A Supplement of the MAPLE LEAF — 10 YEARS LATER 2 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2009 Maple Leaf’s heart beats in Brandon BY MATT GOERZEN at the plant from 1,400 people to 2,300. But finding workers for the first shift It has been 10 years since what is — let alone a second shift — was prov- now known as the Maple Leaf ing difficult, due to low unemployment Consumer Foods plant in Brandon first locally and a high turnover rate at the started operations. plant. And while the city and the plant As a result of the human resources have both experienced growing pains problem, Maple Leaf decided to recruit since the startup, the workers from other mutual relationship parts of Canada, and between the two has eventually from beyond been extremely suc- the country’s borders. cessful, Maple Leaf The first workers — Foods president and from Mexico — began CEO Michael McCain arriving in early 2002. says. But it would take “We couldn’t be another four years, and more pleased with our government approval decision 10 years ago for an upgraded waste- to invest in Brandon,” water treatment facili- McCain told the Sun. ty, before the plant “The community and would finally begin sec- A livestock truck exits the Maple Leaf plant in Brandon’s east end. (File) the city have been ond-shift preparations. great partners. Once the prepara- “All the stakehold- tion for a second shift ers, from the munici- on both the kill floor pal side to provincial and the cutting floor Congratulations government and the was finally complete in unions, all can justly Maple Leaf Foods president 2008, the facility to our partner be proud of this as a and CEO Michael McCain began slaughtering social and commercial more than 80,000 hogs in the production success story for all of per week, making it Manitoba.” the largest of its kind in the country. of great food! While Canada’s largest food process- “The second shift has been imple- ing company is headquartered in mented near flawlessly. As that was Toronto, McCain notes that the heart of completed we’ve checked off all the Maple Leaf Foods beats in Brandon. goals for the facility that were set.” “The Brandon plant is a flagship to The decision to forge ahead ulti- our organization,” McCain said. “We mately transformed the very flavour of have redefined our strategy and the city, with people from China, Brandon is a centrepiece to that strate- Ukraine, Colombia, El Salvador, the gy.” island of Mauritius, Honduras and Impressively, the Brandon plant has Mexico adding their distinctive cultures hit every major business target that to the community. was first envisioned by Maple Leaf Brandon’s once-stagnant population executives, though McCain admits the has begun to grow, city schools have first years were “rather rough.” witnessed a jump in student enrolment On Aug. 30, 1999, the first hog was and new housing developments have slaughtered at the plant, and little sprung up all over the community. more than a week later, the company McCain says the city administration sent its first shipment of pork destined deserves a lot of praise for keeping an for the overseas market. open line of communication with the 800 Rosser Avenue By early 2001, the company company and finding ways to make in the Town Centre announced plans for a second shift that growth happen. 571-3838 was to boost the number of employees » See ‘Future’ — Page 3 www.dineremingtons.com MAPLE LEAF — 10 YEARS LATER FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2009 3 An aerial view of the 10-year-old plant.Maple Leaf president and CEO Michael McCain says the plant is the company’s “flagship.” (File) Future very bright « Continued from Page 2 “The community collaboration in assimilating foreign workers has been absolutely spectacular,” McCain said. After a decade of major changes, McCain said the Brandon plant will not be static, even though the com- pany’s initial goals have been real- ized. And the future, he said, lies in adding more value to the food they already produce. “Every time a sailor reaches the horizon, they look for a new one. That’s the core strategy of our organ- ization, and the Brandon team is no exception. “The future looks very, very bright.” Workers on the processing plant’s cut- » [email protected] ting floor. (Bruce Bumstead/Brandon Sun) Ewan Pow — Publisher James O’Connor — Managing Editor Jim Lewthwaite — City Editor This supplement was co-ordinated by night editor Matt Goerzen, with contributions by Allison Dowd, Colleen Cosgrove, Joanne F. Villeneuve, Ian Hitchen, Jillian Austin, Bruce Bumstead, Colin Corneau and Tim Smith. MAPLE LEAF — 10 YEARS LATER 4 