HELPING BUSINESSES GROW ABROAD
Rainmaker has global network of offices, world of expertise to help guide companies
Rainmaker Global Business Development was born of a chance meeting between Clark Grue and a Glasgow pump manufacturer in Scotland, when Grue explained to the CEO opportunities for his business to expand into Canada and Calgary.
Grue’s neighbour Tim Kozmyk, a local investor in oil and gas exploration and production companies, chatted about establishing a company in Calgary to help other businesses open offices here, and along with Lois Mitchell launched Rainmaker in 2007.
Grue became president and one of the first decisions was to take a floor of the downtown
Roslyn Building as an executive centre, making shared space available to firms planning to move into the city until they became established.
Rainmaker prospered and opened a number of global offices staffed by experienced professional researchers able to compile information from strategic data sources for use not only for companies wishing to be in the Calgary market, but also for Canadian companies wanting to expand into other countries.
Things were going so well that in 2016, Grue accepted the position as president and CEO of the Telus Convention Centre to put his passion for the city to work and be a bigger part of this community.
He left that position in February and, still an owner of Rainmaker, decided to return as its president and CEO in a time when it has shifted its primary focus from inbound assistance to supporting Canadian companies in reaching out to other markets.
Rainmaker is ideally suited to help, with managing directors based in and responsible for both Eastern and Western Canada, southern and northeastern U.S., and Mexico and North Sea/scandinavia. Global offices operate out of Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, New York, Houston, Abu Dhabi, Aberdeen, Bogota and Mexico City, helping Canadian companies expand abroad, assisted by Global Affairs Canada.
Local staff have a good understanding of regional business activities, compile information to define business opportunities, and plan and deliver market trips in preparation for strategic meetings.
Another big help has been a new partnership between Grue and Jeff Peterson’s team at Calgary-based Blue Monarch Consulting to develop a data engine for selecting optimal markets.
Meanwhile Grue, who says he enjoyed his time at the convention centre and is proud of his involvement with the World Petroleum Conference and
Rotary International Convention bids, continues to advocate for the business events industry.
He is chair of Meetings Mean Business Canada, and sits on the executive committee of the board of Convention Centres of Canada, on the Destination Canada business events committee, and on the industry advisory committee of Tourism Industry Association of Alberta.
Grue is busy.
Many tenants of the fully furnished Rainmaker Business Centre suffered due to the energy price drop, which has meant negotiating new rental contracts, although Grue says building owner Slate Asset Management has been very responsive to the challenge.
Currently, he has six staff in Calgary’s Rainmaker office and, with 20 new Calgary contracts with companies wishing to remain here but needing to expand their markets, expects that number to double by year end by adding more research analysts and business development personnel.
Grue is also close to completing negotiations to establish additional offices in Vancouver, Denver and Rotterdam. He is a man with a keen desire to help invigorate Calgary’s economy.
Notes: According to the World Health Organization, noise pollution is a growing global problem that can cause a number of health issues. Calgary company Zerosound Systems is attacking the problem that can cause hearing impairment, hypertension, annoyance, sleep disturbance and heart disease, with the development of its new technology that cancels noise. Zerosound president and co-founder Norm Bogner says its scalable platform reduces noise exposure by up to 92 per cent in both indoor and outdoor settings. His company has secured an exclusive five-year deal with North American fire truck manufacturer Rosenbauer Motor to install its patented noise reduction technology as a standard feature on all of its new trucks to protect first responders from the dangerous health effects of noise pollution.