TORONTO - More than 350 people gathered today to preview Canada's young leaders of today as the 2006 recipients of Youth in Motion's award and mentoring program - Top 20 Under 20(TM) - were celebrated at a breakfast event, sponsored by University of Ontario, Institute of Technology, at 89 Chestnut Residence.

Top 20 Under 20(TM), a program of Youth in Motion, sponsored by ING Canada, ING Foundation and Bell Canada is designed to seek out and reward young Canadians who have demonstrated significant levels of innovation, achievement and leadership. Other program supporters include: Global TV, National Post, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario, The Keg Spirit Foundation, Manpower and Hydrogenics to name a few.

"Youth in Motion is extremely proud and honoured to be able to showcase, from coast to coast, young Canadians from all walks of life, who are committed to innovation, leadership and achievement." says Akela Peoples, President & CEO, Youth in Motion. "The 2006 recipients are an impressive group of young Canadians, they are entrepreneurs, scientists, social activists, environmentalists and inventors," said Ms. Peoples.

"We are excited to celebrate with Canadians across the country the innovation, achievements and leadership demonstrated by each of the 2006 Top 20 Under 20 recipients. Innovation is the key to Canada's future economic and social success. We are glad to see so many up and coming leaders and innovators," said Claude Dussault, President and CEO, ING Canada. "ING Canada and ING Foundation are proud to partner with Youth in Motion in recognizing and rewarding the very attributes that have led to our global success," said Mr. Dussault.

Each recipient receives a financial award up to $2,000 to be directed towards their continuing area of study or training, participation in a Four Day Leadership Summit specifically designed to further enhance their leadership and innovative capabilities and mentoring by a Canadian leader for a period of eight months.

The 2006 Top 20 Under 20 recipients include: Marie Abbott, Whitehorse (YK), Miles Aronson, Calgary (AB), Melanie Bell, Coleman (PE), Kayla Cornale, Burlington (ON), Sarah Dubé, Halifax (NS), Larissa Fulawka, Lac La Biche (AB), Joanna McNeil, Red Island (NS), Naveen Hassan, Toronto (ON), Josianne Gosselin-Dubois, Gatineau (QC), Sami Obaid, Laval (QC), Keith Peiris, London (ON), Meghana Saincher, Edmonton (AB), Douglas Price, London (ON), Aaria Rahim, Coquitlam (BC), Natalie Raso, Hamilton (ON), Jordan Tannahill, Ottawa (ON), Hannah Taylor, Winnipeg (MB), Heather Muir, Walkerton (ON), William Turk, Winnipeg (MB) and Jennifer Wang, Saskatoon (SK).

Even though Statistics Canada reports that more women of working age have jobs than ever before, there is still a gender gap when it comes to work and family matters, say University of Guelph researchers. Psychology professor Karen Korabik and researcher Allyson McElwain have found that when men and women have the same family responsibilities, are pursuing identical careers and work the same number of hours, family demands tend to interfere more with women’s careers than with men’s.

“Because men often see themselves as the primary breadwinner, they will put up huge boundaries around their work so their family life doesn’t interfere with their work responsibilities,” said Korabik, of U of G’s Centre for Families, Work and Well-Being. “Women who make as much money as men still tend to be the ones to leave work if their child is sick or to get phone calls from their kids while at the office.”

Korabik and McElwain, who published their findings in the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, surveyed 1,600 people for their study and matched 160 women to 160 men with similar work and family responsibilities.

Family demands were measured by the participants’ number of children and the ages of their children. “Literature has shown that people who have more children, particularly more preschool children, have higher family demands,” said Korabik.

The men included in the study had similar family demands as the women, but that doesn’t mean that they let their families interfere with work, said Korabik. “We found that women reported higher family interference with work than men despite having equal children. This could be a result of the women taking on more family responsibilities.”

