The all-cash deal for Broomfield, Colorado-based MWH Global, which Stantec said is expected to close in the second quarter could increase Stantec’s annual revenues by about 60 per cent, to more than $4.5 billion, while its global headcount will increase from about 15,000 to 22,000.

The transaction will see Stantec expand in the water infrastructure sector, one of the fastest growing infrastructure areas in the world.

MWH is a privately-held global engineering, consulting and construction management company focused on water and natural resources projects. It now has 6,800 employees worldwide, with 187 offices in 26 countries.

Stantec says the deal will position it as a global leader in water resource infrastructure markets, including in the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, South and Central America, Europe and the Middle East.

The transaction significantly expands Stantec’s footprint outside of Canada and outside the struggling energy sector, where it began life as an environmental consulting firm. After the transaction, about 70 per cent of its revenues will come from outside of Canada.

Gord Johnston, Stantec’s executive vice president of infrastructure said it is “the most exciting acquisition in the history of the company,” allowing it to grow substantially in the fast-growing areas of water and transportation infrastructure.

He said the “synergies” between both companies are ideal.

“We work with the same types of clients,” he said. “About 70 per cent of their clients are public agencies, while 50 per cent of our clients are the same. Among the private clients, including mining and oil and gas firms, we work for many of the same companies.”

Johnston said in the engineering and design field, corporate culture is a key component, since there essentially are few physical assets involved. He said MWH has a culture very similar to Stantec’s, with many long-term, experienced employees.

Also the companies both have a similar history, with Colorado-based MWH having beginning 1950s as a firm focused on water infrastructure.

He said U.S.-based media reporters had asked if the acquisition would lead to job losses in centres, such as the Denver area, where both companies have a presence.

“We’re far away from deciding what will happen at our offices” where there might be duplication, he said.

However, he said there is little likelihood that will happen in Canada, since MWH has a minimal presence in the country.

Johnston said the deal is unlikely to lead to much of a growth in head office staff in Edmonton, where it employs about 2,000 people.

He said Stantec will want to maintain an MWH presence in many of the 187 offices it has maintained, adding that its strength has been in that local footprint.

The Stantec executive, who oversees the company’s 1,500 employees engaged in water infrastructure, said he’s excited about the growth prospects in that area, given the strength of MWH in the sector.

Given concerns raised recently in the U.S. about poor water infrastructure, such as the lead poisoning scare in Flint, Michigan, where poor water infrastructure was cited as the cause of lead-related health issues, he said he expects the U.S. to greatly increase its spending on water-related projects going forward.

He expects the same thing to happen in Canada, where the federal Liberal government is committed to large expenditures on infrastructure.

Worldwide it will be a growing area of expenditures as well.

In addition, MWH has a large presence in the area of transportation infrastructure — also a Stantec strength — and he expects spending to be ramped up worldwide in that area.

Stantec was founded by Don Stanley, an Edmonton native who retired from the company he founded in 1983 and passed away in 2001. He launched the business with a focus on environmental services. But, with the subsequent addition of partners Herb Roblin and Louis Grimble, with backgrounds in bridge and railway engineering, the firm diversified and grew quickly.

That growth continued over the next 30-plus years, as what was then known as Stantec Inc. became publicly-listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) in 1994 and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2005.

Sonia Kirby, head of investor relations for Stantec, said the company, a true Canadian success story, continues to have deep roots in Edmonton.

One of its largest recent acquisitions, prior to the MWH deal, involved privately-owned, Quebec-based Dessau, which was established in 1957 and had 1,300 employees in 20 offices located throughout the province.

Prior to that acquisition, which became effective in the first quarter of 2015, Stantec had a relatively minor presence in the province.

In a conference call that followed the release of its 2015 results, Stantec head Bob Gomes said the company will continue to focus on increasing its presence in the U.S., where it now has about 6,500 employees.

But he also said the company is planning to grow internationally, where it now has only about 300 employees and where revenues account for a small percentage of its overall operations.

