How is your summer going so far? For me, time is passing too fast like every year once the warm weather arrives. My outdoor projects are well under way. These include wrapping up enclosing my old greenhouse for three seasons use by September, pouring new gravel with grading for my driveway in August and installing rain gutters on my barn for rain collection, work which should be completed by mid-month.
After the cold winter and raining weather of Spring, I can see projects across Niagara enter a new phase of rapid completion and catch up. We have been lucky with our weather the last two seasons here and the impact of the elements does not seem to have played any part in project progress. I am hearing less about material delays and finding the local building centers stocked up with less bare shelves caused by COVID-19 shortages.
Early work is under way here for the preparation of our Fall planning session with the focus shifting to employee ownership as our current publisher Mark Buckshon completes his progression into retirement. He has stepped back the last few years to gage how the company would run without his hands on daily and there have been a few hiccups along the way.
The great thing about his retirement is his role changing into a business consultant for the next 10 years. He’ll continue to be a resource for the company, aiding in the continued growth in Canada and across the US with our many markets there.
Is your business employee-owned or working towards that currently? If so, I would be happy to hear about your challenges, success and overall experience of the process looking at how things were before, during and afterwards. We could feature your story in an upcoming issue of the daily newspaper or monthly magazine.
As always, we are also happy to provide coverage of your company, association and industry events this summer. You can provide photos and a brief write up for coverage or extend an invitation to co-ordinate staff attending.
Chase is the director of marketing and client relations for the Construction News and Report Group as well as the associate publisher for the Ontario Construction Report and Ottawa Construction News, the daily digital newspaper Ontario Construction News, Canadian Design & Construction Report as well as several U.S. markets such as California, New York, Florida, North Carolina and Chicago. These publications and newsletter reach tens of thousands of readers across Canada and the United States. He can be reached at (905) 341-8686 or by email chase@ontarioconstructionreport.com.