Because people are expected to be at their jobs a set number of hours and get a certain amount of work done, people arrange their family life around work in most instances, said Korabik. “People will put up boundaries around their work, but family boundaries have become more permeable. This results in parents missing their child’s soccer games or bringing work home so that when they are home, they aren’t spending time with their families.” Women with families who are committed to their careers aren’t necessarily asking to work fewer hours, said Korabik. “But they’d often like to have more flexibility in choosing their hours and have the ability to work from different locations at times.”

Surprisingly, the women and men surveyed from across Canada holding full-time positions in financial, telecommunications, accounting and engineering professions felt equal satisfaction with their families and careers. “Despite women reporting more work interference with family, their levels of satisfaction with their family, job and life were similar,” said Korabik.

By understanding how family pressures may differ for men and women, companies can design organizational programs and initiatives to better meet their employees’ needs, said Korabik. “It’s obvious that the redistribution of household roles between men and women hasn’t occurred, so maybe organizations need to have policies in place that cater to women who have heavier demands from their families.”

CALGARY - The first annual Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Calgary Summit will be held today at the Telus Convention Centre. Co-presented by Enbridge and the Women's Executive Network(TM), the Top 100 award winners from the West will be celebrated at the noon Awards Luncheon.

Over 250 executives and future leaders will gather at the daylong summit to share ideas and celebrate the most influential women in Western Canada. Attendees will hear from many Top 100 award winners including Olympic medallist Kerrin Lee-Gartner and Free the Children co-founder Roxanne Joyal. There will be ten interactive sessions throughout the day featuring Top 100 award winners including a morning panel on entrepreneurship with Silverhill Acura owner Marilyn Sheftel, Santé Spa owner Dr. Wendy Smeltzer, and Famous 5 Foundation founder Frances Wright. Afternoon sessions include Being a Woman in the Energy Sector featuring Petro-Canada Senior Vice-President, North American Natural Gas Kathleen Sendall, Governance West Principal Stella Thompson and Shell Canada's Chief Financial Officer Cathy Williams.

"For the first time in Western Canada, we're bringing together the most high-powered and successful women in business, government and the not-for-profit sectors in the West," said Pamela Jeffery, founder of the Women's Executive Network and Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 awards program. "The Calgary Summit gives executives a great opportunity to network with this year's award winners and to learn from their successes."

"As a supporter of the WXN program, we continue to be impressed by the level of accomplishment of these talented individuals," says Bonnie DuPont, Group Vice-President, Corporate Resources, Enbridge and Top 100 winner in the Corporate Executives category. "My fellow award winners not only prove that there is no limit to where ambition can lead, but that the depth of Canadian talent has continued to advance to a world class level." Other sponsors of Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Calgary Summit are Suncor Energy and TransCanada Corporation.

Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards and Summit recognize exceptional women in seven categories: Corporate Executives, Entrepreneurs, Public Sector Leaders, Trailblazers, Professionals, Champions, and Future Leaders. In addition, each nominee is also measured by her community contributions.

Mississauga - “Successful executives know that core competencies are what give an organization its clear leadership position and when executed, differentiate it from competitors,” says Humayun Kabir, Managing Partner of Inforica. “Essentially global sourcing today isn’t only about cost-cutting – it is about determining where it makes most sense for a task to be performed.”

The “core vs. chore” model of global sourcing is an unusual perspective. In recent years we have seen many North American companies succumb to the hype of global sourcing and eagerly jump without a strategic approach. The results have sometimes been disastrous.

With Gartner Group predicting that the growth of the worldwide outsourcing market will be close to $50 billion by 2008 – global sourcing, or outsourcing, is here to stay. The challenge is to find the right balance to make it work effectively for a company.

Here, a company who has found that delicate balance between work done on-and-off the Canadian shores, offers seven strategic reasons for global sourcing. These are designed to help businesses take a strategic approach to global sourcing that will allow them to focus on their "core" strengths and get outside expertise focusing on their non-core “chores”.

7 Strategic Reasons for Global Sourcing

1) Reduce or Control Operating Costs. The single most important reason for considering global sourcing as a management tool is to reduce or control operating costs. Access to an outside global sourcing partner’s lower cost structure is one of the most compelling short-term benefits of outsourcing. In certain cases, client organizations can experience up to 40% reduction in costs through global sourcing.