— This article has been sponsored by Glacier FarmMedia as corporate sponsor to the upcoming Centrallia conference in Winnipeg, May 25 to 27.

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Winnipeg-based Cypher Environmental, run by 34-year-old entrepreneur Todd Burns, has perfected an eco-friendly way to virtually eliminate that dust and to stabilize soils in areas like mine sites, where heavy truck traffic is a constant — and expensive — irritant.

And, by the way, it has also developed a technology that utilizes bacteria and enzymes for wastewater remediation, potentially a multi-million-dollar market.

Cypher’s business motto, “Driven by Innovation – Partners in Performance,” captures the fast-growing company’s raison d’être.

But, as is the case with most successful companies, it took leadership to bring that motto and vision to reality.

Burns, who has traveled to more than 40 countries to promote and market Cypher’s suite of environmentally-friendly technologies, was a 2001 graduate of Winnipeg’s Red River College when he saw the potential of a technology his late father had discovered. He had also later studied environmental science at the University of Manitoba.

“The (dust-suppression) technology business operated out of my dad’s basement,” he said. “We used to have the product made in China and were practicing absentee management. I brought the control of the manufacture of the product to Winnipeg, which allowed us to focus on our products.”

And the rest, as they say, is history.

While the firm only has a handful of direct employees now in Winnipeg, most are engineers and technologists who are dedicated to product enhancement and development, its tentacles reach out much more than that. With dozens of distributors worldwide and with a reliance on its own manufacturing capabilities, Burns says the company’s footprint is much larger.

“Indirectly we employ hundreds of people around the world,” said Burns.

And, as sales of Cypher’s products climbs into the millions of dollars annually, it continues to expand its Winnipeg head office staff, with plans to hire more engineering technicians and another business development manager this year.

Burns says it was all about taking good ideas and hiring technical staff, such as engineers and scientists, who could generate the data to illustrate to customers just how beneficial its technologies are.

From that nucleus the company has expanded its expertise in the areas of dust-suppression, road-stabilization and water-treatment products, all multi-million-dollar markets worldwide. All of its products are 100 per cent environmentally-friendly and are organic, biodegradable and non-toxic.

One of its initial core products, Dust Stop, is benefitting from a $65,000 federal applied research and development grant, aimed at enhancing its already impressive value proposition.

Its other products, EarthZyme and UltraZyme, have also benefitted from large investments in research and development

Dust Stop, one of the firm’s legacy products, can bring with it not only significant environmental benefits but major cost savings, which is a characteristic of all of Cypher’s products.

Burns has little problem describing the benefits of the product.

“On a mining site, for example, you see five large water trucks, having to constantly spray water on access roads throughout the day,” he said, adding that this often involves the spraying of millions of litres of water daily.

“You can imagine the GHGs (greenhouse gases) being generated by those trucks, as well as the amount of fuel the trucks burn. But Dust Stop only needs to be reapplied every six months to a year. The cost savings are huge because you’re not having to do that amount of regular road maintenance.”

In addition, GHG emissions and other environmental benefits are significant. This is even more the case because, in addition to using large volumes of water to control dust, road crews, especially on mining sites, often use calcium chloride and magnesium chloride to prevent dust, both of which are highly caustic and corrosive.

There’s an obvious time savings as well, with traffic to the site not being disrupted so often.

“Rain is often a problem with unpaved roads (with conventional watering techniques),” he said. “With our product, that is not a problem.”

Dust Stop, which is in use worldwide, is a proven product, with municipal governments, miners and other resource producers and others having made it one of the firm’s most widely used solutions.

EarthZyme, another of the firm’s widely used products, is ideal for the clay-based soils that are common in Canada and worldwide. It’s a non-toxic, enzyme-based soil stabilizer, used extensively in remote locations like mining sites.

With just one application, EarthZyme can help significantly reduce road maintenance costs by increasing the road’s compaction and strength. It’s ideal for areas with extreme climates.

“It’s all about cost savings and reducing the environmental impact of your operations,” said Burns. “Now mine and other operators have to haul out the clay and bring in aggregates to stabilize their roads. Imagine the fuel being burned and the GHGs generated. With EarthZyme we give you the in situ ability to deal with that problem.”

