New family-owned HVAC company offers fresh approach

Business is already heating up for a new family-owned HVAC company that aims to be a leader in the industry.

In November 2022, cousins John Chua and Norman Castaneda teamed up to launch NEDA Heating and Cooling. Since then, they’ve been pleased to help customers find the right solutions for their heating, ventilation and air conditioning needs.

“We envisioned building a company that would take care of Winnipeggers for their HVAC needs,” said Chua, NEDA’s chief executive officer.

“We partnered up so we could start the business and make that happen.”

Aging in Place: Tips to make staying in your home possible

It has been estimated that over the next 20 years, Canada’s senior population, comprised of those aged 65 and older, is expected to grow by 68%. While “aging in place” (staying in one’s home while getting older) has long been touted as a worthy consideration that provides numerous benefits, the increasing volume of seniors combined with the post pandemic fear of shared accommodations will likely result in an increased number of seniors choosing this path.

Aging in place, when done with advanced planning and the assistance of professional guidance, provides numerous benefits including honoring dignity and independence, maintaining a higher quality of life, providing personalized/individualized care, reducing the risk of illnesses and injuries and improving recovery rates from same, all while minimizing some of the stressors of change.

Physiotherapists can assist with the pre planning stage to ensure that seniors can more safely and successfully age in place. A physiotherapist will perform a thorough assessment of the individual’s physical capacity (strength, mobility, balance, gait, etc) and make recommendations to improve or maintain these abilities. These recommendations may include a specific strength, balance and mobility exercise routine or something as simple as a regular walking routine with or without the use of a walking aide (cane, walker, walking poles). A physiotherapist may also recommend an Occupational Therapy assessment be performed to determine what adjustments should be made to the living quarters to maximize the client’s safety and level of function to facilitate a successful aging in place.

If you or a senior you know are considering aging in place it is worthwhile to consider the recommendations listed below to ensure your current home is suitably modified or a new home is appropriately equipped and organized for an aging senior:

A community campaign for surgical innovation at HSC

"Over my career, I have seen the impact HSC Foundation donors have on health care. Operation Excellence is our opportunity to have the greatest impact ever by supporting the acquisition of the next generation of minimally invasive surgical technology." -Dr. Michael West, O.C., Retired HSC Neurosurgeon; Operation Excellence Donor

Your support will end wait times for diagnostic tests and surgeries, and help HSC deliver tomorrow's health care today.

Learn more and donate at OperationExcellence.ca or call 204-515-5612 or toll-free at 1-800-679-8493.

Their first steps should be with full bellies: help Harvest Manitoba feed Manitoba’s youngest

Did you know that almost half of the Manitobans that Harvest Manitoba feeds every month are children? The reality is that one in every three babies born in our province are born into poverty, but Harvest is ensuring that being born into poverty doesn’t mean that necessities of life are in short supply. Through our First Steps program, Harvest provides these necessities to mothers with infants during the most important time in their development; baby formula, baby cereal, and diapers. These are costly items that are vital to the clients we serve - and their babies.

Amy Prince, 29, is a mother of young children, the youngest being two months old, and has been a recipient of essential baby items “formula and diapers mostly”, and a client of Harvest Manitoba through the Trinity Lutheran Church food bank for 11 years. “It’s important to help people that need the help, like low-income people like me,” says Amy. There are seven people in her household, and her monthly grocery budget is around $600. By accessing a Harvest food bank, her grocery budget is supplemented by $100 to $200 every month. The cost per week to purchase baby formula for an infant is approximately $50 a week/ $200 per month. With the help she receives from Harvest to cover essential items, Amy says she’s able to spend money on “other things like toys and clothes,” that are just as essential to the happiness and well-being of her children.

In 2015 Syrian refugee Huda, and her family left war-torn Syria to Lebanon, emigrated to Canada, and settled in Winnipeg. Huda’s youngest child is an infant of three weeks old. She has been gratefully accessing the Harvest food bank at Acorn Family Place since her arrival in “much too cold” Winnipeg.

