Page 83 - FDI Alliance International Magazine Summer 2020 Digital Interactive Issue

■ STANFIELD’S ■ LUMINULTRA

MRS. DUNSTER’S ■ federal and provincial governments for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE),
HOW A PANDEMIC CAN RALLY COMMUNITIES → MOOSEHEAD BREWERIES AND MOONSHINE CREEK it meant Jon could bring back 180 jobs and start producing 130,000
gowns a week, while delighting a community.
DISTILLERY
AND SMALL BUSINESSES In mid-March, as it became clear that COVID was going to have a huge But, there was a problem…only about 70 workers felt safe returning to work
impact on the hospitality industry (with nationwide layoffs of 69%), two
companies with a mutual goal from different communities, both family- in a factory, so the company had to quickly split production into smaller
→ SMALL BUSINESSES kit based on nucleic acid detection of novel coronavirus. Since then, they’ve owned and operated, both with a desire to support their communities, came shifts, distance workers further, and train employees to sanitize their work
stations and equipment. And he needed to come up with another idea.
together.
Small businesses matter, and at well over 95 per cent of the business population, partnered with researchers investigating how wastewater monitoring could
60-70% of employment and 55% of GDP in developed economies, they be used for early detection of the virus’ presence within the community, to The micro small business, Moonshine Creek, wanted to help keep its tiny Once again, he pivoted to hire workers to sew masks… and work from
home.
matter a lot to the communities and economies that surround them. mitigate risks of pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic spread.
community of Waterville safe by producing hand sanitizer but they didn’t
→ COMMUNITY Something wonderful was happening, and the community was an active have the ingredients required to produce significant quantities. The larger → GOING BACK OR MOVING FORWARD
business, Moosehead, from the Port City of Saint John, lacked the ability to There seem to be two different schools of thought on what stage of COVID
Community is no longer just a group of people living in the same town participant. Companies that could pivot were doing so to survive…they
or having something in common. Community is integrated into our were nimble, they had fire in their belly, they were resilient, and they had produce the high percentage of alcohol required to make hand sanitizer. So, we are at now, post-COVID or pre-COVID (version 2). In a post-COVID
stage, we are in disaster recovery mode, reopening and rebuilding,
Moosehead shipped 24,000 litres of beer to the distillery and Moonshine
families, both at home and at work. Community now has a collective no other choice! Collaboration was happening. Hope was being restored.
social conscience and empathy, taking on a role of ensuring a safe and Creek pivoted from producing alcohol-based spirits to alcohol-based hand gradually going back to our offices, resuming face-to-face interactions,
vibrant environment, promoting quality of life, and supporting one another. → MRS. DUNSTER’S sanitizer. They were able to fulfill orders for front line workers, like healthcare increasing travel… all with varying degrees of restrictions; in a pre-COVID
(version 2) stage, we are in disaster preparedness mode…where masks are
professionals and truck drivers, with a large enterprise of 8,000 employees,
Community is now part of economic development with community-driven In New Brunswick, one of the first small businesses to lead the community by
processes to identify and initiate their own solutions to economic, social and example was Mrs. Dunster’s, co-owned by Blair and Rosalyn Hyslop since Day & Ross, stepping up to ensure distribution of the sanitizer to essential becoming mandatory in places they never were before, and where remote
work may be here to stay.
workers.
environmental issues, and build healthy, economically viable communities. 1996 in Sussex, population 4,282.
For the past five or six months, most of us have spent the majority of When COVID hit, they had to continue to supply 600 stores in three Inspired by their successful hand sanitizer collaboration, Moonshine Creek The one thing we seem to agree on is that life as we knew it is gone forever,
had the idea of blending the “heads and tails” of the distilled Moosehead
and maybe that’s a good thing, providing us with this newfound empathy
our time in our communities… we didn’t travel, we worked from home, provinces and one state, while adjusting quickly to safety measures, manage
we spent time with our families, all in our bubbles. We had time to see record-high demand, and operate with 25 percent less staff. They went Lager into the second distillation run of a rye spirit, Moosehead’s first-ever and support we have for one another.
craft spirit collaboration. They then blended in maple tree water to craft a
what was happening in our communities; in fact, we were only able from producing 2,500 loaves of bread per day to 25,000 by late March,