In many cases, EarthZyme and Dust Stop are both used on a worksite.

Cypher customer Syncrude Canada applied EarthZyme on mine haul roads at its oilsands plant site in northern Alberta. A follow-up study found that rolling resistance, a common problem on roads used by large haul trucks, was reduced dramatically and fuel costs were reduced by as much as 90 per cent.

Engineers on his staff continue to work on enhancements of the products.

“We’re constantly working to develop new technologies and to develop new applications for the products we have,” said Burns.

Cypher’s newest product, UltraZyme, has it entering a new and mammoth market worldwide.

UltraZyme is a cost-effective, environmentally-friendly product used for effluent treatment.

“UltraZyme is based on a mixture of bacteria and enzymes to treat wastewater,” he said. “We have used the product at a banana plantation for a customer in Costa Rica and they were able to recycle 80 per cent of the water they were using (to clean the fruit), which led to significant cost savings.”

In lagoons or wastewater treatment plants UltraZyme works by speeding up the digestion of organics.

It has been tested with soil-based oil spills as well. “It eats up the oil,” he said.

Burns said the company is working now with researchers at the University of Alberta to test its effectiveness in remediating oilsands tailings, which presents a huge environmental challenge for oilsands miners.

Cypher is also advancing its work using UltraZyme on high nitrogen-content water.

“We’re targeting high algae-content water,” he said. “We see that application as ideal for zoos, small lagoons and commercial fish farms.”

Because of the drop in commodity prices, sales of Dust Stop and EarthZyme to the mining and oil industry were lagging for a time, but he said the company emphasized the cost-savings that could be realized by use of the products, which has resonated with those involved in those industries.

Meanwhile, it continues to develop other products and applications, such as the use of EarthZyme in other applications in the municipal sector, where it sees a large opportunity.

While the young executive continues to spend more time in airplanes than he would like to, considering he has a young family, he credits World Trade Centre Winnipeg and, in particular, the Centrallia event, which attracts entrepreneurs and trade officials from over 30 countries to the city, with helping his firm market internationally.

“We are really excited about Centrallia because we do so many international sales,” he said. “It has been a big help to us.”

His firm, which has participated in past Centrallia events, will be an enthusiastic participant this upcoming May 25-27, when Centrallia is held at the RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg.

Billed as the equivalent of a “speed-dating opportunity” for small and mid-sized businesses, he said it gives his company the opportunity to meet one-on-one with businesspeople from throughout the world. In the past, the event, which is held every two years, has produced leads that later led to sales opportunities for Cypher, he said.

This year, in recognition of the young executive’s expertise in tapping international markets, he will be a member of the panel discussing opportunities in the Americas.

Centrallia gives Manitoba-based businesses, as well as other Canadian companies, a grasp of the opportunities that lie outside of their provinces and Canada — something Cypher has certainly realized.

— Content is provided by Glacier FarmMedia, a Centrallia sponsor.

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That may be because his state and the province have so much in common, having built strong, diversified economies despite being distant from major consumer markets, having harsh climates and relatively small populations.

Nelson, director of the South Dakota International Trade Center, has developed such strong links with his Manitoba counterparts that he has taken large delegations from the state to the two Centrallia business-to-business events that have been held in Winnipeg since 2010, with plans to attend the third this May 25-27.

“They’re good people,” said Nelson of his Winnipeg counterparts. “When they put on a show or event it’s done right. I wouldn’t expose my clients to it if it wasn’t.”

Described as a “speed-dating opportunity” for small and medium-sized businesses, it’s the fourth such event held in Winnipeg and is expected to attract 700 participants from throughout Canada and 30 countries to the RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg, where they can tap new opportunities in domestic and international markets.

Nelson, who has held his position for 17 years and is widely respected in economic development circles, holds several economic development credentials and is an unabashed promoter of his home state. He sees Centrallia as a key event to advance the interests of South Dakota businesses.