Since the start of the pandemic, the number of families with children turning to Harvest for help has increased by 50 per cent. The First Steps program began in 2008 and has supported thousands of Manitoba families – we’d like to continue this support. For mothers who are unable to breastfeed, the cost of purchasing baby formula can be a tremendous burden.

A community campaign for surgical innovation at HSC

'This is a grand vision for health care in Manitoba. Working together through Operation Excellence, we can have an enormous impact on the pursuit of innovation as we strive to provide the most advanced care available anywhere." -Ray Bouchard, HSC Foundation Board Member.

Your support will end wait times for diagnostic tests and surgeries, and help HSC deliver tomorrow's health care-today.

Learn more and donate at OperationExcellence.ca or call 204-515-5612 or toll-free at 1-800-679-8493.

When your need is knowledge

Women’s heart health research will be on the menu for the Sons and Daughters of Italy’s 35th Annual Gala, March 18th, at the RBC Convention Centre.

Cardiovascular disease is a major health issue for Canadian women of all ages. In fact, most women have at least one risk factor that can lead to cardiovascular disease.

Risk factors for cardiovascular disease that are an even greater threat for women than for men include high blood pressure, diabetes, heavy drinking, and not enough exercise. High cholesterol, pre-eclampsia during pregnancy, and an irregular heart rhythm can also contribute.

Women having heart attacks often present differently than men. In fact, studies have shown that 53 per cent of women who experience heart attack symptoms have them go unrecognized. Women can even experience a heart attack without chest pain or discomfort.

Back and Forth and Forward

Manager of Patient Care Anna-Marie Papiz and her colleagues on HSC Winnipeg's orthopedics unit (GD2) were among the many frontline heroes at Heath and Sciences Centre. They went the extra mile during the height of COVID-19.

Papiz, a practicing nurse for over 30 years, explains that you "could be talking with a patient who seemed just fine and then an hour later they would be in serious distress and needing oxygen. We got through it because we supported each other."

GD2 is where patients are treated before and after surgeries for back conditions, broken limbs, and other orthopaedic injuries and illnesses. In the pandemic's earliest days, GD2 morphed into a "COVID suspect" unit for patients with COVID symptoms, regardless of their primary reason for being in hospital.

"Suddenly we were a medicine unit," says Papiz. "It was a learning curve because these patients had different needs." By the summer of 2020, the unit returned to orthopedics, but in the fall, they switched again. This time, GD2 became "COVID Red". This meant we were treating patients with confirmed cases.

Assiniboine Community College receives $1.7M from Weston Family Foundation

As Assiniboine Community College’s campaign toward the Prairie Innovation Centre for Sustainable Agriculture moves forward, the college continues to make strides in applied research, education and extension.

On Canada’s Ag Day this past week, the college announced a grant from the Weston Family Soil Health Initiative, which seeks to expand the adoption of ecologically based beneficial management practices (BMPs) that increase soil organic matter to improve biodiversity and resiliency on agricultural lands across Canada.

The $1.7 million will fund a five-year project that will use education and outreach to develop a Net Positive Network to build healthier soil ecosystems in Western Canada.

The project is also supported by Farm Management Canada, the Manitoba Forage and Grasslands Association, and the Manitoba Association of Watersheds.

One Man With A Vision: How Oakley Optical Has Evolved Over 70 Years In Winnipeg

Oakley Optical Eyecare Centre is celebrating the grand opening of its new store on Regent Avenue, where they have served the community for almost thirty years. The re-opening is a testament to the success of the Winnipeg family business.

Granddad David Oakley came to Canada from England in his early twenties. He founded Oakley Optical in Winnipeg in 1948. It started as a wholesale lab and transitioned into retail when he acquired the store on Donald Street across from the old Capitol Theatre.

Oakley Optical was eventually passed down the generations, first to David’s son-in-law, Robert Hosegood, and then to Robert’s four sons Bruce, Randy, Larry, and Greg. The brothers proudly share ownership in the family business which has grown to three locations in Winnipeg.

