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Edmonton is the launching site for the first implementation of EarlyRain’s smart card based loyalty program, Affia. The program is being offered to local merchants through the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with TELUS Advertising Services and the Edmonton Examiner.
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With so many dot-com companies in a desperate downward spiral, you may have noticed more technology terms with a decidedly negative slant cropping up in our everyday vocabulary.
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Picking through the mud on this gray winter day, it takes imagination to see Intuit Canada’s new home base as it exists in the mind of architect Vivian Manasc. Blue hoarding covers the showcase main entrance; Doug Carlyle’s signature landscaping appears only on paper.
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While visitors may enjoy a stunning vista of the North Saskatchewan River Valley from Nizar Somji’s power office on the 19th floor in Edmonton’s Standard Life Building, Matrikon’s president rarely glances outside to enjoy the view.
This focus reflects his approach to his job, where Somji eschews power suits in favour of the Tommy Hilfiger casual look preferred by the 170 high tech young bloods that work in his headquarters. “I have not let my lifestyle or personal things get carried away in this whole business,” he says. “I think I got it from my father. When we came home from school with good grades, he always said Don’t gloat.’”
As well as avoiding the accoutrements of success, Somji also avoids the language of a typical business leader. Rather than using clichéd war or sports metaphors, Somji sees himself as a high tech Rembrandt. “In my heart, I’m a technology guy and so I look at things in a different way. I’m not motivated by money or growth. I’m motivated by being able to build something that will last,” he says. “It’s like a good painting. You want to create it so that you can look at it for many years and still enjoy it. Artists that made outstanding paintings that are selling for millions of dollars, their motivation was not to create a painting so they would get $100 million.”
Somji’s indifference to the bottom line has not, however, dampened profits for Matrikon, which posted net earnings of $1.69 million on revenues of $20 million in 2000. Nor has it slowed growth, as the company almost tripled its number of employees in the past two years to 230. Matrikon has avoided the typical pains of rapid growth by consolidating its gains. “If I told you today that I was going to build to 1,000 people, we would still build it one person at a time, one job at a time,” he says. “We grow and we plateau. We call that rationalizing; we make sure we are utilizing all the people, that the infrastructure is being built. When we go to the next level of growth, we rationalize again. If you don’t take the time to rationalize, you are going to die.”
Matrikon’s latest growth spurt occurred in October, when it swallowed up Edmonton based software developer TigrSoft Inc. in a $40 million reverse takeover expected to be approved by shareholders in January. The deal would see Matrikon listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, a move that Somji did not envision when he hung out a shingle as a consultant in 1988 after leaving his engineering job at Nova Chemical. “Thirteen years ago, I was thinking I was going to have a huge company of 12 to 15 people working for me,” Somji says. “That was big for me. Today, people’s concept of big has kind of exploded.”
In the recipe for the company’s skyrocketing growth, Somji sees the chief ingredient as his fresh faced sleuths, who solve high tech jigsaw puzzles by designing software for automated manufacturing systems. These challenges, as well as the ability to work abroad on Matrikon projects for clients such Exxon, Monsanto, Weyerhaeuser and Pharmacia & Upjohn, also provide a lure for young employees. “These young people have the desire to grow and build something for themselves, so they have really helped carry the company to the next level,” says Somji, who pronounces himself “ancient” at age 41 in a company where most employees are in their mid 20s. “A 19 year old kid who comes to work here, in three months, he’s out in San Jose, Norway, Saudi Arabia or wherever we have a project.”
Somji has built a pipeline to ensure a steady flow of new talent to his company. Matrikon endowed a research chair at the University of Alberta’s school of engineering and allows senior staffers to lecture at NAIT. “With those close ties, a lot of the students are aware of Matrikon. We are able to attract some of the top guys from those schools to come here,” Somji says. “It’s a win win.”
Matrikon’s success has also earned a torrent of praise from the business press. Placing 20th on this year’s list of Alberta’s Fastest Growing Companies is the latest award for Matrikon, which placed 21st on the 1999 roster. The company has also appeared on similar honour rolls for Profit magazine as one of Canada’s fastest growing companies and Deloitte & Touche’s list of Canada’s 50 fastest technology companies. These awards act as a marketing tool to attract talented employees to Matrikon, Somji says. “With the visibility that shows you achieve a level of success, people are keen to join.”
Big plans, big opportunities, big advantages and a big problem. Just about everything about Big Picture Technologies Inc. fits the under the large label, including its ranking as Alberta’s #1 Fastest Growing Company in Alberta Venture’s annual listing.
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