“The benefit is that all the participants are somewhat vetted ahead of time,” he said. “I can get on a plane and go to France or Finland (to promote South Dakotan businesses), but I can do that at Centrallia (and at a much lower cost) and it’s all under one roof.”

He has taken delegations of about 12 to 14 business leaders from the state to the event every year, most of whom were pleased with the results. He became such a booster of the event his state now has a booth, where attendees can learn all about his state’s economic advantages.

And despite a relatively small population of 858,000, ranking it as the 46th most sparsely populated in the U.S., and being far from major population centres, it has managed to turn itself into one of the most economically stable states in the nation.

In that regard, it has a great deal in common with Manitoba, a province with 1.28 million people, located far from major Canadian cities like Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary.

Although Winnipeg, with a population of 793,000, is larger than Sioux Falls, with a population of 165,000, the state and province have a good deal in common.

Both have economies that are historically based on a strong agricultural sector, for one, Nelson points out.

And there’s the isolation factor, which he said both have overcome, thanks to a focus on international trade, a strong entrepreneurial spirit and a great work ethic.

Those attributes have allowed South Dakota to take the lead as a regional promoter of economic development.

As head of the South Dakota International Trade Center, Nelson represents a much larger geographical footprint, which includes part of Minnesota, northwest Iowa and northeastern Nebraska.

“When a client has issues about importing (products or services) or has exporting issues they come to see us,” he said. “My services are provided for free.”

With funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the U.S. Small Business Development Centers, from the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce, Sioux Falls Development Foundation and the South Dakota Governor’s Office of Economic Development, it is one of the most active promoters of economic development among the U.S. Plains states.

“I do international trade seminars and workshops, bring in experts on international trade and carry out other functions,” including helping individual businesses seek out other markets, Nelson said.

While agriculture is the state’s economic mainstay (it is the leading producer in the U.S. of oats, barley, rye, flaxseed and alfalfa), it no longer leads the state in employment or share of gross state product. Manufacturing is now the economic driver, along with the service sector. Tourism is also a major part of its economy, with world-famed Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills and the Badlands drawing millions of visitors to the state each year.

However, Nelson said there was a time when the state’s economy became over-reliant on one employer and one facility, a large pork processing plant operated by Smithfield Foods.

“It employs 3200 people,” he said. “When the workers would go on strike (or production is curtailed for some other reason) it had a direct impact on our economy.”

That doesn’t mean South Dakotans don’t value Smithfield’s presence; they just want more economic players.

And that is what has happened.

Several years ago financial giant Citibank established a call centre in Sioux Falls that now employs over 2,000; the city became a regional health services focal point, with hospitals and other facilities employing 10,000; and the state’s manufacturing capacity grew dramatically.

Some are based on its roots in agriculture. For instance, there are firms that manufacture and export combining equipment and there’s a cheese plant and many large ethanol plants, as well as a company that manufactures grain bins.

But there are others that emerged as a result of the state’s entrepreneurial spirit; including a trophy manufacturing plant and a manufacturer and marketer of pet products, a plant that manufactures equipment for trucks and others that manufacture mining equipment.

“South Dakotans have a strong work ethic, which has led to this entrepreneurial spirit,” said Nelson. “In fact, we’re actually hurting for employees, with an unemployment rate of 2.3 per cent (one of the lowest in the U.S.).”

But with world-class cultural facilities and recreation facilities, including a performing arts centre that has attracted the likes of noted cellist Yo-Yo Ma and a new 12,500-seat arena that hosted the Eagles, he said there are so many diversions that the relatively cold winters are not a large factor in everyday life.

“We continue to stress our good quality of life,” he said.

The state also has three universities, which makes state residents some of the best educated in the U.S.

In that respect, much like Winnipeg, with the likes of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, a world-class symphony orchestra and top notch universities and colleges, it shares a great deal in common as well.

But those similarities aside, Nelson is all business when it comes to his strong support for Centrallia.

“If I didn’t believe in it I wouldn’t be going for a third time and I wouldn’t have my clients attending,” he said.

