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Many talk about digitizing the channel and the emerging / present digitalization of the industry and then wonder why eCommerce as a percentage of distributor sales is not higher. One major reason is for many distributors their key customer is a contractor.

A career seeker looking for a job. An HR manager looking to hire. Both are looking to fill a need quickly, effectively and as cost efficiently as possible. The career seeker needs to pay their rent or mortgage, and the HR manager knows the cost to the business of the wrong hire.

Read more: Hiring — Connecting the Dots

Wholesale GDP - February 2021 Real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 0.4% in February, following 0.7% growth in January. This 10th consecutive monthly increase continued to offset the steepest drops on record in Canadian economic activity observed in March and April 2020. However, total economic activity was about 2% below the level observed in February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Business Openings and Closings - January 2021 In January, despite extended public health restrictions in many provinces, the number of business closures decreased by 1.3% since the previous month. The number of business openings was down 6.9% and has been steadily declining since its 2020 peak in June.

4 Reasons to Remain Vigilant as Vaccinations Begin "Don’t wait for the availability of COVID-19 vaccines to figure out how they may affect your workplace," advises Wagish Yajaman, a certified industrial hygienist and Canadian Registered Safety Professional with Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS).

Pandemic Bus Dev't Small business owners say their online presence (51%) and selling online (38%) has been essential to their survival through the pandemic. As a result, connecting with customers online is the top focus for small businesses in 2021, along with paying down debt and improving their websites...

Distributors thinking about tomorrow need to be thinking about their warehouse of tomorrow. And in a technology world, this means considering smart warehouse technologies.

Lighting CABA Cybersecurity and privacy concerns in the smart home have the potential to worsen with device ownership and demand for gadgets growing. In building their solutions, industry participants should therefore treat cybersecurity protections as the norm. Looking past functionality and user experience, privacy also needs to be factored into the process.

Recently, I have started watching a series on Netflix called New Amsterdam that has shaped my views on change management and leadership. The premise of the show is based on two powerful questions that a newly-appointed medical director poses to his staff every day: “How can I help?” and “What can we do to make a difference?”

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Celebrating a Canadian Sustainability Hero: Carolina Gallo

Among the recipients of the 2021 Clean50 Awards announced last month is Carolina Gallo, Vice President Government and Institutional Relations Canada, for Hitachi ABB Power Grids Canada. CEW reached out to Gallo, about the experience. But first, a little about the Clean50 Awards.

These annual awards recognize Canadian leaders in sustainability for their contributions over the prior two years. Created by Delta Management, Canada’s leading sustainability, ESG and clean tech focused search firm, the awards recognize remarkable and inspiring leaders and try to connect these leaders in order to bridge those gaps...

Rittal Celebrates 60 Years Globally: From Steel Manufacturer to an International Global Company

Rittal It is April 1, 1961, when an international success story begins in a small weaving mill in central Hesse — the standardization of enclosures. Rudolf Loh founds the Rittal company and changes the industry with one idea. The standard enclosure is used in millions of product solutions in over 90% of all industries worldwide. Rittal is the innovation and world market leader for enclosure technology and IT infrastructure.

10,000 employees worldwide work on new innovations, industry solutions and business models. A small steel manufacturing company has become a global digital enterprise.

The 4 Profit Levers Distributors Need to Master

By David Gordon

Electrical distributors are at a unique moment in time where they have an opportunity to leverage technology to utilize the data it can unleash to accelerate profitability and sales cost-effectively.

Being in an information age is only beneficial if the information is utilized. Enhanced sales models, sales opportunities and servicing systems are combining to help differentiate distributors. Aside from a distribution divide being created by digital and supplier selection, analytics can either widen or tighten the divide.

GDP Rose in January for 9th Month

GDP - January 2021 Real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.7% in January, following 0.1% growth in December. This ninth consecutive monthly increase continued to offset the steepest drops on record in Canadian economic activity observed in March and April 2020. However, total economic activity was about 3% below the February level before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both goods-producing (+1.5%) and services-producing (+0.4%) industries were up in January as the 20 industrial sectors were nearly evenly split between expansions and contractions.

By Swati Vora-Patel

April has been a flagship month for new milestones: it has been one full year since many of us began working from home; Zoom and other such virtual platforms have been in play for a year to keep us connected – and the reliance on digital systems has heightened over the past year to populate the influx of online catalogues and eCommerce sites.

April also marks one year since I took over the reins of EFC’s Supply Chain Network to support the electrical industry’s digital transformation journey.

Ideal Supply Announces Tim MacDonald's Retirement ...

It is with great emotion that after 40 years of combined service and leadership of Ideal Supply, ...

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