September | 2008 | Canada's top source for Alberta's business news

September 2008

Curb Appeal: Permanent Record

What’s that you say? Can a record store thrive in a trendy Calgary ’hood? You bet, says Recordland owner Armand Cohen, who claims he’s selling even more vinyl these days than back in the ’80s and ’90s >

The Genesis of Think

As an independent media outlet, we usually adopt the role of dispassionate observer of Alberta’s business scene. With Think: A New Idea of Alberta, we have decided to step out of this journalistic stance and adopt a cause. Lest you think it irrelevant or out of character, let me share a bit of the back story >

The Boom’s Long Tail

The pace has slowed, but Alberta’s corporate sector still managed to mark gains in 2007 >

The Last, Greatest Merger

The inside story on this year’s three-way combination between Servus, Common Wealth and Community Credit Union >

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Winners’ Circle One-on-One with Alberta’s 2008 Outstanding Young Farmers

The Winners’ Circle One-on-Ones are monthly web-exclusive Q&As that bring readers more on the stories behind some of the achievements published in the Winners’ Circle section of Alberta Venture magazine. Each month Alberta Venture salutes those individuals and companies which have been singled out for recognition of their accomplishments >

WEB EXCLUSIVE: 5 Ways to Build Positive Corporate Culture

It’s not rocket science; job satisfaction can make a good employee great. While this employment premise hasn’t changed, it’s no longer the usual suspects—financial rewards or flexible work hours, that are responsible for creating it. The keys to that door now reside with something that has become an incredibly valuable competitive advantage in a tight labour market: positive corporate culture >

V100 + Next 100 Video Series: Part Four of Six

Each September, Alberta Venture, in cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers, presents the list of Alberta’s biggest corporations >

Venture100: The Rankings

The pace has slowed, but Alberta's corporate titans still managed to mark gains in 2007 >

V100 + Next 100 Video Series: Part Three of Six

Each September, Alberta Venture, in cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers, presents the list of Alberta’s biggest corporations >

V100 + Next 100 Video Series: Part Two of Six

Each September, Alberta Venture, in cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers, presents the list of Alberta’s biggest corporations >

Exile in the Oilpatch: Alberta's oil and gas royalty mess

Jim Roy was the architect of the royalty system that helped revive the oil and gas industry in the 1990s. Now he thinks Albertans are getting shortchanged – and it’s only going to get worse >

The V100 + Next 100 Video Series: Part One of Six

Each September, Alberta Venture, in cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers, presents the list of Alberta’s biggest corporations >

Albertaventure.com 2.0

I don’t know why it is; somehow it’s always September, when we’re frantically putting the finishing touches on our biggest issue of the year, that we also make the big changes (last year it was switching to a new printer in a new city), but here we are unveiling our totally revamped albertaventure.com. >

A Leaner, More Private Venture 100

In 2007 we witnessed a period of consolidation and privatization >

City Needs Champion

Everything’s in place for Edmonton’s downtown arena bid. Except a leader >

The Sky’s the Limit

WestJet employees learn many important skills: how to tell good jokes, manage stock options and start new companies >

Green to Gold

Natural food stores are not your mom-and-pops anymore. How Planet Organic has become one of the hottest brands in organic retail >

Corporate Cult(ure)

Devoted employees, company picnics and a friendly workplace are a good thing. But when the corporation takes on the role of community, it can be dangerous >

The Skilled Migrant’s Lament

In the midst of a labour shortage, highly educated immigrants should have an easy time landing jobs in their fields. We followed some to find out why they don’t >

Feeding the Tiger

Mostly ignored by Alberta food processors, India presents an enormous – and for now, wide open – market opportunity >

Fat Chance

The trans-fat-free trend spells another kind of oil wealth for Alberta >

Fast Food Nation

How Alberta's food producers and manufacturers are responding to consumers' changing preferences >

Methodology & Footnotes

The nitty gritty of the Venture 100 >

The Mini Major

Connacher Oil and Gas is one oilsands junior that’s acting like an integrated oil company >

V100

September 2008: A Leaner, More Private Venture 100 >

Lost in Translation

How to whine about your errant luggage and not make your trip a lost cause >

Expensive Oil Is Bad for Your Health

Imagine a world in which ambulances travel under 20 kilometres an hour to conserve fuel. Where discharged patients sit in hallways because their relatives can’t pick them up. Where non-emergency surgeries are cancelled >

How to Have Fun in a Recession

No province is an island. Eventually even Albertans will feel the effects of soaring fuel prices, food inflation and falling home prices. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still party like it’s 2006 >