2) Sharpen Business Focus. Improving an organization’s market advantage should be the primary motivation to consider global sourcing. It allows companies to focus on broader business issues while having operational details assumed by an outside expert. For many companies a motivating factor in considering global sourcing as an alternative is the fact that low priority issues are stealing precious resources and attention from management, when they should be focused on more strategic initiatives.

3) Access to Talent & Capabilities. Global sourcing providers have the capability to offer extensive world-class talent and “Best Practice” knowledge. Partnering with an organization with proven global delivery expertise can offer access to new technology, structured methodologies and defined procedures. The client may not currently possess such capabilities, but definitely requires them to maintain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

4) Accelerate Reengineering Benefits. Global sourcing is often a by-product of another powerful management tool; business process reengineering. A global sourcing engagement allows an organization to immediately realize the anticipated benefits by partnering with an outside organization that is already reengineered to world-class standards and processes.

5) Deployment of Resources. Every organization has limits on available resources bandwidth and scaling. Ideally an organization’s key talent and resources should be working on projects key to creating business differentiators and increasing the competitive advantage. Global sourcing permits the redeployment of valuable resources and talent from non-core activities to initiatives that bring a greater return to the organization by meeting and exceeding customer’s needs and expectations.

6) Risk Management. There are tremendous risks associated with the investments an organization makes in information technology. Mitigating these risks without high levels of resource expenditure can be achieved by calling up the best practices and intellectual capital of an experienced global sourcing partner.

7) Better Use of Capital Funds. Global sourcing allows capital funds to flow into core business functions and out of non-core areas. It can also simplify the financial measurements process by eliminating the need to show return on equity or assets from capital investments in non-core areas.

"Teams of inventors and entrepreneurs from around the world were in Washington last week to showcase innovative solutions to problems in the fields of water, sanitation and energy," reports Voice of America.

"Judges at the World Bank's annual Development Marketplace narrowed the field from 2500 applicants down to 118 finalists from 55 countries. At stake were grants for up to $200,000 to jump-start their projects. .

You've probably heard of solar heating and solar cooking. Carl Erickson wants to bring solar ice-making to Kenya. At present, many small dairy farmers lose much potential income to milk that has spoiled. To prevent that, they can boil the milk, but that robs it of taste and nutrients. Erickson's technology is based on ammonia absorption, a century-old refrigeration technique. .

A few steps away, another technology is on display, this one perhaps a little more familiar to many of you. If you normally listen to a Freeplay radio - the one that you crank up - you have listened to a cousin of this device, called Weza. It's a small box that sits on the floor with a pedal that you pump with your foot. 'It's a portable energy source that offers reliable, dependable power anytime, anywhere,' says Kristine Pearson of the Freeplay Foundation. . Pearson says the foot-powered generator can also be used to power medical devices, which could improve health care in rural areas. The Foundation will train and support 50 Weza 'pioneers' in Rwanda, who will set up micro-businesses, essentially selling power to their neighbors.

Both the Weza generator and the solar powered icemaker were among the winners at this year's World Bank Development Marketplace, as was a proposal by Habitat for Humanity for affordable housing in Kyrgyzstan. They want to marry efficient, under-floor electric heating with a traditional but now abandoned construction technique using cane reeds as a sustainable source of insulation. 'With this technology the cost of the house is 40 percent cheaper just to build, and then the cost of the energy to heat the home is 75 percent cheaper,' says Habitat for Humanity's Natalie Grant, who adds that some Kyrgyz families spend up to half their income on heating. .

Thirty of the projects won World Bank funding. . World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz told the competitors that even those who didn't win funding had gained a lot. 'I think. that everyone who's here is a winner. You were outstanding just to get here,' Wolfowitz said. 'I hope, even if you don't leave here with an award, you'll leave here with a new network of contacts, with a new wealth of knowledge and ideas. And hopefully, the interactions that have taken place here between participants will generate even more innovative ideas.'"