Through the 70+ years of serving Winnipeg, the business has seen its share of ups and downs. For example, twelve years ago, the Regent store wasn`t growing and nearly closed.

Feel AMAZING

My daily routine has changed drastically since the onset of this global crisis. From the way I start my day to my commitment-free evenings, I have fewer places I’m required to be and more time for contemplation. A fairly regimented person, even my morning coffee isn’t what it was. A long-time lover of locally roasted coffee beans, I’ve stopped making coffee with tap water. In fact, in light of better health practices, my morning cup o’ joe is now made with spring water and I have two words for you… game changer.

In 2020, when the first North American cases of COVID-19 were publicized, when events and leagues were cancelled, and the Canadian government suggested it was time to return home, I decided to make micro changes in my daily habits. Seeing the way the crisis around the world was affecting humanity, I began an evaluation starting with the number of hours I spend sitting at a desk, to the time and quality of my sleep, and even, the water I drink.

A consumer of information, when the news of a global pandemic set in, I decided to be even more cautious with the content I allowed into my energy field. First, I limited the amount of time I spent on social media, who I followed and what I binged on Netflix. It was there, on my couch with a fondness for Zac Efron that I found Down to Earth; a brilliant docuseries which changed the way I looked at various aspects of my health, but especially the quality of water I consume.

In fact, it was while watching episode two, set in France, that I recalled the advice I’ve been given many years ago by a naturopath. Dr. Mary-Anne Hembroff of the Nature Doctors shared with me that drinking water with a high alkaline level and natural minerals can benefit many aspects of health from improving sleep to creating a physical environment not conducive to illness.

New year, new start

In the midst of this ongoing pandemic, it often feels like so many things are out of our control. But one thing we can control is how we treat our bodies by making healthy choices. These choices can be as simple as going to bed a bit earlier, exercise and being more selective about the snacks we munch on and the beverages we sip.

With a focus on cultivating healthy eating habits, I’ve been trying to lean more towards carrot sticks than potato chips these days. Hands down, the most significant change that I’ve made flows from switching to a local natural spring water with minerals. I love the taste on its own, and it’s amazing what a significant difference it makes in the flavour in my morning coffee and in my cooking recipes!

I had no idea how energized I would feel, not only by increasing my water intake but also by drinking mineral-rich spring water from Manitoba as a new daily practice.

Besides the amazing taste, this locally sourced spring water offers essential minerals like Calcium, Magnesium and Silica.

A community campaign for surgical innovation at HSC

"Seamless access to a strong health care system is the key to building a happy and healthy society. We have had positive experiences with HSC and feel strongly that with everyone's support, Operation Excellence will enhance life in Manitoba."

-Mary and Gregg Hanson, Operation Excellence Donors

Your support will end wait times for diagnostic tests and surgeries, and help HSC deliver tomorrow's health care-today.

Learn more and donate at OperationExcellence.ca or call 204-515-5612 or toll-free at 1-800-679-8493.

When your need is hope

Only last month, St. Boniface Hospital Foundation announced the completion of Manitoba’s first endovascular hybrid operating room.

This surgical theatre is equipped with advanced medical imaging devices that enable and simplify minimally invasive surgery, which is less traumatic for patients.

Foundation donors like you fully funded the initiative and made the $6.5 million project possible for St. Boniface Hospital.

The state-of-the-art hybrid operating room is just one of the many amazing initiatives our donors supported at St. Boniface in 2022. The impact of your generosity will be felt by patients in Manitoba and their families for decades to come.

Reflecting on Excellence; Planning for the Future

Adapting. Responding. Reorganizing. Pivoting. Innovating. These were the defining words of the pandemic’s toughest days at Health Sciences Centre as our health care teams stayed nimble and creative to provide patients with the best possible care in very uncertain times.

From our front-row seats at the HSC Foundation, we were deeply moved and captivated by the passion and talent of our doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, facility leaders, and all other HSC personnel. We still are. Our health care teams have always been unwavering in their commitment to excellence and the well-being of Manitobans.

