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July/2014

 

"Calling All Ambassadors For Waterloo Region!"
 

As you ponder your summer vacation plans, why not consider being an Ambassador for the Waterloo Region? You can do this while visiting your family and friends in a foreign land or as part of your travel plans in a new country. It can be formal and deliberate, such as reaching out to a contact abroad or entirely informal, like raising it among friends over dinner while visiting with them. What would you tell them? Of course that would be entirely up to you, but by having a few facts under your belt, you can provide a great deal of information and your enthusiasm can be infectious. Don't worry about the rest, simply point them our way if they show interest. Through this, you have become a key intermediary, an "Ambassador" for the Waterloo Region.

 

As our main Ambassador for Waterloo Region, Joan Fisk, will tell you, it may take only a few minutes and require some choice words describing the region to do it. For instance, consider 4 key words: Diverse, Innovative, Collaborative and Entrepreneurial.

 

Diverse- attracting people and talent from all over the world, the Waterloo Region represents a wide variety of industry and business clusters including Manufacturing, Life Sciences, Financial Services, Education and Information Technology.....Read more.

 

from the desk of
John G. Jung
, CEO, CTT Inc
.
  

What If I Spend Money To Train My Employees And They Leave?

 

"What if I spend money to train my employees and they leave?"  

"What if you don't train them, save the money, and they stay?"

Training employees has an overwhelming number of benefits, from providing key knowledge and skills to retaining employees. Add to that the obvious direct increase in productivity and you will undoubtedly see an improvement to your bottom line.

Most organizations are very good at providing technical training. What is often lacking is the so-called "soft skills". These are the skills that people need to get along with others, to see things from a different perspective, to not react (usually negatively) in a manner that puts people on the defensive.

All progressive employers would be wise to provide forums where their staff can develop their ability to positively interact with others. Whether it is having difficult conversations, dealing with stressful situations, problem solving or making a positive first impression, providing personal development to employees will reduce turnover, enhance customer service, optimize attitudes, and improve quality.

Now that definitely has a positive impact on the bottom line.

  

By: Toni Veiledal, Director, Corporate Development, McDonald-Green  

Waterloo Region's Strength In Auto Manufacturing Through Innovation & Talent

 

Automobil Produktion, a well-respected German automobile and automotive supply chain trade magazine with a circulation of 16,000 recently sent their managing editor to Ontario to investigate the state of the industry here. I had the opportunity to accompany Mr. Volk and showcase some of the innovation burgeoning in Waterloo Region, highlight existing German investments and convey that technologically-enhanced manufacturing is thriving - so tell the world!

 

Starting off at the University of Waterloo's Centre for Automotive Research (WatCAR) with Sebastian Fischmeister, Associate Director of Connectivity and Systems, we spent considerable time in the APMA Connected Vehicle with Technology Manager Raghunath Gannamaraju. This is a collaborative promotion of Canadian innovation that integrates products from many regional companies including Toyota, IMS, Pravala Networks, BlackBerry's QNX, alongside other Ontario tech firms. The complexity and technological sophistication of this car is amazing, which is why it is being showcased to automakers across North America, including Toyota, GM, Chrysler, Ford, Nissan and Honda. Mr. Volk was visibly impressed by what he saw, but more so by the discussion on University of Waterloo's cooperative education system, the breadth and depth of engineering, the collaboration between industry and academia supported by generous R&D incentives, as well as the unique IP policy at the university.

 

From there we visited PWO Canada, a German owned, tier 2 supplier to many OEMS with their parent company's annual global revenues at US$500 million. PWO Canada ships 90% of their metal components to the U.S. and Mexico yet remain in Waterloo Region and continue to hire and expand their facility. "You want to know why we are here?" asks president Karl Schreyer;  "because value added manufacturing with high efficiency, quality control, a skilled workforce and low employee turnover is here in Kitchener and not necessarily to be found where the clients reside". He underlined Canada's advantages for international companies as an ideal location because we have an openness of government, we are an immigration country with skilled labour coming from all over the globe, we have a drive for innovation and, of course, goods can be imported duty-free giving us a key advantage over the increasingly protectionist U.S.