28th Annual Induction Ceremonies and Gala Celebration honours Canada's top business leaders past and present; Proceeds from the event go to support Junior Achievement of Canada

TORONTO - The Canadian Business Hall of Fame (CBHF) on May 16 officially welcomed three distinguished business leaders to its ranks at a special Gala celebration and ceremony held in Toronto.

Inducted as Laureates at the 28th Annual Canadian Business Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies were:

- Sir Graham Day, Former Chairman, Sobeys Inc.

- Mr. Allan R. Taylor, O.C., Former Chairman and CEO, RBC Financial Group

- Mr. Michel Belanger, O.C., C.C., Former CEO, National Bank of Canada (posthumous inductee 1929-1997)

"This year's Laureates have shown an exceptional lifelong dedication to the service of Canadian business. As well, we recognize them this evening for the extensive charitable contributions they have made," said Mr. Guy St-Pierre, Chair of the Laureate Selection Committee, Junior Achievement of Canada Foundation and Past Chairman, Royal Bank of Canada.

The annual awards program in support of Junior Achievement of Canada recognizes Canadian business excellence and honours leading businessmen and women, past and present, for their outstanding achievements in business and contributions to Canadian society. Nominated by their peers, inductees are chosen by an independent selection committee representing Canada's foremost business, academic and media institutions.

"Each year, thousands of volunteers dedicate their time to making Junior Achievement a life-changing experience. Our three newest inductees have provided hope and inspiration to youth through their outstanding commitment and work," added Jos Wintermans, Chair, Junior Achievement of Canada Foundation and President & CEO, Cygnal Technologies Corporation. "Their support for business education and their personal encouragement have provided young people with the skills and confidence required to be competitive in today's business world."

Proceeds from the black tie Gala support Junior Achievement of Canada, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to educating and inspiring young Canadians about business and economics.

Rob Irmie, CEO of DemandCast Corp., holds up his VICTOR Award for “Best Seed Deal” as voted by investors at this year’s Canadian Venture Forum (CVF). The CVF launched their new VICTOR Awards Program Friday in celebration of Canadian Technological Innovation at the event.

“This year we had hundreds of great companies to choose from. Selecting which companies would present at CVF was almost as challenging as picking the winners,” says Sean Wise, Chair of the CVF 2006 selection committee and who has been involved with venture fairs across the nation for the last 6 years. “If the quality of the presenting companies is a barometer for the financing environment in Canada - this is a great year to be an entrepreneur and an even better year to be an investor.”

The VICTOR Awards Program recognizes winners who have the highest probability of future success as chosen by members of the Canadian investment community. During the two-day event, a group of over 150 investors reviewed more than 70 companies selected by a blue-ribbon nomination committee made up of 30 of leading minds in venture capital and angel investing, as well as a number of Tier-1 public venture capital experts. Selection of award winners and finalists was based on deal characteristics including: ROI opportunity, differentiated technology, management team leadership and market potential.

“What makes the VICTOR Awards unique is they represent excellence in entrepreneurship as judged by qualified investors,” said Peter Evans, Marketing Chair of the Toronto Venture Group. “Through these awards we are showcasing and celebrating the people who are working hard to build the next generation of great technology companies in Canada.”

In order to participate in the CVF, companies were pre-selected, mentored, coached and even put through a “boot camp”. In this process they worked on their business plans and received tips on how to best pitch their business ideas to potential investors. The event represents a valuable process for entrepreneurs on how to structure a business plan, practise presentations and crystallize their value for investors.

“While individual technologies and the business plans required to get them off the ground have changed dramatically over the past decade, the challenges facing an entrepreneur looking for funding to break through a competitive landscape remain the same” said Mary Macdonald, Vice President, Global Private Equity, Thomson Financial. “That is why the Toronto Venture Group and Thomson have been hosting the Canadian Venture Forum (and its predecessor events) for the past 12 years … to provide an environment for investors and new businesses to meet.“

“The practice and experience of our participation at this event was very beneficial to our business,” said Brian Collie, Founder and Director of Chantry Networks Inc., a previous award winner. In 2005 the company was acquired by Siemens Inc. “Branding the Canadian Venture Forum awards program as the VICTOR Awards will help build profile for fellow entrepreneurs and help pave the way for Canadian technological recognition worldwide. Canada is a fantastic place to start and nurture a successful business.”

