Learn how Samuel, Son and Co., a company founded in 1885, is leading green initiatives in the Canadian manufacturing industry, with CEO Colin Osborne.
Russell: A big issue that I wanted to talk about is climate change. Can you tell us a little bit about how Samuel has approached climate change?
Colin Osborne: Absolutely. So there's kind of two facets to it. I think one is what I would call the corporate citizenship element. You know, we're not public, so we don't need to go attract ethical investors or any of that kind of stuff. But I think as a company, I'm very proud of the fact that the owners and the board and the management team is as committed to ESG as any public company. From a green technology perspective, we're really doing two things – one of which is focus on continuous improvement in our carbon footprint every year.
The first piece of it is our commitment to our communities and the environment we work in to reduce our carbon footprint every year, which means reduce greenhouse gas emissions every year and reduce energy intensity every year. Last year we did between four and six percent reduction. And our goal is to keep doing that and to show you our level of commitment on that, we actually have signed something that's pretty rare, which is called a sustainable lending agreement. We have a partnership with our nine banks and our syndicate that we will meet thresholds of reduction every single year. And their commitment to us is if we do that, we'll get a lower borrowing rate. And if we don't do it, we'll get punished.
Russell: As you move into more green technology, how does that affect your current staff?
Colin Osborne: From a skills perspective and an employee perspective, there's kind of two tranches. One of them is it has no impact in the sense that I have unbelievable capability around welding, super high technology welding. I have that competency. I can shift that competency into products and services that support green technology. I need to scale up, but I don't have to reskill my workforce.
Then there's another tranche where I have to reskill my work force. You know, we're investing heavily in automation. We're investing heavily in additive manufacturing. It's a completely different skill set that I don't have anywhere in the company. And in those cases, I have to find ways to either intern or mentor or internally develop or partner with external agencies to build that pipeline of talent.
Russell: Has that made you particularly vulnerable to the Great Resignation and Marathon for Talent?
Colin Osborne: In automation and in additive, the environment we create is best in class in these places and I think people want to work for us. So as much as it is a War for Talent, when I look at those businesses people get in there, they're excited and they see what we're doing. We generally can retain. If it's more of a, you know, a broader skill set that banks can use and everyone else can use, yeah, it's a fight. It's hard.
Russell: I understand you're doubling down on automation. Can you tell us a little bit about automation, and can you address the elephant in the room around automation - which is there are those that would say it's going to hurt job opportunities for Canadians?
To learn about the future of automation in Canadian manufacturing, listen to the episode here:
Colin’s transcript has been slightly altered in this Q&A for clarity and brevity.