Mark Olson, President and CEO of Osborne Group Contract Executives Corp, is pleased to announce that Catherine Cook of Calgary has become a shareholder and director of the company. Ms. Cook (CMA, B.Comm) has been a Principal with Osborne Interim Management since 2007 and has successfully completed a number of senior financial assignments in the agricultural and not-for-profit sectors. She was previously CFO of Hallmark Tubulars and a Controller with the Atco Group of Companies.
"On behalf of our other shareholders and directors, we are thrilled that Catherine has chosen to make this level of commitment to our company. What Catherine has brought by way of value to Osborne’s clients will be a tremendous asset as we take our organization to the next level. One of our real strengths is that our strategic direction is determined by individuals who have had success within our model and continue to work with clients in the markets we serve."
Friday, January 20, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
ANOTHER SIDE OF THE SUPPLY MANAGEMENT DEBATE IN AGRICULTURE
Canada’s supply management system for the dairy and poultry industries has been very much in the business news in 2011. Canada’s future economic success is largely being tied to the Pacific Rim and the European Union. But Canada’s attempts to gain access to the emerging Trans Pacific Partnership trade group are being resisted because Canada refuses to budge on its supply management system.
Canada and the European Union have been negotiating a comprehensive economic and trade agreement with the aim of concluding in 2012. Not surprisingly, Canada’s supply management system is a point of contention. Critics of supply management are quick to point out that Canadians pay too much for dairy, poultry and egg products. The system shelters a small group of farmers behind tariffs that restrict imports, manages supply and demand with production quotas and sets minimum prices.
What the critics do not talk about is how the rest of the Canadian agriculture sector is supported by the Canadian consumer. Over the past ten years, Canada’s federal and provincial governments have spent an average of $6.3 billion annually to support agriculture. Of that expenditure, income support to the Canadian farmer, excluding those under supply management, amounts to an average of $3.7 billion. Canadian dairy and poultry farmers receive their income entirely from the marketplace.
Supply management is transparent. The farmer has the chance to earn a fair market return – paid for directly by the consumer.
To read the remainder of the article, click here.
Canada and the European Union have been negotiating a comprehensive economic and trade agreement with the aim of concluding in 2012. Not surprisingly, Canada’s supply management system is a point of contention. Critics of supply management are quick to point out that Canadians pay too much for dairy, poultry and egg products. The system shelters a small group of farmers behind tariffs that restrict imports, manages supply and demand with production quotas and sets minimum prices.
What the critics do not talk about is how the rest of the Canadian agriculture sector is supported by the Canadian consumer. Over the past ten years, Canada’s federal and provincial governments have spent an average of $6.3 billion annually to support agriculture. Of that expenditure, income support to the Canadian farmer, excluding those under supply management, amounts to an average of $3.7 billion. Canadian dairy and poultry farmers receive their income entirely from the marketplace.
Supply management is transparent. The farmer has the chance to earn a fair market return – paid for directly by the consumer.
To read the remainder of the article, click here.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
THE NEW AGE WORKER
The days when careers started and ended in retirement with pension packages have all but dissolved.
While this is not a revelation to many of us, it’s the fallout and emerging new norms we all face.
A few moments spent researching industry trends, forecasts, and the brave new world illustrates the need to both understand and react to the realities of the 21st century. While not entirely new, the terms mobile worker, flexible and interim have gone from prognostication to reality.
The recession of 2008 has had a profound impact on the acceleration of these new realities. Tighter budgeting, the volatility of the downturn and prolonged recovery have many employers reluctant to hire full time, but their needs for expertise and specialization remain a corporate necessity.
Did the change begin with the disenfranchised worker who suddenly found their career job was eliminated through merger/acquisition or rightsizing or the realities of a global workforce where competition comes from every corner of the world? Was technology the catalyst? Or perhaps it was a more pragmatic economic view of how today’s corporations remain economically viable. Regardless, two things started to emerge - the experienced worker and the now undermanned corporations struggling to make do with less. Enter the new age workers: skilled, capable, and more than ever wanting to be in charge of their destinies.
To read the remainder of the article, click here.
While this is not a revelation to many of us, it’s the fallout and emerging new norms we all face.
A few moments spent researching industry trends, forecasts, and the brave new world illustrates the need to both understand and react to the realities of the 21st century. While not entirely new, the terms mobile worker, flexible and interim have gone from prognostication to reality.
The recession of 2008 has had a profound impact on the acceleration of these new realities. Tighter budgeting, the volatility of the downturn and prolonged recovery have many employers reluctant to hire full time, but their needs for expertise and specialization remain a corporate necessity.
Did the change begin with the disenfranchised worker who suddenly found their career job was eliminated through merger/acquisition or rightsizing or the realities of a global workforce where competition comes from every corner of the world? Was technology the catalyst? Or perhaps it was a more pragmatic economic view of how today’s corporations remain economically viable. Regardless, two things started to emerge - the experienced worker and the now undermanned corporations struggling to make do with less. Enter the new age workers: skilled, capable, and more than ever wanting to be in charge of their destinies.
To read the remainder of the article, click here.
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