On June 7, 2017, two of our commercial insurance brokers, Shawn Freeze and Chuck Prince, attended a special celebration in Moncton, New Brunswick, for Mr. Steve Liptay, a long-standing client and founder of The Great Northern Auction. It was a wonderful event, complete with refreshments, sunny weather, and an impressive turnout of dignitaries and well-wishers. It’s not every day a client achieves 50 years in business, so we wanted to share just how accomplished Mr. Liptay is in his chosen field – auctioneering.
Steve went to auctioneer school in the United States, and started auctioning cattle and livestock in his hometown of Bowmanville, Ontario, in the early 1970’s. He grew so skilled in his craft that he won the title of World Champion in 1976, the first ever non-American to be crowned with that distinction.
This is impressive in it’s own right, but his accomplishments don’t end there. In addition, internationally acclaimed German filmmaker, Warner Herzog, featured Mr. Liptay in his 1976 documentary “How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck”. Herzog’s films tend to focus on on people who stand out their typically “unconventional” field of work (i.e. cattle auctioning). To shed some light on how esteemed Warner Herzog is, he was actually a guest on David Letterman! The full documentary is available on YouTube. Mr. Liptay is featured throughout the film, which ends with him bringing home the gold!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkcsz9QujmU
Every business owner has a story to tell and we certainly found this one to be both fascinating and worthy of recognition.
Congratulations Steve and the team The Great Northern Auction Company, from everyone here at Stanhope Simpson Insurance!
London, Ontario – Boosting entrepreneurial talent is critical for our country’s future. Successful CEOs and business leaders from across Canada will be taking an intensive program at the Ivey Business School in London, Ontario. These entrepreneurs are on the way to taking their companies to the next level.
Stanhope Simpson Insurance Ltd. is pleased to announce today that President Victoria Stanhope, MBA, FCIP, CRM has been selected as a participant in QuantumShift, a unique leadership development program founded by Ivey and KPMG Enterprise and sponsored by TD Commercial Bank and The Globe and Mail.
Helping private businesses grow and improve their productivity is essential to building a more competitive Canada. Ivey Business School, KPMG Enterprise, TD Commercial Bank, and The Globe and Mail realize this and for the 14th year they are inviting a select group of entrepreneurs to participate in QuantumShift, a rigorous weeklong program to give them the tools to push their businesses forward as Canada’s economy continues to recover.
QuantumShift is designed to help Canadian business owners accelerate their companies. It’s for entrepreneurs who are past the start-up stage and who are ready to innovate. The program focuses on how to lead an enterprise through exponential growth; how to attract and retain the best employees; how to uncover obstacles that may be limiting growth; how to value a venture and use strategies for moving from business plan to financial proposition; and how to build a strong network of entrepreneurial peers to share best-practices.
Halifax, Nova Scotia
(902) 454-8641
stanhopesimpson.com
Family Business Association – Atlantic was proud to profile the accomplishments of two family enterprises at their Awards luncheon on April 6 at Brightwood Golf and Country Club. MacGregors Industrial Group and Stanhope Simpson Insurance Limited were be recognized for their contributions and success in passing their family business legacies on to the next generation. Stanhope Simpson Insurance was selected as this year’s Family Business Excellence Award Winner.
“We really take this award to heart because it represents the culmination of our management team’s hard work, effort, time to get us where we are today,” said president, Victoria Stanhope, as she accepted the award on the company’s behalf.
Alan Streatch, President of FBA Atlantic continues to be impressed by the calibre of companies profiled at this annual awards event. “We are so proud to be able to profile the MacGregor, Stanhope and McDermaid families. Their companies contribute to our regional economy and are rooted in a long and prosperous history. We need to celebrate the successes of these and other family companies; their values and ability to pass the baton to the next generation are core to our regional growth,” he says.
Jamie Loughery, Regional Vice President and Managing Director BMO Private Banking in the Atlantic Region, agrees. “Many businesses in the region are facing the complexities of succession. For family businesses in particular the importance of planning ahead and being prepared financially and emotionally is critical.” BMO works with family businesses regularly and recognizes that succession planning is now a critical component to their partnership with family and non-family business owners. “Proper planning can have a significant impact on success of the transition as well as the value placed on a business by a potential buyer” adds Matthew Pulsifer, Vice President BMO Commercial Banking.
FBA Atlantic’s Family Business Excellence Award is awarded annually to an Atlantic family enterprise and this year’s judges, Dr. Robert Blunden, Blunden and Associates, Matt Pulsifer, BMO Private Banking and FBE Awards event chair, Chace Hynes, MNP LLP, considered the candidate’s company mission, vision & values, their prosperity and development, their succession best practices and the company’s business culture and philanthropy.
We are excited to announce the newest member to our expanding commercial team. Shawn Freeze, CIP, CRM has spent over a decade in the insurance industry, with many years as a senior commercial underwriter for RSA Insurance, specializing in construction & contracting & professional liability insurance. His dedication to providing exceptional service to his clients, coupled with a strong technical background in commercial insurance makes him a natural fit for the Stanhope Simpson team.
