Oilers Entertainment’s ‘vision’ results in 30 layoffs

EDMONTON The Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG) has laid off about 30 workers under a “new vision” focused on its sports and entertainment operations that stops work on global expansion.

“Two years was an appropriate time to look at the structure of the company and make sure we had it right moving forward,” OEG spokesman Tim Shipton said Wednesday.

“We wanted to make sure we had the business model right for the operation of Rogers Place and, looking ahead, make sure we had the right … foundation for 18 months to two years from now as Ice District comes online.”

A late-April staff memo obtained by Postmedia lists 20 people who were let go from such areas as security, ticketing, communications, IT and administration.

Executives spent several months reviewing OEG’s vision and how it aligned within the Katz Group of Companies, the memo says.

They ’ve decided to focus on their core business of running the Edmonton Oilers and the Edmonton Oil Kings, live entertainment, Rogers Place and the Ice District, it says.

“These are the things that will drive revenue and results for the company and ensure we are successful moving forward. What that also means, for the foreseeable future, we have ceased our efforts related to new business or global expansion.”

While Shipton wouldn’t say what new fields were considered, he said officials concluded they’d get more bang for their buck putting efforts into the $2-billion Ice District construction projects under the Katz Group and partner One Properties.

“We had been looking at a lot of opportunities to expand some of the businesses we have across North America,” he said.

“We have a two-year countdown to a large-scale, multibillion (dollar) development coming online. I think it was the right focus that all eyes were focused on our operations in the city.”

Tenants will start moving into the Ice District’s 66-storey Stantec Tower this fall, while the 54-storey JW Marriott hotel-Legends condominium tower, which held a topping-off ceremony last week, is scheduled to open next year.

Most of the public plaza will also be ready in 2019. An approximately 500-unit residential tower on the site of the former Greyhound bus terminal and a retail podium are expected to be finished in 2020-21.

This will be followed by a second phase of residential and commercial buildings north of Rogers Place and on the former Baccarat Casino property at the corner of 104 Avenue and 101 Street.

“We haven’t seen a development like this maybe in the history of the city of Edmonton. It’s the company’s focus for the foreseeable future.”

A tiny fraction of OEG’s 1,600 full-time and part-time employees lost their jobs in the layoffs, and the company isn’t experiencing financial trouble, Shipton said.

Although he wouldn’t provide figures, he said they’re “very pleased” with results across all of their operations.

He wouldn’t discuss a media report that the Stantec Tower and nearby Edmonton Tower have been put up for sale for approximately $500 million each, saying “we don’t comment on our transactional business.”

I think it was the right focus that all eyes were focused on our operations in the city.