 
Automobil Produktion's article on Ontario's automotive sector will be published in the fall, and I'm confident that Waterloo Region will receive extensive coverage, hopefully leading to further interest from German parties as we continue to differentiate ourselves through technology, competence and talent- something the Germans can appreciate! 

 

By Catherine Bischoff, Sr. Business & Marketing Analyst, CTT Inc.

Accessibility And Your Website

 

It's not just about people with disabilities being able to access your website - it's about everyone being able to access your website.

   

And, it's not just access to your website either. There are a number of other very real benefits to maintaining a website that meets web accessibility standards: a positive impact on search engine optimization (SEO), lower legal risk, a demonstration of corporate social responsibility and often increased general usability. An accessible website is simple and intuitive, easier to navigate, uses less bandwidth and is easier to translate.

 

Under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), all private and non-profit organizations with 50 or more employees and all public sector organizations will need to make their websites accessible. The first requirement for new web content comes into effect January 1, 2014 and by 2021, all public websites will need to conform to the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level AA.

 

Local accessibility expert, eSolutionsGroup, helps organizations make their web content accessible. Existing websites are audited for accessibility. Teams are introduced to the how-tos through clear and concise information written by accessibility professionals. Templates are created to meet needs as websites evolve to accessible standards.

 

If you are just starting to think about the accessibility of your website, four main requirements can be summarized using the acronym HALT.

  • Headings
    • These tags create structure for web pages and provide a table of contents for technologies that read screens for disabled users.
  • Alt text
    • This descriptive text is attached to images and can be read or displayed in place of the image.
  • Links
    • Accessible links have appropriate link text as well as title text to describe where the link goes.
  • Tables
    • Tables must be properly formatted with defined headings to make sense when being read aloud by screen readers.

Accessibility is about creating content for everyone.

 

eSolutionsGroup has worked with businesses, the public sector and not-for-profits to raise web content to accessibility standards. In some cases, work with groups like KW AccessAbility has provided an opportunity to step beyond the standards.

   

By: Karen Mayfield, President, eSolutionsGroup

Gowlings Still The Busiest Law Firm For Canadian M&A

Gowlings was once again ranked the No. 1 law firm for Canadian M&A in Thomson Reuters' Mergers & Acquisitions Review: Legal Advisors - First Half 2014, advising on more Canadian M&A deals than any other law firm.

 

To achieve its top ranking, Gowlings advised on 50 announced and 47 completed Canadian M&A transactions during the first half of 2014. In addition, Gowlings ranked second among all Canadian law firms based on volume of M&A transactions globally.

 

Regional Economic News
  • Intermarket Developments Inc. is spending about $160 million to revamp the site of the former NCR plant into a mixed-use project that includes office space, data centre, retail, restaurants and grocery store.
  • It's designed to attract tech and other businesses, but not compete with the likes of the Tannery in downtown Kitchener or the thousands of square feet of former BlackBerry space that became available earlier this year.

 


  • The Province of Ontario renewed its investment in world leading quantum technology research allotting $25 million to the Institute for Quantum Computing
  • The Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at Waterloo is among the top five quantum research institutes in the world. .
 
  • Companies evaluating relocation often look at recreational opportunities, education facilities, crime rates, health care, climate and other factors when evaluating a city's quality of life.

3rd Tuesdays Thought Leadership Series

 

Have A Great Summer! 

 

 
The CTT Inc. team would like to inform everyone that our 3rd Tuesday Thought Leadership Series will be taking a summer hiatus. We look forward to welcoming everyone back in September, starting on September 16th, 2014.  Stay tuned to find out our September thought-provoking topic.

 

 

On behalf of all of us at CTT Inc., we would like to wish you a safe and happy summer!