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2009 The beginning of a great relationship BY MATT GOERZEN overlooks St. Claire Avenue in downtown Toronto. Atkinson says he remembers the office as a “fami- Just 10 days after he was elected as Brandon’s ly-friendly” place, with pictures of McCain’s wife and 37th mayor, Reg Atkinson boarded a plane bound for kids lining the walls. Toronto to meet Maple Leaf Foods president Michael As he walked in the door, McCain immediately got McCain. up to shake Atkinson’s hand, and told him that out of It was the fall of 1997, and the stakes were high all the cities that were under consideration, only for the newly minted mayor. Brandon’s mayor had bothered to come to see him In a process that began under his predecessor, personally. Rick Borotsik, the City of Brandon was trying to land “(That) surprised me, quite frankly. We both had a Maple Leaf’s next hog processing plant, a $112-mil- business background, and we hit it off.” lion facility that promised new jobs and economic That business acumen was the driving force to growth for the Prairie city. make the trip to Toronto in the first place, Atkinson But Brandon was not alone in its aspirations. said. In his mind, face-to-face dealings allow each Other communities had responded to Maple Leaf’s Former Brandon mayor Reg Atkinson didn’t start party to get a sense of the other, making any future call for bids, including Winnipeg, Selkirk, Beausejour, the process of attracting Maple Leaf, but he trav- relations that much simpler. Russell, Virden, Morris, Dauphin, Gimli and towns elled to Toronto soon after taking office because he “Once you know the person on the phone, you don’t throughout Saskatchewan and Alberta. didn’t want the opportunity to slip away. (Bruce have to go to Toronto,” Atkinson said. “We had to Six months had gone by since Maple Leaf made the Bumstead/Brandon Sun) learn about each other, and the best way to do it was initial call, and time for persuasion was running out. eye to eye. We ended up with a great relationship.” “This was an important thing for Brandon,” start it. And I didn’t want to lose it either.” Atkinson told the Sun in a recent interview. “I didn’t He took a cab to McCain’s office building, which » See ‘Became’ — Page 6 Congratulations on 10 great years! We’re proud to be doing business with Maple Leaf. MAPLE LEAF — 10 YEARS LATER 6 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2009 Became area’s largest employer « Continued from Page 4 What Atkinson learned during that fateful meeting was that McCain’s biggest concern was labour. The company needed access to a large enough labour force to make the plant viable. At the end of the day, it all came down to numbers. ABOVE: Maple Leaf president Michael McCain (left) and Brandon mayor Reg And Atkinson Atkinson (right) at the site of the processing plant before construction began. pledged his help LEFT: An artist’s rendering of the planned plant. (File) ensure the numbers added up. In a Dec. 28, 1997, Sun article, “My tone to him was, ‘I’ll help you Atkinson attempted to set the record make it work. You have to pay the bills, straight, crediting the tremendous but I’ll help you make it work.’” work done by people with expertise Nearly three months later, the plant before he ever took office. was awarded to Brandon, destined to “I was just a spoke on the wheel become southwestern Manitoba’s who helped get the signature on the Congratulations largest employer. dotted line.” “We believe, after close to a year’s Not long after the announcement, Maple Leaf investigation ... that Brandon is the Atkinson had posted a sign on the best place in Western Canada to locate inside of his office door, stating: “It is on your first 10 years. such a facility,” McCain said when he amazing how much we can accomplish on your first 10 years. announced the company’s final choice when no one cares who gets the cred- during a Toronto news conference. it.” We wish you continued Maple Leaf officials told Toronto Yet even now, both McCain and media they picked Manitoba’s second- Maple Leaf Consumer Foods plant growth over the next 10. largest city because of its plentiful manager Leo Collins credit Atkinson’s supply of hogs, feed grain and labour. passion and salesmanship for helping Then-premier Gary Filmon said to swing the deal. Manitoba moved to the top of the list More than a decade later, Atkinson because of its high-quality hogs and his — now the reeve of the RM of government’s open-market pork policies. Cornwallis — keeps McCain’s number “We would not have made this on his cellphone. investment without it,” McCain The two meet as friends on occasion conceded.