Released on January 31, 2007
Minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Opportunities Corporation (SOCO) Eric Cline announced today that SOCO has been named one of Canada’s Top 20 Best Small & Medium Employers. This honour recognizes outstanding Canadian employers that have employees reporting superior levels of engagement in their workplace job duties, relative to the other organizations surveyed. ‘Engagement’ is a measure of interest and commitment to the organization’s success.
“This award is truly an honour,” Cline said. “It recognizes the dedication and commitment of the employees at Innovation Place and the Regina Research Park, and I would like to congratulate them on achieving this prestigious designation.”
SOCO, operating as Innovation Place, is the organization responsible for managing the province’s research parks located in Saskatoon and Regina as well as the Forest Centre building in Prince Albert.
“I consider the opportunity to work with such dedicated individuals everyday to be a privilege,” Innovation Place president and CEO Doug Tastad said. “To be recognized as an organization where the vast majority of staff are fully engaged in their work, proud of the difference they make and supportive of the company’s mission is truly rewarding.”
This is the third year of the Best Small-Medium Employers (BSME) in Canada study, supplementing the prestigious Globe and Mail ROB Magazine Best 50 (larger) Employers study, now entering its ninth year. A hallmark of these studies is the fact that the results are based on the opinions of the “ultimate experts” in employer quality, namely employees themselves. The databank, of which SOCO is a part, contains information about the perceptions of more than 12,900 employees from over 70 organizations representing more than two dozen sectors of Canadian business, industry and government.
The list of BSME employers is compiled by the Queen’s University Centre for Business Venturing based on methodology developed with Hewitt Associates, the world’s largest human resources outsourcing and consulting firm. For this year, more than 120 employers registered to participate, of which 71, including Innovation Place, ultimately qualified to compete for Best Employer status. The top 20 employers of choice who made the list will be profiled in the Globe and Mail’s Report on (Small) Business Magazine on January 31, 2007.
About Innovation Place
Innovation Place employs over 90 people and operates 1.4 million square feet of facilities that support organizations in the advanced technology sector. Innovation Place has over 165 clients in Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert; those clients contribute over $500 million annually to the provincial economy and employ 3500 people.
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For more information, contact:
Austin Beggs
Saskatchewan Opportunities Corporation
Saskatoon
Phone: 306-933-7464
Email: austin@innovationplace.com
Cell: 306-227-1636
Sandra Olszowka
Queen’s University Centre for Business Venturing
Kingston
Phone: 613-533-3119
Email: solszowka@business.queensu.ca