Main mine┬áSafety is at the top of Cementation CanadaÔÇÖs agenda, and it has helped deliver greater productivity and efficiency as well, Roy Slack tells Ruari McCallion. There was a time when underground mining was rightly regarded as one of the most dangerous activities on Earth. When news comes in of a cave-in or underground explosion from some or other of the worldÔÇÖs emerging economies, it may seem that little has changed.

Old school┬ávalues, new opportunities┬áCentcom Construction has a history of resisting the temptation to grow larger during boom times to focus instead on building long-term relationships. Keith Regan finds out how that formula is part of a culture that has led to success for some 27 years.  Centcom Construction has seen its shares of boom times and hard times since being founded in 1981.

A healthy dose of lean┬áHotel Dieu Grace Hospital used value stream mapping and other lean techniques to transform its emergency room, and now it is looking for even deeper changes, as Keith Regan reports.  Not long ago, the emergency room at Hotel Dieu Grace Hospital (HDGH) in Windsor, Ontario, was a study in inefficiency. Given its downtown location and proximity to the border, the ER can be a very chaotic place. Patients endured long waits to be seen by doctors and nurses and often became angry as a result.

Rough terrain, smooth resultsRebuilding the Trans-Canada Highway through Kicking Horse Canyon in British Columbia posed more than its share of engineering and construction challenges. As Keith Regan learns, the project has proven to be rich with opportunities as well.  The stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway that runs through Kicking Horse Canyon in British Columbia has long had its share of safety problems. The highway cuts through a steep canyon, with sheer rock walls towering over the roadway in some places, creating significant rockslide hazards.

Growing globally┬áKeith Regan finds out how Landing Trail PetroleumÔÇÖs evolution in the oil and gas industry has been based on attention to detail and keeping customers satisfied whatever service is being delivered.  Landing Trail Petroleum was founded as a provider of basic maintenance services to companies that own and operate oil and gas wells in the northern portion of CanadaÔÇÖs Alberta province.

Growing globally┬áKeith Regan finds out how Landing Trail PetroleumÔÇÖs evolution in the oil and gas industry has been based on attention to detail and keeping customers satisfied whatever service is being delivered.  Landing Trail Petroleum was founded as a provider of basic maintenance services to companies that own and operate oil and gas wells in the northern portion of CanadaÔÇÖs Alberta province.

Open for business┬áWhen the New Yorker Hotel embarked on a $65 million renovation, it chose to stay open for the renovation. General manager Kevin Smith shares the secret of its success with Linda Seid Frembes. Finding a good hotel room in New York City used to be like tracking BigfootÔÇöyou had heard of such a thing but had never really seen it. The accommodations in New York have come a long way now that the New Yorker Hotel has completed its $65 million renovation project.

Breaking new ground┬áA new health facility in British Columbia has raised the bar for quality and speed of service as well as maximum value for money, as Alan T Swaby learns. Bringing any major construction project in on time and on budget is something of a feat and should be applauded.

Catch the wind┬áA wind of change is blowing through the energy generation sector in Canada, as the St. Lawrence Wind Project attests. You need to be a certain age to remember this, but the British folk singer Donovan had a mega-hit single in 1965 with a song called Catch the Wind. It was a love song, of course, not an environmental statement, but 40-odd years later the world has suddenly fallen in love with the wind. Wind is by no means a new source of energy.

Chrysler plans to halt production at all 30 of its factories for one month, and is reportedly revisiting talks of a merger with General Motors, as both firms are witnessing their cash reserves dwindle.   The moves come as other US and foreign automakers are announcing steep production cuts that will idle tens of thousands of other US workers as the industry copes with withered demand for new cars and trucks. Ford said yesterday that it would stop production for an extra week in January at all but two of its plants because of flagging consumer demand.