Food4Kids Halton was the lucky recipient of the smile cookie proceeds from all Oakville area Tim Hortons locations. Michael had the pleasure of helping to decorate some of the smile cookies during this awesome campaign.
In the latest survey from The Business Monitor, released by Modus Research, Canadian executives were asked about inflation and how they plan to deal with costs.
Key findings in this release:
More than 8 in 10 businesses anticipate that the cost of doing business will increase over the next year.
Despite the recent easing in the rate of inflation from the early summer, more than half of Canadian businesses think the rate of inflation will increase over the next year (undoubtedly why so many expect costs to increase significantly).
The biggest cuts will be to new equipment purchases, with large numbers also cutting: investing in R&D, office/workspace, recruiting and hiring new staff.
These results are consistent across all sizes of business, regionally and by industry sector.
The number of companies cutting cost this year represents a significant increase over the previous year.
When asked about the costs in these same areas, businesses cut costs over the previous 12 months at much lower levels.
The most sizable shift in the number of companies cutting cost will come in the areas of employee costs, workspaces, and new equipment.
The survey was conducted from August 19 to September 5 using the Modus Business Panel – Canada’s only purpose-built, probability based B2B research panel. Because the Panel is built using random probability telephone sampling, it is valid to cite the margin of error for this survey. The survey is based on a representative sample of 600 Canadian managers and executives and has a margin of error of +/- 4.0% pts 95 times out of 100. The survey data is weighted by size and region according to the latest Statistics Canada data to help ensure representativeness for Canadian enterprises.
September 2nd, 2022
Dear Adam,
On behalf of Community Shelter Services, thank you for your support of the Housing ‘Fore’ All Golf Tournament that benefited our agency. Your sponsorship helped our event be a great success and raised over $50,000. The kindness and generosity of sponsors such as yourself provides the moral and financial support needed to continue our mission of aiding the homeless and helping them transition into permanent housing.
Your willingness to help your neighbors in need makes all the difference for their better future and your continued support means that you understand just how important our work is in the community. Especially now as the cold winter months approach, we depend on caring people like you to help fund our essential programs.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact e at [email protected]
We send you our heartfelt thanks again, and truthfully, we could not do this without you.
Sincerely,
Katie Confer
Development Director
Community Shelter Services
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The following article was shared by Gartner on August 17th, 2022:
Contributor: Jackie Wiles
Many executive leaders will need to make trade-offs in their spending to tackle today’s triple squeeze of persistent inflation, supply chain disruptions and a tight labor market. But common missteps in cost reduction can undermine even structured programs designed to optimize cost decisions strategically.
“Many more CFOs will start to look for cost reductions if high inflation persists or if there is a risk that higher interest rates will weaken the demand-side of the economy,” says Randeep Rathindran, Vice President, Research, at Gartner. “Executives should scope now where to secure cost reductions while avoiding seven common mistakes that make it difficult — and potentially impossible — to pursue growth ambitions in the longer term.”
Fewer than half (43%) of leaders actually achieve the level of savings they set out to in the first year of cost reduction. Unrealistic targets are the problem.
Across-the-board cuts penalize the more efficient parts of your organization (demotivating those teams) and can result in eroding important sources of value.
Only 11% of organizations can sustain cost cuts over a three-year period. This is because most cost-cutting strategies are short term and fail to preserve the behavioral change required for smart spending decisions in the future.
Although some costs (such as travel and expense) can be capped by policy rules and restrictions, many removed costs inevitably creep back in as budget owners and managers pursue spending and initiatives in the name of supporting growth. The result is another painful round of cost reductions when the next crisis hits.
Only 6% of organizations consistently invest in growth opportunities without creating excessive complexity. Because of the premium many organizations and their investors place on top-line growth, executive leaders tend to have a blindspot when it comes to complexity.
Complexity drives almost half of the growth in corporate overhead costs. From introducing too many incremental variants of existing products to investing in scope-additive business lines or elaborate management hierarchies, complexity creates:
Direct costs, such as excessive inventory holding or warranty costs from supporting too many product varieties and SKUs
Indirect costs in terms of slower decision making
Only 9% of organizations create enough capacity to take on the growth and innovation opportunities they pursue. Aggressive cost reductions can drain resources from high-impact innovation projects or indefinitely delay funding to a point where competitors can hurdle your organization in the market.They can also promote an environment where innovators don’t feel permissioned to request enough multiyear funding required to ensure their initiatives are successful.
Among CFOs polled in July 2022, 66% said they planned to increase investment in digital technology in the ensuing 12 months, and another 32% said they would maintain such spending. That’s the highest percentage of any spend category, reflecting the ongoing need to prioritize digital acceleration as a way to:
Permanently reduce the cost of doing business (especially to fight inflation)
Improve customer and employee experience
Outperform competitors during the looming downturn
However, realizing value and scale from IT initiatives requires an actionable digital-investment model and a clear understanding of enterprise digital strategy. A productive CFO-CIO partnership is also critical to ensure funding continues to flow to critical digital initiatives.