Welcome to Stanhope Simpson Shawn!!
Excellence Canada and PwC Canada recently announced this year’s private businesses that have received the Canadian Businesses Excellence Award. This award to given to private enterprises that clearly demonstrate a strategic approach and measurable outcomes in achieving Delighted Customers, Engaged Employees, and a Culture of Innovation.
This annual awards program recognizes outstanding achievements by privately-held Canadian businesses from coast-to-coast. The awards were presented at the 2017 Canadian Business Excellence Awards for Private Businesses Luncheon on Tuesday, November 1st at the Carlu in Toronto. Our President, Victoria Stanhope, was in attendance to accept the award on the Company’s behalf.
Panel Discussion
In addition, Victoria was pleased to accept the invitation to participate in a panel discussion about the challenges of running and growing a profitable private business. Most noteworthy, Victoria offered the only female perspective on the panel. The panel was moderated by Saul Plener, National Leader, Private Company Services, PWC.
We are extremely proud to receive this award, especially as one of only two recipients in Eastern Canada. Congratulations to the entire team at Stanhope Simpson Insurance!
Has anything new caught your eye lately while driving down Joseph Howe Drive? Something blue and white perhaps?
A few weeks ago, we revealed our brand new LED sign, located on front of our head office.
Special thanks to Serge Aucoin and the team at United Sign, for their fabulous work on fabrication and install!
At Stanhope Simpson Insurance, we care about our environment and are actively encouraging and promoting the “green” effort. In order to cut down on unnecessary paper waste, we have been offering the option to have correspondence from our office emailed to customers, instead of sending hard copies in the mail. During the past year, we ran a promotion whereby any customer who elected to “go green” would be entered in a draw for a chance to win a $100 grocery gift card.
We are excited to announce the winner of our Going Green promotion – Congratulations to Cathy Brown!
Special thanks to all our customers who participated.
In early 2015, Aviva Canada launched Driving Change Together, a campaign intended to reduce the number of accidents caused by distracted driving, and make roads safer for all Canadians – drivers and pedestrians.
Aviva introduced the campaign by implementing a distracted driving policy and full engagement program for all employees. We are now opening the campaign up to our customers and broker partners – together we can help change dangerous driving habits and save lives.
Eye-Opening Stats
- According to the RCMP, in 80% of collisions, the driver has taken their eyes off the road three seconds prior to crashing
- When talking on a hands-free device, you are four times more likely to get in an accident
- Texting while driving makes you 23 times more likely to crash
- Driving requires a person’s undivided attention, and using a cell phone can be extremely dangerous considering the speed and weight of vehicles
Start Making a Difference Today…
Take the pledge at www.drivingchangetogether.ca and make your car a “no-phone zone”
Many of our employees have taken the pledge to “park” our cellular devices while driving to keep them out of reach, and to keep our eyes on the road. You can join us by parking your phones and urging your friends and loved ones to do the same. By doing this before driving, you are taking the first step towards ending the leading and most avoidable cause of auto collisions nationwide.
Original article by avivapartners.ca
Tuesday April 28 is a day marked around the world in memory of the thousands of workers every year who die during the course or as a result of their work. The day is observed in a bid to raise awareness of the risks in the hope that workplaces will become safer.
Here at Stanhope Simpson Insurance, we take workplace safety very seriously. Here are some tips you can take to reduce the risk of injury among your office staff:
1. Stay clutter-free – Boxes, files and other items piled in walkways can create a tripping hazard. Ensure all materials are safely stored in their proper location.
2. Get a grip – Carpeting and other skid-resistant surfaces can serve to reduce falls. Marble and tile can become very slippery.
3. Safe stacking – Large stacks of materials can cause major injuries if they are knocked over. Store heavy objects close to the floor and ensure that load capacity of shelves or storage units is never exceeded.
4. Provide adjustable equipment – All chairs, work surfaces, monitor stands, etc. should be adjustable in order to accommodate the widest range of employees. Although employers are often reluctant to pay for expensive ergonomic equipment, experts insist it is a wise investment, as some health claims can cost thousands of dollars, let alone the cost of replacement, absenteeism, loss of work production, etc.
5. Keep your feet on the floor – It sounds like a simple concept, but very often workers have their keyboard tray on the desktop, so in order to reach it, they need to jack up their chair so high that their feet barely touch the floor. Unless an employee’s feet are on the floor, a chair will not be able to reduce pain and discomfort.
A big congratulations goes out to Courtney Sheals of Apex Industrials Inc. She was the big winner of the Fox Harb’r Stay and Play Package draw we held last Friday evening at the CANS Atlantic Cat De-Icer.
We loved getting the chance to meet and chat with so many of you at the Stanhope Simpson Insurance tent and putting contest. Thanks to all those who stopped by, we’re already looking forward to next year.
Courtney Sheals accepting her prize from Victoria Stanhope