Business is growing steadily in the personal services industry, according to the latest survey of establishments that provide services ranging from haircuts and facials to laundry and funeral services.

According to the Annual Survey of Personal Services, firms providing personal services in Canada in 2004 experienced rising revenues in the main components of the industry. Together, those firms earned an estimated $8.6 billion in that year, up from $8.0 billion in 2003 and $7.6 billion in 2002.

Personal care providers, which include hair and esthetic salons, spas and the like, accounted for about 46% of the industry's total earnings. These establishments earned about $3.9 billion in 2004, up from $3.5 billion in 2003 and $3.2 billion in 2002.

Laundry and dry cleaning services accounted for the next largest share of revenues, earning $1.9 billion, and funeral service providers earned the third largest share at $1.5 billion in 2004.

Operating expenses for all personal service establishments increased in 2004. Businesses spent an estimated total of $7.9 billion in their daily operations.

Profit margins were 7.9%, down from 10.7% in 2003.

Salaries, wages and benefits still account for the largest expense for these companies, amounting to almost 41% of their operating expenses.

Industry data for 2004 are available now for Canada and the provinces, including revenues, expenses, salaries and wages and profit margins.

extra help as you transition," she says. "I used a virtual assistant to keep me on track and got extra help with by using a college intern."

2. Develop a schedule for the baby right from the start. "Babies

need a schedule; it helps them and you to know what to expect and when to expect it," says Cherry. "Once you have a set schedule for them, you can schedule your work around it."

3. Keep a list of what you need to do. "Late night and pre-dawn

feedings can take its toll, making you get the infamous 'mommy brain," she explains. "Keep a notebook with you and whenever you remember something you need to get done, write it down and refer back to it when you get a chance."

4. Get the day started right after the 4 A.M. feeding. Cherry

suggests that getting work done before the house wakes is an efficient way to use those times when you can't get back to sleep.

5. Go to bed early, tape your favorite show that you are missing

and watch it during lunch when you can use the pick-me-up. "It's important to give mommy some time too," she says.

More about angel funding

An “angel” is a venture capitalist who invests in companies or ideas at their earliest stages (often before any prototype exists). An angel will help put a company on sound financial and corporate footing, fund its prototype, provide technical/business guidance and help it make initial contacts and secure contracts in relevant industries. Ultimately, an angel incubates and prepares a company, proves the concept, and paves the way for the next, much larger round of venture financing.

More about Infusion Development

Infusion Development is a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner with offices in New York City and Toronto. Infusion offers its clients a wide array of IT-related services from consulting and development to training and mentoring. We specialize in the architecture and implementation of enterprise-scale financial systems and mission-critical solutions for some of the world’s largest banks and government agencies. Infusion is also one of Microsoft’s key partners for evangelism, architecture design sessions, proofs of concept, training, and technical writing, with many of our white papers being published on MSDN. In addition, Infusion Development authored the CodeNotes™ book series (www.codenotes.com) with Random House, and we count among our staff many published authors, renowned industry speakers, and technology experts.

ST. JACOBS - Home Hardware Stores Limited and the Toronto Blue Jays announced today the highlights of a three-year partnership that will see Home Hardware secure its position as the team's official home improvement retailer and introduce Beauti-Tone as the Blue Jays' official paint brand.

The two organizations, who have worked together for more than a decade, signed a one-year deal in 2005 to make Home Hardware the team's exclusive home improvement retail partner. This new agreement extends that relationship for three years. Both have been on a building streak recently, with the Jays adding new players to their roster and Home Hardware adding and expanding locations to bring its network to more than 1,000 stores, more than any other home improvement retailer in Canada.