Two in five IT leaders regret technology purchases due to unfavorable terms or overpriced fees. It is imperative for an organization to acquire the right set of technologies to support its digital transformation or speed up business processes. However, limited budgets, coupled with pressure to invest in new and disruptive technologies, can drive leaders to invest in technologies that require unforseen implementation costs, generate new inefficiencies and generally fail to meet expectations, wasting potentially millions in economic resources.
Vendor negotiations are a key part of cost optimization strategies, and today’s high levels of inflation make it even harder to tell if your vendors are tying price increases to their costs or are simply trying to maintain their margins. Make sure to negotiate not just prices but terms and conditions.
Under budget pressure, executives typically look first to lower costs in their direct area of responsibility, such as their function, but it’s critical to consider, too, whether those cost-reduction actions would create or exacerbate risks that threaten the organization’s value proposition.
Examples:
This article has been updated since its original publication in December 2020 to reflect new events, conditions and research.
Randeep Rathindran, VP and Team Leader, has a primary research focus on the Chief Financial Officer and FP&A leader role, Financial Data and Analytics, Investor Relations, and Finance Technology Optimization key initiatives.
To whom it may concern:
In today’s world, it is rare to find someone who is not only passionate about the community, but passionate about making an impact of the community and surrounding areas. Adam Baker is just that person.
I got to know Adam through his servant leadership in the community. Adam is always willing to help in every single way that he can. His determination to give back his most valuable resource, which is time, makes me admire him.
It is not just Adam but his company Schooley Mitchell as well that goes above and beyond. Their contribution to the community and self-sacrifice has not gone unnoticed. Schooley Mitchell efforts are vital in helping our community with budget savings.
Schooley Mitchell ensures their clients are getting the best business services at the best price. They will help you increase other companies’ profits. Schooley Mitchell are driven by producing results for their clients. Over the past 22 years, they have reduced costs by an average of 28% for over 25,000 clients.
Adam’s timeless dedication is deeply appreciated. Adam is continuously looking for ways to support companies in every single imaginable way. Adam is a huge resource to our community and i am so very humbled to be able to call him a friend.
Please consider working with Adam at Schooley Mitchell, there is no cost, and you will be impressed at the work ethic and community spirit that Adam has.
Cathy Szymanski
Szymanski Consulting
To whom it may concern:
It is with great pleasure and deep respect that I write this letter of recommendation on behalf of Kamelia Fisher. Based in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Kamelia Fisher is the experienced and talented executive director at Cuyahoga Falls Chamber of Commerce.
The Cuyahoga Falls Chamber of Commerce was founded in the fall of 1926 by a group of businessmen and property owners. Over the years, it has grown to include more than 300 business members who all work together to build a healthy economy and improve the quality of life in Cuyahoga Falls.
Kamelia takes a rare approach to chamber directorship – being involved first-hand to help her members make connections with each other. Whether actively mixing at events or referring members to each other through phone calls, she is engaged with her membership and committed to making her chamber a success.
While I have only known Kamelia for a short time, I have quickly come to know her as the true professional and genuinely kind-hearted person she is. She has been an exemplary spokesperson for the chamber and gave me a first-rate experience getting to know how the chamber functions, as well as helping me make personal introductions to members.
I recommend Kamelia Fisher and the Cuyahoga Falls Chamber of Commerce with the utmost confidence to anyone looking to connect with other businesspeople and make a difference in their community. Kamelia and the rest of the organization will go above and beyond to help you build relationships that will help your business reach its full potential.
Sincerely,
Fred Carter
Strategic-Partner
Schooley Mitchell
To whom it may concern:
It is an absolute pleasure to write this letter of recommendation on behalf of a true asset to our community, Missy McWhorter. Based in Fairlawn, Ohio, Missy is the highly talented executive director of the Fairlawn Area Chamber of Commerce.
The Fairlawn Area Chamber of Commerce is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing the interests of businesses and professional firms in the City of Fairlawn and the surrounding communities. Its membership is comprised of diversified businesses interested in prospering and creating a healthy environment in which to conduct business successfully.
Although I only met Missy recently, it was easy to see that she is highly experienced, and 100 percent dedicated to supporting local businesses and promoting economic growth. She is very welcoming when it comes to new members to the chamber and a great source of insight for how to best utilize the chamber’s services. She also has a great understanding of the needs of her business and non-profit members, which is due to her own business ownership experience and time serving non-profits.
I highly recommend Missy McWhorter and the entire Fairlawn Area Chamber of Commerce to anyone looking to get active in the community and connect with other businesses. With Missy and her team, you can count on the direction you need to grow your business and expand your professional network.
Sincerely,
Fred Carter
Strategic-Partner
Schooley Mitchell
Jessie Miske of Miske Paralegal Services has been nominated for two of The Owen Sound & District Chamber’s Business Excellence Awards, Entrepreneur Under 35 and New Business of the Year. Click here to vote and show your support today!
