Regina businesses make coveted list - Regina Leader-Post

[PaperMan]

Regina businesses make coveted list - Regina Leader-Post

Regina firms shone in a new corporate ranking released on Tuesday.

Moving into the list of firms saluted by the "Canada's 50 Best-Managed Companies" program overseen by professional services giant Deloitte and CIBC are Magna Electric Corporation and Solvera Solutions, both headquartered in Regina, and Saskatoon's Airline Hotels, which runs hotels across the Canadian West.

"This is going to help add to 'legitimizing' our company," said a delighted Kerry Heid, Magna's president, in an interview Tuesday, adding he's been told the hardest part of the program is doing what Magna and Solvera just did: getting selected for the first level.

The multi-year "Canada's 50 Best-Managed Companies" program is a little like professional baseball, with participants moving onward and upward from Single A to the major leagues of management - providing they maintain their level of excellence.

In that way, firms compete against others with a comparable amount of time in the program, said Randy Jeworski, who oversees client and market development for Deloitte's Prairie region.

What Magna and Solvera have done is enter the first level of managerial excellence, as determined by assessors from Deloitte and CIBC. Participating firms must have revenue of at least $10 million and be Canadian controlled.

Already at the next level (called the "New Gold Standard" level) are two more Regina firms: the Alliance Energy Group of Companies and Partner Technologies Inc.

And at the third level, that of "Requalifiers", are Crestline Coach, Caterpillar dealer Kramer Ltd., Sask Minerals, Western Sales (a Kindersley-based firm specializing in the sale of John Deere equipment), plus West Wind Aviation, which does charter and scheduled flying over the province.

Finally, at the Platinum level are the Brandt Group of Companies, Concentra Financial, Great Western Brewing, the Yanke Group of Companies and Mega Group, a buying group for furniture retailers in Saskatchewan - a total of


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