It is no secret that health care is facing challenges across Canada and around the world. What we have always known at the HSC Foundation is that one of the solutions to challenges in the system is philanthropy. When Manitobans step forward with their financial support, our health care teams at HSC can do more.

We have seen this through the tremendous support of our COVID-19 Crisis Response Fund which allowed for the timely acquisition of equipment to help treat patients and protect health care providers. We have seen this through the generous support of numerous special initiatives such as the Wilf Taillieu Thoracic Surgery Clinic and Endoscopy Unit, which is saving lives and improving efficiencies at the hospital. And we are seeing it now in real time through the remarkable support of Operation Excellence—the largest campaign in the history of the HSC Foundation.

A Year for Resolving Uncertainties: IG Wealth Management 2023 Outlook Report

After a volatile and disappointing 2022, there’s hope on the horizon for the stock and bond markets. That’s according to IG Wealth Management’s recently released annual Market Outlook report. In 2023, investors should look forward to rebounds on several fronts, says Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist for IG Wealth Management. To know where things are headed, we first need to understand the current situation.

“What we saw globally in 2020 and 2021 was a massive injection of cash, and when that happens, one of the natural consequences is higher inflation,” says Petursson, pointing to the programs and subsidies created to help businesses, entrepreneurs and people displaced from the labour force during the pandemic.

Sustainable agriculture: eating wall-to-fork!

Some walls are built to create division; Harvest Today’s walls create sustainable agricultural opportunities. Director of Operations, Canada, William Aitken, is excited about the future of his family’s innovative agriculture-centric business. The local company designs and manufactures indoor growing equipment that fit together to house several hundred plant pods.

Built with individual tiles that fit together to increase in size and function for clients’ needs, each Harvest Wall can be custom designed. Clients are home consumers, restaurants, schools, farms, as well as commercial applications filling warehouses full of walls. The largest wall can provide room to grow 720 plants, and up to 6,000 plants in a single 40’ shipping container.

Harvest Walls allow users to “cut and come again,” noted Aitken. This means that Harvest Wall owners can have pods that grow “produce for well over a year.”

Beautiful, healthy, sustainable greens rival anything seen on a Michelin Star restaurant plate. Aitken added that “the flavour profile is insane!” But it’s nutrition-packed greens that also entice his clients.

A community campaign for surgical innovation at HSC

"Health care is facing serious and immediate challenges, which can only be addressed by bold and innovative solutions. Operation Excellence is founded on those very principles. It's time to rally together to make positive change. Please donate today." -Katie Hall Hursh, HSC Foundation Board Member

Your support will end wait times for diagnostic tests and surgeries, and help HSC deliver tomorrow's health care-today.

Learn more and donate at OperationExcellence.ca or call 204-515-5612 or toll-free at 1-800-679-8493.

Back in Business

After retiring six years ago, Tony Pesce is back in the automotive business — this time focusing on passing the torch to the next generation.

Pesce has been in the business 37 years. He started working at a Shell station on the corner of Corydon Avenue and Waterloo Street in 1979. Three years later he purchased another shop on Academy Road where he opened Tony’s Academy Auto Service.

Through the years, Pesce added more locations to the Tony’s Academy Auto Service brand until 2016, when he sold his shops to enjoy the perks of retirement.

But when his son, Anthony Pesce, told him that he was thinking of opening up another automotive shop and the opportunity arose to return to their shop on Chevrier Boulevard, Pesce said he knew it was time to jump back in.

When your need is critical

St. Boniface Hospital needs your help to meet the growing needs of our patients in Manitoba.

You can be a lifeline and make a gift before the end of the year.

St. Boniface is getting a new Emergency Department and we are looking to you to invest in the future of our community. This redevelopment and expansion project will transform the footprint of the Hospital when it opens in 2025. It will also create the best possible space for front-line staff to provide compassionate care to patients and their families!