Home Hardware CEO and Vice-President Paul Straus and Toronto Blue Jays President & CEO Paul Godfrey traded team uniforms - the retailer's signature red jacket for a Jays' jersey - at a gathering of Home Hardware Dealers from across Canada.

"The Toronto Blue Jays and Home Hardware are true Canadian success stories," said Straus. "We're thrilled to continue our relationship with the Blue Jays as it allows us to connect with millions of Canadians in the communities where our Dealers do business. Together with their customers, our Dealers are rooting for Canada's home team."

Home Hardware and the Blue Jays will continue to leverage the partnership through in-stadium, media, television and radio, and retail promotional opportunities. Home Hardware and Beauti-Tone logos are featured on throughout Rogers Centre and Home Hardware owns title sponsorship of the World's Fastest Grounds Crew.

"We are pleased to be building on our successful relationship with Home Hardware," said Godfrey. "As Canada's Major League Baseball team, it's fitting for us to partner with the country's favourite home improvement retailer."

The Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club was originally founded in 1976 and began play in Major League Baseball's American League the following year. The Club's historical achievements in the ensuing years have been significant, capturing five American League East Division crowns, two American League Championship titles and back-to-back victories in the World Series in 1992 and 1993, while earning the distinction of being the first team in Major League Baseball to draw more than four million fans in a single season. In September 2000, Rogers Communications Inc. purchased controlling interest of the Club, providing strong dedicated local ownership of the team.

REDWOOD CITY, CA - On April 24 Tectura, announced that it is expanding its global reach with new offices in Sweden.

Right out of the gate Tectura is staffing its new Swedish unit with 10 certified Microsoft Business Solutions consultants and software developers, and within a couple of years expects to grow the business to 50-60 local resources in Sweden. Globally, Tectura has 1,400 employees serving clients from 60 offices in 19 countries -- with Sweden 20 -- covering Europe, the Middle-East, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas.

Two experienced Swedish managers have joined Tectura to help build the business and serve clients from day one: Staffan Nilsson will be leading Tectura's Swedish sales organization, and Ulla Pallas will be leading the consulting team.

"Both of these professionals have deep knowledge within the Microsoft suite of products for mid-size and larger companies and also bring with them a true dedication for providing clients with business process improvements, greater efficiency, and a clear competitive edge through consulting and technology. They fit perfectly with Tectura's focus of doing business through long-term beneficial partnerships with our clients," said Morten Poulsen, Nordic Manager for Tectura and overall responsible for the new Swedish business unit.

Tectura in Sweden will offer targeted solutions to companies within the manufacturing, distribution, retail, and life science industries -- primarily based on Microsoft Dynamics(TM) AX and Microsoft Dynamics? NAV (the ERP platforms formerly known as Microsoft Axapta and Microsoft Navision), Microsoft Dynamics? CRM, and Business Intelligence solutions.

"Microsoft is looking very much forward to working closely with Tectura to provide Swedish industry with flexible and cost-efficient solutions that fit their business," said MBS Business Group Lead Thomas Laine, Microsoft Sweden. "Tectura has a high standing with Microsoft as a leading global partner that focuses on serving clients locally as well as offering the ability to follow them across the world. The combination of Microsoft's software and Tectura's services provides a very strong solutions proposition to Swedish companies with multi-national needs," said Thomas Laine.

It is Tectura's business strategy to establish itself as a leading partner in countries, where it opens offices, as well as a leading provider of specialized solutions for specific industries. "We already serve several Swedish clients from offices in other countries, primarily our large hub in Copenhagen. With our new local presence in Sweden I fully expect Tectura to become one of the top three Microsoft Dynamics? partners within a relatively short timeframe," said Morten Poulsen.

Tectura's first Swedish office opens for business on April 24th in the capital of Stockholm in central Sweden. Clients in northern Sweden can also be served from a sattelite office in Umeaa, and a third office is planned to open shortly in Malmoe in sourthern Sweden.