1 million.

Please join Miller Thomson for a complimentary breakfast session on June 4th at Miller Thomson's Waterloo office at 7:45AM

Who Should Attend

This seminar is designed for those in your organization who are responsible for managing the creation and communication of commercial electronic messages via email and other electronic means (e.g. SMS messages and social media posts).

For more information, contact David Schnurr

Register Online Here

Trends In The Airline Industry

Been on a plane lately? You may have noticed that airlines are managing their capacity very tightly. It's less and less likely that you'll have an empty seat beside you. Yet even with a full plane, industry analysts state that the profit per passenger is very poor. Thus, airlines have looked for other ways to make money through additional charges. You may have experienced some of these such as checked baggage fees, onboard meals for purchase, etc. Get used to seeing these charges as the "unbundled" experience is not going away.

The management of airline loyalty programs is also shifting towards focusing on the customer that pays more. Air Canada's Altitude frequent flyer program is structured to give more miles to the traveller that purchases a higher class of service ticket. The calculation for miles flown uses a tiered percentage formula that gives more value to the higher class of service. Delta airlines is taking a similar approach with their program. Starting in 2015, the miles earned will be based on the ticket price as opposed to the miles flown on the flight.

So, the next time you go to book a trip, be sure you ask some questions on what's included in your quote and check the terms of the loyalty program.

Since 1986, travel has been our business. Whether the purpose of the trip is business or pleasure, the Goliger's team can assist. Contact Liz Ward for more information.

By Liz Ward, Director, Corporate Travel Management, Goliger's TravelPlus

Waterloo Region Culinary Tour

In Kitchener alone, you'll find a wide range of restaurants serving pupusas, Caribbean jerk, and banh mi; or, Mediterranean, African and Turkish delicacies. There are a dozen independent coffee shops and cafes; there's the "Duke Food Block"; and there's the evolving "West End Eats."

A mere car ride away, Cambridge is home to world-renowned hotel Langdon Hall and several gem restaurants created by dedicated chefs. 

Travelling to Waterloo, you can relish a city core of unique independent restaurants inspired by the Region: tacos, a beer garden, dim sum, ramen soup, a Chinese bakery, burgers and hand-stretched wood-fired pizza.

Head into our Region's four Townships and you'll see roadside "Honour Stands" selling produce and farm-gate sales for maple syrup or summer sausage. It's the Mennonite backbone of Edna Staebler's "Food that Really Schmecks", while at the same time being called home to inns and pubs, preparing inventive, delicious meals.

By Andrew Coppolino, Editor, Waterloo Region Eats

• "Another world class technology company that's on the upswing" with over 800 employees globally will be opening up a permanent home in Kitchener, ON.

Meet the President and CEO of Waterfront Toronto who is changing the face of Toronto's waterfront. Learn about their unique innovation environment, how they are leveraging the Pan Am Games development and how their waterfront attracts and retains talent and investment.

WHERE: Waterloo Inn Conference Hotel

WHEN: Tuesday, June 17, 2014, 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM

 Sign Up Now