— Content is provided by Glacier FarmMedia, a Centrallia sponsor.

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That forum is one component of Centrallia, in which over 700 participants from Canada and over 30 other countries are expected at Winnipeg’s RBC Convention Centre May 25-27, learning more about tapping new opportunities in international markets.

Described as the equivalent of a “speed-dating opportunity” for smaller and mid-sized businesses, it’s the fourth such event held in Winnipeg, a city viewed as having one of Canada’s most stable business environments and diversified economies.

Opportunities found at Centrallia, held every two years, have been “extremely beneficial for companies based here in Manitoba,” said Mariette Mulaire, CEO of the World Trade Centre Winnipeg (WTC Winnipeg), the organizer of the event.

“But it’s also a great opportunity for companies from outside the province. For instance, a success story from a past Centrallia event featured a U.S. company partnered with a company from Senegal.”

As parts of Canada are hit hard by the commodity slump and seeking economic diversification, Centrallia is billed as offering a proven path for companies looking for other markets and opportunities.

Represented sectors include agriculture and agrifood as well as manufacturing, transportation and logistics, information and communications technologies, environmental industries, energy, resources and mining, construction and infrastructure and innovation and R+D.

Participants are allowed beforehand to “short-list” business leaders with whom they want to meet. It’s common for companies at Centrallia to discover a product or service they have developed has applications in markets they have never before considered, Mulaire said.

“Or it’s possible someone from Brazil may see an opportunity in their market for a product or service offered by a Canadian company that is participating.”

Centrallia this year is to include two “breakout” sessions on this year’s focus areas: the Arctic and the Americas.

The Arctic session, expected to draw officials from Arctic Circle jurisdictions such as Alaska and Lapland, is to focus on opportunities and improving economic conditions in Arctic communities, in such areas as energy, communications, waste management, transportation and logistics, food security, housing and remote service delivery.

The Americas theme is to focus on north-south trade strategies. Officials from the Mercosur and Pacific Alliance blocs are to discuss opportunities in Mercosur countries such as Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Venezuela, and Pacific Alliance nations such as Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico. Presentations by Canadian companies that have been active in those markets are also expected.

Contracts have sometimes been signed immediately at the event, she said, but not all deals have such a short lead time. “In 2014 we were getting stories of contracts that had been signed from leads established at Centrallia in 2010.”

WTC Winnipeg’s involvement doesn’t end with the conference, she added. “We prepare people (business leaders) before their meetings and we provide our services on an ongoing basis, assisting with follow-ups.”

While that service is mostly open to Manitoba-based businesses — WTC Winnipeg gets funding from the Manitoba and federal governments — Mulaire said companies from outside the province are referred to contacts within their market.

A global network of trade support organizations works with participants and remains available after the event. Over 50 such delegation leaders have committed to the event.

Part of the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) — the largest trade organization in the world, with over 300 members — WTC Winnipeg also provides seminars, research, trade missions and business assistance.

Centrallia itself grew out of a trade program aimed at the French-speaking world — a combined market of over 275 million consumers. Manitoba, which has the most francophones per capita in Western Canada, got involved in France’s Futurallia exhibition and obtained the rights to host a Canadian version.

Registration for Centrallia is $1,350 per person; exhibiting firms pay $3,200. Airfare and accommodations aren’t included in these costs, but Mulaire argues that it would cost the registration fee alone just to fly to a foreign location, such as any of the participating South American countries.

“It would cost that much just to fly to Toronto, but here the companies are getting an opportunity to short-list the companies they want to talk to,” while a flight to Brazil, plus hotel room stays, would cost many times more, she said.

Centrallia’s keynote address — previously delivered by figures such as Ken Blanchard (author of The One Minute Manager) and Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point and Outliers) — this year will come from U.S. civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Gerald Durley, who today heads Perspectives International Inc., an Atlanta agency delivering programs for minority communities.

— Jim Bentein writes for JuneWarren-Nickle’s Energy Group from Calgary. Farm Business Communications is a sponsor of Centrallia through its parent company, Glacier FarmMedia.

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