Winnipeg Construction VIII - Page 324

cheswick · #**6461** Posted **Jun 25, 2015, 5:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by trueviking

Just got the green light for a nice project that actually fills a downtown parking lot...imagine.

You're a bigger tease than my highschool gf.

wags_in_the_peg · #**6462** Posted **Jun 25, 2015, 5:24 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by buzzg

The Deer Lodge residents lost their appeal, the Habitat land will be redivided into 16 residential properties.

good!

steveosnyder · #**6463** Posted **Jun 25, 2015, 6:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by buzzg

The Deer Lodge residents lost their appeal, the Habitat land will be redivided into 16 residential properties.

Where did you read about this?

buzzg · #**6464** Posted **Jun 25, 2015, 6:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by steveosnyder

Where did you read about this?

WFP article

trueviking · #**6465** Posted **Jun 25, 2015, 7:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheswick

You're a bigger tease than my highschool gf.

I am aware of that.

1ajs · #**6466** Posted **Jun 25, 2015, 7:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by buzzg

I know you can't spill the beans, but can you allude to which lot/area?

There's to many eyes on this form for him to do that so we will have to wait and see I would think

Simplicity · #**6467** Posted **Jun 25, 2015, 8:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by trueviking

Just got the green light for a nice project that actually fills a downtown parking lot...imagine.

Does this project fall within the scope of the CentreVenture TIF program?

Wigglez · #**6468** Posted **Jun 25, 2015, 10:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by trueviking

Just got the green light for a nice project that actually fills a downtown parking lot...imagine.

Time to start wild speculation based on this one sentence. I'll begin.

Viking says the word "imagine" at the end there, clearly a clue. Imagine Games and Hobbies on McDermot Ave is the only "Imagine" named business I know of downtown. 5468796 Architecture is close by. CLEARLY its one of the west exchange parking lots!

Labroco · #**6469** Posted **Jun 26, 2015, 2:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wigglez

Time to start wild speculation based on this one sentence. I'll begin.

Viking says the word "imagine" at the end there, clearly a clue. Imagine Games and Hobbies on McDermot Ave is the only "Imagine" named business I know of downtown. 5468796 Architecture is close by. CLEARLY its one of the west exchange parking lots!

My guess it's one of the Richardson lots behind portage and main for their agro research bldg...

Nice!

esquire · #**6470** Posted **Jun 26, 2015, 2:09 PM**

^ That would be awesome... that area between downtown and The Forks is sorely in need of a few new buildings to fill in the gaps.

drew · #**6471** Posted **Jun 26, 2015, 2:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Labroco

My guess it's one of the Richardson lots behind portage and main for their agro research bldg...

Nice!

That's my guess as well.

rypinion · #**6472** Posted **Jun 26, 2015, 2:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by drew

That's my guess as well.

Kinda hoping it isn't so that it means two things on the way.

Biff · #**6473** Posted **Jun 26, 2015, 2:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by drew

That's my guess as well.

...awwww, see now when I say that is my guess as well it sounds like I am copying you guys.

.......That is my guess as well!

buzzg · #**6474** Posted **Jun 26, 2015, 4:02 PM**

I don't know if I just missed this or for some reason it didn't make the news here but, I was talking to a bunch of people in town from town Shaw, they are shutting down their Calgary call centre (1600 people laid off) and doing a massive expansion of the one here. Can't remember if they're building it on the same property or somewhere else. They said Manitoba is their most lucrative market (only 1 competitor) and the call centre here already performs significantly better than the CGY one.

The CGY media raised a shitstorm about the whole thing but left out a huge part: all the layoffs were given the option to move to Winnipeg or take an exit package with a full 2 year salary plus benefits. Plus, the CGY one is open til Jan, so they have time to find a new job. While I'm sure a lot of people will take the package since that's INSANE, there could be a little influx of Albertans coming here.

esquire · #**6475** Posted **Jun 26, 2015, 4:12 PM**

^ Yeah, I recall that Shaw news got a bit of play when it happened. But 2 years severance! If that's true, who wouldn't just take that and look for another call centre job... although I can't imagine that they really offered that kind of a one-size fits all package to everyone regardless of whether they worked there 2 years or 20.

buzzg · #**6476** Posted **Jun 26, 2015, 4:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Yeah, I recall that Shaw news got a bit of play when it happened. But 2 years severance! If that's true, who wouldn't just take that and look for another call centre job... although I can't imagine that they really offered that kind of a one-size fits all package to everyone regardless of whether they worked there 2 years or 20.

What they told me was everyone was offered a full 2 years, then people who have worked a long time would get a proportional bonus sort of how like actually severance pay works. I imagine they knew they had to give very good terms because their HQ is in Calgary and you don't wanna make everyone there pissed at you.

With this, lots of newer call centres, those server/data farms (MTS/epic) going up and some small-midsize tech companies coming here it'll be interesting to see if this ramps up and becomes a big sector in MB. We have lots of cheap land (and CHEAP internet haha) so it makes a lot of sense for these companies to come here. Plus the tax breaks for digital interactive developers is big, that's why iQmetrix opened at Centrepoint.

Biff · #**6477** Posted **Jun 26, 2015, 5:18 PM**

They are closing down the call centre in Vancouver as well for the purposes of moving here.

CoryB · #**6478** Posted **Jun 26, 2015, 6:02 PM**

Winnipeg did a big call center push in the 90s. Challenge is a lot of those jobs are "minimum wage" jobs (aka with a dollar or two of actually minimum wage). The biggest challenge in the 90s was the largest group treated people really poorly and had an incredible burn rate where people would often go in, work six months and be gone, mostly at the employers direction as they tried to adjust staffing levels to meet call demand.

If this is to be something more long term and sustainable it will need employers to value their staff and being willing to pay more a middle class wage to retain staff.

esquire · #**6479** Posted **Jun 26, 2015, 6:18 PM**

^ I think a lot of the 90s stuff involved sales and other functions that involved little or no training or expertise, while this kind of somewhat specialized tech support and account management is a notch above that on the call centre ladder... not exactly big money Silicon Valley type stuff, but it's the kind of gig that pays a living wage as opposed to the old school 90s call centres where people were churned quickly as you point out.

Simplicity · #**6480** Posted **Jun 26, 2015, 6:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

^ I think a lot of the 90s stuff involved sales and other functions that involved little or no training or expertise, while this kind of somewhat specialized tech support and account management is a notch above that on the call centre ladder... not exactly big money Silicon Valley type stuff, but it's the kind of gig that pays a living wage as opposed to the old school 90s call centres where people were churned quickly as you point out.

Convergys! A lot of these jobs were lost because they're the exact sorts of things municipalities fight for using tax breaks and other perks that bring lots of jobs all at once. They're a political dream. That's also why they've generally decamped into the States. It's easier to push this sort of thing in smaller counties.

Otherwise, I kind of agree with CoryB in this respect. What's the longview of these places? It's difficult to see why you wouldn't move them overseas given the opportunity. Especially where it comes to things that have historically been high margin - banks, cable companies, etc. These types of businesses are slowly having their margins whittled away. Paying somebody in rupees looks more and more sustainable by the month.