It is a huge project. But we have a small ask for you: will you make a gift today to help just one emergency patient?

A community campaign for surgical innovation at HSC

"Operation Excellence will revolutionize health care in Manitoba. With a successful campaign, we will position HSC for long-term success, ensure better outcomes for patients, and make HSC an employer of choice for leading professionals. Please donate today."-Jim Eng, HSC Foundation Board Member

Your support will end wait times for diagnostic tests and surgeries, and help HSC deliver tomorrow's health care-today.

Learn more and donate at OperationExcellence.ca or call 204-515-5612 or toll-free at 1-800-679-8493.

Top industry pros to share renovation and design advice at the Winnipeg Renovation Show

WINNIPEG, MB, December 15, 2022 – The new year is right around the corner and the Winnipeg Renovation Show is back to bring together a line-up of industry-leading, home improvement experts who will share their insight at the RBC Convention Centre from January 13-15, 2023. From tips and tricks to save money during a renovation, to how to renovate a vacation on wheels and 2023 design trends, Winnipeggers will find inspiration at every turn.

Those eager to get an inside look at the experts’ top tips for tackling a renovation in the new year can see what’s to come at the Winnipeg Renovation Show below:

Adding value to any home

Back by popular demand, celebrity contractor and TV host Bryan Baeumler, star of HGTV Canada's Island of Bryan will headline the Show. Baeumler will share how to save money when renovating as well as provide advice for increasing the value of a home. “Your home is arguably the largest investment most people ever make,” Baeumler explains.

Creating Leaders at Rossbrook House

When Rossbrook House Foundation brings Rossbrook House to the RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg next spring, the fundraising gala will be emceed by two people who know the drop-in centre very well. Colleen Simard and Dale Turcotte have inspiring stories to share at the No Child Alone Dinner, April 27.

Colleen is a volunteer Rossbrook House Board Director who hung out at the drop-in centre when she was just fifteen. “I'd come from up North and I was so happy to find a place where I could have a safe place to hang out, play pool and have a nice meal,” Colleen says.

It has been a safe place for children and youth in the Centennial neighborhood since 1976. Providing programs, activities, and daily meals continues today.

Dale is 14 and is not only a participant, he is also one of the Junior Staff. “Rossbrook House has been a second home for me ever since the day I stepped in those doors as an 8-year-old kid,” he says.

Battling Through Adversity

I'm sharing my medical story with you, hoping you'll consider supporting the Health Sciences Centre Foundation. I also hope that you'll be inspired to push through times of adversity and strive to live life to its fullest.

In October 2020, I went to an urgent care centre feeling achy, nauseous, and feverish. This was during the COVID-19 pandemic, and I had been working in the hospital as a medical student. I thought that I had the virus or the flu. I thought I'd be treated for dehydration, offered some pain relief, and be sent home. I thought wrong, and wouldn't be sent home for two months. My condition worsened quickly and dramatically. Within mere hours, my legs became very weak and I developed excruciating back pain. Soon, I couldn't feel my legs at all.

I required specialized care, and was sent to HSC Winnipeg. An MRI showed that I had transverse myelitis (inflammation of the spinal cord). After more testing, I was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), an autoimmune disease that causes the body to attack itself. The doctors explained that my SLE caused a spinal cord injury that resulted in paralysis.

The disease, its impact on my body, and the road of recovery were made clear to me. I knew the importance of this clarity as a medical student who would normally be explaining things to patients. Now I was the patient lying in bed while my dreams of becoming a plastic surgeon were dwindling.

Optima focuses on global expansion

On February 1, 1970, David Lee founded Keystone Cash Register Ltd., now known as Optima. At that time, his business focused on rebuilding, reselling and servicing mechanical cash registers.Along with two trained technicians, Lee, who had also received technical training by National Cash Register, worked out of an office on Provencher Boulevard. Lee determined that the steep competition in Winnipeg was not profitable, so he sought a way to stand out from the crowd.“I made up my mind that I didn’t want to be competing with everyone in a small city, I thought that there must be clients out of town wanting to do business,” he says.“I loaded up cash registers in my station wagon, which was painted all over saying ‘Keystone Cash Register: Sales, Service, Rentals. Why Pay More?’ Then I took a drive to Swan River.”After he arrived, he stopped at a local hotel for a slice of apple pie. When he came back out, he discovered multiple business cards tucked under his wiper blades from people looking for cash register sales and service.After three days in Swan River, he had sold all the machines in his station wagon, while also collecting fees for service. After that, he branched out to other Manitoba communities, such as The Pas, where he became the go-to guy for everything register-related.“We had to walk the road less travelled. We gained all this business in rural Manitoba, and that became our mode of operation. At the same time, people in these communities didn’t have to go to the city to buy a cash register because they knew I’d be coming there soon in my billboard car,” Lee says.“If we hadn’t done this, we’d be struggling in the city where nobody knows us. We’d be fighting to sell one or two machines. Our ideas about export began when we started to ship to rural Manitoba by bus.”In 1982, a decade after the company was incorporated, Lee approached a customer who repeatedly ordered three cash registers at a time. He found out the man was shipping the machines to Argentina for his uncle to sell. A new law in Argentina required all businesses to have a cash register, Lee explains.Lee flew to Argentina and met with the military government, providing advice about how to manage the distribution for the entire country. At the end of the conversation, Lee left with an order for 10,000 electronic cash registers.“This stabilized our company,” recalled Lee, who speaks Spanish fluently. “But things were changing because there were now electronic cash registers (ECRs).”In 1986, Lee noticed that a cash register company called Sweda was falling behind in its technology. He spoke to the boss of Sweda’s Dallas-based office and told him he could save their company. As a result, he began sending containers each month of Uniwell ECRs, designed by Optima, created in custom colours for the company. Lee also flew to Mexico City to visit the privately owned Sweda branch and the owner decided to buy ECRs from him directly.At the same time, Lee began doing business in the Caribbean, including the Dominican Republic.In the 1990s, he started to sell fiscal registers to Argentina and Brazil. ECR sales to other global destinations continued, including to Ukraine, Slovakia, Pakistan, Cuba and beyond. He offered an incentive program called Key Bucks to encourage Dealers to sell his products.“With an export business, you just can’t keep going where everyone else is going,” Lee says.Throughout the decades, the Manitoba Company continued to remain on the cutting edge of the industry. During the pandemic, they began to assemble their own line of made-in-Canada point-of-sale systems, complete with their own GoPOS software, called the APOS series.Lee’s son Jason is vice-president of sales and operations for the family business. He recently joined the World Trade Centre Winnipeg’s Trade Accelerator Program (TAP) to gain information about selling their new product globally.“The TAP program allowed myself and Alex Yero, who handles operations in South America, to learn more about what was offered through the World Trade Centre. We learned a lot on how to continue what my father was doing as well as other ways of reaching out,” he says.“By taking the TAP program, it allowed us to safely export our business into other countries to expand. That’s where the TAP program was very useful for us.”Marking a milestone, Optima (formerly Keystone Cash Registers) is the 100th graduate of the Trade Accelerator Program. And through TAP, Optima recently connected with the Canadian consulates in Colombia and Chile.“The consulates reassure us that the businesses we’re dealing with outside the country are legitimate, which removes a lot of legwork that my father had to do himself in the old days,” he says.“Today, for other companies to expand and start exporting, there are a lot more tools available. My advice to them is to research, contact the World Trade Centre, ask questions about the markets you want to go after — and just go for it. The TAP program is very educational.”Likewise, David Lee offers a few words of wisdom as the founder and President of the successful company.“You have to think out of the box,” he says. “When you get out of the box, the world opens up.”

To learn more about Optima, visit www.optimagopos.ca. To learn more about World Trade Centre Winnipeg’s Trade Accelerator Program, visit https://www.wtcwinnipeg.com/trade-accelerator-program/