to see what was happening in our own communities. So, this is a story due to increased demand. unique rye lager virgin oak barrel aged whisky. But it’s not the innovation They say it takes a village to raise a child; likewise, it takes a community to
or even the collaboration that stands out; it’s that 100% of the proceeds
keep a small business surviving and thriving.
about a community rallying to support small business; but it’s really a story of their collaboration whisky they appropriately called ‘Community Spirit’
about any community. This is not about showcasing the Province of New Within a couple of weeks, they were sharing with other essential retail will go to give back to their community by supporting food banks across “We are all in this world together, and the only test of our
Brunswick or Atlantic Canada as the attractive business destination it is; it’s operations in their communities, including their competitors, measures they New Brunswick. They recognized that the need for community support was character that matters is how we look after the least fortunate
about showcasing any community which supports small businesses, the had taken to protect staff and customers in their retail stores including hand-
foundation of our economies. washing stations for customers, floor markings for social distancing, and greater than ever, with food insecurity challenges increasing rapidly. among us. How we look after each other, not how we look after
plexiglass shields for cashiers. ourselves. That’s all that really matters.”
What does all this mean to FDI? Everything! Companies looking to establish → STANFIELD’S – Tommy Douglas was a Scottish Canadian politician who served as Premier of
Meanwhile in Nova Scotia (one of our three neighboring provinces in Atlantic
Saskatchewan and Leader of the New Democratic Party
a presence, or deciding which existing facility to expand, will be looking at Next, along with The Ginger Agency, they launched an on-line home delivery Canada), Stanfield’s had been manufacturing world-class underwear since
a new decision criterion: communities who supported their small businesses service with the option of buying a produce pack for someone in need, and
in the most challenging of times. then waved the delivery fee for all first responders and healthcare workers. 1856. At the onset of COVID (mid-March) they announced that after
implementing many COVID-related internal protocols and restrictions out
→ LOVE IN THE TIME OF COVID In the same month, they once again joined forces with The Ginger Agency of concern for the health and safety of their employees and community, they BERNADETTE FERNANDES
would be closing their factory in Truro, laying off 200 employees as retail
As talk of a pandemic started infiltrating Canada, government quickly to create a free platform to connect laid-off food service workers with orders tanked. In a community with a population of 12,261, this closure CEO, THE VARANDA NETWORK
stepped up with programs for small businesses: wage subsidies, to help suddenly short-staffed food manufacturers in Atlantic Canada so they could would be devastating.
keep employees on staff; government-guaranteed loans, interest-free for continue to feed our communities: hospitals and nursing homes, and supply The Varanda Network works with communities to
a year; funds to help with operational cash flow requirements; deferred grocery stores. promote trade and attract investment, and with
tax payments; and a call out to industry for COVID-response solutions, It was perhaps the biggest challenge Chairman, CEO, and President, Jon companies to connect to new markets and growth...
Stanfield had ever faced in his family-run business, feeling the pain of his work
whether therapeutics, testing, personal protective equipment, and of course They did it by being resilient, adaptable, and compassionate… they did it family as well as his community… he had to get creative. Within a few days, because we’re passionate about global transformation.
a vaccine. for the community, and the community stepped up to support them in any
way they could. he had developed a prototype medical gown and applied to the federal bernadette.fernandes@thevarandanetwork.com
Government set aside $50 million to support companies producing critically- government’s call for manufacturers willing to retool to help in the fight. www.TheVarandaNetwork.com
needed technologies, equipment, and medical products to aid in the fight But something bigger was happening… bigger companies in bigger In less than three weeks, Jon was leading the 165-year-old family business
against COVID. LuminUltra Technologies, a small business based in New communities were collaborating with smaller companies in smaller from crisis to opportunity, retooling and pivoting from long johns to medical bernadettefernandes
Brunswick, was awarded funding to support the development of a novel test communities, tiny in fact, even smaller than what we call parishes.
gowns for Canadian health care workers. After securing contracts from

83. FDI ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL